Global Communication Challenges - Research Paper Example

? Global Communication Challenges Challenges of organizational communication What is effective communication? Firstly, I think it is important to understand fully what communication is, and how conflict arises from it. Communication is the formulation of ideas, emotions, and understanding, between sender and receivers. Communication is, according to Krauss and Morsella (2000), “in its elemental form, human communication may be construed as the process by which ideas contained within one mind are conveyed to others.” If the simplest form of communication start with one person and end with another then the critical question we ask ourselves is: why the conflict? What happens between the sender and receiver? There are many aspects that can interfere with the understanding of what is trying to be conveyed. These interferences cause misunderstandings, and it is from these misunderstandings that conflicts arise. This makes mastering communication skills imperative when it comes to maintaining and building relationships productively in a work place. The only way communication will be effective is if the receiver understands the idea, and both parties agree on the meaning of the message. The sender influences the message by his mood, background, personality, culture, personal agendas, and finally with the context of what he is trying to communicate. The receiver interprets the message with those same influences in order for effective communication to take place. Barriers to effective communication A key challenge that communication faces in the global market is the ability to the sender and the receiver to understand and agree on the meaning and context of the messages being conveyed. The sender will have to encode the message and the receiver will have to decode it, but a key barrier to successful communication rises from how successfully this process of encoding and decoding can be implemented in a global organization. Cultural differences So we can’t deny the presence of a multitude of interferences that rise during the process of communication, adding the element of global differences and the goal of successful communication is further complicated. However despite its challenges the process can be effectively executed through the identification of the key dominating barriers. One of these key prevalent barriers is that of cultural differences. “Understanding is a personal matter between people, and different people may interpret messages differently. If the idea received is not the one intended, communication has not taken place; the sender has merely spoken or written words” (Guo and Sanchez, 2005). Advantages of overcoming cultural differences The benefits of acquiring cultural diverse communication skills are limitless. However to go about the acquisition of this skill it is imperative that managers and their team members increase their understanding and awareness of various cultures. When there is high diversity in the workforce, there are people from many ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and their languages, religions and entire social background are different. To better address such diversity there is a need for a basic understanding and tolerance for the diverse cultures, so that all employees, regardless of their background, can communicate better and overcome potential barriers. Western Culture vs. Asian culture To get a better understanding of the critical role culture plays in workplace communication lets take the example of our own culture. The North American culture, to say the least, is complex. Therefore the focus can be shifted to a few topics: Individualism, communication styles, time orientation, and formalities. Among all these the key characteristic that defines the North American culture is individualism. This individualistic attitude comes from the independence and freedom afforded to North Americans. They believe in being self reliant and depend on their own personal actions. As for their communicational style, North Americans are very straightforward and forthright in their dealings and attitudes. It is this personification of their communication style which leads them towards being skeptical of situations where people are being evasive and inconclusive. Time Orientation is an important aspect of the North American business culture. They are of the firm belief that time is money, and wasting time is seen as being unproductive. They value it as a critical element in all their business and personal dealings with a key focus on effective time allocation and utilization being a prime element in their corporate success. An example of how important they perceive time can be seen in the way they are offended and consider it rude to be kept waiting. Formality or lack thereof, this is another aspect that defines North Americans. The presence of no one standard emphasis on tradition and social rules is a prevalent part of the North American cultural content. This can be seen in the way in some of their business settings there is no one way of speaking or dressing, commonly the approach taken is mostly direct and get right to the point. A greeting consists of a handshake after which it is normal to get right down to business (Berich, LLC) Other cultures put emphasis on membership, being part of a group or team. Individualism is not prevalent in other cultures because it brings an undertone of competiveness. Asian culture varies in this aspect from that of the Western culture. This makes the culture in Asian countries mostly collective. Collectivism “stands for a society in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong cohesive in-groups, which throughout people’s lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty” (Hofstede, 1994). Collectivistic cultures, in countries like China, put great emphasizes on groups and are accustomed to thinking more in terms of ‘we’ instead of ‘I’. Harmony and loyalty are a way of doing business and are always maintained and confrontations are avoided. This can be seen simply by viewing the fact that even disagreeing with someone in public is considered extremely rude and ill mannered in China. Disagreements are always held in a more private and personal atmosphere to protect a person from the ‘loss of face’. In collectivistic