RESEARCH ON CULTURE AND PREPARING FOR THE INTERVIE
CONDUCTINGBACKGROUNDRESEARCHONCULTUREANDPREPARINGFORTHEINTERVIEWToprepareforyourinterview,readaboutthecountryandcultureofthepersonyou’reinterviewing.PleasemakesuretoalsohavereadErinMeyer’sTheCultureMapCh1-4,asthiswill help inform your research (particularly the scales).For this part of the assignment, you mustfind5sourcesonthatculturethatyoucanthenincorporateintoyourquestions.Usehighqualitysources,suchasErinMeyer’sTheCultureMap,theCIAWorldFactbook(https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/),andGeertHofstede’swebsite(https://geert-hofstede.com/)oranyscholarlyjournalonbusinesscommunicationandcustomsfromthatculture.Thesesourceswillhelpinformyourinterview,becausetheycanhelpyoucraftdeeperquestions.YoumayuseWikipediatoreadingeneralabouttheculture,butthisdoesnotcountasasource.Inpreparingfortheinterview,makesureyoufocusonwhatsomeonewouldneedtoknowaboutthatspecificforeignculturewhencommunicating.Inaddition,duringtheinterviewkeepyourantennaupforconcepts,customs,orspecificwords/languagethatmaybeunfamiliartoyou.BasedonyourresearchandreadingoftheMeyerbook,writealistofatleastteninterviewquestionsyouwouldliketoaskthatwillgetyouabettersenseofwhatanindividualwouldneedtoknowtoenterthatculture.Yourquestionsshouldhelprevealhowapersoninthatculturethinks,behaves,communicates,acts,andseestimeandspace.YourintervieweemaynotknowabouttheMeyerscales,soaskthemquestionsthatletyougetatthesehiddendimensionsoftheirculture.Partofthisrequiresthatyouanalyzetheiranswers,relatingtheanswerstotheMeyerscales.PART2:CONDUCTINGANDWRITINGUPTHEINTERVIEWTheinterviewmaytakeplacebySkypeorphone,butanin-personconversationisideal.Takenotesontheresponses,andtakesometimeimmediatelyaftertheinterviewtowriteupwhatwassaidandyourimpressions.Itisimportanttorecordthisdatawhenitisfreshandnottowaituntillater,whensomeofyourimpressionsandlearningmayhavefaded.PART3:WRITINGUPTHEINTERCULTURALASSIGNMENTMEMOSharewhatyouhavelearnedfromtheinterviewprocessinashortreport.Somequestionsyoumightconsiderwritinguptheanswersincludethefollowing:•Whatdidyoulearnfromyourpre-interviewresearchabouthowpeopleinthatculturethink,act,behave,communicate,act,andseetimeandspace?•Whatdidyoulearnthatwasnew,orhowdidtheinterviewdeepenyourunderstandingofthisspecificculture?•Whatdoyounowunderstandbetteraboutthecultureofthepersonyouinterviewed,and,basedontheideasoftheculturemap,howdoesitrelatetoyourownculture?•Whatconclusionscanyoutakeawayfromthisexperienceaboutinterculturalcommunicationorcommunicationingeneral?•Lastly,whichimportantthingsdoesapersonwhoisnotfromthatcultureneedtoknowtosuccessfullycommunicateandworkinthatculture?Inyourreport,writeupandstructuretheinformationyoufoundintosections(useheaderstosegmentsectionsandtopicsentencesinparagraphstomakebrainfriendlyinformation).Whileshortinlength,thereportshouldbeanin-depth,fullreportontheexperienceanditsimplications.Sourcesmustbeproperlycitedintextwithacombinationofreferencesandin-textcitationsaligningwithAPAconventions.FORMATANDGRADINGTheassignmentyouproduceshouldfollowmemoformatandbeabouttwopages.Besuretociteallofyoursources,includingthefullbibliographicinformationforeachsource.DoincorporatethescalesfromtheMeyerreadinganddiscusscommunicationpracticesofthatculture.(Avoidfocusingonlyonvisibleelements–instead,youshouldheavilyfocusoninvisibleelementsofculturethatfactorintocommunicationandbehavior).Yourmemoshouldutilizestructuringskills,suchassectionheaders,clearCLOUDparagraphswithtopicsentences,developingandsynthesizingideasfromothersourcesintoacoherentwhole,anddeterminingwhatisimportanttonoteintermsofinformingwhatsomeonefromaparticularculturewouldneedtoknowtocommunicatesuccessfullyintheforeigncultureyoustudied.Includefoursectionswithheadersinthememo:1)Introduction-introduceculture,setagendaformemo2)CultureCharacteristics-DiscusscultureandconnectiontoErinMeyer’sscales+incorporateyourresearchoncultureandcommunicationinthatculture.3)Interview–Discusswhatoccurredininterviewandconnectthistodrawoutspecificsofculture,connecttoMeyerculturescales4)Conclusion–Connectandconcludewhatapersonwouldneedtoknowtocommunicateandactinthisparticularculture.