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CONTENTS
PART I
1 INTRODUCTION1
PART 2
2 CULTURE AND WORK COMMUNICATION 15
ix
x CONTENTS
PART 3
3 INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION AT WORK 153
Glossary 251
Further Reading 260
Index 261
List of Figures and Tables
Figures
1.1 A behavioural model of interpersonal communication 5
1.2 A behavioural model of interpersonal communication
showing the relationships with intrapersonal factors 5
1.3 A behavioural model of interpersonal communication showing the
direct and indirect influences of mode and context on interaction 6
1.4 Factors that make interpersonal work communication complex 6
1.5 Aspects of the enterprise affected by culture 9
1.6 Factors increasing the importance of diversity at work 10
A How (sub)cultural differences affect factors that influence work
communication practices 16
2.1 Key ideas of theorists for whom communication is central to culture 19
2.2 How the process of social influence leads an individual to imbibe culture 21
2.3 A behavioural model of interpersonal communication showing
the influence of culture 25
3.1 Links of Schwartz’s (2000) cultural values to managers’ work behaviour 33
3.2 World Values Survey findings for ten countries 34
4.1 Types of organizational culture and their characteristics (Hofstede 1981) 47
4.2 Cultural and other factors correlated negatively ↓ and positively ↑
with national corruption levels 51
5.1 Aspects of work communication affected by culture 56
5.2 Core elements of communication behaviour that are
influenced by culture 56
5.3 Gibson and Manuel (2003) communication model showing the impact of
culture at the different stages 61
5.4 Restricted and elaborated codes 61
5.5 The anxiety-uncertainty management process 65
5.6 Face maintenance in Japan 67
5.7 Conversational constraints and choice of interaction strategy 70
5.8 Cultural attributes linked to high virtual-team performance
on a programming task 77
6.1 Cultural differences in communication behaviours and the
psychological factors and processes that may affect these behaviours 85
6.2 Psychological influences on individuals’ work communication
behaviour that may differ across cultures 85
6.3 Culture, the ‘self’, other psychological constructs and overt communication 96
9.1 How people define an encounter as intergroup 157
xii
List of Figures and Tables xiii
Tables
3.1 Approaches to cultural difference 31
3.2 Cultural dimension scores for three countries 36
4.1 Examples of how cultural differences influence work behaviour 43
4.2 Effects of cultural values on work norms 43
4.3 Attitudes to risk in five Asian countries 44
4.4 Extent and nature of personalism and importance of hierarchy in
five Asian countries 45
4.5 Corporate governance in five Asian countries 45
4.6 Variations in employment-related practices across eight countries 46
4.7 Extent of personalism in employment and work relations in
five Asian countries 46
4.8 Innovation and creativity in five Asian countries 47
4.9 Corruption in five Asian countries 52
5.1 Cultural differences in communication goals and strategies 64
5.2 Individualism–collectivism and low-context/high-context face
negotiation processes 66
5.3 Deference behaviours in four Asian countries 69
5.4 Relations among different cultural values and communication styles 75
6.1 Cultural differences in psychological influences on communication
behaviour86
6.2 A comparison of types of regulatory focus 87
6.3 Work motivation patterns of employees in five Asian countries 88
6.4 Examples of cultural differences in psychological processes underlying
communication behaviour 99
7.1 Effects of culture on negotiation 106
xiv List of Figures and Tables
The authors and publisher would like to thank the following reviewers for their constructive feedback and suggestions for
the development of this textbook:
Alex Newman, Monash University, Australia
Daniel Lowensberg, University of Hull, UK
Farhad Hossain, University of Manchester, UK
Jens Graff, Umeå University, Sweden
Mingsheng Li, Massey University, New Zealand
Steven Breunig, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
xv
Preface
Intercultural work communication presents challenges boundaries for what we thought we knew, opens the way
and opportunities that both justify and demand study by for new knowledge.
anyone wishing to achieve effectiveness at work. Fourth, there have been new findings about how lan-
How people communicate at work is highly significant for guage, perhaps the pre-eminent cultural artefact, affects
individuals’ employability, career success and job satisfaction. communication, and how native speakers of different lan-
It is equally important for organizations’ effectiveness and, guages experience work interactions differently.
