Communication Improvement in the Oil and Gas Industry - Dissertation Example

?Communication Improvement in the Oil and Gas Industry (ADNOC) Communication Improvement in the Oil and Gas Industry (ADNOC) Introduction There is consensus that globalisation has indeed influenced business in the global arena. Multinational companies are presently engaged in strategizing how to obtain market leadership. However, one thing that remains a challenge for many is the ability to have effective communication at the organizational level. Of great significance is the notion that even people who come from the same cultural backgrounds may still misunderstand one another. This is because they could be having ethnic and cultural differences. There has been extensive discussion about the significance of poor internal communication together with cross – cultural communication towards the inability of companies to realize positive performance. The comprehension of cross – cultural and internal communication is crucial to the realization of organizational competitiveness. It has been observed that communication challenges within organizations have made it difficult to manage and screen threats the performance. As workplaces increasingly become global, there is the need to ensure effective cross – cultural communication as well as maintaining internal communication excellence. Companies must comprehend how to pass information to their workers and clients in order to meet the organizations goals and aspirations. The Oil and Gas Industry is one such global workplaces where there is the need to have excellent communication both internally and across other cultural groups. It is notable that the gas and oil company (ADNOC) is experiencing challenges in its internal and cross-cultural communication, which has affected performance in the exploration and production section of the corporation. In order to rectify this challenge, there is a need to commission research to help understand how internal and cross-cultural communication can be improved. Therefore, this paper is a research proposal that seeks to explore how the company can improve its cross-cultural communication and internal communication in the exploration and production section. The paper discusses literature and proposes research methodology that is applicable in the study. The research methodology shall entail both quantitative and qualitative exploration strategies such as group observations, scheduling and conducting interviews, and carrying out surveys to complete data gathering. Literature Review Cross – cultural communication entails that which takes place between people who necessarily have differing cultural perspectives. These differences might include a range of issues from nationality, age difference, and gender difference among others in the same workplace (Guffey & Almonte, 2009). Cross-cultural communication also connotes the capability to effectively form, foster, and develop relationships with people of a background different from one's own (Stringer & Cassidy, 2009). This is founded on the knowledge of several issues including values in other cultures, perceptions, behaviours, social class, decision making strategies, and a comprehension of how people belonging to a certain group convey message orally, non verbally, through documentation, and in diverse business and common contexts (Stringer & Cassidy, 2009).. Previously, authors and communication specialists have studied cross – cultural communication as well as internal communication under organizational contexts. The focus of such studies has been to attempt to develop a comprehension on how differences among people might affect the way they interact or fail to while with others (Stringer & Cassidy, 2009). The notion that some individuals in the course of their life adapt to one cultural orientation may present massive challenges whenever they meet people from other differing cultures. Furthermore, exposure to many other cultures has a direct influence on an individual's ability to interact with others and realize meaningful results (Guffey & Almonte, 2009). There are critical components of cross – cultural communication among individuals such as co-orientation. This represents the ability of individuals to know all features of their own culture in relation to another person’s culture (Stringer & Cassidy, 2009). This is the most important element of cross – cultural communication. It is notable that people who have interacted with other cultures find it easy to shift the way they communicate so that people from different cultural backgrounds can understand them. It is critical for global organizations such as those in the oil industry to provide their staff with training on cross – cultural communication (Guffey & Almonte, 2009). This is also crucial for ensuring effective internal communication. It is noteworthy that cross – cultural communication and effective internal communication are the ingredients for escalating innovativeness. This is because they enhance peoples’ abilities to participate in the collective problem management and open sharing of ideas and thoughts (Stringer & Cassidy, 2009). In the oil industry the exploration and production team are expected to function in a similar way. The company section can benefit massively from new ideas. Competence in cross – cultural communication enhances the ability of a department to generate useful new information as well as provide appropriate information to clients (Guffey & Almonte, 2009). The global workplaces must strive to eliminate communication norms associated with stereotyping or generalizations. The application of generalizations about certain communication norms rigidly in reference to some groups constitutes stereotyping. The differences in communication styles may lead to negative perceptions about other people (Stringer & Cassidy, 2009). Furthermore, negatively developing perceptions about other people in the workplace because of their cultural origin may be detrimental. This is because it leads to miscommunication among staff of the same department who needs to share information crucial to their success closely (Guffey & Almonte, 2009). In order to eliminate these sources of miscommunication such as assumption of similarities, language differences, misinterpretations of non-verbal communication, preconceptions, stereotypes, and tendency to evaluate the way people from other cultures, companies must develop objective communication strategies (Stringer & Cassidy, 2009). The communication strategies will also be very crucial to promoting internal communication. Internal communication takes place within an organization and encompasses both the official and unofficial communication within an organization. The tools for official communication include memos, strategies, regulations, and procedures (Guffey & Almonte, 2009). Unofficial communication includes all the informal interactions between and among workers leading to exchanging ideas, thoughts, and creation of personal relations. Internal communication is comparable to the lifeblood of a company. Effective internal communication is critical to ensuring excellent performance among workers. This is because people in a section of an organization easily get appropriate information that enables them to work (Stringer & Cassidy, 2009). Internal communication also enables workers to know the things that concern them, offer people with clear information about performance standards, deliver feedback, offer assistance when undertaking difficult tasks, suggestions of fresh opinions about an on-going work, and