THE GLOBAL PROFESSIONAL:

SESSION 6

Intercultural Ethics
 OVERVIEW

Revisit the constructivist approach

Intercultural ethics

Assignment overview
 WHAT ’S HAPPENING HERE?
The Flu
SARAH: I was hoping we could have that meeting of the sales team tomorrow
morning.
FELICE: Actually my daughter has some kind of flu and I was going to take her to
the doctor tomorrow morning.
SARAH: I see. Well, let me check with Bob and see if he can sit in for you.
Shouldn’t be any problem. I’ll let you know.
FELICE: Thank you.
SARAH: Don’t mention it.
CULTURE IS NOT A ‘ THING’
 A N SW E RS F RO M T H E C U LT U R E ,
B R A I N & M I N D S C I E N C ES
P E RS P EC T I V E :

•Culture is patterns of behaviour and meaning.

•Culture is in our body, in our mind and in the

world.

•It is not what is culture but where.

COORDINATION OF MEANING & ACTION

(Bennett, 2016)
A Constructivist Approach to ‘Building’ Global Graduates
Cognitive dimension

Thinking about our

behaviours and
their impact on
others

Being able to Being able to

empathise and act with
regulate sensitivity to
emotions people from
according to other cultures
wider
worldview

Affective dimension Behavioural dimension

(Killick, 2018)
 ethicality is easy because
Positivism there is only one true
reality

truth depends on cultural

Relativism context, but there is still
only one underlying truth

alternate viable realities

Constructivism exist and we can have
empathic access to them
 POSITIVIST RELATIVIST CONSTRUCTIVIST
PARADIGM PARADIGM PARADIGM

“Facts” exist objectively “Facts” exist only in context “Facts” are constructed for a
purpose

A factual dispute is about the A factual dispute is really a A factual dispute is a result of
actual truth of the matter disagreement over viewpoints making the context into a thing

Argument is about finding the Argument is the selection of facts Argument is about the goodness
best and most objective evidence to create a more powerful of one context over another
narrative

Subjectivity is to be avoided Subjectivity is embraced as the Subjectivity and objectivity are

because it interferes with main tool for creating a narrative elements of a constructed method
rationality for discussing the truth of
opinions
Cultural Differences Cause Problems for KLM-Air France Merger
AN EXAMPLE

https://www.commisceo-global.com/blog/cultural-differences-troubling-air-france-klm-merger
MAPPING THE PARADIGMS AND THE DMIS

Ethnocentrism Ethnorelativism
Other cultures are viewed purely through the lens of and in comparison to my own Other cultures are viewed as alternative lenses on the world

Denial Defence Minimsation Acceptance Adaptation

Integration
5% 21% 66% 7% 1%

Positivism
Facts exist objectively. There is an absolute right and wrong

Relativism
Facts exist in context. Argument is the selection of facts

Constructivism
Arguments are
constructed for a purpose
and are about the
goodness of one context
over another
BECOMING THE CULTURAL BRIDGE PERSON
PERRY’S SCHEME
OF
ETHICAL
DEVELOPMENT
 The Perry Scheme of Ethical Development
CONTEXTUAL
RELATIVISM:
MULTIPLICITY: Knowing COMMMITMENT WITHIN RELATIVISM:
Uncertainty of demands Considered choices made in the face of
DUALISM: taking
Seeking truth multiple perspectives perspectives legitimate alternatives

Position 1 Position 2 Position 3 Position 4 Position 5 Position 6 Position 7 Position 8 Position 9

There is an There is an There are Everyone has a Beginning to Respect for Growing in Becoming Ambiguities
absolute truth – absolute right multiple right to their appreciate diverse ideas commitment courageous are a part of
rigid adherence and wrong. perspectives opinions, and diverse but have own to one’s own about the personal
to authoritarian Someone in so it isn’t even experts perspectives personal preferences work of self- identity,
views possible to
authority differ in their and can see preferences, reflection uncertainty is
possesses the easily dismiss opinion of convincing beginning to accepted as
correct answer someone as what is true elements in engage in part of life
wrong different reflective
points of view thinking

Where would you place the orientations of the DMIS along Perry’s scheme?
DENIAL DEFENCE MINIMISATION ACCEPTANCE ADAPTATION INTEGRATION
THE PERRY SCHEME OF ETHICAL DEVELOPMENT
1. Dualism: Facts – there are only right or wrong answers, there is just one correct
answer to be learned and I can learn this if you just tell me.
2. Multiplicity: Everyone has their own opinion and we’re all equal really so there may
be more than one answer or solution to a problem.
3. Relativism: All knowledge is relative and contextual, even experts are subject to
criticism. However, in some instances there may still only be one possible truth.
4. Commitment: Integrating knowledge from different sources with personal experience and
reflection. Learning what commitment means, making and examining the impact and
implications of choices and commitments. Recognising that acquiring knowledge is a lifelong
process of growth.
 WHAT ’S HAPPENING HERE?
The Flu
SARAH: I was hoping we could have that meeting of the sales team tomorrow
morning.
FELICE: Actually my daughter has some kind of flu and I was going to take her to
the doctor tomorrow morning.
SARAH: I see. Well, let me check with Bob and see if he can sit in for you.
Shouldn’t be any problem. I’ll let you know.
FELICE: Thank you.
SARAH: Don’t mention it.
 IN SU M M ARY
We must develop

• an understanding of the role of leadership in establishing a climate of respect for cultural

diversity.