in the case of businesses, profitability. Furthermore, a high Fifth, things that may have been of importance for
and growing proportion of all work communication is with some time in the world of work have attracted more
people from different cultures and demographics. More than scholarly attention: the contributions and challenges of
half a century of cross-cultural research has firmly established the multicultural individual and cultural brokerage are
that there are differences in the ways that members of dif- two of these. There have also been further advances in our
ferent societies and societal groups behave, both in private knowledge of the impact of cultural diversity and fault-
life and at work. Culture is a highly important source of dif- lines. This new knowledge allows us to better understand
ferences in behaviour; gender, age, social class and so on are how the interaction is affected when members of several
other important sources. Communication is among the most cultures and demographics communicate, as opposed to
important types of behaviour in organizations, because it is those of one-on-one intercultural encounters.
essential for cooperation and coordination. It is undisputed As well as attempting to embrace these developments,
that there are cultural and demographic differences in how in the fourth edition of Communicating Across Cultures at
we communicate. Work we have tried to respond to suggestions from readers
In the fast-developing study of intercultural communi- of earlier editions. Previous versions of this book discussed
cation there have been several new or more thoroughly subcultures (gender, age) alongside cultures, and subcul-
investigated approaches since the publication of the third tural communication alongside cultural communication.
edition of this book. Perhaps the most significant is the Some students, we have learned, find this confusing. In
study of the impact of computer-mediated communica- the current edition, therefore, we have separated out the
tion (cmc) on intercultural communication and of culture material on subcultures and subcultural communication
on cmc. This field has now begun to produce findings that and placed it in a separate chapter in Part Two, Chapter
require and justify including this topic here. 8. Part One, which introduces the topics of interpersonal
Second, some disillusionment with grand models work communication and how it is affected by diversity, as
of cultural difference has set in, leading to a develop- well as a number of conceptual issues, covers both culture
ment which in the opinion of the authors is welcome: an and subculture. Part Three, which deals with barriers to
increase in country-by-country studies designed less to intercultural communication and how to overcome them,
test theories than to observe and report on realities on applies equally to both cultural and subcultural challenges.
the ground. Cumulatively these studies, it is hoped, will This text in effect operates at two levels: an accessible level
generate a mass of information on which new and more in the printed book, supplemented by opportunities for a
realistic theories can be based; in the meantime, they pro- deeper understanding either as a whole or on particular topics
vide valuable enrichment of our practical understanding in the Student Companion Website. This material is signposted
of how to communicate across particular cultures at work. in the text with a globe symbol, as in the example below:
Third, there has been an increase in replication in
other countries of studies first conducted in the USA, so 1.1.1 to see another definition of communication
that in some contexts, at least, it is no longer necessary and why the present authors prefer this one.
to assume that those US studies apply with equal force
in other cultures – that they are not culture-laden. This Thus together the book and Student Companion
development, while limiting our confidence in and setting Website provide supplementary material directly linked
xvi
Preface xvii
to the text to allow readers to explore particular topics its coverage. Nevertheless, it has proved possible to cover
in greater depth; if all these supplementary materials are adequately most topics needed for an understanding of
accessed, the two together allow a quite advanced reading intercultural communication and to provide guidance on
of the subject. Other features of the student website are applying these understandings at work. The underpin-
suggestions on the within-text questions, referrals to vid- nings of cultural theory, psychology, social psychology,
eos and a small number of self-completion questionnaires. communication studies and interactive behaviour are
There is also a Teachers’ website that gives a rationale touched on, but readings such as those given in Further
of the chapters, answers to and comments on many of the Reading are needed for full comprehension.
end-of-Part questions, a course outline with lecture and Each of the 11 chapters contains a summary as well as
tutorial topics including PowerPoint slides, and sugges- the core sections. The questions and exercises at the ends
tions for which exercises go with that topic. of Parts Two and Three offer a range of learning opportu-
nities, including case analyses, group discussions and role
plays. A Glossary is provided, which supplies explanations
A NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY of terms not always explicated in the text. These terms are
displayed in the following font on first use: intercultural
References in the text to cultures and subcultures as dis- communication.
