BCOM 350 Textbook

23F802...
BCOM 350 - Professional Communication

Strategies - Pawlik, Kotzian, Galifianakis, and
Hawkins (Fall 2023)
Provided by
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Channel Choice 9
2. Top 10 Communication Skills (not included) | 15
3. The Pitch of Your Voice: Some tips to consider to make your story more engaging 17
4. How to Give Great Presentations (not included) | 23
5. The Secret Structure of Great Talks (not included) | 25
6. Positive Organizational Behavior: A Buffer for Bad News 27
7. RECONCEPTUALIZING CULTURAL IDENTITY AND ITS ROLE IN INTERCULTURAL 41

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
8. Below the tip of the iceberg: How organizational culture impacts communication at the 79
workplace (not included) |
9. Managing Organizational Communication 81

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14
Top 10 Communication Skills (not
included)
This document was reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. Only authorized users may access
TM
materials in a Study.Net TEXTPAK . No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or any means – electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise – without written permission of the copyright holder.
15
16
The Pitch of Your Voice: Some
tips to consider to make your
story more engaging
17 APRIL 2019 By John Papa https://www.johnpapa.net/voice-pitch/
Are you a storyteller on stage? Do you want to engage and inspire your
audience comfortably and naturally? The great news is that you have
one of the essential tools to accomplish this already! Let's explore how
you can adjust your voice to tell your stories in a more impactful way.
# Pitch
Have you ever watched a presentation where the speaker seemed to grab your attention with the
tone the used to pronounce specific phrases? Let me jog your memory in case you can't recall.
Do you remember any of these lines from famous movies?
"You shall not pass!" - Fellowship of the Ring, 2000
“I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!” The Wizard of Oz,
1939
“You can't handle the truth!” A Few Good Men, 1992
“Here's Johnny!” The Shining, 1980
“My precious.” The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, 2002
These are all from some great movies! Each of these stands out for various reasons. But one of
the keys we should focus on is the pitch of the actor/actress's voice. I bet as you read them you
could hear the actor/actress's voice in your head. Now trying saying these yourself without using
any of their vocal changes.
17
Did you notice that each of these quotes were said with varying degrees of a high and low vocal
pitch? Some were softer, some louder. Some were faster, some slower. Some were deeper and
some higher pitched. The changes in pitch (we'll focus there for now) can help grab attention
mainly when used sparingly at critical moments in the delivery of your story.
# What is Pitch?
Pitch is the highness or lowness of your voice. It can be a handy tool for you when presenting.
# Pitch, Not Volume

We'll talk more about volume in a future post. These two topics can overlap a little, but the best
way to think about these is that the pitch is the deep or high voice you use. And you can still
adjust the volume independently of the pitch.
# Try this Exercise

Let's start with an exercise you can try right now. Let's take the phrase "Winter is Coming" (yes,
I am a Game of Thrones fan). Try saying this phrase first with a high pitch, then a typical pitch
of your voice, then with a deeper pitch. Notice how they sound different.
The odds are that some of these may sound natural and compelling while others may sound
awkward. That's understandable. Pitch isn't a tool that should be wielded lightly. When it works,
it works great. But it should be used with purpose and sparingly to capture attention.
Now say this phrase in a high pitched voice. It just doesn't work for the story. Does it grab
attention? Very likely it would. But it may catch the wrong kind of attention by causing
confusion for the audience as they think "why is the actor saying it like that?"
Proper use of pitch adds to the story. Using a low and deep pitch throughout, and slowly (note
the speed can play into this too), gives some sense of aw to the phrase.
18
# Another Pitch Exercise
What is your baseline for your pitch? Let's find out. We'll pick a simple word like "yes" and
repeat it till you find your comfortable, typical, baseline pitch.
Now say "yes" at your baseline pitch and then raise it a step higher. Continue going step by step
higher to get a feel for your comfort range. Then take a few steps down in your pitch to find your
deeper pitch for "yes".
The key here is to use varying pitches that are comfortable and natural for you. If you don't like
the way they sound, odds are others will not either. So find the pitches that work for you and are
not forced.
# Where is this useful?

Changing your pitch can make the difference in your story being followed and remembered, vs.
quickly forgotten.
Let's start with some boundaries and guidelines for pitch. Pitch isn't something I recommend
changing too often in your presentation. Otherwise, you risk sounding a bit off, and you lose the
value of the infrequent pitch change to grab attention.
Changing pitch can help grab attention most especially when used within a part of your story
where the pitch is one way, and then you adjust the pitch suddenly. Here are some examples of
changing pitch:
# Questions
During your story you pause, move forward and bend a little and speak into the mic "Has this
ever happened to you?"
If you were talking in a high pitch before this, try using a deeper tone of your voice for the
question. Or, use a higher pitch for the question if you were speaking more deeply prior to it.
This gives a chance to your audience to re-focus on you and your voice.
Note that using a higher pitch at the end of sentences is similar to the tone used when asking a
question.
19
# Exclamations
Your story may have "aha" moments. In these, a high pitch can emphasize the moment. For
example, imagine you are telling a story that suddenly changes the narrative to show the
audience that a great secret is revealed. You could stop and exclaim in a higher pitch "Woah?
What just happened here?". Or you could use a deeper pitch for the same phrase. Depending on
the context of your story and what pitch pattern you had been speaking in, going deeper or higher
can help grab the audience.
# Avoid the Sleepers

When we speak in the same pitch and tone and pace and volume, it is natural for humans to tune
out from your presentation. You don't want heads to nod off - and yes, I had this happen to me
when I presented. Some people can't stay awake. Changing any one of these can help and
changing more than one can help even more!
We hear the term "monotone" often when referring to the same pitch of a voice for a period of
time. By changing the pitch at a critical moment in your talk, you can avoid this and be sure to
grab (or re-grab) attention
# Parting Tips on Pitch

Here are quick tips for using the pitch of your voice.
• Discover your typical and most often used pitch. Then find small variances you can
comfortably use.
• Try using a high pitch for asking questions to your audience.
• Use a deeper pitch when you want to convey more authority at a point in your story.
Finally, observe the audience when you vary your pitch. Make mental notes of their reactions
and make adjustments for the next time you present.
20
# What's in This Series?
Here are the other topics in this series, in no particular order. I'll update these links as I publish
them.
1 - Using Your Voice

2 - Pace of your voice
3 - Pitch of your voice
4 - Volume of your voice
5 - Emphasis of words in your speech
6 - Clarity of your speech
Good luck with your next presentation!
21
22
How to Give Great Presentations (not
included)
TM
23
24
The Secret Structure of Great Talks (not
included)
TM
25
26
441823
unicating Negative Messages Business Communication Quarterly
BCQ75210.1177/1080569912441823Comm
Communicating Negative Messages

Business Communication Quarterly
Positive Organizational 75(2) 208–220

© 2012 by the Association for
Business Communication
Behavior: A Buffer for Reprints and permission: http://www.
sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
Bad News DOI: 10.1177/1080569912441823
http://bcq.sagepub.com
Sandra L. French1
and Tracey Quigley Holden2
Abstract
Most communication research on bad news messages focuses on crisis communication,
where attention is often limited to image repair strategies. The authors argue that
a key indicator of an organization’s effectiveness in communicating “bad news”
messages is its organizational culture. Developing an organizational culture that values
positive organizational behavior can transform the way that “bad news” messages
are crafted and received in the workplace. In this article, the authors demonstrate
how organizational leadership and practice from the positive organizational behavior
perspective can assist with communicating “bad news” messages, particularly during
organizational crises.
Keywords
bad news messages, crisis communication, positive psychology
Introduction: The Art and

Science of “Bad News” Messages
Research on “bad news” emerges across the spectrum of communication. “Bad news”
for business appears in many forms—the announcement of layoffs, poor financial
outcomes, crises of internal or external origin, and natural disasters, among others.
The particular type of “bad news” is not at issue here but rather the communication
practices encompassing the delivery of bad news. In this article, we focus on what
1
Radford University, USA
2
University of Delaware, USA
Corresponding Author:
Sandra L. French, Radford University, PO Box 6932, Radford, VA 24142, USA
Email: sfrench5@radford.edu
27
Communicating Negative Messages 209
positive psychology can teach business communication professionals about dissemi-

nating bad news during an organizational crisis such as unforeseen downsizing, lay-
offs, and acute organizational events.
In 1999, Locker examined the extant literature on negative messages, including the
prescriptive practices from 57 textbooks. She found that the conventional wisdom on
negative messages was contained in six principles—in effect, the classic sandwich.
The most frequently suggested sandwich approach constructs negative messages with
a prefatory buffer, the bad news, an explanation, and a closing buffer, thus “sandwich-
ing” the bad news between pieces of additional communication (Guffey & Loewy,
2011; Lehman & Dufrene, 2009). And yet, in Locker’s survey of research in several
settings, she found that the sandwich approach was deemed “not useful in the work-
place” (Locker, 1999, p. 9). Locker’s own research led her to conclude that only two
pieces of the sandwich were valuable—the directives to “present the negative as posi-
tively as possible, and offer an alternative or compromise if one is available” (p. 31).
Responding to Locker’s assessment, Limaye (2001) agrees that the conventional wis-
dom is flawed and directs attention to the opportunity costs and psychological attribu-
tion processes of bad news as potential guides for rethinking bad news message
construction. Limaye makes a compelling case for the value of explanation in a bad
news message, claiming that the “price paid for nonprovision of explanation is low-
ered employee morale, damage to employee satisfaction, and loss of management
credibility” (p. 106). Although Limaye focuses on the explanation offered by the
deliverer of the bad news and how tailoring that piece of the sandwich can positively
influence the outcome, he stops short of a specific form or guideline for producing
such a message.
More recent work in the construction of negative messages validates Limaye’s
approach of incorporating explanation and extends this into a preference for an indi-
rect structure—offering the explanation first. Jansen and Janssen (2011) conducted a
series of experiments testing direct and indirect message structures for comprehen-
sion, compliance, and evaluation of the writer. They found that indirect messages were
better at preserving the “face” of the recipient and allowed for the negative message to
be accepted more readily. Jansen and Janssen suggest that this structure works because
offering the explanation first allows the reader to gradually adapt to the sender’s think-
ing, as “the decision becomes a part of their cognitive belief system even before they
actually read it” (p. 60).
The structure and design of bad news messages has evolved considerably, but we
argue that there is more to the story. Bad news must be delivered or dealt with in many
situations facing organizations. The suggestions of current research focus almost
exclusively on the specifics of such delivery rather than the handling of bad news
within the larger context of ongoing business operations. Ulmer, Sellnow, and Seeger
(2007) point to the absolute certainty that bad news or crisis will confront a business
and the need to develop, not only a contingency plan but also an overall approach to
such situations. The conditions that precipitate the need to deliver bad news or address
an organizational crisis can offer opportunities for renewal of an organization, if
28
210 Business Communication Quarterly 75(2)
skillfully managed. The authors invoke the popularized (but incorrect) meaning of the
Chinese symbols for crisis as “dangerous opportunity” to underscore this concept.
However, Mair, Professor of Chinese Languages and Literature at the University of
Pennsylvania, offers an explanation of the characters on his website that better sup-
ports the position being advanced. Mair writes in Mair, Mair, and Liqing (2009),
While it is true that wēijī does indeed mean “crisis” and that the wēi syllable of
wēijī does convey the notion of “danger,” the jī syllable of wēijī most definitely
does not signify “opportunity.” The jī of wēijī, in fact, means something like
“incipient moment; crucial point (when something begins or changes).”
From the business perspective, that is indeed the essence of delivering or dealing with
bad news. This translation makes Ulmer et al.’s (2007) position on bad news and crisis
communication practices even more on point—they conclude that “effective commu-
nication skills are essential to creating positive, renewing opportunities at these turn-
ing points.” (p. 4)
Ulmer, Sellnow, and Seeger ground their work in an approach to leadership and
communication focused on positive values, virtues, and optimism (Seeger & Ulmer,
2001; Ulmer & Sellnow, 2002). Such a perspective is radically different from much of
the conventional wisdom concerning the delivery of bad news and crisis communica-
tion within business research and practice. What makes the difference is not just a shift
from a structural approach focused on messaging to a more contextualized perspective
emphasizing organizational leadership and culture. This focus on renewal and oppor-
tunity comes from an entirely different way of thinking about business, leadership, and
communication. We suggest that this shift is consistent with the tenets and insights of
the Positive Psychology movement.
The Positive Psychology

Movement: Bad News Gets Reframed
The positive psychology movement offers a new paradigm for studying organizations.
Seligman, founder of the positive psychology movement, developed a manual of
Character Strengths and Virtues (C. Peterson & Seligman, 2004) specifically as a
“positive” counterpart to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM). The positive psychology movement investigates the “conditions, and pro-
cesses that contribute to the flourishing or optimal functioning of people, groups, and
institutions” (Gable & Haidt, 2005, p. 103). All positive psychology–related organi-
zational research shifts in perspective from a “disease”-based, problem-solving model
as the most suitable approach to improved organizational performance, to one in
which positive resources are identified and investigated (Linley, Harrington, &
Garcea 2010). The overarching philosophy of Positive Organizational Scholarship
(POS) is a marriage of positive psychology and organizational studies. POS seeks to
understand how to cultivate excellence in organizations by unlocking individuals’
29
potential. Specifically, through an investigation of “positive deviance,” POS explores

the ways in which individuals use and develop strengths leading to exceptional per-
formance at both the individual and organizational levels (Linley et al., 2010). In
investigating extraordinary performance, POS often focuses on the macro or institu-
tional levels of analysis (Youssef & Luthans, 2007) rather than individual organiza-
tional actors.
A similar line of organizational research, positive organizational behavior (POB),
is defined by Luthans (2003) as “the study and application of positively oriented
human resource strengths and psychological capacities that can be measured, devel-
oped, and effectively managed for performance improvement in today’s workplace”
(p. 179). POB focuses more on individuals, or micro levels of analysis. POB tends to
emphasize four core capacities: self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resiliency
(Donaldson & Ko, 2010; Luthans, Avey, Avolio, Norman, & Combs, 2006).
“Houston, We Have a Problem . . .”:

