Expanding Boundaries: Broadening Perspectives for Both Practitioner and Academic-Based Research (original) (raw)
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Managing Communication Challenges in Multicultural Organizations
International Journal of Media, Journalism and Mass Communications
Multiculturalism is a reality the way world is globalized in the social sphere, political system, economic landscape, geographical areas, and international relations. Multicultural organizations (MCOs hereafter)are omnipresent in the current economic system; and we are persistently surrounded by diverse cultures; therefore, workforce diversity is becoming the common feature of the MCOs. The size and number of the organizations operating across the globe is also growing very fast. Consequently, the diversity is more in the consumer base, client groups, and partners (Sudhiir and Sudhiir, 2016:95). An organization wherein the people of diverse culture work together in order to achieve certain common goals is known as a "multicultural organization." MCOs are the hubs of various cultures hailing from across the world. At the present time, these MCOs possess a larger proportion of organizational workforce throughout the world"s economy. Since this workforce has huge potential to organizations improving their effectiveness in the global business environment, they require deep understanding of mixed skills of employees from different nations.
Communication Challenges in a Multicultural Organization
Abstract: Communication that too effective communication is a tremendous challenge and a huge barrier that one comes across when working with people of different cultures in an organization during the best of times. The challenge that one has to face when working in an environment that is multicultural and with people of different backgrounds is just too mind-boggling. People who work in companies with multicultural environments are subject to communication barriers due to different cultural backgrounds thus engaging in different, varied types of communication. The ineffective or lack of communication as a result of diversity in the workplace can lead to the breakdown of the machinery, confusion among the workers, low morale, division and thus leading to lack of team work. The way we communicate like everything else is determined strongly by the culture we grow in and there are many aspects of the same that differ and this can have a major impact on others and our work balance. Today’s multicultural work place creates significant challenges to effective communication beyond the obvious barriers created by varying competence in the primary language of communication, which for global businesses and in the work place is English. Employees come from nations around the world thus the organization is faced with the challenge to ensure that their competencies are not buried under language and cultural barriers. Key Words: Culture, Communication, Multi-culturalism, Organization, Inter-cultural communication,
This study examines the personal opinions of Chinese employees working in a multicultural environment on the relationship between cultural diversity and the efficacy of their communication in a multicultural environment. To better understand the connection between cultural background and efficient business communication, we conducted a questionnaire survey in 2014 among 20 employees from a Chinese subsidiary of a European top global manufacturing company. Analyses showed that even if the respondents expressed negative effects of cultural differences on communication, they also manifested positive attitudes toward intercultural interactions. Moreover, ignoring or even disrespecting the different cultural values of interactants were regarded as basic barriers in intercultural communication, and such barriers can be avoided when a different cultural background is respected. Although cultural differences were considered to hinder the respondents' performance and often to be a source of dissatisfaction, they did not discourage them from entering into intercultural communication.
As the United States becomes increasingly diverse, organizations have recognized the need to hire individuals with the ability to communicate across culture lines. Based on a review of the cultural iceberg at http://www.hsp.org/files/culturaliceberg2.pdf, this paper considers the multiple layers of cultural identity (surface, folk, and deep culture) and addresses the following questions: (1) How does culture impact communication? and (2) Why might it be a good idea for all organizations to have diversity training to assist employees in this area?
The Fountain Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 2023
The purpose of the study was to review the literature on intercultural communication problems encountered in business organisations and discuss the implications of intercultural communication on organisational performance. The study was guided by the following research questions; how does intercultural communication in the workplace affect organisational performance; in what ways does intercultural communication affect business operations; and how can management foster multicultural communication to improve organisational efficiency? The study adopted an integrative review of literature conducted following the Seven-Step Model of critical literature review. This review was conducted on the backdrop of research on multicultural communication conducted at a communications company in Luanda, Angola. The data from the review indicated that multicultural communication problems are inevitable; hence management should implement strategies that help to increase the cross-cultural competencies of employees. The researchers proposed a new framework; the Intercultural Communication Analysis Model (ICAM) for analysing the impact of multicultural communication in an organisation. The model can be tested for practicality through empirical research.
2015
Multicultural workplaces are increasingly prevalent in the business environment of the twenty first century. Easier internet access and affordable travel have made us citizens of a boundary less world where intercultural contact is necessary and unavoidable. Organizations now need managers wt ho adapt in cultural diversity and communicate effectively to lead multicultural teams. Scholarly debate for defining culture has been extensive. Researchers have also given considerable thought for determining what constitutes intercultural communication competence (Brislin & Yoshida, 1994; Lustig & Koester, 2012; Martin & Nakayama, 2000). It is also worthwhile to consider the impact of two dimensions of anxiety and uncertainty management (Gudykunst, 2005), for assessing communication effectiveness of managers working in cultural diversity. Communication between strangers is characterized by a) limited amount of information about each other, b) ignorance of the means to reach a goal, and c) ignorance of the probable outcomes (Duronto, Nishida, & Nakayama, 2005). This 'not knowing' could be about a situation, about people or any other state of affairs. Uncertainty is created by our own preconceptions, largely depending on what we wish and are able to predict, and what we might be able to do about it (Marris, 1996). Uncertainty reduction is a cognitive process whereby the individual attempts to proactively predict the other's attitudes, values, feelings, beliefs and behaviors. The motivation to reduce uncertainty emerges when a) in anticipation of future interaction with the other, the person's needs stand to be satisfied, b) there is possibility of reward or punishment being administered, c) there is deviant or expected manner of behaving by the other person (Berger, 1979). 'Uncertainty' leads to 'anxiety'-an unpleasant emotional state characterized by subjective feelings of tension, apprehension and worry regarding a potentially negative outcome. Cognitively, anxiety may be said to be a state of heightened self-awareness, perceived helplessness and expectation of negative outcomes. Affectively, it is the manifestation of subjective feelings of distress, fear and discomfort. Behaviourally, a person's anxiety is characterized by hesitant, inhibited and disrupted actions. The management of uncertainty and anxiety is therefore central to our communication with strangers. 1 Mukherji and Jain: Scale measuring communication in cultural diversity Published by DigitalCommons@EMU, 2015 Literature Review Communication Effectiveness and Impact of Culture Communication is defined as "an evolutionary, culturally dependent process of sharing information and creating relationships in environments designed for manageable, cooperative, goal oriented behavior" (Wilson, Goodall, &Waagen, 1986, p.23). Researchers confirm that culture influences the manner in which people communicate and do business with each other (Beamer and Varner, 2008;
Culture and Communication in Multicultural Teams
Multicultural teams have become very common in recent years. With cross border mobility becoming much easier the number of people moving from one country to another has grown significantly. This has also led to more people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds intermarrying. Their children could be born and grow up in different countries and have hybrid cultural identities. Globalization and the advances in communication and transportation technology have reduced trade barriers and increased interaction among people. Is global homogeneity a feasible and desirable vision? Philosophically this would be very questionable. This would be immediately equated with suppression of differences and diversity, which are inalienable human rights. It can be argued that it would destroy cultures and diminish creativity. There are enough instances in human history e.g., the fate of the Native Americans or the Conquistador actions in South America, where one culture has by force exterminated other cultures. Then there are scores of other examples where aspects of cultures have blended through interaction e.g., India and the United States. Today, though genocides happen under our very eyes e.g., in the Balkans or in some parts of Africa, the prevailing models of cultures influencing others is mutual interaction, where there is ample room for retaining one's own cultural identity. As of the 2000 census, "minorities" have become the majority population in six of the eight largest metropolitan areas in the United States. Thus living with and managing diversity has become the central theme of this century.