tinct concepts use the terms without brackets. To cover
the combined concepts, the terms ‘(sub)culture’ and ‘(sub)
cultural’ are generally used; however, when referring to com-
OVERVIEW
munication and interactions between members of different
groups, we prefer the term ‘intercultural’, to avoid the clum- The book is divided into three major topics:
siness of ‘inter(sub)cultural’. Similarly, we use ‘cross-cultural’
rather than ‘cross(sub)cultural’ for comparisons. To refer to • Part One, Introduction, covers core issues about why we
members of groups other than a communicator’s own, we study work communication, culture and intercultural
generally use the terminology, which is gradually becom- communication and what these topics consist of.
ing current, of ‘different others’, and to capture the quality • Part Two, Culture and Work Communication, analyses
of their difference, ‘otherness’. However, certain intercultural diversity at work in terms of cultures (societies with
communication theories use the term ‘strangers’ instead of a shared way of life). It also analyses cultural similari-
‘different others’ and where that is so, the author’s original ties and differences in work behaviour, organization
terminology is retained. Again, we generally use the term and management, how we communicate at work, and
‘interpersonal’ to mean ‘between people’. However, in some examines cultural influences on the psychological fac-
writings on intercultural communication ‘interpersonal’ tors such as motives, and on processes such as percep-
is used in contrast to ‘intergroup’ and ‘intercultural’, in the tion, that influence communication. It then explores
sense that an encounter, even between only two people, may cultural differences in some important work activities,
occur on an intergroup or intercultural level, so that when including negotiating, cooperation, coordination and
these elements are absent the interaction takes place on an knowledge sharing, working in groups and leadership.
interpersonal level. Again, in these cases we follow the ter- A final chapter in this Part applies a similar analysis to
minology of the writer but try to make the difference clear. subcultures (subdivisions of societies such as gender
Labels for societal groups are always problematic – the and age groups that have some, but not all, the charac-
subject is discussed in the section on inclusive language in teristics of a culture).
Chapter 10. The term ‘minority’ is often used not literally, but • Part Three, Intercultural Communication at Work,
defined as a group in a subordinate position irrespective of shows how the cultural differences that were estab-
relative size; for example, it can be applied to women in Britain lished in Part Two, and other factors such as prejudice,
or Black people in South Africa, both of whom are numeric impede effective intercultural work communication.
majorities. This usage can be sensitive because of its sugges- It then shows how these impediments can be over-
tion of subordinate status, but in the absence of any other come and intercultural work communication be made
accepted general term and because it is adopted by the UK effective. A final chapter describes how to achieve
Commission for Racial Equality, it is the term we have used. effective intercultural performance in work activities
including negotiating, cooperation, coordination and
knowledge sharing, working in groups and leadership.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
As far as possible, this book is based on research material. To access the Companion Website please visit www.pal-
Because the field is still a young one, this necessarily limits gravehighered.com/guirdham-cac-4e
part
1
INTRODUCTION
P art one consists of one chapter, Chapter 1, which has three main purposes: to begin describing what intercultural
work communication is by clarifying ‘work communication’, ‘culture’ and ‘intercultural communication’ itself;
to substantiate the claim that intercultural communication at work is of great and growing importance; and to
substantiate the further claim that it is not unproblematic and so requires and justifies study and skill development. The
chapter also contains our model of interpersonal communication itself.
1
1
Why is it worth studying how people communicate at demographic changes (ageing of populations); and the
work? Some readers may feel that since communicating global connectivity that has led to globalization of eco-
is something we have been practising since childhood, nomic activity.
this, at least, among the many things that we need to When people from different societies and demograph-
learn, can be taken for granted. However, there is clear ics work together, the situation is one of diversity. As Sec-
evidence that a few people all of the time, some people tion 1.5 explains, diversity at work continues to increase.
much of the time, and everyone some of the time, are Demographic differences are important for work com-
poor work communicators and that the consequences munication because they lead to differences in behaviour,
are damaging both for them and their organizations. All including communication behaviour, and in the underly-
communication is error-prone: it is liable to lead to mis- ing values, beliefs and attitudes that influence how peo-
understanding or even conflict when senders encode ple behave. We call these differences in behaviour, values
their messages inaccurately, transmission failures occur, and so on ‘cultural’ differences when they apply to people
or receivers who are inattentive or emotionally aroused from different nationalities/ethnicities and ‘subcultural’
decode inaccurately. These problems can arise even differences when they apply to people of different ethnici-
between two people from identical backgrounds and ties or religions within nations, or of different genders, age
who have a large measure of shared experience. More groups and so on either within or across countries.