cultures a direct confrontation will be always avoided. Expressions or phrases are used which describe a disagreement or negative statement instead of saying no. Saying no would mean to destroy the harmony in the group. The relationship between employer and employee or business partners is based on trust and harmony and a deep understanding of moral values. The wealth of the company and the groups inside are more important than the individual one’s (Hoecklin, 1995) Similarly in Other cultures also have indirect ways of communicating; they may use a metaphor to explain what exactly it is that they are trying to say. Such cultures, such as Spanish and French, have poetic ways of speaking. Perception Once you understand your own culture it is then time to investigate how, one perceives other cultures. Perception can be a critical barrier on which our understanding and interpretation of another’s culture is highly pivotal. Studies show that Americans and people from Western cultures find it particularly difficult to understand someone else’s point of view simply because they are a part of a culture which endorses individualism. On the other hand, Chinese, who live in a society which endorses a collectivist perception, are much more adept at determining another person’s perspective. Professor Keysar, from the University of Chicago, identified through his research that one of the consequences of Westerners problems of seeing things from another person’s point of view was faltering communication. He further stated that “Many actions and words have multiple meanings. In order to sort out what a person really means, we need to gain some perspective on what he or she might be thinking and, Americans for example, who don’t have that skill very well developed, probably tend to make more errors in understanding what another person means.” Stereotyping A common barrier that rises in culture diversity which is greatly influenced by perception and causes challenges in the global communication is that of stereotyping. “Stereotypes are qualities assigned to groups or people related to their race, nationality and sexual orientation.” These beliefs and views mostly fall into a negative category that may only reflect a selected few of the racial demographics. Jewish people are greedy, Black people are lazy, Asians are good in math, Arabs are angry people, White people stress themselves to death at the first sign of financial issues, Irish people are drunks. Stereotypes may or may not accurately define the cultural norm, but when these assumptions are brought into a business setting it can cause misunderstanding, miscommunications. And these can result into disastrous fuel for conflicts. With the rapid expansion of multinational corporations there is a direct increase in cross-national business interactions in which it is unavoidable that people not be labeled by their nationalities. It is a common feat to have product design teams which are an amalgamation of French, German and Japanese subsidiaries; It is an observation of this increased practices brought along by an increase in corporate joint ventures which has resulted in an indication in popular writing of international business indicating national identification leading to a biased perception. Adler (1991), for example, warns us of an individual’s tendency to reinterpret incoming information to make it more stereotypes consistent. Lane and DiStefano (1992) worry that managers might discount creative input from managers of countries associated with negative stereotypes -- interpreting their ideas as "primitive" or "lazy." Ethnocentrism “Ethnocentrism leads us to make negative judgments about others based on our culture norms, and consider our culture as superior”. Ethnocentrism basically incorporates making assumptions or judgments about another person’s culture from one’s own point of view. Ethnocentrism can also lead to misinterpretations and it often corrupt communication, especially in a global business setting. Neuliep and McCroskey (1997) contend that ethnocentrism is an obstacle to intercultural communication competence and Gudykunst and Kim (1997) say that high levels of ethnocentrism impacts competence and can be dysfunctional with respect to intercultural communication as it influences the manner in which people communicate with others. An ethnocentric person would say, British people drive on the wrong side of the road, whereas a person who is culturally savvy would say, British people drive on the opposite or left side of the road. In global business it is important to understand what is proper by which cultural value, and what is right and wrong by whose standards. Verbal and Non Verbal Communication Difference between verbal and nonverbal communication The basis of communication is the interaction between people. Verbal communication is one way for people to communicate face-to-face. Some of the key components of verbal communication are sound, words, speaking, and language. Verbal communication is defined as the actual words people use to speak. Research shows that 10% of the messages that we send one another constitute to verbal communication whereas 90% of communication is reliant on non-verbal communication (VanLea and Buck 2003). Non-verbal communication is defined as sending messages back and forth to one another, without words. Some critical identifying elements that constitute to non verbal communication are eye contact, facial expressions, the one of voice, silences and pauses, hand gestures, body distance, body positioning etc. Importance of verbal and non verbal communication As one begins to understand the differences in culture, it becomes apparent that there is another factor that plays a role in global communication. This factor is that of verbal and nonverbal communication, each of which are effected by various rules dictated by each culture. The importance of mastering verbal and nonverbal communication is high. This notion is investigated by Bratanic, 2007, who conducted three different studies which resulted in intriguing findings. It was seen that a higher percentage of communicational messages were sent through non-verbal communication than verbal; hence emphasizing on the critical importance of maintaining a balance between the two critical forms of communication in a work setting. One