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Chapter Eleven

Intercultural Communication and the Organization

Chapter Objectives

Explain why intercultural communication is essential for organizational success and communication.

Describe what is meant by culture in intercultural communication.

Identify barriers to effective intercultural communication.

Identify steps that can be used to overcome these barriers.

Discuss the Hofstede dimensions as they apply to organizational contexts.

Organizational Communication: Foundations for Business and Management, 2e Thomson, 2006 ©

Reasons to Study Intercultural Communication

We are a global village.
Information is readily available anywhere on earth.
The workplace is more diverse than ever before.
We must be able to interact with others here and abroad efficiently and appropriately.
Bottom line: Effective intercultural communication has become essential.

Organizational Communication: Foundations for Business and Management, 2e Thomson, 2006 ©

Three Reasons Effective Intercultural Communication is Essential

Mobility.

Time and distance are no longer factors in communication.

Economic and political interdependence.

The world’s markets and global concerns are dependent on effective communication.

Communication Technology

Increased technology has allowed us freedoms to communicate quickly, efficiently, and cheaply.

Organizational Communication: Foundations for Business and Management, 2e Thomson, 2006 ©

Defining Culture

Multiple perspectives are apparent in all of the following categories
Norms
Roles
Belief Systems
Values
Laws

Organizational Communication: Foundations for Business and Management, 2e Thomson, 2006 ©

Culture refers to the multiple perspectives a group has on the world and worldly phenomena.

Defining Culture

Culture is learned, not biologically transmitted. Enculturation occurs through:
Language
Nonverbal messages
Space and time orientation
Patterns for thinking
Self-images
Aesthetics
Culture is also modified by exposure to other cultures, which is called acculturation.

Organizational Communication: Foundations for Business and Management, 2e Thomson, 2006 ©

(continued)

Intercultural Communication

Refers to communication exchanges between people whose cultural perceptions and symbols must be managed for effective communication.

Organizational Communication: Foundations for Business and Management, 2e Thomson, 2006 ©

Intercultural Communication

Some examples of intercultural communication include:
An African-American speaking to a Caucasian.
A Jew speaking to a Muslim
A Cajun speaking to a Californian
A man communicating to a woman

Organizational Communication: Foundations for Business and Management, 2e Thomson, 2006 ©

Barriers to Effective Intercultural Communication

Perceptual disparity
Selective perceptions may lead to confusing or conflicting opinions.
What is taken for granted behavior in one culture could be considered disrespectful in another.

Organizational Communication: Foundations for Business and Management, 2e Thomson, 2006 ©

Barriers to Effective Intercultural Communication

Ethnocentrism
People tend to judge the behaviors of others based on their own cultural values that they believe are “right.”
An ethnocentric individual believes his or her ethnicity or ethnic perspective is superior to others.

Organizational Communication: Foundations for Business and Management, 2e Thomson, 2006 ©

Barriers to Effective Intercultural Communication

Language dissimilarity
Some researchers suggest that language shapes reality.
Slang, jargon, and other language barriers can impact message reception and understanding.

Organizational Communication: Foundations for Business and Management, 2e Thomson, 2006 ©

(continued)

Barriers to Effective Intercultural Communication

Nonverbal dissimilarity
Gestures, emblems, and other nonverbal behaviors may be judged differently or have different meanings in different cultures.

Organizational Communication: Foundations for Business and Management, 2e Thomson, 2006 ©

(continued)

Approaches to Multinational Expansion

Multinational organizations can be structured in different ways towards the cultures they are expanding into.
Adler 5 structural orientations multinational organizations use

Organizational Communication: Foundations for Business and Management, 2e Thomson, 2006 ©

Adler Structural Orientations of Multinational Organizations

Cultural dominance

Superimposing the culture to subsidiary offices.

Cultural accommodation

Attempting to accept and assume the cultural values of the host company.

Cultural compromise

Attempting to identify the divergent cultural orientations, but using only the similarities in the formation of policy.

Organizational Communication: Foundations for Business and Management, 2e Thomson, 2006 ©

Adler Structural Orientations of Multinational Organizations

Cultural avoidance

Pretending there are no differences between cultures.

Cultural synergy

A synergistic approach.
Policies are not superimposed by the parent organization.
Values of both cultures are managed, effectively creating a new culture.

Organizational Communication: Foundations for Business and Management, 2e Thomson, 2006 ©

The Hofstede Studies

Suggests that there are perceptual differences based on culture.
Implies that these perceptual differences can account for misunderstanding and intercultural tensions in organizational contexts.

Organizational Communication: Foundations for Business and Management, 2e Thomson, 2006 ©

The Hofstede Studies

Hofstede surveyed 116,000 employees in 72 nations to see if perceptions about work and work processes varied according to country and culture.
Differences were categorized in four groups.

Organizational Communication: Foundations for Business and Management, 2e Thomson, 2006 ©

(continued)

The Hofstede Studies

Uncertainty avoidance
High uncertainty avoidance cultures
seek more clarity and
less abstraction.

Organizational Communication: Foundations for Business and Management, 2e Thomson, 2006 ©

(continued)

The Hofstede Studies

Power distance
Employees in high power distant cultures
respect superiors and
disdain those who challenge them.

(continued)

The Hofstede Studies

Individualism vs. Collectivism
Relates to whether persons in the group value
free-spirited independence, or
community cooperation and compromise.

(continued)

The Hofstede Studies

Task vs. Social Orientation
Pertains to whether the dominant values of the society emphasize assertiveness or nurture.

(continued)

Cultural Extremes

Adapted from tables in Hofstede, Geert, Culture’s Consequences: Second Edition, Comparing Values, Behaviors, Instituations and Organizations Across Nations, Sage Publications, 2001, pp. 87, 151, 215, 286.

Suggestions for
Overcoming Barriers

Follow Prescriptions
Sometimes we have an idea about what to do, but find it hard to actually follow through.

Suggestions for
Overcoming Barriers

Learn about other cultures

Acquire multicultural competencies and skills including foreign languages.

Become students of worldwide human relations and values.

Think beyond local perceptions and transform stereotypes into positive views of people.

Become open and flexible in dealing with diversity.

Suggestions for
Overcoming Barriers

Recognize diversity within cultural groups.
People within cultures are also diverse.
Question stereotypes you have about people from a specific culture.

Suggestions for
Overcoming Barriers

Assume an egalitarian frame.
Be open to cultural differences.
Be aware of and question your own ethnocentric attitudes and beliefs.

Central Concepts

Because of the ease of travel, the pervasiveness of communication technology, and political/economic reliance on other countries,

it has become increasingly important to understand the effects of intercultural communication on organizational success.

Central Concepts

Organizational men and women need to examine the communication noises that affect intercultural interactions and
become dedicated to overcoming these obstacles when they communicate.