positively, there is also clear evidence that high-quality As Section 1.6 shows, intercultural communication
work communication enhances the effectiveness of at work is growing in both amount and importance: there
every work activity from decision-making to negotiating, is exponential growth in the numbers of people in regu-
selection interviewing to teamwork, while also support- lar or occasional contact with ‘different others’ for work
ing individuals’ careers and job satisfaction. Section 1.1 purposes. Communicating workers’ nationality, ethnic-
demonstrates these points. ity, religion, gender and age group now differ markedly.
The core model for interpersonal communication in Communication problems are exacerbated when the
this book is a behavioural model. Section 1.2 explains this people who interact are from different backgrounds.
model. People from different cultures (nationalities/ethnicities)
A book of this kind, which aims not just to impart and subcultures (minority ethnic and religious groups
knowledge, but also to help readers begin the process within nations, genders, age groups, sexual orientations
of gaining skill in communication, needs a foundation or levels of [dis]ability) may communicate differently and
in what skilled communication is. Section 1.3 provides may have differences of attitudes or beliefs. Intercultural
a breakdown of various models of communication that communication skills are needed to avoid and overcome
have been provided by scholars. difficulties caused by these differences.
Why is it worth studying intercultural work communi- An extraordinary change has come over interpersonal
cation? The reason is that a plethora of factors has vastly work communication since around 1990. The inter-
increased both the amount and the importance of the net revolution means that a very high proportion of all
communication that takes place at work between ‘differ- work-related interaction takes place by email, instant
ent others’ (meaning people from different backgrounds messaging, video links, mobile telephone, texting and
in terms of nationality, ethnicity, gender, age group, reli- social media. These modes of communication, which are
gion and so on). These factors, which are described in together called computer-mediated communication
Section 1.4, include a huge increase in the amount of eco- or cmc, are both affected by and affect how people from
nomic activity in the southern and eastern hemispheres different cultures communicate; cmc vastly increases the
of the globe; urbanization of populations; widespread total amount of intercultural communication. It can also
3
4 INTRODUCTION
change the character of that communication. The links business executives reported that in making recent pro-
among cmc, culture and intercultural communication at motion decisions, they had placed a great deal of weight
work are introduced in Section 1.7. on candidates’ interpersonal skills.4
Interpersonal work communication needs to be skilled There is clear evidence that organizations should
both because it is important and because it is complex. value skilled work communication. For instance, trust in
One definition of interpersonal communication is both top management and an immediate supervisor is
the following: ‘Message exchange between two or more strongly related to the amount of information commu-
participants which is characterized by the intentional, nicated to organizational members. In turn, perceived
conscious (at some level of awareness) use of mutually trust in management is strongly related to organizational
intelligible symbol systems.’1 effectiveness.5 This finding remains significant across
diverse organizations, industries and geographic loca-
1.1.1 to see another definition of tions. Again, as a literature search reported, ‘Communi-
communication and why the present authors cated knowledge is viewed as probably the single most
prefer this one. important source of competitive advantage into the
21st Century.’6 Since competitive advantage yields above
At work, communication is essential for coordi- normal financial performance,7 it follows that there is a
nating activities; coordination is fundamental to strong positive relationship between effective and effi-
organization. Work communication also leads to under- cient communication for knowledge transfer and finan-
standing or misunderstanding and to good or poor work cial performance.8
relationships. One important perspective on organizations regards
The significance of any activity at work can be judged them as actually constituted by communication. This
by the amount of time employees spend at it, and by ‘communicative constitution of organizations’, or CCO,
its impact on how effectively and efficiently the work is perspective, identifies four forms of communication as
carried out, on job satisfaction and career success for constituting organizations:
individuals, and on profits or other measures of results
for organizations. By all these measures, communication • membership negotiation: a form of direct or indi-
is one of the most important work activities, especially rect communication with others, such as the
in modern, service-oriented, team-based organizations. reinforcement of ‘mission’ on existing members/
Many writers on organization now acknowledge the cen- employees
tral role of communication and there is a large literature • organizational self-structuring: mentions of official
devoted to it.2 internal procedures, policies and feedback
In order to compete, modern organizations need • activity coordination: internal work processes such as
to tap the creativity, expertise and know-how of all tasks and protocols
their employees. This places a premium on interper- • institutional positioning: a form of external communi-
sonal communication. There is considerable evidence cation which negotiates relationships with other com-
that both individual achievement in organizations and panies and institutions.9
organizational effectiveness are closely related to the
interpersonal communication abilities of staff. Business Give examples of communications that fit into
executives consider soft skills (also known as people each of these categories. In which is most
skills) and personal qualities very important attributes in interpersonal work communication likely to take
job applicants. Employers want employees to have strong place?