study in particular stated that in most two-person conversations, the words communicate only about 35% of the social meaning of the situation while the nonverbal elements convey more than 65% of the meaning. They also mention another estimate according to which the “nonverbal message carries 4.4 times the weight of the verbal message”. These findings show that expressions, gestures, a person’s posture, the tone of ones voice, eye contact, touching, and even personal place, is more significant than the word being spoken themselves. In a global business setting knowing the appropriate non-verbal cues can be crucial. It may mean the difference between getting the deal or totally offending the other party. Different cultures have different takes and perspectives on actions taken during communication. In the US people are accustomed to a sufficient amount of personal space, if this space is intruded on, the communication between the two will be impacted negatively. Americans show a strong tendency against reserving space, especially around their homes. They seem to dislike fixed barriers; instead of walls they plant hedges of bushes or trees. (Bratanic, 2007) In other cultures the space between parties is a lot less, for example Latin American, and Arabic speaking cultures. It is in these cultures that “comfortable personal distances depend on the social situation, gender, and individual preference but still have to be understood against a given general cultural framework”. Cultural Influences on Verbal Language Culture and language lexicons Different cultures have different languages, and then subcultures have dialects within a language. There are words that exist in some languages and not in others; this reflects the fact that different cultures symbolize their words differently. An example can be seen in the Eskimo language which has three words for the snow while English has only one. The German word ‘schadenfreude’ and the Japanese word ‘amae,’ do not exist in English, is another example (Carroll, 1956). Another differentiation can be observed in the way in English, we typically refer to ourselves as ‘I’, and to someone else as ‘you,’ however in other languages there is available an extensive choice of terms that can be used to referring to oneself and others depending on the relationship between people and the situation (Suzuki, 1978). Another distinction across cultures is in their counting methods and numbering systems, an example being that of the U.S. and Asia. Culture and pragmatics Pragmatics also varies across cultures. An examination of 39 languages by Kashima and Kashima (1998), found that cultures in which languages allowed for pronouns to be dropped from sentences had a tendency to be less individualistic. Cultural differences also exist in the use of apologies children’s personal narratives self disclosure compliments and interpersonal criticism. Culture and thought: Linguistic relativity. That language helps to structure thought is known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Over the past forty years, research has shown considerable support for this hypothesis (Bloom, 1981). It is bilinguals who give different responses to various psychological tests, a factor highly dependont on the language they are speaking. But there have also been challenges the though process and communication, especially with regard to the influence of language lexicons and semantics. Types of non-verbal communication Facial gestures such as a grimace, standing in a certain postures, eye contact and other non verbal communication create and establish a communication atmosphere among parties of different cultures that sends unconscious suggestions, of “submissive or dominant, trusting or wary, controlled or spontaneous” Bratainic (2007). Culture and gestures The study of culture and gestures found that there were distinct gestures among traditional Jews and Italians, but that these traditional gestures disappeared as people moved towards an American culture where people were a lot more assimilated. It was also documented that there was a presence of many cultural differences in gestures. An example, can be seen in the way the American A-OK sign, is considered as an obscene gesture in many European cultures. It is interpreted as having sexual implications. A sign made by placing both hands at the side of ones head and pointing upwards with the forefinger. Culture and gaze Research has shown that an individual’s gaze is often associated with dominance, power, or aggression, and affiliation and nurturance. Cultures create rules concerning gazing and visual attention, because both aggression and affiliation are behavioral tendencies that are important for group stability and maintenance. Cross-cultural research has well documented differences in these rules. It is seen that people from Arabic cultures, for example, gaze much longer and more directly at individuals than do Americans (Watson & Graves, 1966). Watson classified 30 countries as either a “contact” culture (those that facilitated physical touch or contact during interaction) or a “noncontact” culture, and found that contact cultures engaged in more gazing and had more direct orientations when interacting with others, less interpersonal distance, and more touching. However in the U.S., there are differences in gaze and visual behavior between different ethnic groups and a lot less pronounced. Culture and other nonverbal behaviors With the difference in cultures the semantic meanings attributed to body postures and vocal characteristics, hand and arm movements also vary. In fact collectively, the evidence provides more than sufficient support of the notion that culture plays a vital role in influencing all of individual’s nonverbal behaviors, which form an integral part of the communication process. Other non verbal communication issues to be aware of are the tendency of cultures that get very emotional Public displays of emotion such as yelling, crying, exhibiting anger, frustrating, and other feelings. There are some cultures that believe in reservation of emotion and an inclination towards not sharing their feelings openly. A popular example is that of the Chinese, who deal with disagreements in private and disapprove of discussing private matters in public. All of these differences tend to lead to