Positive Psychology and Organizational Crises
As we stated previously, there are many types of “bad news” messages experienced
in organizations, including layoffs, customer service problems, and negative perfor-
mance reviews. Here, we focus on what positive psychology can teach business com-
munication professionals about disseminating bad news during an acute organizational
crisis.
Acute organizational events, or organizational crises, are “specific, unexpected and
non-routine events or series of events that create high levels of uncertainty and threaten
or are perceived to threaten an organizations’ high priority goals” (Seeger, Sellnow, &
Ulmer, 1998, p. 233). The bulk of crisis communication research focuses on problems
and failures: what organizations have done badly, how crises have been poorly han-
dled, and what mistakes management has made (Small, 1991; Ulmer & Sellnow,
2000). Crisis communication literature is largely based on its own version of a “dis-
ease” model, expending most research resources explaining organizational deficits
rather than organizational strengths.
We contend that an investigation of organizational strengths, and what positive
communication behaviors exist when communicating bad news during a crisis, should
focus on an organization’s CEO. According to Seeger and Ulmer (2001), during times
of crisis, the CEO is usually the designated spokesperson and “may also establish the
moral tone for the crisis response” (p. 369). CEOs are often called up to establish
the facts of the crisis, make important judgment calls, and communicate directly with
the media (Modzelewski, 1990).
Scholar and business consultant Gaines-Ross (2003) studies the relationship between
CEOs, their personal reputations, and their companies’ success. Coining the term CEO
capital, Gaines-Ross’s book of the same name cites a 1998 poll of the general public indi-
cating that a CEO’s reputation accounted for 48% of a company’s reputation. Gaines-Ross
argues, “The CEO must come to terms with the idea of being the ultimate spokesperson for
30
the organization, the embodiment of the brand, and the official storyteller who knits
together the company’s past, present, and future” (p. 39). Park and Berger (2004) argue
that CEOs are the public face of a company, particularly during organizational crises, and
as such warrant particular attention as the subject of crisis research.
However, following the “disease” model, most current research on CEO perfor-
mance during times of crisis focuses on what not to do. For example, former Exxon
CEO Lawrence Rawl is often excoriated for his handling of the Valdez oil spill, in
particular for his failure to publicize his personal trip to the spill site (Modzelewski,
1990) and his attempt to avoid responsibility by blaming Captain Joseph Hazelwood
(Small, 1991). More recently, BP executive Tony Hayward was rebuked by public
relations professionals and the general public alike with regard to the 2010 oil spill of
the U.S. Gulf Coast. When visiting Venice, Louisiana, to survey damage and issue an
apology, in which he stated, “The first thing to say is I’m sorry,” he told reporters.
“We’re sorry for the massive disruption it’s caused their lives. There’s no one who
wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back” (“BP Chief to Gulf
Residents,” 2010). Hayward’s gaffe reflects not only his own communicative inade-
quacies but a broader problem for CEOs—the misperception of what constitutes effec-
tive, positive communication. Research supports the prevalence of this problem—in
1998, Coopers and Lybrand conducted a survey of CEOs, middle managers, and non-
managers. The survey found that while “82 percent of CEOs believe that they lead by
positive personal example . . . fewer than 40% of nonmanagement employees agree”
(Steinberg, 1998, p. 70). Moreover, 95% of the CEOs claimed to have an open-door
policy for the communication of bad news upstream, but more than half of employees
believed the bad news messenger was running a serious risk. Such a perspective does
not facilitate a strong business climate—in fact, such communicative problems have
resulted in huge business losses, even failures (Steinberg, 1998). More recently, leader
communication has become an even more critical element of business practice. The
current financial crisis has eroded employee confidence in senior leadership from 51%
in 2004 to less than 20% in 2009 (Davis, 2010). What is a beleaguered CEO to do?
Within the crisis communication literature, a handful of “exemplary” crisis
responses from CEOs have been studied and applauded, including Tylenol’s James
Burke and his handling of the cyanide tampering of 1982, which Fortune magazine
described as “the gold standard in crisis control” (Yang & Levenson, 2007). Other
models of effective crisis management include CEO of Malden Mills’ Aaron
Feuerstein’s response to the 1995 factory fire (Seeger & Ulmer, 2001) and Milt Cole’s
response to Cole Hardwoods’ 1998 fire (Seeger & Ulmer, 2001). Seeger and Ulmer
applaud these CEOs for their “virtuous” responses to their respective organizational
tragedies. These exemplary cases involve a leader, usually a CEO, responding quickly
and ethically to an organizational crisis.
In Locker’s 1999 article, she suggested that buffers should not continue to be used
in bad news messages, particularly the closing buffer, explaining that a bad news
message with a strongly positive end engendered negative feelings. By combining the
insights gained from exemplary examples in crisis communication research with the
31
underpinnings of POB research, we can create a new model of offering bad news mes-
sages that can assist business communication professionals in teaching students more
options for delivering bad news.
Working Toward a New Model

There are a handful of studies that have explored the relationship between CEO per-
formance and positive psychology. Starting with a broad perspective, Brockner and
James (2008) investigate when executives view organizational crises as opportunities,
stating “crises have the potential to be a catalyst for positive organizational change”
(p. 95). Focusing on when executives transition from framing a crisis as a threat ver-
sus an opportunity, Brockner and James argue that in a crisis, decision makers tend to
tighten control and rely on traditional ways of thinking about problem solving in order
to reduce the uncertainty that accompanies a crisis. Traditional ways of thinking
include viewing a crisis as a threat and responding by restricting activities, for exam-
ple, enacting cost-cutting measures. They propose that executives who are willing to
engage in reflection and learning are more inclined to view organizational crises as
opportunities to enact positive change.
S. J. Peterson, Walumbwa, Byron, and Myrowitz (2009) investigate the relation-
ship between CEO positive psychological traits and transformational leadership. The
authors adopt a POB approach, exploring the concepts of hope, optimism, and resil-
iency. Their research illustrates that CEOs rated as more hopeful, optimistic, and resil-
ient are also rated (both in self-ratings and the ratings of their followers) as engaging
in more transformational leadership behaviors. According to their research, the key
constructs of hope, optimism, and resiliency are similar but distinguishable. Thus, we
will examine these concepts in greater detail.
Hope
Synder et al. (1991) define hope as a two-pronged cognitive construct, built from the
aspects of “pathways” and “agency.” Pathways reflect an individual’s self-perception
of their capability to secure a plausible route to their personal goals. The second
aspect, agency, relates to an individual’s motivation to proceed toward goal achieve-
ment. Working in concert, these two components provide individuals with the means
and motivation to achieve their personal goals. According to S. J. Peterson et al.
(2009), “Those lower in hope lack the ability to conceive of strategies to meet goals
and to overcome obstacles and the motivation to pursue the strategies that lead to goal
achievement” (p. 350). It is theorized here that CEOs high in reservoirs of hope will
find more creative strategies for dealing with crises.
Optimism
Optimism as a trait is the generalized expectation of an individual that good things
will happen, despite potentially adverse circumstances (Carver & Scheier, 1999).
32
Those possessing the trait of optimism tend to focus on the good. Optimism has been
demonstrated to have a positive impact on work performance (Luthans et al., 2006;
Seligman, 1998). Optimists differ in their interpretation of positive and negative
events from those low in this psychological resource. It is theorized here that CEOs
who possess the trait of optimism may instinctively navigate crises more effectively.
Resiliency
Defining resiliency as “the capacity to modify responses to changing situational
demands, especially frustrating or stressful encounters,” Tugade and Fredrickson
(2004, p. 322) argue that one’s ability to use positive emotions results in finding
positive meaning in negative circumstances. As a result, resilient individuals tend to
rebound more quickly from negative situations. It is theorized here that resilience can
help CEOs move past the shock and narrow thinking that often accompany crisis situ-
ations and more quickly engage in creative and positive crisis resolution. By looking
in depth at a CEO response to crisis, positive psychology offers a new approach to
crisis management rooted in the psychological capacities of the CEO.
CEOs and Resilience

The concept of resiliency is not unique to the positive psychology literature. In organi-
zational science, resiliency can mean the maintenance of positive adjustment under
challenging conditions (Weick, Sutcliffe, & Obstfeld, 1999) and the ability to recover
from unexpected events (Sutcliffe & Vogus, 2003). Resilience is a dynamic capacity
of organizational adaptability that grows and develops over time (Wildavsky, 1988).
Gittel, Cameron, Lim, and Rivas (2006) argue that positive relationships at work are a
“prerequisite” to organizational resilience. In researching the airline industry following
9/11, these authors portray Southwest Airlines CEO Jim Parker as a model of strength
and virtue as they withstood heavy short-term financial losses in order to avoid layoffs,
arguing that they were “taking care of our people” (p. 317). Former CEO Herb
Kelleher was quoted as follows: “Nothing kills your company’s culture like layoffs.
Nobody has ever been furloughed [at Southwest], and that is unprecedented in the
airline industry” (p. 318). Kelleher’s statement reinforces our argument that organiza-
tional culture should be a key strategic factor in the design of bad news messages.
Organizational Culture and the Case of Malden Mills

For a prime example of the relationship between organizational culture, POB, and
effective dissemination of bad news, we turn to the case of Malden Mills. Henry
Feuerstein founded Malden Mills, a textile manufacturing facility, in 1906 under the
name Malden Knitting, in Malden, Massachusetts. Originally, Malden produced knit-
ted clothing items such as sweaters and bathing suits (“The Many Lives of Malden
Mills,” n.d.). In 1956, the company, then led by Henry’s grandson Aaron, moved to
Lawrence, Massachusetts.
33
Following a declaration of bankruptcy in 1981, the Feuerstein family called for