soft skills as well as hard skills. When hiring new gradu-
ates, employers place the highest importance on soft 1.1.3 for more on the importance of skilled
skills, a study published in 2013 found.3 In 2011, senior US communication at work.
SOME KEY CONCEPTS 5
Person A Person B
Interaction
Self-presentation Self-presentation
1.2 A
BEHAVIOURAL MODEL As Figure 1.2 shows, interlocutors’ prior motives,
OF INTERPERSONAL e motions and attitudes influence how they perceive one
another, how they self-present and their behaviours dur-
COMMUNICATION ing interactions. Moreover, unless it is a first encounter
Figure 1.1 shows the basic model that describes interper- with this interlocutor, they bring with them their beliefs
sonal communication in terms of the processes that are and perceptions of that person from previous experience
involved. The elements of this model – understanding with them. During their interaction, however, both partici-
others (or social perception/social cognition), self- pants may learn more by the process of social perception,
presentation (outward communication) and interaction and this learning may (or may not) lead them to adjust
(which adds responding to spontaneous outward commu- their understanding about the other and the situation,
nication) – underpin the whole book. and consequently their motives, emotions, beliefs and
As Figure 1.1 shows, each person participating in a con- attitudes.
versation or correspondence with one other person uses
his or her understanding of the other to present himself or Complete the questionnaire given at 1.2.1,
herself in what he or she judges to be an appropriate way. discuss some aspect of your work or studies with
This self-presentation is effected through interaction with someone you do not know well, then recomplete
the other person, who is simultaneously performing the the questionnaire without looking at the original
same processes. version and see how much has changed.
However, people do not enter interactions as blank slates.
They bring to the interaction their prior motives, emotions, Figure 1.3 shows the influences of two more variables.
beliefs and attitudes. Figure 1.2 shows the relationships of these These are communication mode (face-to-face [ftf] or the
variables to the processes that occur during an interaction. various forms of computer-mediated communication [cmc])
Figure 1.2 A behavioural model of interpersonal communication showing the relationships with intrapersonal factors
Person A Person B
Figure 1.3 A behavioural model of interpersonal communication showing the direct and indirect influences of mode and context on
interaction
Person A Person B
COMMUNICATION MODE
COMMUNICATION CONTEXT
and context (work), that are particularly important for this different modes to communicate: face-to-face, telephone
book and that both affect interaction directly and affect the including mobile, voicemail, email, text, instant messaging
social perception and self-presentation of the participants. and social media. They must also adjust their message and
style appropriately for each different mode. This means
1.2.2 to see a different diagram depicting that a new communication skill set is required and that
these relationships. adaptations are needed to make both the older and the
new modes function effectively separately and together.
Communication modes
New technologies have increased interpersonal com- Communication contexts
munication opportunities but also their complexity. All communication is complex; work communication is less
Now people must choose the most appropriate among complex in some ways, more complex in others, than, for
Diversity of participants
Organizational culture
‘Voice’ of minorities
Work group culture
History of past
interactions
Conflicting attitudes, Expectation of future
suppressed emotions, interactions
mixed motives
Pressure from
‘constituents’ and
stakeholders
SOME KEY CONCEPTS 7
instance, informal conversations with friends or family. Focus 3 Presence (during a conversation being aware of
on tasks reduces work communication complexity by gen- when a topic is ‘going nowhere’, of when it is time
erally excluding certain topics such as personal wishes and to change the topic; and paying attention to how
emotions from explicit consideration, but the factors shown others are reacting to what is said).
in Figure 1.4 increase the complexity of work communication. 4 Reflecting (after a conversation thinking about
your performance and how to improve it and about
what the other person thought of you).
