It was back in 1992 when David Victor published his LESCANT model of International Business Communication. I still use it today because it seems to be the best way to categorize cultural differences. The acronym LESCANT stands for Langage, Environment, Social Organization, Context, Authority, Non-Verbal, and Time. What follows is a brief powerpoint slide presentation where I have summarized some of the major points of the LESCANT model.
Victor, David A. 1992. International Business Communication. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
Tags: LESCANT
South Korea 2020 
February 6, 2009 at 1:49 am |
During the LESCANT discussion, I found the topic of Context to be one that hits very close to home. Before I had traveled to other continents, I had preconceived notions that people from certain countries weren’t as friendly…but I observed the differences in “politeness strategy” and other similar communication styles.
I remember an example from my undergrad experience that if you ask a German “How are you?”, they will tell you about their sicknesses, sore shoulder, or any other ailments, whereas we Americans like to ask but are really just being polite and don’t always care to hear how the person is doing.
People that I have met from Sweden, Norway, Germany, and even France (yes, the French have a reputation as being rude…but isn’t some of that just a different way of communicating?) have turned out to be some of the nicest people I have met in my travels, yet they definitely don’t “sugar-coat” anything. Unlike us Americans, they seem to me to be more direct communicators and don’t say many things that they do not absolutely mean.
I believe you said in class that Germany was the lowest context country in the world, and that makes a lot of sense. I have met some wonderful Germans, but I can see how someone from a high-context country would think of them as rude by opposite standards.
It really helps to understand context when one interacts with people from other parts of the world.