• a constructivist understanding of “cultural experience” and “intercultural relations” that

allows us to empathise deeply with others while preserving our own identities and ethical
commitments.

• a recognition of the developmental aspect of intercultural sensitivity and ethicality, so that

we can approach living together in multicultural societies and the global village as an
ongoing adaptation to the social environment we are creating.
(Bennett, 2016, p.13)
A WIDER VIEW OF ETHICS

Yoshitaka Miike
 5 ASIACENTRIC PRINCIPLES OF INTERCULTURAL
COMMUNICATION ETHICS
The ethical communicator should:
Recognition and respect • Carefully and critically engage in her or his own cultural tradition
• Embrace the best of her or his cultural heritage while recognising and respecting others
• Appreciate her or his culture(s) and the cultures of others as the beginning and basis of equality and
mutuality in the global community

Reaffirmation and renewal • Cultivate the spirit of balancing continuity and change
• Reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of her or his cultural tradition(s) through multicultural dialogue
• Reaffirm and renew her or his cultural heritage for her or his people’s collective voices and visions

Identification and • Appreciate a web of interdependent relationships and avoid dichotomizing and demonizing the cultural
Other
indebtedness • Enhance human heartedness and humane compassion
• Remember and reciprocate the indebtedness that she or he has received in one way or another

Ecology and sustainability • see communication within and across cultures as an ecological necessity
• pay sustained attention to five ecological themes (i.e., individual liberty, social equality, civil order,
benevolent community, and sacred earth)
• seek to achieve an ecological balance among them through mutual learning and sharing for a sustainable
future.
Rootedness and openness • remain rooted in her or his own culture(s) and open to other cultures with the global significance of local
knowledge in mind
• situate and envision locality in the global context and globality in the local context
• learn to speak a local language for intracultural interactions with insiders and a global language for
intercultural interactions with outsiders.

(Miike, 2019)
 Mutual empathy …to communicate in a way that
Bruneau (2002) does not violate people’s
concept of themselves, their
dignity or their spirit
(Kale, 2015)
1 Interactive empathy – attentive To address people of other
and present in the present cultures with the respect you
interaction yourself wish to receive
2 Reflective empathy – respecting To describe the world as you see
and remembering past it as accurately as possible
interactions
3 Projective empathy – To encourage people of other
anticipating and imagining cultures to express their
future interactions uniqueness
4 To strive for identification with
people of other cultures
3 principles of ethical
intercultural communication
Martin, Flores, Nakayama
(2002)
Principle of humanness –
commitment to and engagement
in ethical behaviour
Principle of dialogue – moral
imperative to be in dialogical
relationships based on
responsibility and reciprocity
Principle of speaking to and
with, not for and about – self-
reflexivity on social and
psychological locations
…the concept of ethics, which
does not imply force … the
study of what ought to be and
depends on the individual’s
voluntary action
Mowlana (1984, 1997)
Prevention of war and
promotion of peace
Respect for culture, tradition,
and values
Promotion of human rights and
dignity
Preservation of the home,
human association, family and
community
(Miike, 2019)
4 major requirements for the
ethical intercultural
communicator
Schramm (1976)
To respect members of another
culture as human beings with
qualities and wishes in common
To respect another culture for
what it is and not what we think
it should be
To respect the right of a member
of another culture to act
differently from the way you act
To learn to enjoy living with
people of another culture by
being a student of that culture
 1. S E E C O M M U N I C AT I O N W I T H I N A N D A C R O S S
C U LT U R E S A S A N E C O L O G I C A L N E C E S S I T Y,

The ethical 2 . PAY S U S TA I N E D AT T E N T I O N T O F I V E

ECOLOGICAL THEMES I.E., INDIVIDUAL
intercultural L I B E R T Y, S O C I A L E Q U A L I T Y, C I V I L O R D E R ,
B E N E V O L E N T C O M M U N I T Y, A N D S A C R E D
communicator EARTH

should: 3. SEEK TO ACHIEVE AN ECOLOGICAL BALANCE

AMONG THEM THROUGH MUTUAL LEARNING
A N D S H A R I N G F O R A S U S TA I N A B L E F U T U R E .

(MIIKE, P174)