1.2.3 for a detailed explanation of what these
5 Consequence (thinking generally about how others
factors mean.
might interpret what you say and how what you say
may affect others).12
This model is put forward by cognitive communication
1.3 COMMUNICATION theorists.
COMPETENCE
• A third model argues that competence is grounded
Clearly any work on communication needs a frame- in rational efficiency, rather than just effectiveness,
work that allows an examination of whether or not any that ‘Given a desired end, one is to choose that
particular piece of communication or episode has been action which most effectively, and at least cost,
effective. ‘Communication studies should aim to explain attains the end.’13 In other words, both inputs and
what works and what does not work in various situations; outputs must be considered in assessing communi-
behavior that is typical may not be effective.’10 The frame- cation strategies. Effectiveness is an ‘output’ consid-
work offered by the communications literature is mainly eration; it focuses on the results of the strategy used
in terms of communication competence. and not on what effort or other resources it takes
Competence implies being adequate to preserve a rela- to employ a strategy. Conversely, efficiency focuses
tionship within a desired definition, such as a ‘good’ work- on both inputs and outputs; it considers the effort
ing relationship, but not necessarily to do more than that. and resources that are used to achieve a given result.
Perfect communication is probably unattainable. This model is adopted by writers on communication
There is a range of understandings of communication strategy.
competence:
• One model includes a capacity for using language. 1.3.1 for explanations of linguistic pragma-
However, situations do not all make identical tists, cognitive communication theory and
demands on language, so competence must be evalu- communication strategy.
ated in terms of some particular social circumstance.
Communication requires both linguistic knowledge There is an alternative view of communication com-
(for instance, participants must attach similar mean- petence that it consists, not in the attributes or perfor-
ings to the messages transmitted) and nonlinguistic mance of an individual, but in a given interaction.14 That
knowledge. A minimal requirement for competence is to say, communication competence can be measured
is that the individual is being cooperative – that is, situationally rather than dispositionally, as particu-
makes his or her contributions as and when needed, lar to a given encounter instead of as a property of an
according to the purposes of the interaction.11 This individual. Cupach and Spitzberg (1983) showed that
model is advocated by linguistic pragmatists. these are separate variables.15 They also found that situ-
• Another model defines competence in terms of the ational measures of competence predicted ‘feel-good’
mental processes required to achieve effective and reactions after an encounter better than dispositional
efficient communication. Duran and Spitzberg (1995) measures. According to this view, an individual may be
found the following mental processes linked to com- socially skilled, but only particular communication rela-
munication competence: tionships will be competent. This is because even the
1 Planning (thinking before a conversation what peo- most skilled individual will certainly experience some
ple might be going to talk about, mentally prac- failures of communication, and even the most unskilled
tising what to say, during a conversation thinking will certainly experience some successes when they
about what topic to discuss next). find people with whom they are congruent. However,
2 Modelling (watching who is talking to whom when according to these theorists the term ‘effectiveness’ can
first entering a new situation, trying to ‘size up’ the still be used for analysis of communication relation-
event; generally, studying people and being aware ships, ‘skill’ for the performance of each of the partici-
of people’s interests). pating individuals.
8 INTRODUCTION
What are the main points of agreement and 4 A global expansion of telecommunications connectivity
disagreement between these understandings of is enabling huge growth in work-related interpersonal
communication competence? Which of them do contact within and between organizations, but is also
you prefer and why? supporting other trends that reinforce the amount of
that communication. These trends include offshoring,
virtual teams, the application of social networking to
work and the growth of world trade, especially in services.
1.4 FACTORS INCREASING 5 During the late 20th and early 21st centuries, work-
forces in many parts of the world became increas-
THE AMOUNT OF WORK ingly diverse – that is, they came to be composed of
COMMUNICATION WITH people from many different national and ethnic back-
‘DIFFERENT OTHERS’ grounds, of women to nearly the same degree as men
and to include more people who are differently-abled.
