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1. High and Low Context Cultures

   Question 1

   High and low context cultures demonstrate differences in terms of the direction, focus and differences in their communication messages. In low context cultures, emphasis is placed on a low level of shared context between the communicators. Within these cultures, communication is efficient when it is clear and kept simple. The communicators in low context societies therefore find a lot of value in explicit communication. In her YouTube video, Meyer (2014) insists that the explicit nature of communication in these cultures are seen in the way that they execute commands or make requests so that people say what they exactly want without clothing it unnecessarily. In high context cultures on the other hand, there is emphasis on internalized meanings. What this means is that there is a high degree of reliance on context and shared meaning, including the use of nonverbal codes in communication. In the video mentioned above, Meyer characterizes this form of communication as leaning more towards the implicit, unspoken forms of communication.

   Question 2

   Silence communicates various things to people depending on the premium placed on it by various cultures. To me, silence communicates a degree of reflection, deep thought and even wisdom. I tend to believe that taking one’s time to reflect on an issue or think about a predicament in silence without necessarily talking out loud is an admirable reflective and problem-solving strategy. My interpretation of silence is tied partly to the virtues of my religion and culture where maintaining silence is a valued way of gaining insights especially from predicaments. I tend to associate those who are silent with being respectful, non-obnoxious and caring about the opinions of others, even if such opinions are conflicting with their own. The YouTube video Cultural Diversity (2014) associates low context communication with increased efficiency, but I believe silence achieves this efficiency just as much.

   Question 3

   The use of silence within my own culture is a good way of implicitly communicating to those from outside or within my own culture some messages I may not want to loudly communicate. In this regard, we can tie this aspect to Hall’s explanation of the use of direct and indirect messages (Lustig et al. p 70). In my own culture, silence is used to implicitly communicate ideas of deep thought, personal reflection, desire to be left alone or the disagreement with other people. I do not believe that I have to tell someone outright that they are wrong. I can implicitly communicate this through silence. Similarly, I do not have to tell someone that I would like to be left alone. Silence can powerfully communicate this on my behalffirst road was popular because it lacked grass, and the speaker opted to keep it for another day.

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Assessing Risk and Reward

The Nissan Motor Company is one of the leading automobile makers in the world. The Japanese carmaker has primarily enjoyed a successful run, allowing it to enter various regional and international markets such as the United States. However, the changing business environment was not favorable to the company in 2019. Notably, the cooperation recorded losses amounting to 7.8%. The experience pushed the management into making tough decisions, requiring almost all of its North American workforce to go for unpaid leaves.

In late 2019, the company announced that the decline in sales necessitated a two-day unpaid leave for the North American workers. The stated days for the vacation were January 2 and 3^rd    (Chicago Tribune, 2019).  Notably, this move was a crucial decision for the company because of its conflicting impacts. Whereas on the positive side, it could help the firm minimize expenses, it threatened to affect the public perception of the company regarding employee welfare.

The rewards for the decision involved cutting expenses by not paying the workers on leave, which eventually would translate into reduced expenses. Another reward was that the decision could allow the company to optimize performance by evaluating employee performances then developing new milestones. However, on the low side, the company risked affecting its public image and brand name, especially in the North American market. As per Chakravorti (2010), the way an organization treats its employees influences the firm’s public perception. Thus, Nissan risked eliciting a negative public perception. With a distorted public image, the company could fail to revive its declining sales.

I would have advised the management of Nissan to utilize the Predictive Analytic perspective in determining the right decision to take. Ideally, the approach tries to predict what might happen in the future if particular decisions or actions are undertaken at the moment (Traymbak & Aggarwal, 2019). Looking at the situation at Nissan, the company needed to develop a goal such as increasing sales. After that, they would have made decisions aimed at realizing the set goal. In this regard, the predicted outcome could give the management an overview of whether more risks existed or significant rewards could be realized.

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