Aaron’s removal from his position as Mill president. Aaron resisted and restructured
the mill, creating Polartec and Polarfleece, an apparel fabric developed from recycled
plastic (“About Polartec,” 2012). Clothing manufacturers, including L.L. Bean, Lands
End, and Patagonia, purchased Polartec, a synthetic and extremely warm and light-
weight material, in large quantities, to be used in winter clothing and accessories. By
1995, Polartec sales were approximately $200 million, and the Mill and its four divi-
sions employed roughly 3,100 workers. Feuerstein’s operation was one of the few
U.S. textile companies that did not move its operations overseas to secure less expen-
sive labor.
Then, in December 1995, just 2 weeks before the Christmas holiday, Malden Mills
experienced a devastating fire that left three key buildings of its eight building com-
plex, totaling more than 600,000 square feet, in ruins and resulted in injuries to 36
workers (Goldberg, 1997). What makes this fire, later deemed an “industrial accident”
unique, is a combination of several factors. First, being one of only a handful of textile
manufacturers who had not moved operations overseas, Malden Mills garnered deep
loyalty from its employees. For example, although the mill workers were unionized,
the mill had never experienced a strike. Its employees are some of the highest paid in
the textile industry. Second, the tiny New England town of Lawrence, where the mill
was located, was dependent on the mill for economic survival. Lawrence is rated the
23rd poorest community in the country (Mcgrory, 2001). The Feuerstein family was
well established in the community and had a reputation for fairness and generosity.
“The community loves him very much and it’s not hype and it’s not the upper class,
it’s the people” said Julio Fernandez, a Malden Mills machine operator (Goldberg,
1997). Third, the mill was a privately held family company, not beholden to a group
of stakeholders. All these factors together helped set the stage for Aaron Feuerstein’s
extraordinarily positive and resilient response to the fire.
Fire insurance payments for the mill were expected to be upwards of $300 million,
and many feared the then 69-year-old CEO would either take the money and retire, or
finally succumb to outside pressures and move the mill operation overseas. Instead, on
learning of the fire and rushing to the mill, Feuerstein gathered his workers in a local
high school gymnasium and said that the workers would all be kept on at full pay for
the next 30 days (at a cost of more than $13 million) and that they would even receive
a Christmas bonus. He also continued providing their health insurance for another
30 days (Freedland, 1996). In addition, he stated that the mill would definitely rebuild
and seek to put all its employees back to work as soon as possible.
In September of 1997, a mere 21 months after a fire rated the worst in Massachusetts
in a century devastated the mill, Feuerstein dedicated a new $130 million factory and
rehired almost all of his workers (Goldberg, 1997). Feuerstein’s actions were covered
by both local and national media. He received 12 honorary degrees, and he estimates
that he received as many as 10,000 letters of support, many with cash or checks for
the workers (Butterfield, 1996). Feuerstein was hailed as a public icon of corporate
responsibility; President Clinton sent his congratulations on the mill’s reopening. The
34
fire at Malden Mills has been covered by the media, featured in a Harvard Business
Review case study, and studied by public relations professionals. Although the story of
Malden Mills is truly extraordinary, what insights into Feuerstein’s actions can posi-
tive psychology provide? Our conclusion will explore how positive psychology pro-
vides insights into Feuerstein’s actions and the positive reaction of his employees.
Conclusion
According to Dutton and Jackson (1987), the ability of decision makers to cognitively
process complex organizational issues such as crises is directly affected by whether
they frame the crisis as a threat or opportunity. Research conducted by Milliken
(1990) demonstrates that framing issues as opportunities allows decision makers to
feel more in control and less uncertain than when framing issues as threats. The time-
sensitive and pressurized nature of organizational crises makes it difficult for execu-
tives to see them as opportunities; however, we strongly believe that organizations can
“buffer” bad news messages by cultivating a positive organizational culture prior to
an acute organizational crisis. Organizations that focus on appreciating and cultivat-
ing positive organizational traits such as hope, resiliency, and optimism prior to a
crisis may be more successful in garnering employee support during and after the
crisis. Following in the footsteps of Gittel et al. (2006), who argue that managers must
maintain and enhance strong employee relationships (relational reserves) during a
crisis to ensure commitment and productivity, we argue that CEOs who actively pro-
mote a positive organizational culture, focusing on positive organizational traits and
strong employee relationships, will build a reservoir of goodwill that can buffer bad
news. Aaron Feuerstein’s building of a positive organizational culture at Malden Mills
helped the company through financial crisis and resulted in deep and abiding
employee loyalty, even in the face of layoffs. In our contemporary business climate,
bad news and crisis events are almost de rigueur, and certainly any CEO or senior
executive must expect to respond to such an occurrence. Davis (2010) writes that as
the current financial crisis continues to affect businesses, “What’s needed now is a
much higher level of leader presence: more intense, more transparent and more
authentic than ever before” (p. 24). Davis also describes how this leadership presence
is made manifest. She explains that “leader communication” in this form demands that
leaders “show up, giving the straight story, providing context, talking it through, and
keeping at it” (p. 24). This approach aligns strongly with Ulmer and Sellnow’s (2002)
call for “optimistic discourse that emphasizes moving beyond the crisis, focusing on
strong value positions, responsibility to stakeholders, and growth as a result of the
crisis” (p. 362). All these authors have moved beyond the “sandwich” prescription for
curing the bad news ailment and toward a more positive and engaged leadership com-
munication practice as a core of a positive organizational culture. Perhaps then, as
business communication professionals, we should be teaching our students more
about POB and creating a positive organizational culture, one where employees and
managers are resilient and optimistic, in order to more effectively communicate bad
35
news. Just how might we incorporate such thinking into our business communication
classes?
As business communication professionals, we believe we should be teaching our
students more about POB and the processes involved in creating a positive organiza-
tional culture; one where employees and managers are resilient and optimistic, focused
on strengths as opposed to weaknesses. Including the precepts of POB in our classes
serves not only as a conceptual frame for the effective communication of bad news but
also expands the repertoire of broader communication and organizational practices in
a more optimistic, resilient, and potentially successful approach. We are not suggest-
ing that we abandon teaching the sandwich message of delivering bad news wholesale.
However, we recommend that business communication teachers stress that correct
construction of this “indirect approach” is not the only consideration of delivering bad
news in an organization. Rather, we want our students thinking about the broader con-
text of organizational life through which the message is being transmitted and how
they might best respond to the specific business culture of their organization. By work-
ing prior to an organizational crisis to craft a culture that values positive psychological
traits such as hope, optimism, and resiliency, business communication professionals
can contribute to the creation of a new kind of psychological buffer. This new model
of incorporating lessons from positive psychology may help organizations to guard
against panic during times of crisis and to provide a positive framework through which
to “read” bad news, potentially making our workplaces more optimistic, resilient, and
humane.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship,
and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of
this article.
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39
40
RECONCEPTUALIZING CULTURAL
IDENTITY AND ITS ROLE IN
INTERCULTURAL BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION
Daphne A. Jameson
Cornell University
To complement past emphasis on understanding other cultures, the field of intercultural business com-
munication needs a stronger focus on understanding oneself. Cultural identity is an individual’s sense
of self derived from formal or informal membership in groups that transmit and inculcate knowledge,
beliefs, values, attitudes, traditions, and ways of life. A broad conception of cultural identity should
not privilege nationality but instead should balance components related to vocation, class, geography,
philosophy, language, and the social aspects of biology. Cultural identity changes over time and
evokes emotions. It is intertwined with power and privilege, affected by close relationships, and nego-
tiated through communication. The proposed model of cultural identity highlights components directly
related to business, such as economic class and professional affiliation, and demonstrates how cul-
ture not only connects people but also defines them as unique individuals. This model can expand
research and enrich teaching in intercultural business communication.
Keywords: cultural identity; intercultural communication; power; class; self-analysis; culture
The anthropologist Edward Hall (1959) described culture as an unseen but

powerful force that holds everyone captive: “Culture is not an exotic notion
studied by a select group of anthropologists in the South Seas. It is a mold
in which we all are cast, and it controls our lives in many unsuspected
ways” (p. 52). Hall conducted anthropological fieldwork in Micronesia
yet recognized that culture influenced his own life as much as the lives of
the Trukese people he studied. The problem, he said, is that “culture hides
much more than it reveals, and . . . it hides most effectively from its own
participants” (p. 53).
In the half century since Hall described this phenomenon of culture as
a hidden control force, international business has grown and with it efforts
Daphne A. Jameson is on the faculty of Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, and is a past presi-
dent of the Association for Business Communication. Correspondence concerning this article should
be addressed to Daphne A. Jameson, 350 Statler Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853; e-mail:
daj2@cornell.edu.
Journal of Business Communication, Volume 44, Number 3, July 2007 199-235

DOI: 10.1177/0021943607301346
© 2007 by the Association for Business Communication
41
200 JOURNAL OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
to understand intercultural communication. Yet people continue to

encounter difficulties when they meet with overseas clients, manage an
ethnically diverse workforce, negotiate contracts in another language, or
take a job at an organization with a radically different corporate culture. It
still is more difficult to recognize the impact of culture on one’s own val-
ues, attitudes, and behavior than to recognize it in others.
Those whose professional lives depend on being able to communicate
effectively in intercultural contexts need greater self-insight about the hid-
den force of culture. To help achieve this goal, the field of intercultural
business communication should more strongly emphasize how to under-
stand one’s own individual cultural identity: the sense of self derived from
formal or informal membership in groups that impart knowledge, beliefs,
values, attitudes, traditions, and ways of life. This new focus would com-
plement but not diminish the field’s traditional concern with how to under-
stand the collective group culture of others. An expanded concept of
cultural identity could reduce the past privileging of nationality; highlight
components directly related to business, such as economic class and voca-
tional affiliation; enrich intercultural business communication studies; and
show how culture not only connects people but also defines them as
unique individuals.
The purpose of this article is to develop a broadened, balanced model
of cultural identity that can serve as a framework for intercultural business
communication research, pedagogy, and practice. First, I discuss why
intercultural business communication needs to focus more fully on indi-
vidual self-analysis and how this change requires a reconception of cul-
tural identity. Then, I develop a model of cultural identity that integrates
social elements, accounts for change over time, acknowledges the impact
of power and privilege, recognizes the role of emotion, and relates iden-
tity to communication. In closing, I explain how this unified model can
inform teaching and research in intercultural business, technical, and pro-
fessional communication.
THE NEED TO SHIFT FOCUS FROM UNDERSTANDING

OTHERS TO ONESELF
Past discussions of intercultural communication have focused on

understanding other cultures rather than understanding the impact of
one’s own cultural makeup. Management development and training mate-
rials aimed at business practitioners take this approach (Copeland &
42
Jameson / RECONCEPTUALIZING CULTURAL IDENTITY 201
Griggs, 1990; Harris, Moran, & Moran, 2004). So do academic studies of

intercultural business communication, whose theme is often audience
analysis more than self-analysis.
Beamer’s (1995) model of intercultural communication, for instance,
approached audience analysis through the concept of schemata, that is,
preexisting mental structures with organized categories that allow a per-
son to make sense of information. A person’s schemata of other cultures
inevitably differ from those cultures, and the process of intercultural com-
munication involves aligning the schemata with actuality insofar as possi-
ble. The metacognitive problem is to know what one knows—and does
not know—about others. As communication occurs, each communicator’s
schemata of other cultures are modified and refined.
Victor (1992) depicted cross-cultural business communication as an
applied form of ethnography in which a communicator closely observes
and analyzes components of another culture. He discussed seven variables
that affect business communication as they shift across cultures: language,
environment/technology, social organization, contexting, authority, non-
verbal behavior, and conceptions of time. By framing the right questions
about these variables, he said, one can gain insight into new cultures and
their business practices. Then, to adapt to a target audience, businesspeo-
ple can “draw their own conclusions regarding the best way to accommo-
date cultural factors affecting business communication” (p. 4).
In large part, the emphasis on analyzing others rather than self is a nat-
ural extension of the business communication concepts of you-attitude
and audience adaptation; however, this emphasis has several limitations.
Broad generalizations about other cultures are difficult to apply because
there is a great deal of variation within cultural categories—sometimes
more than between them (Phinney, 1990; Trompenaars, 1994). To overrely
on generalizations about cultural categories leads to unfair stereotyping
(Tajfel, 1978). Furthermore, people have less access to knowledge about
others’ complex cultural makeup than about their own.
Lovitt (1999) has raised concerns about professional communication’s
preference for analyzing other cultures. Though acknowledging the
important contributions of cultural analysis as a methodology, he ques-
tioned this approach:
As a heuristic imported from the fields of anthropology and intercultural com-

munication—neither of which are specifically concerned with the production
and management of discourse in professional settings—cultural analysis may
be both too blunt an instrument to guide communicators’ context-sensitive
43
decisions and too focused on audience analysis to address the complexities of

communicating in global workplaces. (p. 3)
Yuan (1997) has argued that “intercultural communication theories

should be interaction based, emphasizing how individuals communicate,
not how cultures communicate” (p. 311). Knowledge about a culture,
though valuable, does not ensure that one can communicate successfully
with persons from that culture. Traditional process models, she said, treat
cultures as homogeneous, whereas in fact they are heterogeneous. She
advocated a complementary, externalist approach that considers intercul-
tural communication to be interpersonal.
To address concerns like those Lovitt (1999) and Yuan (1997) raised,
Varner and Palmer (2005) developed a process by which cultural self-
knowledge could be systematically incorporated into the preparation that
corporate employees receive when they are assigned to work abroad. The
process begins with intensive self-discovery education in terms of per-
sonal and cultural preferences. This insight is then balanced with intensive
study of the cultural backgrounds of the people with whom the expatriate
will interact in the foreign location. The important next step is to link
knowledge of self with knowledge of others by identifying specific cul-
tural adaptation strategies that will allow the expatriate to succeed.
A stronger focus on understanding one’s own cultural identity would
complement theories and models of intercultural business communication.
An extension of Beamer’s (1995) model, for instance, could incorporate
inward-directed schemata. Insight into individual cultural identity would
help practitioners apply Varner’s (2000) strategic, organizational-level
model of intercultural business communication to specific situations. Varner
noted that knowledge of communication styles is essential because com-
munication occurs between individuals, not between whole organizations or
cultures. A shift in focus to individual cultural identity would also help
practitioners gauge their predisposed ratio of explicit versus implicit
communication as they consider Haworth and Savage’s (1989) channel-
ratio model of intercultural communication. They could also find new
applications for the interpretive translation skills that Weiss (1997)
emphasized. All these theorists reject the concept of culture primarily as
an external context; instead, they view culture as an internal state of mind
that underlies and influences the process of communication.
Including more focus on understanding one’s own cultural background
does not reduce the need to understand others’ cultural backgrounds. As
Varner and Palmer’s (2005) process suggests, both types of insight are
44
necessary and their synthesis is the key to the effective practice of inter-
cultural business, technical, and professional communication.
THE NEED TO RECONCEPTUALIZE CULTURAL IDENTITY
To increase understanding of a communicator’s state of mind in an

intercultural business communication situation, it is necessary to recon-
ceptualize cultural identity. Edward Hall’s work launched decades of
inquiry into the nature of intercultural communication in a variety of
venues, including business, technical, and other professional settings.
However, much of the resulting work privileges nationality and, to a lesser
extent, ethnicity over other components of cultural identity. A broader,
more balanced concept of cultural identity would help people gain self-
insight, would expand the analysis of business problems, and would influ-
ence the design of business communication research.
To increase understanding of a
communicator’s state of mind in an
intercultural business communication
situation, it is necessary to reconceptu-
alize cultural identity.
Equating Culture With Country
Scholars often define culture in general, inclusive ways but opera-

tionalize it in narrow, specific ways. Hofstede (1980), for instance, saw
culture as the “collective programming of the mind” (p. 13) but primarily
studied cultural differences related to nationality. Gudykunst and Kim
(1992) defined culture as “‘systems of knowledge’ shared by a relatively
large group of people” (p. 13) but identified groups in terms of political
boundaries between countries. Haworth and Savage’s (1989) channel-
ratio model of intercultural communication seemed applicable to any con-
text, but all their illustrations related to differences in nationality.
Some writers view culture as a hierarchy, with a national-level, domi-
nant macroculture as an umbrella over many subcultures or cocultures
(Chaney & Martin, 2007). Others acknowledge the broader components of
culture but limit their own focus. For example, Hecht, Collier, and Ribeau
45
(1993) defined culture—“whether national, ethnic, professional, organiza-

tional, or gender based” (p. 15)—as patterns of interaction and perception that
a group of people share; the focus of their work, however, was ethnic cultural
identity, in particular that of African Americans. Trompenaars (1994)
acknowledged corporate and professional cultures but limited his work to “the
first level, the differences in culture at a national level” (p. 9).
Other writers equate cultural identity with nationality and separate it from
ethnicity, race, religion, class, and other components that broader definitions
of culture encompass. Sussman (2000), for instance, said that within her
work “the terms culture and country are used interchangeably” (p. 355).
Equating culture with country limits our

understanding of business issues,
problems, and strategies.
The problem with this privileging of nationality, as Louhiala-Salminen