Technological change, a shift in the geography of
Workforces also came to reflect legal recognition that
economic activity, global population ageing, an
people are entitled to differing sexual orientations,
increase in flows of people, trade and communica-
religious affiliations and family structures. The exten-
tion, together with the growth of service business
sion of working age limits and the cumulative effects
and the entry of women and other groups into work-
of the open labour market also expanded the diver-
forces are greatly expanding the range of people of
sity of people at work in regions such as Europe.
different nationalities, ethnic groups, gender, age and
culture that most people communicate with through According to an article published in 2015, nearly
their work: 40 million Muslim women joined the global labour
1 An eastward and southward shift is occurring in where force in the previous ten years: among them, 9 mil-
economic activity is centred. As recently as the year lion in the Arab world, 8 million in Indonesia, 7
2000, 95 per cent of the world’s largest international million in Pakistan, 7 million in Bangladesh, 2 mil-
companies were headquartered in developed econo- lion in Turkey, and 1 million in Malaysia. Many of
mies, but by 2025 nearly half of companies with rev- these women are well educated: in Algeria, Bah-
enues of $1 billion or more will be based in emerging rain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi
markets. Furthermore, it is predicted that nearly half Arabia, and Tunisia, university-enrolment rates for
of global economic growth will come from 440 mainly women now exceed those for men. In Egypt, there
second- and third-tier cities in the emerging markets. were three women for every four men in univer-
The participation of these centres in business will sity a decade ago. Today, those numbers are nearly
greatly increase the amount of work-related intercul- equal. In Saudi Arabia, the university gender gap
tural communication.16 was closed ten years ago, but the absolute numbers
2 A huge increase is taking place in the pace of tech- are also rising: of all women in the university age
nological innovation and adoption, for the first time bracket today, about 50 per cent actually attend,
including that majority of the global population that compared with 30 per cent a decade ago.19
lives in emerging markets. Processing power, connec-
tivity and the data revolution, which places unprec- This article is entitled ‘Women in the Muslim
world taking the fast track to change’. Do you
edented amounts of information in the hands of
agree with the statement in this title? Why or
consumers and businesses, is bringing about a funda-
why not?
mental shift in where, when, what, how and how much
people communicate.17 6 The global population is ageing and its size may soon
3 Flows of people, trade and communication are increas- plateau. By 2013, 60 per cent of the world’s population
ing exponentially and are growing particularly fast in lived in countries with fertility rates below the replace-
regions of the world where previously they were low: ment rate of 2.1 per woman. This will lead to a change
more than a billion people crossed borders in 2007; in the age composition of workforces, as pensionable
south-south trade doubled its share of world trade retirement ages shift to later in life and organizations
between 2005 and 2015. Again, ‘Twenty years ago, less turn to older workers to maintain the size of their
than 3% of the world’s population had a mobile phone; workforces. Markets for goods and services aimed at
now two-thirds of the world’s population has one and older people will grow; those for products aimed at the
one-third of all humans are able to communicate on young, like fashion, will shrink. Customer- and client-
the internet.’18 facing personnel will find themselves communicating
SOME KEY CONCEPTS 9
with buyers of a different age-profile to those they may There are many different understandings of culture.
have been working with up to now.20 These will be discussed in Sections 2.1 and 2.2, but for now
we will use the term to mean a society or social system
Rank these six factors in order of what you think from the point of view of its members’ shared beliefs and
are their importance for increased contact at preferred ways of doing things.
work with ‘different others’. Explain your reasons. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the trends
described in Section 1.4 substantially increased the need
to adapt for cultural difference at work: it started to
1.4.1 for more about the trends that have become a major concern of general management, market-
increased the amount of contact and com- ing and human resource management. Among the reasons
munication with ‘different others’ that people was the rapid growth in the amount of contact among
experience at work. ‘different others’ at work, noted above. Another was the
demonstration by researchers that from the point of view
of work the significant differences among ‘different others’
include cultural differences as well as those of language,
1.5 T
HE GROWING IMPORTANCE education and experience. Researchers also showed for
OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY AT the first time that cultural differences between modern
WORK societies are profound, significantly affect how people
behave, may be less amenable to training or re-training
At work, as a result of the trends described in 1.4, indi-
than other sources of difference and are not disappearing,
viduals are now likely to interact with a highly diverse
so that the ‘investment’ to adjust for them is worthwhile.
range of people as colleagues, subordinates, managers,
In the words of one author: ‘Culture pervades and radiates
clients, patients, customers, students, professional advis-
meanings into every aspect of the enterprise.’22
ers and other service providers, sales representatives and
Figure 1.5 depicts some ‘aspects of the enterprise’
other interface workers. Diversity here refers to differ-
affected by culture.
ences in nationality, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual
orientation, age, education, social class or level of (dis)
1.5.1 for examples of ‘aspects of the enterprise’
ability.
affected by culture.
