Cross - Cultural Communication Paper. Management Essay

Cross- Cultural Communication
Name
Institution
Cross- Cultural Communication
The Chinese culture is intriguing and comparing it to the U.S. culture will make this assignment more interesting. Understanding the cultural differences between the Chinese and Americans is important, especially for leaders and business people as it enhances cross-cultural communication. The first cultural difference stems from the communication styles used by the Chinese and Americans. The Chinese have a high-context, collectivistic culture which encourages them to be less direct (Garcia, Pierce, Cooper, & Sanchez, 2019). In Chinese culture, being indirect is viewed as a respectful and polite communication tactic. Any direct communication is viewed as a form of aggression by the Chinese and is usually unwelcome. Americans have an individualistic, low-context culture that encourages them to be more direct and to explicitly communicate their ideas or opinions (Garcia et. al, 2019). To Americans, being direct is a show of confidence and assertiveness. 
           The second cultural difference is about the importance attached to the hierarchy. In the U.S., companies do not place much importance on hierarchy because the organizational structures are mostly flat (Cunningham, 2019). Thus, all employees have access to their leaders and can also question the decisions of the leaders due to their open-door policy. American leaders allow their employees to compete for positions because they believe in democracy even in the workplace. However, in China, hierarchy is given a lot of importance and employees have to stay in their place within the structure, only reporting to those directly above them (Cunningham, 2019). Leaders are treated with respect and employees are not allowed to challenge their leaders about the decisions made within the workplace.  
           Third, when it comes to negotiating, the U.S. and China apply different approaches because of their cultural differences. American business leaders tend to focus more on getting to the point a...