(1997) noted, is that in a single country, intercultural conflict can occur
within or between businesses and, conversely, “affiliates of an interna-
tional group can share aspects of a common culture, although operating in
different countries” (p. 332). Because of the continuing debate over the
concept of national culture, Bargiela-Chiappini and Nickerson (2003)
called for the field of intercultural business communication to reappraise
underlying concepts such as self, identity, and nation, using a multidisci-
plinary approach. Poncini (2002) warned that studies of discourse in mul-
ticultural business settings should not view participants as representatives
of homogenous national cultures; other factors, such as organizational
roles, business contexts, and individual differences, may be important.
Equating culture with country limits our understanding of business
issues, problems, and strategies. Consider, for instance, analyses of
European food retailers’ entry into the Korean market. Whereas the British
company Tesco has succeeded, the French company Carrefour has not. It
recently sold its Korean business after a decade of disappointing results.
Analyses of the situation often focus on the nationalities of the key decision
makers, not other relevant qualities, such as their business acumen, edu-
cational background, professional experience, and ability to marshal key
resources. Taking a broader view of cultural identity might lead to the con-
clusion that the contrasting outcomes resulted from cultural factors other
than nationality or even factors totally unrelated to culture.
46
Causes of the Narrow Concept of Cultural Identity
The privileging of nationality and to a lesser extent ethnicity in the con-

ception of cultural identity has several causes. Politically, the creation of
international movements such as the Peace Corps as well as the growth
of international business increased interest in international studies and
encouraged country-based comparisons. Hofstede’s (1980) influential
studies heightened the interest in national cultures. Using a large corpo-
rate survey in the 1970s, he categorized employees by nationality and
chose nations as his units of analysis. Subsequent scholars applied his the-
ories and methodology to other countries and contexts.
Another cause of the emphasis on nationality in definitions of culture
has an underlying philosophical basis. As the study of culture moved from
its historical intellectual base—anthropology—to psychology, communi-
cation, and business management, scholars sought to carve out areas of
specialization. One way to do this was to isolate one component of cul-
tural identity, such as nationality or ethnicity—or even one particular
nationality or one particular ethnicity—to the exclusion of others. This
approach dovetailed with a growing concern about the treatment of minor-
ity groups in North America and Europe. Some specialists, such as Collier
(2005), cited a philosophical commitment to social justice as their moti-
vation for focusing narrowly on ethnicity in cross-cultural studies. The
privileging of countries might even reflect a Western bias related to
philosophies of patriotism and nationalism (Limaye & Victor, 1991).
An additional reason for the continued privileging of nationality concerns
practical issues about intercultural research. Whatever the type of study, it is
often easier to obtain information about participants’ nationality than about
their socioeconomic class, ethnicity, religion, and other elements of cul-
tural identity. Even when such details are available, each added variable
complicates the methodology and interpretation of results.
In summary, for political, philosophical, or practical reasons, many
studies of intercultural communication narrow their focus to one compo-
nent of cultural identity.
Benefits of Expanding the Concept of Cultural Identity
A broader, more balanced conception of cultural identity would have

several advantages. First, the concept would be more accurate. For many
people, nationality is not the most salient factor in a particular situation
or the most central factor in an overall sense of identity. For instance,
47
when Triandis (1989), Sussman (2000), and others replicated Kuhn and
McPartland’s (1954) study, they found that many people do not include
nationality in descriptors of their identity. Similarly, according to Cross
(1991), race and ethnicity are not necessarily the most salient elements of
cultural identity for minorities.
Second, as a result of the more accurate conception of cultural identity,
business education and training would improve. For instance, an expanded
concept of cultural identity could reduce stereotyping, which is based on
overgeneralizing and oversimplifying. This change would help people
understand others’ multidimensional backgrounds and prevent people
from assuming that nationality or ethnicity was more important in cultural
identity than class, vocation, religion, gender, or other components. In
addition, a more complex conception of cultural identity could enhance
people’s intercultural communication abilities. Focusing solely on nation-
ality may lead people to have unjustified confidence in their ability to
interact effectively in intercultural situations. Appreciating the complexi-
ties of cultural identity will help people discover areas of commonality
with others instead of just the differences.
A third benefit of an expanded concept of cultural identity would be
new perspectives on and approaches to intercultural business communica-
tion research. A broader concept would include specific connections to
business and other vocational factors. Studies of corporate culture typi-
cally take the perspective of the organization as a whole, not of individu-
als within it. Yet just as growing up in a country or being part of a
particular ethnic group affects a person’s values, beliefs, and behavior, so
does being acculturated into a particular profession, field, or company. In
intercultural business communication, cultural identity must include voca-
tional and professional components as central, not peripheral.
Two examples illustrate how a broader definition of cultural identity
might enrich intercultural business communication research. In Graham’s
(1985) oft-cited study contrasting the communication styles of Americans,
Japanese, and Brazilians, the subjects participated in a negotiation exper-
iment with partners of their own nationality. The groups differed not only
in nationality but also in other traits, including age, professional field,
education, and amount of business experience. Thus, it seems likely that
the contrasting communication styles were related to a complex combina-
tion of cultural differences, not to nationality alone. Bilbow’s (2002) lin-
guistic study of speech acts in business meetings at a Hong Kong airline
corporation concluded that Chinese participants used promises and state-
ments of commitment differently than did Westerners (a category that
48
subsumed participants from Britain, North America, and Australia). No

conclusions were drawn, however, about the impact of other notable dif-
ferences, including gender, professional field (technical or service), or
corporate position status. If studies such as Graham’s and Bilbow’s were
based on a broader concept of cultural identity, then the research design
could be modified to justify conclusions about single components of iden-
tity. Alternatively, the research design could be recast to take into account
the multidimensional nature of cultural identity.
THE PHENOMENON OF CULTURAL IDENTITY
The term cultural identity refers to an individual’s sense of self derived

from formal or informal membership in groups that transmit and inculcate
knowledge, beliefs, values, attitudes, traditions, and ways of life. The focus
of this article is the cultural identity of individuals, not the collective iden-
tity of cultural groups, as often used in a political sense (Kim, 2002).
Cultural identity is one part of a larger concept of individual identity (see
Figure 1). Objective identity, represented in a person’s birth certificate, pass-
port, credit report, voter’s registration, tax returns, and other official records,
differs dramatically from subjective identity: a person’s sense of who he or
she is as a human being. The former can be stolen; the latter cannot.
Subjective identity encompasses what Triandis (1989) called personal
and collective identity. Personal identity refers to the sense of self derived
from personality, character, spirit, and style. These “unique elements that
we associate with our individuated self” (Ting-Toomey, 2005, p. 212)
differentiate siblings who otherwise have similar backgrounds. Collective
identity, in contrast, refers to the sense of self derived from formal or
informal membership in groups.
Collective identity includes both cultural and social aspects; these are
related but not the same. Cultural identity involves historical perspective,
focusing on the transmission of knowledge and values between genera-
tions, whereas social identity is often anchored in a particular moment in
time. For instance, a person who has been employed but is briefly between
jobs may have a temporary social identity as “unemployed” for measures
such as the census but does not have the ingrained cultural identity of “the
unemployed” held by a person whose family for several generations has
lacked gainful employment. That person may have adopted a mind-set and
learned ways of life associated with chronic unemployment. Social iden-
tity concerns what roles people play in the present; cultural identity
49
Identity
Objective Subjective
identity identity
Personal Collective
identity identity
Social Cultural
identity identity
Figure 1. Classification of Individual Identity
concerns, in addition, what people have learned in the past and how they
plan to influence the future.
Collective identity includes both

cultural and social aspects; these
are related but not the same.
Triandis (1989) provided an analogy that highlights the long-term ver-

sus short-term contrast between cultural and social identities: “Culture is
to society what memory is to the person” (p. 511). He goes on to say that
culture is like memory in that it
specifies designs for living that have proven effective in the past, ways of
dealing with social situations, and ways to think about the self and social
behavior that have been reinforced in the past. It includes systems of symbols
that facilitate interaction . . . rules of the game of life that have been shown to
“work” in the past. When a person is socialized in a given culture, the person
can use custom as a substitute for thought, and save time. (pp. 511-512)
Cultural identity and social identity also differ in their academic domains
and methodologies. The study of social identity often focuses narrowly and
50
uses experimental methods of inquiry (Tajfel, 1978). The study of cultural

identity is usually broader and uses interpretive methods (Collier, 1998).
Cultural identity is an internal state that depends on self-perception. For
this reason, transracial adoptions may lead to apparent discrepancies in
cultural identity. For instance, an adopted child’s physical appearance may
cause others to perceive her to be Chinese, but in fact, she may have had
little or no connection with Chinese culture—no learning of Chinese
beliefs, values, attitudes, traditions, and ways of life.
Cultural identity is especially relevant in intercultural business com-
munication because it plays an integral role in interpersonal relationships.
In her work on rapport management, Spencer-Oatey (2000) developed the
concept of identity face, the value that people claim for themselves based
on their group roles and that affects a sense of public worth. She con-
trasted identity face with quality face, the value that people claim because
of individual qualities, such as appearance and abilities, and that affects
self-esteem. Managing rapport in intercultural interactions requires atten-
tion to language, nonverbal communication, and actions that threaten both
types of face. Although face is a universal trait, culture “can affect the rel-
ative sensitivity of different aspects of people’s face, as well as which
strategies are most appropriate for managing face,” she said (p. 12).
Cultural identity is especially relevant in

intercultural business communication
because it plays an integral role in
interpersonal relationships.
Those who have theorized about cultural identity have depicted it as

fragmented. Each person has layers of separate identities, one of which
rises to the top at any given time. Collier and Thomas (1988), for instance,
envisioned dynamic multiple identities—nationality, ethnicity, gender,
race—and one dominates depending on the context and situation. Hecht
et al. (1993) described multiple identities competing for primacy in different
situations. This layered model of cultural identity has a practical appeal for
researchers: They can isolate and study subparts, such as racial identity, eth-
nic identity, gender identity, and most frequently national identity.
The layered model fails to recognize, though, that people think of
themselves as whole persons with integrated identities. A unified rather
than layered concept of cultural identity, therefore, is more appropriate.
51
I propose that we envision cultural identity as a pie chart with different

components. The proportion of each component may vary at different
times and in different situations, but the total always equals 100%.
Although a particular component may be a small percentage, it neverthe-
less continues to exert some influence on the person’s overall sense of self.
THE COMPONENTS OF INDIVIDUAL

CULTURAL IDENTITY
What components should a broader, more balanced conception of indi-

vidual cultural identity include? The work of Varner and Beamer (2005) is
a good place to start because they have specified what culture does as well
as what it is. They defined culture as “the coherent, learned, shared view
of a group of people about life’s concerns that ranks what is important,
furnishes attitudes about what things are appropriate, and dictates behav-
ior” (p. 5). But what constitutes a group of people? A broad, balanced con-
ception of cultural identity includes components related to a person’s
membership in groups based on at least six commonalities: vocation,
class, geography, philosophy, language, and biology (see Table 1).
Vocation
Corporate and other vocation-related groups of people constitute cul-

tures that are especially relevant to business, technical, and professional
communication but that are underexplored in studies of cultural identity.
Those who work for a company or other type of organization for a length
of time often, though not always, buy into its values and cultural practices.
Sometimes, even subunits of corporations, such as divisions or depart-
ments, create strong cultural affiliations (Kuhn & Nelson, 2002).
Corporate and professional cultures are closely related to language use. In
a study of Swedish, German, and British banks, for instance, Gunnarsson
(2000) showed how discourse created distinct organizational cultures,
which were influenced by both national and industry sector cultures.
Some industries and vocational fields, such as education, agriculture,
engineering, and social work, operate as cultures in that they rank priori-
ties, encourage particular attitudes, and develop traditions. In the hospi-
tality industry, for instance, those in the culinary field often share a
distinctive culture, with allegiances and hierarchies communicated
through symbols such as dress and technical language (Fine, 1996).
52
Table 1. Components of Cultural Identity
Vocation
Occupational field
Profession or job category
Employing organization
Subunit of organization
Class
Economic class
Social class
Educational class
Geography
Nationality
Region, state, province, or city identification
Density identification (urban, suburban, small town, rural)
Residence (if different from nationality)
Philosophy
Religious identity
Political identity
Identity based on other philosophies
Language
First language
Dialect
Other languages
Biological traits with cultural aspects
Race
Ethnicity
Gender
Sexual orientation
Health
Age
People who enter certain professions (e.g., accounting, medicine, nursing,

and law) formally agree to adhere to codes of ethics and adopt common
practices that define professional cultures. Such cultural groups cut across
boundaries of nationality and ethnicity.
A few studies have compared the vocational components of cultural
identity with other components. Auer-Rizzi and Berry (2000), for
instance, found that management students held business-related values
that often diminished differences related to nationality. Similarly, Webb
and Keene (1999) discovered that engineers’ professional cultural values
sometimes overrode those related to nationality. In a study of communi-
cation between a British company and its Chinese clients, Spencer-
Oatey and Xing (2003) learned that perceptions related to professional
cultures—those of engineers versus sales managers—helped explain dif-
ferences in satisfaction with communication when nationality did not.
53
Philipsen’s (1990) study of masculinity in a blue-collar neighborhood

showed complex interrelationships between vocation, economic class, and
gender. More studies such as these could contribute to our understanding
of important determinants of successful business, technical, and profes-
sional communication.
Class
Economic, social, and educational class often define groups of people

who share common values, behavior, and attitudes; these cultural groups
also cut across national and ethnic lines. Though sources of wealth vary, the
rich often share cultural values and behavior; the same is true of the poor
and the middle class. The prestige of social class may depend on family his-
tory, celebrity, or power, but members of the social elite, however deter-
mined, adopt certain cultural attitudes and traditions. Educational class, too,
inculcates patterns of thought and values that cut across national and ethnic
lines. MBAs from around the world, for instance, are able to collaborate
more effectively in business settings and overcome other cultural differ-
ences because they have learned a particular world view and set of values in
their education. Similarly, scientists share educational values and epistemo-
logical beliefs that enable them to collaborate effectively despite differences
in nationality, ethnicity, and race.
Cultural factors related to economic, social, and educational class affect
business communication. One example of this occurs when companies try
to appeal to new target markets. Retailers have tried to attract more afflu-
ent customers by introducing product lines associated with celebrities or
prominent designers. Kmart successfully used television star Jaclyn
Smith’s line of clothing and later Martha Stewart’s line of home goods to
interest customers of different economic and social classes. Similarly,
Target partnered with fashion designers Isaac Mizrahi, Behnaz Sarafpour,
and others to communicate with a status-conscious clientele. In contrast,
Wal-Mart’s recent efforts to attract more affluent customers through a
similar designer strategy have not succeeded.
Geography
Geography creates cultural groups but not only in terms of nationality.