communication problems. Although it takes more than just non verbal communication to cause a conflict however having an awareness to overcome these problems and communicate effectively across various cultures would reduce an individuals ability to commit minor and major cultural offences. Overcoming communication problems Even though non verbal communication plays a bigger role in global communication conflict, verbal communication can be improved in a number of ways to solve or reduce conflicts. Firstly the length of communication plays a important role. It should be precise, up to the point and aided by the use of direct words. The organization should comprise of as little errors as possible and the speed at which an individual speaks should be at a reasonable pace. Furthermore it is deemed a lot more appropriate to avoid urban slangs or jargon which might lead to confusion and misinterpretation. It is imperative that the person that you are speaking to understands what you are saying, for which purpose one should speak clearly and slowly in order to avoid any confusion occurring due to the difference in accents. Another way to improving verbal communication is asking the person you are speaking to, to repeat what they have understood of your explanation and in the event that this might bring forth any kind of a awkward or condescending hint to the conversation it would be a lot more appropriate to put into writing the work that you need done. This will avoid any misunderstandings and misinterpretations due to the tone of voice used in communicating and delivering messages Identifying and resolving cultural communication conflicts With the basic understanding of the different cultures interactions with organizations and individuals across a multitude of cultures can be undertaken and efficiently executed keeping in mind what verbal and non verbal communication is appropriate. However there are still some issues that an individual might face. Identification of these issues can prove to be a challenge. The first step that needs to be undertaken is that of problem identification. Is the problem one is facing due to the presence of situational complexities or are these issues related to a lack of understanding of another culture. Are there deep rooted cultural differences, or do the conflicts keep rising even though the disagreement is a solved. These are some key questions that need to be answered in order to focus and zone in on what the problem the organization is facing. This knowledge can be obtained through training programs, general reading, talking to people from different cultures, and learning from past experiences. The organization can put together a cultural communication program. This type of program can help the participants to: Probing to find out what the issue is Developed strategies aimed at helping them understand other cultures point of view Learn the valve of other people uniqueness, Understand different values, expectations emotions and conflict style Develop a rapport with other cultures Alter organization strategies to accommodate others In probing for the conflict the organization will get a better understanding of what the communicational conflict is. It may be a non verbal cue that has offended some one. The parties should describe what they find offensive in each other's behavior. Through learning the value of the other persons uniqueness the will get an understanding of the other party's cultural perceptions. By understanding the different values expectations emotions and conflict style learning about how the problem would be handled in the other person’s culture can be achieved. Also if the organizational communicational style and structure only reflects just one culture but the organization is rapidly moving into a global market, necessary structural changes need to be made so that the corporation can become more sensitive to cultural norms of other people and be flexible to operating in a setting with the presence of diverse cultures. Rapport building is another strategy that can help eliminate cultural communication conflicts. At its essence, rapport is an emotional bond or friendship based on mutual liking and trust. Rapport building becomes a valuable skill when we can translate basic trust into respect and use that sense of respect to achieve results. This can happen only by understanding and meeting mutual needs. Rapport is all about people working together to achieve agreed on solutions. It is a key tool for fulfilling partnership through a basic observation of trust building. Rapport building may come naturally to some, but to others it is an essential skill that requires frequent and open-minded learning in dealing with the variety of personality types and perspectives we may find working on a global team (Sensenig, 2009). Conclusion Conflict, depending on the outcome, can be a positive or negative experience for an organization. With changing demographics, cultural differences become an acute issue. Many groups resist assimilation and wish to preserve their cultural distinctiveness, which makes cultural conflict education an essential tool for maintaining healthy relations in organizations and society in general. References Adler, N. (1991). International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, (Boston: PWS-Kent) Bratanic, M. (2007). Nonverbal Communication as a Factor in Linguistic and Cultural Miscommunication. Fundamentals of Verbal & Nonverbal Communication & the Biometric Issue, 18(1), 82-91. Retrieved from EBSCOhost Berich, LLC. North American Culture. International sales and export management consulting. Retrieved from: http://www.berichllc.com/html/north_american_culture.html Buck.R and VanLea.A.C. (2002). Symbolic, Spontaneous, and Pseudo-Spontaneous Nonverbal Behavior. Journal of Communication, 4, 532- 541. Hofstede.G. (1994). Cultures and Organizations – Intercultural Cooperation and its importance for survival. Pg. 260. Hoecklin.L.(1995). Difference in work ethicss between an individualist and a collectivist society. Managing Cultural Differences: Strategies for Competitive Advantage. Pg. 37. Keyser.B and Wu.S. (2007). The effect of culture on perceptive taking. Association for Psychological Science, 18, 7. Lane, H.W. and J.J. DiStefano (1992). 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