The diversity described in the paragraph above is mainly
demographic. There is some agreement that demographic
Internal communication was identified as the HRM
factors are important primarily for their effects on psy- (human resource management) practice most
chological factors, such as values, beliefs and attitudes and sensitive to cultural difference in a study that ana-
thus on behaviour, including communication behaviour. lysed data from 19 countries (Australia, Austria,
As the time that group members work together increases, Denmark, Finland, France, former East Germany,
the effects of surface-level diversity (demographic and former West Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel,
physical differences) diminish, whereas those of deep-level Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain,
diversity (attitudes, beliefs and values) increase, according Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK). The
to Dansby and Knouse (1999).21 This section makes the HRM practice least sensitive to cultural influences
case for linking diversity with culture and cultural differ- was found to be rewards and benefits.23
ences in attitudes, beliefs, values and behaviour in the con-
text of work. How would you explain these findings?
The concept of diversity embraces not only national more interaction among employees of different func-
cultural differences, however, but also those of ethnic- tional backgrounds.
ity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, education,
social class or level of (dis)ability. In the words of Tovey 1.5.2 for more about equal opportunities laws
(1997), ‘discussions of cultural diversity or multicul- and organizational diversity practices.
turalism should not be limited to cultures of a foreign
country only. They should also include an understand- The level of diversity in an organization perceived by its
ing of the diversity within one culture.’24 Subcultures employees may be as important an influence as its actual
are groupings that exist within or cut across cultures – level, but these perceptions may differ from group to
‘French women’ or ‘women’ respectively, for example. group. Gender and racial/ethnic differences were found in
The meaning of subculture will also be discussed in the diversity perceptions of 2,686 employees of an elec-
Section 2.2. tronics company located in a multicultural community.
From about 1960, diversity in domestic organiza- Caucasian men perceived the organization as more fair
tions became a growing concern, ‘as more and more and inclusive than did Caucasian women or racial/ethnic
minorities are brought into domestic work forces’, and minority men and women; Caucasian women and racial/
fairness concerns and pressure from minority groups ethnic minority men and women saw more value in, and
led many countries to pass equal opportunities legisla- felt more comfortable with, diversity than did Caucasian
tion and later to a trend of valuing diversity. Valu- men.26
ing diversity in the workplace ‘is about recognizing, Studies have found both positive and negative
valuing, and managing people’s differences and about effects of workforce diversity on performance. Some
sharing power and communicating’. Valuing workplace have shown that group diversity both enhances and
diversity focuses on ‘empowering people of all kinds diminishes task performance. The negative effects
to develop and contribute their own unique talents may result from poor management of diversity. Work-
to solving our business problems’, rather than having ing with diversity is intrinsically more demanding
employees ‘give up their own ethnic, gender, or indi- but good diversity management can enhance overall
vidual identities to be successful’.25 Heightened concern performance.27
with diversity stems not only from the growing pres- Figure 1.6 summarizes the factors that have increased
ence of women and minorities in the workforce, but the importance of diversity at work and so the impor-
also from modern organizational strategies that require tance of intercultural work communication.
Increased workforce
Globalization
diversity
Growth in
Increased emphasis on
importance Growth in
individuals and teams
of cultural offshoring
instead of structures
diversity
at work
Increased management Increased person-to-person
concern with international contact
the social aspects of work
Widespread growth of
service businesses
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Fig. 278.—Well-developed tuberculosis of the
mediastinal lymphatic glands. PG, Left lung; PD,
right lung; Œ, œsophagus; A, posterior aorta; T,
tuberculous lymphatic glands.
SWINE FEVER.[9]