Regional differences within countries also affect values, attitudes, and
behavior of large groups of people. Some examples include southern ver-
sus northern Italians and East Coast versus West Coast U.S. Americans.
54
Some states and provinces have particular cultures. Even some cities, such
as Paris and New Orleans, have distinctive cultures that give residents
common outlooks and traditions. Geographic distinctions related to pop-
ulation density—rural, small town, suburban, or urban—cut across
national and regional boundaries and create cultural groups united by atti-
tudes toward time, space, privacy, property, security, and other matters.
Culturally, ranchers in the Argentine pampas and the Russian steppe may
have more in common with each other than with urbanites in Buenos Aires
or Moscow, respectively. Furthermore, place of residence is not synony-
mous with nationality. People who live in a particular place for some time,
irrespective of citizenship, absorb cultural values and behaviors. In short,
though countries do define cultural groups, so do other aspects of place
that often transcend nationality.
Corporate strategy and decision making often need to account for cul-
tural differences related to regional or density distinctions. For instance,
food retailers modify the distribution of products according to local tastes,
values, and traditions. Regional distinctions often interact with other cul-
tural differentiators, such as ethnicity. The U.S. grocery industry recog-
nizes that the Hispanic market in Miami is quite different from that in
Atlanta and both are different from that in rural Kansas. Variations in food
preferences and traditions, as well as terminology, require that food retail-
ers distribute products and communicate differently according to region.
Philosophy
Religion and other types of philosophy define cultural groups that cut
across nationality and ethnicity. Roman Catholics around the world, for
instance, are united not only by theological and ecclesiastical views but
also by common commitments, such as serving the poor. The superior per-
formance of Asian Americans on college entrance tests may result from
Confucianism’s long-term impact on attitudes toward education and
parental authority (Kristof, 2006). Political and social philosophies, too,
can create cultural groups. For many people, the labor movement estab-
lishes a sense of mission and group solidarity. For others, affiliation with
a political party or movement provides cultural ties. The impact of reli-
gion and philosophy on business communication deserves further study.
A recent example of how religion can affect business policy and decision
making occurred in the pharmaceutical industry when emergency contra-
ceptive pills became available in the United States. Because of their reli-
gious beliefs, some pharmacists refused to dispense the product; the
55
American Pharmacists Association supported that position. Drugstores

faced the dilemma of balancing their employees’ deeply held religious con-
victions with their public and legal responsibilities. Communicating with
those on both sides of the issue, as well as customers, created challenges.
Language
Language defines cultural groups, as well as being the most frequently

used symbolic system through which culture is conveyed. Linguists have
hypothesized that those who share a language also share patterns of
thought. “No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered
as representing the same social reality” (p. 69), according to the influen-
tial linguist Edward Sapir (1970). He asserted that “we see and hear and
otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of
our community predispose certain choices of interpretation” (p. 69). In
business contexts, people often use nonnative languages, which affect
interaction and relationships in complicated ways (Clyne, 1994; Du-
Babcock, 2006; Louhiala-Salminen, 1997).
Language often interacts with other cultural components, such as
regional identification, age, ethnicity, and vocation or profession. This
interaction results in dialects, paralanguage, specialized vocabularies, and
styles of expression that serve to define membership in certain cultural
groups. People use multiple discourse systems related to their member-
ship in cultural groups as they make choices about how to communicate
(Zaidman, 2001).
Studies in intercultural business communication have been especially
concerned with the use of multiple languages and shared languages in
multinational corporations. The economic integration of Europe moti-
vated many such studies (Nickerson, 1998). Poncini’s (2002, 2003)
research on multinational, multilingual business meetings revealed the
important functions that language switching plays: keeping discourse on
track with meeting objectives, managing participation, building common
ground, construing roles, and highlighting evaluative statements. Studies
of a Finnish company and its subsidiaries in 40 countries showed that
adopting an official corporate language does not instantly create a shared
language culture or solve all communication problems (Charles &
Marschan-Piekkari, 2002; Marschan-Piekkari, Welch, & Welch, 1999).
Even when communicators use their native language, the impact of cul-
ture is significant. In a cross-cultural study of written business requests
from companies in Finland, Britain, and the United States, Yli-Jokipii
56
(1994) analyzed how language choices reflected cultural orientations. For

instance, requests written in Finnish were much more likely than those in
English to avoid mentioning human agents, suggesting “a deep-rooted
Finnish avoidance of distinguishing self with linguistic means” (p. 252).
The profile of writers’ choices reveals the shared cultural values of the
native users of a language, Yli-Jokipii said. A study that compared the lan-
guage used in British and Italian corporate meetings revealed parallel phe-
nomena in spoken discourse (Bargiela-Chiappini & Harris, 1997).
Language creates both division and unity in ways that affect business
policy, decision making, and costs. The health care industry, for instance,
is concerned that patients understand fully even if they do not share a
common language with health care providers. When family members
serve as translators, problems arise because they do not know the special-
ized language of medicine and the concepts underlying it. Some hospitals
and pharmacies now use video-based medical translation services to pro-
vide immediate translation in dozens of languages.
Yet language also unites disparate people. Many forms of telecommunica-
tions outsourcing could not occur, for instance, if India and the Philippines did
not have large populations fluent in English. Although workers strive to per-
fect accents and insert current idioms into their conversations, it is their over-
all command of the language and its thought patterns that unifies them with
other members of the cultural group of English speakers.
Biology
By definition, culture is learned, not innate, passed down from one gen-
eration to the next. How, then, can a conception of cultural identity
include traits that have some biological basis, such as race, ethnicity, gen-
der, sexual orientation, health, and age? Each of these traits is simultane-
ously biological and social. Through social interaction, groups of people
who share a biological trait sometimes develop a coherent, learned, shared
view about life’s concerns that ranks what is important, furnishes attitudes
about what things are appropriate, and dictates behavior—thus, they meet
Varner and Beamer’s (2005) definition of culture.
Race. Race has more importance in cultural identity than in biological

identity. Based primarily on external physical appearance, race was dis-
credited as a biological concept when it was shown there was more varia-
tion within categories than across them (Betancourt & López, 1993). Yet
as Sellers, Smith, Shelton, Rowley, and Chavous (1998) noted in a study
57
of racial identity, “although race has dubious value as a scientific classifi-

cation system, it has had real consequences of the life experiences and life
opportunities of African Americans” (p. 18). Recently, Harvard professor
Henry Louis Gates Jr., used DNA analysis to trace the complex genetic
ancestry of a group of well-known African Americans. The results, pre-
sented in a Public Broadcasting System television documentary, con-
trasted the social versus biological construction of race (Gates, 2006).
Studies of transracial adoptees and multiracial children have explored how
individuals gain a sense of cultural identity related to race (Richards,
1994). Race thus remains a powerful component of culture.
Ethnicity. Ethnicity is widely acknowledged as a part of cultural iden-

tity even though it is an amorphous concept. When Phinney (1990)
reviewed articles on ethnic identity, she found that two thirds did not
define ethnicity. Most scholars relate ethnicity to heritage through genet-
ics and population movements; in this sense, ethnicity involves the tradi-
tions and values passed down from previous generations who moved from
one homeland to another. In countries that have had voluntary or involun-
tary immigration, ethnicity concerns where forbearers came from (e.g.,
African Americans, Japanese Peruvians, Turkish Germans, Russian
Israelis). In places without recent immigration or migration, population
movement may not be a factor in ethnicity (e.g., the 56 ethnic groups in
China; the English, Welsh, Scots, and Irish in Britain). Sometimes, eth-
nicity is closely connected to religion (e.g., Jews, Amish), language (e.g.,
Quebecois), class (e.g., gypsies, also called Roma), or vocation (e.g.,
Burakumin, descendents of animal slaughterers, executioners, and grave
diggers in Japan). Oftentimes, ethnicity relates to complex and changing
combinations of language, genetics, and religion (e.g., Cherokees,
Yorubas, Tibetans). In many cases, though, ethnic distinctions are blurred
(e.g., Hutu and Tutsi). Most important, as travel and intermarriage have
increased, more and more people now have multiethnic backgrounds. For
these reasons, ethnicity is one of the most complicated components of cul-
tural identity.
Gender. Gender, the social manifestation of the physical trait of sex,

creates cultural groups. Women establish networks, organizations, and
traditions that link them through values, attitudes, behaviors, and language
(Inness, 2001; Martin, 1990; Olsson & Walker, 2004). Studies of mas-
culinity have explored parallel cultural connections of men (Ashcraft,
2005; Mumby, 1998; Philipsen, 1990).
58
Sexual orientation. Though scientists have not yet established the exact
biology of sexual orientation, they have studied cultural factors (Herdt,
1992). For some gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons, groups
defined by sexual orientation unite members and create cultural ties
stronger than those of race, ethnicity, or nationality (Cross, 1991).
Health. Sometimes, groups of people with physical limitations or spe-

cific illnesses may fit the definition of a culture. People who are deaf con-
stitute an unusual cultural group because they have their own language, as
well as other commonalities (Padden & Humphries, 2005). Groups such
as cancer survivors and those infected with HIV/AIDS are sometimes
considered cultural in that they unite members through values and action
(Hecht, Warren, Jung, & Krieger, 2005).
Age. Age creates cultural groups in two ways: through historical gener-
ations and through life stages. People who came of age during tumultuous
historical periods, such as the Depression, World War II, or the 1960s,
often share political values, social outlooks, and discourse practices that
make them identify with one another as a cultural group. Some life stages
have been characterized as forming cultural groups (Scollon & Scollon,
2001). For instance, youth culture involves special language and music, as
well as values, attitudes, and behavior. The increasing interest in geron-
tology has led to depictions of the elderly as a cultural group with dis-
tinctive features (Noor Al-Deen, 1997).
Cultural factors of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and
health all affect business communication and strategy in significant
ways. Recognizing this more than a decade ago, IBM established net-
works that connected employees in these categories. The purpose of these
networks included but went beyond functional issues, such as how to
recruit and retain employees and how to avoid discrimination. The net-
works also provided social and cultural connections within a large organi-
zation. IBM’s current networks, titled Asians, Blacks, Hispanics/Latinos,
Native Americans, Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender, People With
Disabilities, Women, and Men, continue as active communication chan-
nels among employees, between employees and the corporation, and with
outside constituencies. It is interesting that IBM has a network for men,
recognizing that not only people in a minority need cultural connections
and a way to express shared perspectives and concerns.
An increasing number of business organizations are recognizing sexual
orientation as a relevant consideration in corporate strategies, policies, and
59
communication, both with employees and customers. Besides establishing

employee councils and reconsidering benefit policies, some corporations
have taken political action. In its headquarters city, Procter & Gamble
publicly supported and contributed money to the campaign to repeal a
municipal charter amendment that prohibited laws protecting gays from
discrimination. Under pressure, Microsoft agreed to support state antidis-
crimination legislation. Both companies were threatened with boycotts by
religious groups for their stances.
In summary then, many groups defined by vocation, class, geography,
philosophy, language, and biology fit into the definition of culture as “the
coherent, learned, shared view of a group of people about life’s concerns
that ranks what is important, furnishes attitudes about what things are
appropriate, and dictates behavior” (Varner & Beamer, 2005, p. 5). A
broader, more balanced conception of cultural identity must acknowledge
all components, without privileging nationality. Such a conception will
enhance intercultural business communication research and help business
practitioners find commonalities in values, attitudes, and discourse prac-
tices related to educational class, professional field, gender, age, and other
components of culture that transcend nationality.
THE ATTRIBUTES OF CULTURAL IDENTITY
Cultural identity is more than the sum of its parts. Having identified the
separate components of cultural identity, let us consider the phenomenon
as a whole: the unified, coherent sense of self. Cultural identity has
several important attributes (see Table 2), and each is relevant to studies
of intercultural business communication.
1. Cultural Identity Is Affected by Close Relationships
An individual’s cultural identity is affected by his or her significant oth-

ers: close family members and sometimes friends. People gain a sense of
self through relationships with others (Hecht, 1993). A person whose par-
ents have different nationalities or races, for instance, assimilates values
and perspectives of each. People whose spouse or affectional partner has
a different religion or ethnicity gradually adopt some of their beliefs and
attitudes. This process is often unintentional but may lead to a “qualitative
psychic transformation” (Kim, 1995, p. 178). For this reason, it is impor-
tant to consider how relationships modify a person’s cultural identity.
60
Table 2. Attributes of Cultural Identity
1. Cultural identity is affected by close relationships.

