1. Give examples of cross-cultural issues.

2. In what way should cultural stereotypes be handled?

3. Is there a difference between cultures and subcultures?

4. Explain the meaning of the term ‘cultural awareness’. Why is it important?

5. What advice would you give to a business visitor coming to Italy, the UAE, to Russia?

1. Give examples of cross-cultural issues.

An individual's cultural background will affect the specific way in which he or she sees the environment and also how the individual might show his or her feelings, emotion, distress, or conflict in behavior, thought or action. Therefore, culture will influence the experience of mental disorders and how they might present.

Miscommunication is the most popular example of cross-cultural issues.

Miscommunication across cultural lines is usually the most important cause of cross-cultural problems.

Miscommunication can be caused by several problems:

• differences in body language or gestures. The same gesture can have different meanings in different parts of the world. For example, Bulgarians shake their heads up and down to mean no. In addition, the way people count on their fingers is not universal: The Chinese count from one to ten on one hand, and eight is displayed by extending the thumb and the finger next to it. The same gesture is interpreted as meaning two in France and as pointing a gun in North America.

• different meanings for the same word. Like gestures, words can have different meanings or

connotations in different parts of the world. The French word "char" means Army tank in France and car in Quebec. The word "exciting" has different connotations in British English and in North American English. While North American executives talk about "exciting challenges" repeatedly, British executives use this word to describe only children’s activities (children do exciting things in England, not executives).

• different assumptions made in the same situation. The same event can be interpreted many different ways depending on where one comes from. For example, although the sight of a black cat is considered a lucky event in Britain, it is considered unlucky in many other countries particularly in Russia.

So in extreme cases, miscommunication can lead to casualties.