...ISSN: 1943-6114 © InternationalJournal.org Business Communication between People with Different Cultural Backgrounds Livia Ablonczy-Mihályka, Széchenyi István University, Hungary Abstract At present every aspect of our social, scientific and mental life is subdued to accelerated development. In our globalised world, the amount of cross-national communication increases drastically and in recent years many researchers have emphasised the importance of awareness of different cultural norms as globalisation has brought about a growing trend to communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds. This paper argues for a revaluation of how we approach the topic of business communication and for greater emphasis on successful business communication as the goal of better understanding in global business setting. The ideas which are presented in this paper have been derived over a period of two years of our own research and through the reading of research literature. The research to be discussed in the paper is connected to one of the major research lines at Széchenyi István University, titled The dialogue of professional, organisational and national cultures. The purpose of the present paper is to present the results of a survey conducted with professionals who communicate with foreign business partners. The data were gathered by means of a questionnaire. At the root of the argument is the hypothesis that communication rules and norms between people with different cultural...
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...Managing cross-cultural communication in multicultural construction project teams: The case of Kenya and UK Volume 28, Issue 5, July 2010, Pages 449-460 E.G. Ochieng and A.D.F. Price Managing cross-cultural communication in multicultural construction project teams: The case of Kenya and UK Volume 28, Issue 5, July 2010, Pages 449-460 E.G. Ochieng and A.D.F. Price Being an architect and being from a different country (India), I could easily relate to the ‘Managing multicultural teams’ (Brett et all) article we discussed in the class. I got intrigued about the construction industry which is going multicultural these days and where effective coordination is crucial for success. While searching the internet, I came across this article which discusses the importance of understanding different culture and discusses how effective communication can be an important part in success of multicultural construction projects. And we all know that team coordination practices vary with national culture. Experts have warned that engineering education fails to prepare engineers for these differences. This paper discusses the cases of Project Managers of UK and Kenya through their 20 interviews (10 each from both the countries) and shows that communications within multicultural project environments can be effective when project managers demonstrate an awareness of cultural variation in terms of the body language and day to day routine. It shows that one of the critical components of...
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...Final Research Paper-Multicultural Workforce COMM/215 December 1, 2014 Introduction-Worldwide Telecommunications Company Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations. It is driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology (The Levin Institute, 2014). Indeed, globalization has made our world smaller. As the markets for products, services, labor, and capital increasingly integrate worldwide, we are witnessing the increasing economic, cultural, demographic, political, and environmental interdependence of different locations around the world (Elfrink, 2014). In his book The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman perfectly captured the essence of today’s new era of globalization. By flat, Friedman meant that the world is connected. The lowering of trade and political barriers, and the exponential technical advances of the digital revolution have made it possible to do business or almost anything else, instantaneously with billions of other people across the planet (Friedman 2005). However, with a more global business environment comes a host of new challenges including managing a multicultural workforce comprised of people with widely differing backgrounds. In a multicultural environment, where the meanings of various behaviors and practices are as diverse as the people demonstrating them, incorrect assumptions could easily lead to miscommunication (Lankard, 1994). The...
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...Steven Ward Ahmed Zeedia 3/10/2015 BSAD 550 Dr. Freeman Multicultural theory Multicultural theory or multiculturalism is the theory where we can see here in America. It is the exchange of customs and culture in respect to socioeconomic status, foreign reform, as well as the differences in ethics and religions. Multiculturalism can have an effect in any institution of culture whether it involves government, education, economics, religion, or family. For the purpose of this paper we will focus on strategies and situations many businesses will face. Culture will be defined as “the pattern of shared beliefs and values that give members of an institution meaning, and provide them with the rules for behavior in their organization” (Shafritz, Ott & Jang, 2011, p. 364). We will discuss why the need arises for a business or organization to expand or change their ventures to another vicinity outside of their native culture; what problems can occur during the transition of moving from one culture to the next; and the benefits behind using multiculturalism. Multiculturalism today is met with the demand of the economy on a global scale. Capitalism or the pursuit of profits is a driving factor for businesses to relocate in the hopes of achieving higher margins in profit. The stakeholders, those who have vested both time and resource into a business or organization are persistently pushing businesses for higher profits. Businesses must consider what barriers are necessary to...