2. Cultural identity changes with time.
3. Cultural identity is closely intertwined with power and privilege.
4. Cultural identity may evoke emotions.
5. Cultural identity can be negotiated through communication.
This attribute of cultural identity could be applied in intercultural busi-

ness communication research in several ways. For instance, a study of
managers’ ability to motivate a culturally diverse workforce could com-
pare the communication of managers whose own families were mixed in
terms of race or religion with those whose families were not. Studies of
expatriates might determine how executives’ adaptation was related to
spouses’ cultural backgrounds. In exploring why some business writers
control tone more effectively than others, researchers might investigate
whether intercultural communication at home increases linguistic sensi-
tivity at work. In these types of situations, personal experience might carry
over to the professional realm.
2. Cultural Identity Changes Over Time
Cultural identity has both variable and stable components. The terms
salience and centrality convey this difference (Sellers et al., 1998). As
day-to-day situations and contexts change, some components of cultural
identity become more or less salient—important and relevant in the short
term. When a business practitioner must negotiate a contract in a foreign
country rather than at home, he or she may suddenly feel that nationality
is more salient than other aspects of cultural identity. Encountering an eth-
ical or moral dilemma in negotiating the contract, his or her religious iden-
tity may become salient. Even when day-to-day conditions change, other
components of cultural identity remain central—important and relevant to
a person’s core identity in the long term. For instance, the business prac-
titioner may feel that his or her gender and educational class are always at
the heart of his or her identity.
Cultural identity evolves. In the course of a lifetime, many people move
from one economic class or professional field into another. Some people
change nationality or religion. Though no one changes native language,
many come to use new dialects or languages in daily life. All these types
of changes affect people’s cultural identity. For instance, a person who is
born into a lower economic class but who through education reaches a
61
higher economic class is likely to have different perspectives and values

than someone whose economic class never changes.
Several studies have elucidated how changes in cultural identity occur.
Sussman (2000) has focused on the process as it happens in repatriation
after a period of temporary immersion in a different cultural context. She
contrasts the types of identity shifts that can occur at such transition
points. Kim (1995, 2001) has explored how people adapt when they cross
cultural boundaries, especially when they relocate on a long-term basis as
immigrants or refugees. The process of learning about the new culture—
acculturation—is balanced by unlearning of the old culture—decultura-
tion. Adaptation occurs as stress promotes growth in a series of leaps: “a
dialectic relationship between push and pull, or engagement and disen-
gagement” (Kim, 1995, p. 178). If the process works well, the person
develops what Kim calls an intercultural identity—a hybrid of past and
present: “The original cultural identity begins to lose its distinctiveness
and rigidity while an expanded and more flexible definition of self
emerges” (p. 180).
Several scholars have explored changes in cultural identity from a post-
colonial perspective. According to Shin and Jackson (2003), a cultural
identity inscribed and imposed by hegemonic power structures needs to be
described and replaced to reconstruct the authentic self. For example, the
dominant culture has the power to promote a standard of what it means to
be a woman, an ethnic minority, or member of some other subgroup. The
process of cultural identity development, from this point of view, is a lib-
eration of the self (Bhabha, 1994). The postcolonial theorist Stuart Hall
(1990) said that cultural identity involves becoming as well as being:
Far from being eternally fixed in some essentialised past, [cultural identi-
ties] are subject to the continuous play of history, culture, and power. Far
from being grounded in a mere recovery of the past, which is waiting to be
found, and which, when found, will secure our sense of ourselves into eter-
nity, identities are the names we give to the different ways we are posi-
tioned by, and position ourselves within, the narratives of the past. (p. 225)
The evolution of cultural identity provides new vistas for intercultural

business communication research. Longitudinal studies of managers work-
ing abroad could trace how their changing attitudes and values affect their
communication practices. Studies of management leadership could explore
how acculturation into a new corporate culture changes language, vocabu-
lary, and symbolic actions. Case studies of corporate scandals could inves-
tigate the ethical ramifications of acculturation and its counterbalancing
62
deculturation. Historical studies of business communication could consider

the intercultural identity formation of successful business leaders who
immigrated from one country to another. Intercultural business communi-
cation needs to take into account that cultural identities are always in flux.
In summary, two kinds of changes affect cultural identity: concrete
transformations, such as immigration or religious conversion, and percep-
tual shifts in which components become more or less salient. In the anal-
ogy of cultural identity as a pie chart, these shifts are reflected in the
variable proportions held by each component.
3. Cultural Identity Is Closely Intertwined

With Power and Privilege
As the postcolonial scholars’ perspectives emphasize, cultural identity

is rooted in power and privilege. The connection between cultural identity
and power has been articulated most explicitly in studies that focus on the
cultural identities of minority group members and their interaction within
a dominant culture (Hecht, Jackson, & Ribeau, 2003; Orbe, 1998). The
biological components of culture—race, ethnicity, gender, age—confer
automatic, unearned privilege on some and make others feel marginalized.
Privilege may mean subtle deference, respect, and authority rather than
explicit, tangible benefits.
Power and privilege are limited when people lack agency—the ability to
control external perceptions of their cultural identity. Some components of
cultural identity can be concealed, but others are what Collier (1998) called
“involuntary affiliations.” For instance, physical features make ethnic back-
ground overt for some, ambiguous for others. People can usually choose
whether to let others know their educational class but not their gender.
Those whose religion mandates particular attire, such as Sikh, Amish, and
Hassidic men, lack the choice to keep this element of cultural identity in
the background.
In intercultural business communication contexts, power and privilege
are related to other components of cultural identity besides race, ethnicity,
gender, and age. A person’s professional field may confer power and privi-
lege; for example, a surgeon may gain more automatic respect and defer-
ence than a used car salesperson. The organization for whom a person works
may also add or detract from power and privilege; a person who works for
McKinsey Consulting, for instance, may gain instant credibility when a
person who works for a small local company does not. Even affiliation
within an employing organization may confer power and privilege. In many
63
companies, for example, line managers in operations are more likely than
staff managers in benefits to rise to top executive leadership positions.
In multinational corporations, language choice is inextricably linked to
power, control, and strategy. In a study of language use in a Finnish com-
pany that had subsidiaries in 40 countries, Charles and Marschan-Piekkari
(2002) found that employees who were most fluent in the official corpo-
rate language (English) or the headquarters’ native language (Finnish)
accrued power but also were burdened as communication was centralized.
Nickerson’s (1998, 2000) study of Dutch subsidiaries of British compa-
nies revealed that corporate headquarters sometimes asserted control by
requiring certain language choices. In an analysis of multiple languages
used in meetings of an Italian company’s international distributors,
Poncini (2003) discovered that “even simple shifts in language can serve
instrumental and interpersonal purposes in multicultural business meet-
ings” (p. 30). The ability to use different languages “thus represents a
strategic resource” (p. 30), she concluded.
Even when communicators use their native language, they convey
power differences through linguistic choices that reflect cultural values.
For instance, in her study of Finnish business writers, Yli-Jokipii (1994)
found that those with higher institutional power were much more likely to
use certain linguistic behavior, such as circumlocutions that conveyed
respect and allowed readers to maintain face. Bargiela-Chiappini and
Harris (1997) showed how British and Italian corporate meeting partici-
pants who had explicit, visible power and status interrupted others and
were interrupted themselves more often than those with lower corporate
power and status.
The field of intercultural business communication needs more investi-
gations into the connections between culture, language, and power.
Source credibility studies, for instance, could look into power differences
related to professional cultures and their status. Would more employees
sign up for maximum contributions to retirement savings plans if they
received persuasive messages from the chief financial officer rather than
the chief human resources officer? Studies of group dynamics could con-
sider the impact of race, ethnicity, age, and gender. In virtual teams, when
such cultural factors are less visible, how do members communicate dif-
ferently, and do they have more equal influence on group decisions?
Studies of interpersonal communication could investigate how communi-
cation changes when someone with automatic, unearned privilege works
closely with someone who lacks such privilege. In such a dyad, can cer-
tain speech acts counterbalance unearned privilege? Questions such as
64
these provide a significant opportunity for business, technical, and pro-

fessional communication research.
4. Cultural Identity May Evoke Emotions
Another important attribute of cultural identity is its ability to evoke

emotions. People may have positive, negative, neutral, or ambivalent feel-
ings about components of their own cultural identity. Studies of intercul-
tural business communication have typically stressed positive feelings
toward one’s own cultural identity, manifested as ethnocentrism, and neg-
ative feelings toward others’ cultural identity, manifested as prejudice. In
fact, people may also have conscious or subconscious negative feelings
about components of their own cultural identity.
Studies of race and ethnicity have most explicitly addressed this issue.
In constructing a model of racial identity, for instance, Sellers et al. (1998)
included a dimension they called regard, referring to “a person’s affective
and evaluative judgment of her or his race in terms of positive-negative
valence” (p. 26). In her identity validation model, Ting-Toomey (1986)
theorized that people develop positive or negative attitudes toward com-
ponents of their own cultural identity based on their perceptions of the
extent to which others support that identity. By affirming another person’s
cultural identity, one “provides the underlying motivational force in which
intergroup-interpersonal ties can be developed and blossom” (p. 120).
When a person forms a negative attitude toward a component of his or
her cultural identity, several responses are possible. To maintain self-
esteem, a person may focus on a different identity component, change the
basis for comparison, devalue that component, or, if possible, leave the
group connected to that component (Sussman, 2000; Tajfel, 1978).
In intercultural business communication, it is important to recognize
that cultural identity can have an emotional impact. People have positive,
negative, neutral, or ambivalent feelings not only about race but also about
other components of cultural identity. For instance, a particular individual
may feel positive about her gender, negative about her economic class,
neutral about her nationality, and ambivalent about her ethnicity. Such
differences are sure to affect communication and are rich areas for con-
tinued research into the complexities of intercultural business communi-
cation. For instance, studies could trace how managers’ negative attitudes
toward their own cultural identities affect their credibility with workers or
how positive attitudes toward cultural identity are revealed in nonverbal
communication.
65
5. Cultural Identity Can Be Negotiated Through

Communication
Cultural identity can be negotiated through communication but only

under certain circumstances. People must be conscious of the components
of their cultural identity and be comfortable discussing them with others.
Cultural identity is not always conscious. People often take cultural
factors for granted and rarely discuss them (Brislin, 1990). Few people,
according to Sussman (2000), “recognize the imprint of their own culture
and its ubiquitous nature” (p. 363). She theorizes that people become
more aware of components of their cultural identity at points of transition,
when they enter into or depart from an environment where others’ behav-
ior and thinking diverge. She compares these cultural transition points to
Dorothy’s arrival in the Land of Oz.
Even when people are aware of their cultural identity, they do not nec-
essarily communicate all parts of it. Though some aspects of cultural iden-
tity, such as gender and race, are visible in face-to-face encounters, many
aspects are invisible, such as religion, class, and profession. In mediated
encounters, such as e-mail and phone calls, even more components of cul-
tural identity are hidden unless a person intentionally reveals them.
People can choose to express parts of their cultural identity. Identity can
be “invoked, used, interpreted with, displayed, performed, and so on in par-
ticular social scenes” (Carbaugh, 1996, p. 23). However, the intensity with
which people communicate their cultural identities varies (Collier &
Thomas, 1988).
When people are conscious of their cultural identities and choose to
communicate about them to others, then they may to some extent negoti-
ate their cultural identities in discourse. For instance, project team mem-
bers may explicitly invoke their educational backgrounds but avoid
references to race and ethnicity.
Cultural identity involves both public and private perceptions: how
one perceives one’s own cultural identity and how others perceive it.
Collier and Thomas (1988) used the terms avowal and ascription to con-
vey this contrast. The cultural identity a person avows is not necessarily
the same as that which others ascribe to him or her. Through communi-
cation, negotiation of cultural identity takes place. Wieder and Pratt
(1990) explored this tension between avowal and ascription in the case
of American Indians. The criteria Indians use to define genuine ethnic
identity in others often conflict sharply with self-defined or officially
defined criteria.
66
In addition to the public and private perceptions of cultural identity, a

third perception exists: how one thinks that others perceive his or her cul-
tural identity. This hybrid aspect, which we could call “private-public,” is
important when people negotiate cultural identity because in many cases,
they may be wrong about what others perceive. Misperceptions affect the
negotiation process. Identity negotiation is “fluid and narrative in nature,
and . . . multiple identities are likely to be negotiated in a single episode,”
according to Collier and Thomas (1988, p. 114). Some have viewed iden-
tity negotiation as a structured process that creates implicit contracts
between people (Hecht et al., 2003).
In developing what she called “identity negotiation theory,” Ting-
Toomey (2005) said that negotiation involved “a transactional interaction
whereby individuals in an intercultural situation attempt to assert, define,
modify, challenge, and/or support their own and others’ desired self-
images” (p. 217). This is not an easy process. To be successful in such
negotiation, a person must be “able to hold two polarized value systems
and be at ease with the dynamic tensions that exist between the vulnera-
bility spectrum and the security spectrum” (p. 230).
Theories of intercultural identity negotiation have many applications
in intercultural business communication practice and research. Are busi-
ness teams more effective when members openly discuss their cultural
backgrounds and differences? Do supervisors who use self-disclosure
concerning their religion endanger professional relationships? How
should expatriate employees negotiate their cultural identities to avoid
unfair stereotyping? The process of identity negotiation not only involves
communication but also establishes the ground rules for communication.
When people interact for a business purpose, these ground rules affect the
possibilities for cooperation and collaboration.
USING THE MODEL OF CULTURAL IDENTITY
To create a visual representation of cultural identity, we can combine

its components and attributes, showing the connections between them (see
Table 3). This model is useful in both teaching and research.
Applications in Teaching
In intercultural business communication courses and executive pro-

grams, participants can reflect on how cultural identity affected their
67
226
Table 3. Model of Individual Cultural Identity
Components 1. Specifics of 2. Impact of 3. Changes, 4. Power 5. Feelings 6. Awareness

