Communication influenced by cultural differences

1. Communication influenced by cultural differences Tatjana Welzer, University of Maribor, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Maribor, Slovenia João M.Fernandes, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal Marjan Družovec University of Maribor, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Maribor, Slovenia PRAXIS 2014, Genova, September 25-26, 2014

2. Contents • Introduction • Cross Cultural Communication and Awareness • Innovation and Creativity for Complex Engineering Systems • Experiences • Conclusion

3. Introduction • Communications • Awareness – to whom - for whom we are writing/presenting/chatting/contacting • New (social) media – media for social interaction • New communication patterns • Academic and professional environment • Professional communication • Soft skills for communication (lingual, cultural, self-reliance, self awareness)

4. Introduction • Communication in Mobility • EU programs – Erasmus+(students, teachers, staff) • Mobility in the virtual word • No physical borders and contacts • Communication in different cultures • Culture • Cultural shock • Cultural awareness

5. Cross Cultural Communication and Awareness • Culture is a familiar word with a complex history and diverse range of meanings • Culture is a sum of ways of living including: • Behavioural norms • Linguistic expressions • Styles of Communication • Patterns of thinking and beliefs

6. CrossCulturalCommunicationandAwareness • Culture (Hofstede): • Collective phenomenon, shared with people who live or lived within the same social environment – unwritten rules of social game. Distinguishes different group of people • Culture (Lewis): • Cultural behaviour is the end product of centuries of collected wisdom, filtered and passed through hundreds of generations and presented by numerous beliefs, notions and other patterns

7. CrossCulturalCommunicationandAwareness • Cultural levels (Alvesson, Berg) • National culture and culture in societies • Regional and local culture • Business cultures - professional and functional culture • Organizational and corporate culture • Functional subculture • Social groups • Professional and functional culture

8. Innovation and Creativity for Complex Engineering Systems • Erasmus IP – ICCES –2012-2014 • http://icces.di.uminho.pt/ • Coordination University do Minho, Braga • Consortium – Universities • Consortium – Companies (Efacec, Bosch) • Ph.D. students in engineering and technology in international teams • Problems of high complexity in an innovative and research-oriented perspective within industrial contexts • Preparing Ph.D. graduates for awareness of the industrial realities

9. Innovation and Creativity for Complex Engineering Systems • Erasmus IP – ICCES – 2012-2014 • Deliverables of each edition of ICCES • Applied research plans, written by the Ph. D. students, for the considered engineering problems; • Position papers, written by the students, to explain their research plans to the scientific community; • Simulations and presentations, by the students, about their research plans; • Cross Cultural Communication Experiences.

10. Experiences • Ph.D. students from different countries and language groups • Europe, Africa, Asia, South America • Ph.D. students from different professional areas • Industrial Engineering • Electrical Engineering • Computer Science • Media Communications • Mechanical Engineering • Chemistry

11. Experiences • Ph.D. Students from different generations • 21- 50 • Ph.D. Students from different professional experiences • Full time students • University assistants • Researchers • Engineers in companies • Management and top management in companies • Equality independent on the history

12. Experiences • Cultural shock • Confused and nervous feelings in a new and different culture, disorientation and anxiety • Problems in communication in the team and out of the team • Rejection of cooperation • To understand culture shock, it helps to understand what culture is • Workshops • Individual consultations • Reverse culture shock.

13. Experiences • Cultural awareness: • Based on knowledge of the foreign culture and own culture • Workshops • It is and ability of observing culture from outside • Individual consultations • Foundation of communication that involves the capability of standing back from ourselves and becoming aware of different cultures, beliefs and perceptions • Cultural awareness – Crosscultural dialogue

14. Experiences • Becoming cultural aware: • Ph.D. Students realized that we are not all the same, that the similarities and differences are both important, that there are multiple ways to reach the same goal and finally that the best way depends on the cultural possibility • Better communication and cooperation • Members of different cultural societies can see, interpret and evaluate things in different ways • Benefit for the project

15. Conclusion • Communication is important • Culture is a product of centuries, filtered and passed through hundreds of generations and presented by numerous beliefs, notions and other patterns • Communication influenced by cultural differences • Cultural shock, Cultural awareness • Preparation • Workshops, Courses, Individual consultations