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...background and have different values. The author will discuss about the problems faced by these cross- cultural teams. The author had also focused on the strategies to cope up with these problems of cross- cultural teams. The author will act as researcher and will use exploratory research design, i.e. the study will be based on secondary data taken from magazines, journals, internet and reports. These tools will help author to conclude the objectives of the study. The author found that there are problems among the cross-cultural teams regarding their cultural background. The different ways are also suggested to cope up with the problems faced by crosscultural teams. The author had also focused on how to create effective management of multicultural teams. RESEARCH VALUE The research may be valuable for the companies who are looking for expanding the business and also for those companies who are facing the cross- cultural team issue. workplace leads to heightened tensions among the employees and thus hindering company’s performance. [4] Most of the people assume that workplace diversity is about increasing racial, national, gender or class representation. This is only the first step, Diversity goes beyond to the varied perspectives and approaches to work that member of different identity group bring. [5] OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY Every study is done to accomplish...
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...The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1755-4217.htm Managing bilingual employees: communication strategies for hospitality managers Mary Dawson, Juan M. Madera and Jack A. Neal C.N. Hilton College, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA Abstract Purpose – One out of four foodservice employees speaks a foreign language at home. Furthermore, 37 percent of those employees speak limited English. Given this, hospitality managers must find ways to effectively communicate with their employees. This paper seeks to address these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology employed a perspective-taking manipulation. Participants were placed in the role of an individual that does not speak the native language that is used in the workplace. Groups were measured on performance, quality, and accuracy. Groups were video-taped to measure frequency of non-verbal behaviors. Participants were surveyed to measure their levels of positivity. Findings – The results of this study identified effective non-verbal communication strategies for managers (combination of gestures, demonstrating, and pointing). When the leader used these strategies, the groups were able to complete the recipes faster. Managers who spoke another language expressed a more positive behavior towards the group. The group also expressed more positive behaviors towards each other when they had a second language leader. Research limitations/implications – A...
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...4172/2168-9717.1000e106 Open Access Managing Multicultural Construction Teams in today’s Complex Global Environment Edward Ochieng* Faculty of Technology and Environment, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK The rapid globalisation of the world’s economy has had significant impact on the way construction project managers work, bringing them frequently with clients, suppliers and peer that they never work before. In an era of globalisation, projects in the construction industry face unique challenges in coordinating among clients, financiers, developers, designers and contractors from different countries. In addition, construction project teams need to cope with the complexities of both local institutions and physical environments. Bartlett and Gosha [1] discussed the challenges facing organisations, which are intending to work effectively across borders. They identified the major challenges as being able to develop practices, which balance global competitiveness, multinational flexibility and the building of a worldwide learning capability. They maintained that achieving this balance will require organisations to develop the cultural sensitivity and ability to manage and leverage learning to build future capabilities. While offering opportunities, globalisation also poses significant challenges for construction project managers especially when different cultures are involved as a team. Multicultural construction project teams have their culture as a...