of Cultural My Cultural Significant Salience, and and and and
Identity Components Others Centrality Privilege Attitudes Communication
Vocation
Occupational field
Profession or job category
Employing organization
Subunit of organization
Class
Economic class
Social class
Educational class
Geography
Nationality
Region, state,
province, or city
identification
Density identification
(urban, suburban,
small town, rural)
Residence (if different
from nationality)
68
Philosophy
Religious identity
Political identity
Identity based on other
philosophies
Language
First language
Dialect
Other languages
Biological traits
with cultural
aspects
Race
Ethnicity
Gender
Sexual orientation
Health
Age
Other
227
69
professional and personal communication in the past; then, they can plan
for future situations in which cultural identity will have an impact.
The first step is for each participant to use the model to create an indi-
vidual cultural snapshot, a profile of oneself at the present moment, rec-
ognizing that cultural identity is always in flux. This personal document
need not be shared with others. After a discussion of the model of cultural
identity, each participant records the specific details about his or her cul-
tural background by answering the following questions related to each
column (see Table 4):
1. How would you define your current cultural identity in terms of each
component?
2. How do your significant others’ cultural backgrounds differ from yours in
ways that have affected you? Significant others may include parents,
spouse/partner, or other relatives or friends with whom you are very close.
3. How has your cultural identity changed with time? Which components
have high importance in the immediate situation (salience)? Which
components have stable, long-term importance in defining who you are
(centrality)?
4. Which cultural identity components currently give you power or privilege
or have done so in the past? Which ones create prejudice against you or
lessen your power?
5. About which components of your cultural identity do you feel positive
today? Negative? Neutral? Ambivalent? How have these feelings changed
with time?
6. Of which cultural identity components are you highly conscious? Mostly
unconscious? Which components do you communicate openly to others?
Though most components of culture fall into one of the six categories,
additional possibilities exist; thus, the model provides an other category.
For example, a person deeply involved in a sport, a philanthropy, or an
avocation may consider this important enough to constitute part of his or
her cultural identity (Shockley, 2005).
The completed snapshot has several important benefits. Most important,
it symbolizes an individual’s uniqueness. When all the elements are taken
into account, few others could have exactly the same cultural identity. Thus,
cultural identity differentiates individuals from one another as much as does
personality, style, or other elements of personal identity. The completed
snapshot also represents a unified, integrated cultural identity. Though each
component may be proportionally more or less salient at a given time, the
total always equals 100%. In addition, the snapshot visually demonstrates
that nationality is but one of many components of cultural identity.
70
Table 4. Cultural Identity Profile Questions
1. How would you define your current cultural identity in terms of each component?
2. How do your significant others’ cultural backgrounds differ from yours in ways that have
affected you? Significant others may include parents, spouse/partner, or other relatives or
friends with whom you are very close.
3. How has your cultural identity changed with time? Which components have high
importance in the immediate situation (salience)? Which components have stable, long-term
importance in defining who you are (centrality)?
4. Which cultural identity components currently give you power or privilege or have done so
in the past? Which ones create prejudice against you or lessen your power?
5. About which components of your cultural identity do you feel positive today? Negative?
Neutral? Ambivalent? How have these feelings changed with time?
6. Of which cultural identity components are you highly conscious? Mostly unconscious?
Which components do you communicate openly to others?
The second pedagogical step is reflection. After using the model to cre-
ate their individual cultural snapshots, participants recall specific intercul-
tural communication challenges they have faced in their academic or
professional careers and analyze how factors of cultural identity affected
what they thought, felt, and did. This type of reflection helps link cultural
identity to specific communication practices. Some elements of culture
may influence communication very little, others a great deal. These dif-
ferences vary from person to person. What is important is for each person
to look within and recognize the impact of culture on his or her own
behavior, interaction, and language. Participants are usually happy to
share examples in class discussion.
The third step is to apply the model to future intercultural challenges, per-
haps by using cases or simulations. For instance, if a class is studying the
Intercontinental Resort Bali case (Rogers & Dufey, 2003), each participant
can analyze how cultural identity affects how he or she would handle the
aftermath of the terrorist attack if he or she were the resort’s general man-
ager. If the class is participating in an intercultural simulation, participants
can use the model to explain their own interactions and communication.
This model of cultural identity complements other approaches to teach-
ing intercultural communication. Through Delphi panels of international
business practitioners and experts, Martin and Chaney (1992) developed a
detailed plan for an international business communication curriculum. The
reflective self-analysis described earlier supplements the external-analysis
approach of this curriculum. The model also fits into the intercultural learn-
ing approach proposed by Beamer (1992), the cross-talk system created by
Kenton and Valentine (1997), and the international communication training
programs discussed by Leininger (1997). The teaching application I have
71
developed in this article could be incorporated into the self-discovery phase of

Varner and Palmer’s (2005) expatriate education process. The self-analysis
approach I have advocated here and the traditional approach—external cul-
tural analysis—complement one another and together create a comprehensive
intercultural learning experience.
Applications to Research
The model of cultural identity developed in this article also suggests

new lines of research in intercultural professional communication. For
example, the model highlights several attributes of cultural identity that
have yet to be explored in depth, such as its relationship to power, privi-
lege, and emotion. The impact of corporate and professional culture on
individual cultural identity also deserves more investigation. How is an
individual’s cultural identity changed when he or she is acculturated into
a corporate culture such as those of Nokia, Toyota, or British Petroleum?
What is the impact on a person acculturated into the accounting profes-
sion or advertising industry? How do such affiliations affect a person’s
communication?
Another promising line of inquiry concerns convergence, the tendency
for people to adopt some elements of others’ discourse systems in inter-
cultural communication contexts. In a study of the interaction between
Israeli and Indian businesspersons, for instance, Zaidman (2001) found
convergence occurring both in writing and speech. Each party attempted
to adapt to others by using some of their language patterns and prefer-
ences. If we took into account the full cultural identities of people rather
than just their nationalities, we might gain additional insights into conver-
gence. A new emphasis on individual cultural identity might enable com-
municators to find shared cultural traits that lead to better communication.
Another application of the model of cultural identity regards the phe-
nomenon that Bolten (1999) called “interculture,” also known as “trans-
action culture” and “third culture.” When people with substantially
different cultural identities interact, they can create a new cultural context:
a hybrid that synthesizes components of each person’s cultural back-
ground. For instance, collaborators on a global corporate project may
develop a work culture that incorporates some of each member’s cultural
practices, values, and traditions. On a larger scale, an organization can
have a hybrid culture that combines elements of its home headquarters, its
local operating company, its affiliates, and its clients. How does the grow-
ing complexity of cultural identity affect such intercultures? Because
72
many international business persons have studied abroad, lived overseas,

or consciously sought to adapt business approaches from other cultures,
their cultural identities are more nuanced. Does this growing complexity
make intercultural business communication easier or more difficult?
These are but a few of many avenues of exploration in intercultural busi-
ness communication that a model of intercultural identity could inform.
In this article, I have advocated increased emphasis on the individual
perspective and a reconception of cultural identity to give as much promi-
nence to such components as vocation and class as to nationality and eth-
nicity. If the field of intercultural business communication sees cultural
identity in this broader, more balanced way, both practitioners and
researchers will benefit. As Lovitt (1999) noted, “recognizing that the
dynamics of international professional communication are always defined
by individual communicative contexts introduces a qualitatively different
dimension to this area of study” (p. 9). By focusing on individual cultural
identity more fully, while maintaining the traditional focus on the collec-
tive cultural identity of others, we can help reveal the hidden dimensions
of culture that are so hard to penetrate.
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Below the tip of the iceberg: How
organizational culture impacts
communication at the workplace (not
included)
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6/7/2019 Managing Organizational Communication
Managing Organizational Communication
July 25, 2018
Scope—The subject of managing organizational communication encompasses formal and informal communication throughout an
organization, including communication to employees, with employees and from employees to upper management. This toolkit reviews
the basics of e ective organizational communication, the importance of a communication strategy, the role of di erent communicators
within the organization, types of messages and vehicles, training for better communication, and methods for measuring results.
Overview
Communication is a vital management component to any organization. Whether the purpose is to update employees on new policies,
to prepare for a weather disaster, to ensure safety throughout the organization or to listen to the attitudes of employees, e ective
communication is an integral issue in e ective management. To be successful, organizations should have comprehensive policies and
strategies for communicating with their constituencies, employees and stakeholders as well as with the community at large.
The following communication topics are discussed in this toolkit:
The impact of e ective and ine ective communication on the organization and its employees.
How to build an e ective communication strategy.
The various constituencies a ected by the communicated information.
Measuring results.
How to select the appropriate audience for each type of message.
The types of communication methods used in organizations.
Communication Strategy
The Importance of a Comprehensive Communication Strategy
Most HR professionals and organizational leaders agree that linking corporate communication to business strategy is essential to
e ective and consistent business operations. With a formal and comprehensive communication strategy, organizations can ensure that
they:
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/managingorganizationalcommunication.aspx 1/8
82
Communicate consistent messages.

Establish a recognizable employment brand.
Deliver messages from the top that are congruent with the organization's mission, vision and culture.
The impact of e ective communication
E ective communication may contribute to organizational success in many ways. It:
Builds employee morale, satisfaction and engagement.

Helps employees understand terms and conditions of their employment and drives their commitment and loyalty.
Educates employees on the merits of remaining union-free (if that is the organization's goal).
Gives employees a voice—an increasingly meaningful component of improving employees' satisfaction with their employer.
Helps to lessen the chances for misunderstandings and potentially reduces grievances and lawsuits.
Improves processes and procedures and ultimately creates greater e ciencies and reduces costs.
The impact of ine ective communication
Ine ective communication may increase the chances for misunderstandings, damage relationships, break trust, and increase anger and
hostility. Ine ective communication may stem from poorly aligned strategy, a failure to execute the strategy, use of the wrong
communication vehicle, bad timing, and even nuances such as word choice or tone of voice. See The Cost of Poor Communications
(www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/communication/pages/the-cost-of-poor-communications.aspx)
and The 7 Deadliest Communication Sins (www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/the-7-deadliest-
communication-sins.aspx).
Two-way communication
HR professionals may initially think of communication mainly in the context of delivering messages to employees about business
issues, policies and procedures, but two-way communication plays an essential role in a comprehensive communication strategy.
Listening to employee issues and concerns builds loyalty and drives improved productivity. Organizational leaders can learn through
listening about issues or concerns before they become formal grievances or lawsuits. They can also discover potential employee
relations issues and learn about attitudes toward terms and conditions of employment. See Three Steps to Turn Up Your Listening Skills
(www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/Pages/0315-listening-skills.aspx) and Open and Transparent Communication
(www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/communication/pages/open-and-transparent-
communication.aspx).
Building a Communication Strategy
To develop a communication strategy, employers should begin by linking communication to the strategic plan, including the
organization's mission, vision and values; its strategic goals and objectives; and its employment brand.
E ective communication strategies:
Safeguard credibility to establish loyalty and build trust.

Maintain consistency to establish a strong employment brand.
Listen to employees and to members of the leadership team.
Seek input from all constituencies.
Provide feedback.
83
Prepare managers in their roles as organizational leaders.
A communication strategy includes the following elements:
Highly e ective strategies that are often top-down, with senior management setting the tone for a cascading series of
messages.
A budget that allows for the use of various types of communication vehicles depending on the message to be delivered and
any unique issues associated with it.
A process by which leaders evaluate any particular situation driving the need to communicate and from which key messages
will emerge.
A method for generating feedback and using it to shape follow-up messages.
A customized delivery approach with communication materials that are easy to understand.
Constituencies
Everyone in the organization has a role to play in communication:
The CEO and senior managers are ultimately responsible for setting the tone and establishing organizational culture. Key
leaders should be coached on their role in ensuring e ective companywide communication.
The HR professional and communication leader also have critical roles, especially in challenging economic environments.
Managers are responsible for daily communication with their employees and for relating to their peers and colleagues.
All employees have a responsibility to voice concerns and issues, provide feedback, and listen e ectively.
Training
Communication training may encompass any number of topics, including:
Company communication policies.

