Cross-Cultural Communication: Turkey and Germany

Paper Summary:

Cultural misunderstandings have doubtless occurred since the beginning of nationhood. Perhaps when communications were primitive and the world was a very large place, they were relatively unimportant. However, today, when communication is instant, the opportunities for misapprehension to cause global disaster are unprecedented. This paper shows that in terms of business, understanding other cultures may mean the difference between economic well-being and disaster. With Turkey's projected full integration into the European Union and its status as contributor of a great many of Germany's foreign workers, Turkey and Germany are two nations that have a pressing need to be certain each understands the other, politically and economically. The paper shows that it is therefore essential that each nation's business community take measures to understand the other. Little specific research vis-a-vis Germany and Turkey is available; however, vast stores of information are available regarding the communication types to which each nations belongs. In this paper, these have been winnowed to find the most appropriate rubrics under which to propose Germany and Turkey should could find common ground via their methods of communication.

From the Paper:

"Another very common verbal experience for Arabic speakers-and almost unheard of for Christians, particularly in a business setting-is the expression of God's will and protection to begin or end a message. "In many cultures, such as the Arab, African, and Anglophone Caribbean countries, it is usually common to start a statement by thanking God, expecting God's blessing, or God's will" (Ihator, 2000). Westerners would ordinarily find this to be distasteful, an unwarranted expression of religiosity in a business setting, while to the Arabic speaker, it is simply an attempt to establish common ground by affirming the universal and the omnipotence of a shared belief in God. In fact, in "Muslim countries, the opening paragraph of a business letter may invoke Allah's blessing on the reader and the reader's family members- particularly when the business is family-operated" (Ihator, 2000)."

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