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...EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF MULTICULTURAL TEAM Abstract Multicultural teams have become more common in recent years, and contemporary international management literature has identified that the management of multicultural teams is an important aspect of human resource management. This paper has focused on the positive effects of using multicultural teams. Using data from 20 interviews in Mwanza Tanzania, the results show that management within multicultural team environments can be effective when project managers demonstrate an awareness of cultural variation. Participants further highlighted that, one of the critical components of building multicultural teams is the creation and development of effective cross cultural collectivism, trust, communication and empathy in leadership NAME: SARAH CHRISTOPHER KITELEJA 11/23/2012 EMPOWER STUDENT 2012 COUNTRY: MWANZA- TANZANIA A. Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION3 1.2 Objective of diploma paper3 1.3 Significant of the study3 2. BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM3-4 3. MANAGEMENT OF MULTICUTURAL TEAM…………………………………………………………………………………...4 3.1 Type of multicultural team & its diversity 4 3.2 Condition for higher performance4-5 3.3 management of Multicultural team……………………………………………………………………………..6-7 3.4 management of Multicultural team…………………………………………………………………………..7-9 4. THE USE OF DMIS IN MANAGEMENT OF MULTICUTURAL TEAM…………………………………………..10-12 5. CHALLENGES IN MANAGING MULTICULTURAL TEAM……………………………………………………………13-14 6. RECOMME...
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...How a Multicultural Workforce Might Affect Teamwork and Communications in Large Companies Bethany Ward, Nicole Ortiz, Brandi Cook Learning Team B University of Phoenix COMM/215 Linda Lawliss February 5, 2007 Large companies find a multicultural workforce essential because they have to do business effectively with many diverse cultures in order to be successful. Unique skills and/or lower costs become more accessible to companies when they broaden their work forces. However, in working with different cultures and backgrounds, many companies face difficulties and challenges they must overcome. Managing a diverse workforce is an important task for today’s corporations. The idea of a diverse workforce is not a new concept. “According to The History Channel, in the 1850’s, Chinese and Irish laborers were brought over to lay the tracks for the transcontinental railroad, which raised anger of those who had arrived a hundred years earlier”. (Cartby, 2006). No matter how angry people may get over diversity and new workers coming to America in search of a better life, it’s not going to go away. Ethnic backgrounds are just one dynamic of a diverse workforce. According to the Workforce 2000 study funded by the U.S. Department of Labor: “Immigrants, women and people of color accounted for 85 percent of the net growth in the labor force throughout the 1990’s”. (Cartby, 2006). This study proves the workforce of the future is going to become even more diverse...
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...Final Research Paper Global organizations are recovering from the 2008 financial crisis and are repositioning themselves for aggressive growth. As the economy recovers, organizations worldwide realize the need for highly connected, ambitious and valuable contributors forcing companies to develop innovative ideas and find human capital to develop capabilities and share expertise. Globalization has changed the face of 21st century workforce. In today's fast paced and growing economy, there is an exponential increase of cultural diversity within big businesses and corporations. There is an opportunity to "achieve higher levels of productivity and extraordinary performance" (Nykiel) for large corporations with a multicultural workforce. At the same time, it may also "be more challenging in a multicultural work and managerial environment" (Nykiel). Workforce Diversity Statistics The term "multicultural workforce" which represents the personal characteristics of employees in an organization is today superseded and replaced by a much broader term, "cultural diversity". Diversity refers to the way organizations respond to a multicultural workforce. The strategy in large organizations is to leverage differences in employees to increase creativity and have a competitive advantage in a fierce market. In the 2014 survey conducted by Diversity Inc; which is the leading publication for the education and benefits of large organizations, 1215 companies participated in an empirically...
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...Leadership Business globalisation is forming new demands for individuals, organisations and countries to work together in many different ways. A team that is multi-cultural has the capability to bring individuals together with an extensive range of ideas and experiences. In the recent years, there has been a tendency of multi-cultural teams becoming very common. This is because cross border mobility has become much easier and the number of people travelling from one nation to another has grown significantly (Aswathppa, 2010). This has also resulted in the intermarrying of people from different ethnic backgrounds and cultures. Although having multicultural teams is an advantage in itself, there are a number of challenges that are faced by these teams. The aim of this paper is to analyze some of the challenges of developing and leading a multicultural team and make recommend the ways to handle some of these challenges. When you consider the challenges that economic communities like the European Union confront in putting up with historically disparate view on how to do business (Girija, 2009). The members of such communities agreed to cooperate in a couple of areas like establishing a single market for trade, mutual recognition of scholarly diplomas, forming of foreign policy jointly and the exchanging of criminal record. Through this combined efforts they created a new type of social organization, which challenges past notions of integration, cooperation and teamwork among individuals...