E ective writing and presentation skills.
Train-the-trainer initiatives.
A strong training component will not only equip leaders to communicate e ectively with their teams and other organizational leaders, it
will also help them understand the appropriate communication channels and protocols.
Responding to employee issues
There is no better way to cause resentment among employees than to ask them for feedback and then fail to act in response to their
concerns. Honest, constructive feedback from employees starts with trust and the understanding that employees can voice their
concerns without fear of retaliation. See Employee Engagement Surveys: Why Do Workers Distrust Them?
(www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/employee-engagement-surveys.aspx)
Dealing with external media
External communications—including public and community relations—may also be a part of an organization's communication strategy.
HR professionals, in conjunction with public relations professionals and top management, should develop formal policies and
procedures for dealing with external media.
Measuring results
While organizations generally agree that measuring and quantifying results of communication plans are bene cial, this goal is di cult
to accomplish. Given the elusive nature of communication data, determining a cost-bene t ratio, for example, may be challenging. Did
the organization fare better because of the manner in which it communicated crucial information about a merger or acquisition? Was
84
the impact of a reduction in force on morale mitigated by the way in which employees were told?
Despite the di culty of doing so, organizations should strive to collect qualitative and quantitative information to evaluate their e orts:
Qualitative data may include anecdotal evidence that employees' attitudes were improved after the handling of an emergency
situation or that focus group information supported the strategy for communicating bene ts changes to employees.
Quantitative data may include measures such as turnover rates, productivity rates and employee satisfaction benchmarks, as
well as use of employee service center options.
See Measuring the ROI of Employee Engagement (www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/book-blog/pages/measuring-the-roi-of-

employee-engagement.aspx).
Audience
Identifying audience issues is a key task in ensuring e ectiveness in any communication strategy. What is the ideal audience for a
particular communication? The audience may include everyone who in uences or is in uenced by the information being shared. For
the most e ective communication, audience size must also be appropriate given the information being shared and whether interaction
will be permitted. If organizations anticipate that employees will have a number of questions regarding a new and unique bene t
o ering or a new procedure, for example, audience size should be limited so that questions can be adequately addressed.
Communicating "up"
While much of a communication strategy is focused on imparting information to employees, another central component is permitting
employees to have a voice with members of senior management. Having a voice is a critical employee relations issue that a ects
satisfaction and engagement. See 7 Tips to Increase Employee Engagement Without Spending a Dime (www.shrm.org/hr-
today/news/hr-magazine/1016/pages/7-tips-to-increase-employee-engagement-without-spending-a-dime.aspx) and Communicating
with Two Ears and One Mouth (www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/behavioral-
competencies/communication/Pages/Communicating-with-Two-Ears-and-One-Mouth.aspx).
Geographically dispersed audience
Organizations may have multi-unit operations with a variety of worksites within a city, state or country, or even globally. The more
geographically dispersed and the more interdependent these groups are in their need to work together to solve problems, the greater
the challenges are to the communication strategy. See How to Use Technology to Support Remote Teams (www.shrm.org/hr-
today/news/hr-magazine/1017/pages/how-to-use-technology-to-support-remote-teams.aspx) and Communicating with Diverse
Audiences (www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/communication/pages/communicating-with-diverse-
audiences.aspx).
Diversity and global issues
Audiences for organizational communication may embody many dimensions of diversity: age, disability, ethnicity/national origin, gender
and race, for example. Diverse audiences may have di erent perceptions and expectations when giving or receiving information, and
these di erences should be considered when developing messages to a broad audience. See Cross-Cultural Sensitivity and
Communication (https://blog.shrm.org/sasia/blog/cross-cultural-sensitivity-and-communication).
85
Vehicles and Approaches

One of the major challenges in developing and executing communication plans is to select the best vehicles for delivering any given
message to and from employees. With so many choices, such as face-to-face communication, electronic media, meetings, printed
materials and webinars, the decision becomes quite complex. Is the communication best suited for an electronic message via e-mail or
for a face-to-face meeting? Should communication be mailed to the home address of the employee if family members are a ected by
the news, such as in a bene ts update, or is it best communicated in a meeting conducted on work time?
New forms of electronic media raise additional questions. With social media opportunities available to any individual, HR professionals
may need to consider not only strategies to tap into this medium but also policies for employees using this medium to communicate
among themselves. See Texts and E-Mails vs. Oral Communication at Work: Which Is Best? (www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-
topics/employee-relations/pages/written-versus-oral-communication-.aspx) and Study: Tech Miscommunications May Erode Employee
Engagement (www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/technology/pages/tech-miscommunications-may-erode-employee-
engagement.aspx).
When selecting the best communication vehicle, organizational leaders should consider:
Timing. The timing of the information may be imperative, such as in emergency situations.
Location. Employees' location may a ect this selection. Are all employees in one building, at multiple sites or situated globally?
Do they work virtually?

Message. Another issue that a ects the decision is the sensitivity of the information. For layo or termination information, most
professionals agree that face-to-face meetings trump any other means of communication, but some issues may make these
meetings impossible due to the geographic location of the employees, the number of employees a ected and other factors.
Organizational leaders have many options, including the following, when selecting a communication vehicle.
Handbook
The employee handbook is used to communicate standard operating procedures, guidelines and policies. The handbook is also used
to communicate the organization's mission, vision and values, helping to establish an organizational culture and employment brand.
While most employee handbooks traditionally have been produced in print format, more organizations are moving toward an electronic
format, allowing for easy updating, documentation and review, especially when all employees have access to computers. See SHRM
Employee Handbook Builder (www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/tools-and-samples/Pages/employee-handbooks.aspx).
Newsletters
Newsletters are used to communicate new information about the organization, its products and services, and its employees.
Newsletters may be in print or electronic format and may be sent to the employee as well as to his or her family, especially when the
news directly a ects family members. Newsletters may be published on a regular basis (weekly, monthly, quarterly) or whenever the
organization has news to report.
Town hall meetings
Town hall meetings are an option to gather employees together to share news, celebrate successes or communicate companywide
information that a ects all employees. These meetings are most e ective when employees are physically located in one geographic
area, but for some critical meetings, employees may be brought to one central location. Alternatively, town hall meetings may be held
in various locations when employees are widely dispersed geographically or may be held electronically via webinars or
teleconferences.
E-mail
86
Electronic communication is a fast and easy way to reach many employees at once. It may be best used when information is urgent,
such as in emergencies. E-mail communication presents some di culties because tone of voice and in ection are absent, making an
ironic or sarcastic remark appear rude or harsh, which may not be the intended message.
Face-to-face meetings
Face-to-face meetings with employees are one of the best ways to relay sensitive information. During layo s or restructurings or when
handling employee performance issues, face-to-face communication is generally preferred.
Telephone
The telephone is another way to communicate information to employees. Whether it is used in the traditional sense when face-to-face
communication is not physically possible or in more state-of-the-art communication via webinars or voice mail blasts, the telephone is a
staple in communication vehicles.
Surveys/polls
Two-way communication is vital to any e ective communication strategy, and developing formal tactics to listen to employees is
essential. Employers can elicit fast feedback through surveys and polls about speci c issues (like a new bene t or policy) or general
concerns.
Stories
Storytelling creates a picture through words so that the message becomes memorable. Organizational leaders are beginning to
understand how storytelling can be used as a powerful business tool to impart company culture, to create an employment brand, and
to build trust and loyalty among employees.
Social media
Many individuals regularly use social media sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, not only for recreational purposes but as a
business communication tool. Social media can help recruiters source top talent, help salespeople identify potential contacts and allow
employees to keep in touch with their leaders. HR professionals should ensure that company policies are updated so that social media
is used appropriately in the workplace. See Social Media Policy (www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/tools-and-
samples/policies/Pages/socialmediapolicy.aspx).
Messaging apps
Messaging applications such as Jabber and Slack and chatbots that interact with applicants and employees through automation may
be the future of workplace communication. The next generation of workers prefer chat and messaging apps over traditional e-mail. See
Messaging, Collaboration Apps May Surpass E-Mail in Workplace Eventually (www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-
topics/technology/pages/messaging-collaboration-apps-may-surpass-email-in-workplace-eventually.aspx) and What HR Professionals
Should Know About Chatbots (www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/technology/pages/hr-should-know-about-chatbots.aspx).
Virtual team meetings
Organizations may have employees located across the city or across the globe and may need to rely on virtual team meetings to get
work done. Setting expectations and establishing protocols are vital steps in ensuring that communication will be e ective. Since
written communication, whether in print or in electronic format, can hide tone of voice, in ection and other nuances of communication,
many work teams rely on videoconferences and Internet-based technologies to make virtual meetings more productive.
The "grapevine"
87
One of the most used and undermanaged tools for employee communication is the proverbial grapevine. Watercooler discussions are
still a mechanism for employees to hear the latest news un ltered by management, and they continue to be a source for employees in
learning the inside story. Employers must be mindful that whatever formal communication strategy is used, the grapevine still exists and
will be tapped by employees at all levels. The grapevine should not be discounted when considering the best tool to listen to and learn
about employee issues.
Types of Messages
Types of Messages
The type of message sent is a major factor in choosing the appropriate communication channel.
Standard operating procedures
There are many ways to communicate policies and procedures—sta meetings, employee orientation sessions and one-on-one
coaching, for example—but employee handbooks are still the best way to deliver a consistent message to all employees with respect
to standard operating procedures.
General business updates
General organizational updates may be communicated through newsletters, e-mails or town hall meetings or in small group huddles.
Bankruptcy, downsizing and restructuring
Employers should use several di erent communication means to announce and update employees when an organization faces
bankruptcy, a restructuring or a downsizing. Whether in regular brie ngs by top leaders—through voice mail blasts, e-mail alerts or town
hall meetings—or in departmental or group meetings, the employer needs to keep employees apprised of whatever information may
be necessary to keep the organization running smoothly. See Layo s Require Communication, Compassion and Compliance
(www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/layo s-communication-compassion-compliance.aspx).
Bene ts changes
Communication regarding employee bene ts may greatly a ect employees' perceptions of the value of their compensation package
and, moreover, the value of their employment with an organization. Accordingly, bene ts communications should be planned carefully
using means appropriate to the circumstances: printed messages, virtual or face-to-face meetings, one-on-one brie ngs, and so on.
Major bene ts changes—such as a new carrier or new options—require a more comprehensive approach than the one used for routine
updates. See Make Your Bene ts Website a Year-Round Hub (www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/bene ts/pages/make-
bene ts-websites-a-year-round-hub.aspx)
Emergencies
Emergencies—such as those caused by weather, violent employee behaviors, natural catastrophes or terrorists—require quick and
e ective communication to ensure the health and safety of employees and their families. A comprehensive disaster plan, complete with
communication strategies and standard policies for dealing with emergencies, should be a requirement for all organizations. See
Managing Through Emergency and Disaster (www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/tools-and-
samples/toolkits/pages/managingemergencyanddisaster.aspx).
88
Merger or acquisition
Communication issues with mergers and acquisitions are a high priority for HR professionals. HR professionals must consider how to
communicate new bene ts plans, new operating procedures, a new company culture, revised organizational charts and myriad other
issues during mergers and acquisitions.
Outsourcing
Organizations may nd that some business functions are handled better through outsourcing. Communication is vital to explain the
change and the rationale to employees, as well as in developing new strategies for communicating with the outsourced vendor.
Legal Issues
Some communications come with legal constraints and/or guidelines that impact the message being delivered or how the employer
delivers the information. For example, employers may face charges of unfair labor practices as a result of how it communicates to
employees the company's desire to remain union-free. See Union Communication Guidance: TIPS and FOE
(www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/labor-relations/pages/tips-foe.aspx).
Employers may also be limited in discussing employees' personal information; even in circumstances where there are no legal
restrictions, employers are cautioned against breaching employee privacy in many circumstances.
See:
Should employers announce or post employee birthdays? (www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-

qa/pages/shouldemployerspostemployeebirthdays.aspx)
Does the HIPAA Privacy Rule prohibit employer announcements of births, employee hospitalizations or family medical emergencies to
other employees? (www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-
qa/pages/canhipaarestrictemployerannouncingemployeesbirthofchild.aspx)
When Giving References, How Truthful Can You Be? (www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/0418/pages/when-giving-references-

how-truthful-can-you-be.aspx)
Contact Us (www.shrm.org/about-shrm/Pages/Contact-Us.aspx) | 800.283.SHRM (7476)
© 2019 SHRM. All Rights Reserved

SHRM provides content as a service to its readers and members. It does not o er legal advice, and cannot guarantee the accuracy or suitability of its content for a particular
purpose.
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BCOM 350 - Professional Communication

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When accessing course materials, each student:

2. Top 10 Communication Skills (not included) | 15

4. How to Give Great Presentations (not included) | 23

5. The Secret Structure of Great Talks (not included) | 25

6. Positive Organizational Behavior: A Buffer for Bad News 27

7. RECONCEPTUALIZING CULTURAL IDENTITY AND ITS ROLE IN INTERCULTURAL 41

9. Managing Organizational Communication 81

"You shall not pass!" - Fellowship of the Ring, 2000

“You can't handle the truth!” A Few Good Men, 1992

“Here's Johnny!” The Shining, 1980

“My precious.” The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, 2002

# Pitch, Not Volume

# Try this Exercise

# Where is this useful?

# Avoid the Sleepers

# Parting Tips on Pitch

1 - Using Your Voice

Good luck with your next presentation!

Communicating Negative Messages

Positive Organizational 75(2) 208–220

Introduction: The Art and

positive psychology can teach business communication professionals about dissemi-

The Positive Psychology

potential. Specifically, through an investigation of “positive deviance,” POS explores

“Houston, We Have a Problem . . .”:

Working Toward a New Model

CEOs and Resilience

Organizational Culture and the Case of Malden Mills

Following a declaration of bankruptcy in 1981, the Feuerstein family called for

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

Milliken, F. J. (1990). Perceiving and interpreting environmental change: An examination of

Keywords: cultural identity; intercultural communication; power; class; self-analysis; culture

The anthropologist Edward Hall (1959) described culture as an unseen but

Journal of Business Communication, Volume 44, Number 3, July 2007 199-235

to understand intercultural communication. Yet people continue to

THE NEED TO SHIFT FOCUS FROM UNDERSTANDING

Past discussions of intercultural communication have focused on

Griggs, 1990; Harris, Moran, & Moran, 2004). So do academic studies of

As a heuristic imported from the fields of anthropology and intercultural com-

decisions and too focused on audience analysis to address the complexities of

Yuan (1997) has argued that “intercultural communication theories

THE NEED TO RECONCEPTUALIZE CULTURAL IDENTITY

To increase understanding of a communicator’s state of mind in an

Equating Culture With Country

Scholars often define culture in general, inclusive ways but opera-

(1993) defined culture—“whether national, ethnic, professional, organiza-

Equating culture with country limits our

The problem with this privileging of nationality, as Louhiala-Salminen

Causes of the Narrow Concept of Cultural Identity

The privileging of nationality and to a lesser extent ethnicity in the con-

Benefits of Expanding the Concept of Cultural Identity

A broader, more balanced conception of cultural identity would have

subsumed participants from Britain, North America, and Australia). No

THE PHENOMENON OF CULTURAL IDENTITY

The term cultural identity refers to an individual’s sense of self derived

Figure 1. Classification of Individual Identity

Collective identity includes both

Triandis (1989) provided an analogy that highlights the long-term ver-

uses experimental methods of inquiry (Tajfel, 1978). The study of cultural

Cultural identity is especially relevant in