proper comprehension of organizational goals (Guffey & Almonte, 2009). From the on-going discussions, which expose the challenges organizations face due to ineffective cross – cultural and internal communication, there is the need to improve them in order to enhance organizational performance. The application of technology in enhancing communication cannot be overemphasised. The members of a team such as the exploration and production department may sometimes work in globally distributed places (Stringer & Cassidy, 2009). Therefore, the use of effective digital technologies may motivate and influence them to approach communication and intercultural information exchange with superior sensitivity, comprehension, and moral awareness. This is crucial in bringing about positive international relations (Guffey & Almonte, 2009). People have the ability to enhance their diagnostic skills and influential abilities in diverse kinds of argumentation. Furthermore, this is critical to building cross – cultural communication competencies and compassion to global contexts (Guffey & Almonte, 2009). Research Methodology Data Collection The study will employ both quantitative and qualitative exploration strategies to complete data gathering. This will include group observations, scheduling and conducting interviews, and carrying out surveys (Berger, 2011). It is notable that these approaches are highly appropriate since the process of researching on culture and cross-cultural communication presents massive challenges due to the intricacies involved (Berger, 2011). These research methods shall enable the researcher to ascertain the crucial issues, which are applicable in comprehending the effects of culture on communication. This will be possible by focussing on different groups of people interacting normally. Furthermore, the researcher will undertake surveys studies and interviews with the members of the section in order to establish the different ways workers are communicating with each other internally (Berger, 2011). The study will rely on participants mainly members of the company. Although, the research is interested in studying how to improve cross-cultural communication and internal communication in the exploration and production department of the industry, participants will be drawn from other sections to boost the numbers and the sample (Berger, 2011). The participants in this study will include workers and senior managers at the company. The research will request members to participate voluntarily in the study. However, every person agreeing to participate shall sign a consent form. Sampling Methods The company has a total of 1,265 workers of which 41% are women while men constitute 59%. The research seeks to interview 300 people from the organization. Of the 300, the researcher will not give a lot of significance to the number of men and women. The research will use random sampling to identify research participants. This will be done until the target is reached. However, the research shall ensure that the studied population includes people from every cultural background represented in the institution (Berger, 2011). The notable issues that shall be studied will include the variations and similarities in communication approaches and their effect in nurturing relationships. A field-based approach will also enable the researcher to study the factors that escalate exchange of information among diverse cultures (Berger, 2011). Interviews The notable topics that shall be captured during interviews will include opinions about the communication atmosphere in the company, the experiences and interactions with employees from diverse cultural backgrounds, processes for international communication, challenges that individuals have faced in their interactions with others even before the research period, and how they think they could improve communication between and among them Group Discussions The research shall also put the same participants in groups to undertake discussions with them on the key research topics. During the group discussions, the researcher’s centre of attention will be the key words and expressions used by the participants. These shall be categorized accordingly into appropriate themes. Six cultural measurements of acceptance, disagreement, individualism, collectivism, risk, and distribution were used to predict participants’ nationality (Berger, 2011). Table 1 below defines these variables of the research. The nationality of participants shall be used as the dependent variable since it directly affects culture. The validity of the findings shall be obtained by continuous redefinition of key words and expressions made by the participants. The feedback obtained from the respondents shall be very critical in the formation and characterizing cross – cultural communication approaches (Berger, 2011). Survey The research shall develop a survey tool that shall consist of different items about the topic of study. These items shall be rated at five points according to the Likert Scale. This shall include from 1=strongly disagree through to 5 = strongly agree (Berger, 2011). These items shall evaluate diverse aspects of the six cultural measurements. Table 1: Variables in Cross-Cultural Communication Study Variable Description Acceptance This is a measure of the importance of liking and acceptance of individuals with other Disagreement This is a measure of how individuals can manage to work together with colleagues who they do not agree with Individualism This is a measure of autonomy people employ in making decisions and how they behave Risk This assesses the level to which people can be open to trying out new aspects of their lives including forming relationships. Collectivism This is a measure of how people are willing to work in groups or teams Distribution This assesses the level to which individuals are ready to share their thoughts, ideas, and feelings. Nationality This represents where the participant comes from – has a direct influence on culture Data Analysis The findings of the study shall be analysed using the multiple regression approach to enable the researcher comprehend how the six multicultural variables would show the nationality of a participant (Berger, 2011). Presentation of Results The results shall be presented in the form of reports, graphs, and charts among others. Conclusion In summary, this paper has recognised that globalisation has added different pressures to the global business arena. Cross – cultural communication is an area that continues to attract massive debates. Business leaders around the world are every time involved in strategizing hoe they can enhance the competitive edge for their businesses. In the context of global organizations, cross- cultural communication has become a challenge since most workplaces that do not put strategies in place to achieve excellence may perform poorly. This paper has presented literature on cross – cultural communication as well as internal communication. The paper has also proposed a research methodology that will be applicable in conducting studies on how to improve cross – cultural communication and internal communication within the oil and gas industry. References Berger, A. A. (2011). Media and communication research methods: An introduction to qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications. Guffey, M. E., & Almonte, R. (2009). Essentials of business communication. Toronto: Nelson Education. Stringer, D. M., & Cassidy, P. A. (2009). 52 activities for improving cross-cultural communication. Boston: Intercultural Press. Read More