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...Introduction Considering the escalating ethnic and cultural diversity within America, it is becoming increasingly important for leaders to understand and implement effective intercultural leadership techniques and cross-cultural approaches to communication. Such contemplations are especially necessary to Christian pastoral and missional efforts, as leaders attempt to communicate the gospel message, provide counseling, and offer an apologetic within a multicultural context. Fittingly, this paper will examine Leading Cross-Culturally: Covenant Relationships for Effective Christian Leadership, identifying definitive concepts of the publication and identifying their practical application value within the context of Christian ministry, while demonstrating...
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...Intercultural Communication Plan for a Multicultural Classroom Instructor Dr. Ashley Berger July 25, 2012 Intercultural Communication Plan for a Multicultural Classroom This paper on Intercultural Communication Plan for a Multicultural Classroom is going to look on the importance of early education educators creating a multicultural classroom that will include all the different ethnic groups. This it will help to create a learning environment that will help all the students. In my experience working in a Head Start classroom I have learned that facilitating intercultural communication, and cross-cultural understanding is possible for students in a multicultural classroom, and that different cultures can be taught and incorporated in the classroom. Prince George's County Public Schools is number twenty-five in the nation for one of the largest school districts. They have 205 schools and about 125,000 students. They have approximately 18,000 employees that work for the school. The budget annually is $1.6 billion, and the school district caters to a socially inclusive student population. Prince George's County Public Schools are known for their innovative programs. The Prince George's County Public Schools believes that incorporating a multicultural education program in the schools creates and promotes an understanding of the diverse population of students that they have. The school that I work in Patuxent Elementary school is a community school that opened its doors in...
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...Embracing the Change in Multicultural Education 1 Embracing the Change in Multicultural Education Karri Runion Western Governors University Embracing the Change in Multicultural Education 2 Abstract As schools prepare students to live and work in a comprehensive nation, it is evident that teachers and faculty must be readied to embrace this challenge. This paper discusses the ever- changing cultural landscape and the obligation of educators to reform common communication practices by the use of diversity skills. Embracing the Change in Multicultural Education 3 Demographic Changes There are three dominant demographics present in the faculty and volunteers of our local school district. Our interest for this growing trend will reveal the source from which they derive as well as bring growth and improvement to our schools. They are as follows: * Socio-economic * Ethnicity * Language A diverse teaching staff as well as student community is important to strengthen our school as a whole. Students have the right to gain experience and knowledge from teachers with similar cultural backgrounds or at the very least teachers that can relate with and teach from an understanding of a wide array of cultures. “A benefit of a diverse workforce is the ability to tap into the many talents which employees from different backgrounds, perspectives, abilities and disabilities bring to the workplace.” (Lindenberger, J...
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...Managing Diversity Research Paper Proposal Anee Rork Team C University of Phoenix Managing Diversity Research Paper Proposal Workplaces today are become increasingly diverse with employees of different genders, races, cultures, ethnic origins, and lifestyles. There have been so many changes in the cultural make-up of organizations that it has become imperative for leaders and supervisors to understand cultural diversity and how it can affect their organization. By understanding how this diversity can affect their organization, leaders are taking steps to assure a conflict-free environment and promoting positive outcomes for the business, as well as its employees. “Diversity today is being viewed as a key means to strengthen the human capital of an organization and improve overall performance” (Bowes, 2007/2008). Studies have shown that diverse workforces can positively affect and strengthen the organization, but what can organizations do to assure this type of environment? What programs or tools do leaders need to implement when looking to improve their ability to manage this diversity? The main purpose of this research paper will be to explore what methods organizations and leaders can use to successfully manage increased cultural diversity within the workforce. This research will reflect not only why it is important for organizations to embrace the differences in a diverse workplace, but will discuss the consequences that may occur if they...
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