Opportunities and Challenges of

Communication in a Diverse World

Introduction
 Diversity includes all the characteristics and experiences that define
each of us as individuals.

 Interpersonal communication is the process of sending and receiving

messages between people whose cultural backgrounds could lead them
to interpret verbal and non-verbal signs differently.

 Every attempt to send and receive message is influenced by culture, so

to communicate successfully, you need a basic grasp of the cultural
differences you may encounter and how you should handle them.
The Opportunities in a Global Market Place
Advantages of a diverse workforce:
 A broader range/spectrum of views and ideas
 A better understanding of diverse, fragmented market.
 A broader pool of talent to recruit from.

Challenges of Intercultural Communication :

 Supervisors face the challenge of connecting with diverse employees,
motivating them, and fostering cooperation and harmony among them.
 Teams face the challenge of working together closely
 Companies are challenged to coexist peacefully with business partners
and with the community as a whole.
Developing Cultural Competency
 Cultural competency includes an appreciation for cultural differences
that affect communication and the ability to adjust one’s
communication style to ensure that efforts to send and receive message
across cultural boundaries are successful.

 Cultural competency requires a combination of attitude, knowledge,

and skills.
Understanding the concept of Culture
 Culture is a shared system of symbols, beliefs, attitudes, values, expectations
and norms for behaviour.

 Your cultural background influences the way you prioritize what is important
in life , helps define your attitude towards what is appropriate in a situation,
and establishes rules of behaviour.

 Members of a given culture tend to have similar assumptions about how

people should think, behave, and communicate, and they all tend to act on
those assumptions in much the same way.

 Cultures can vary in their rate of change, degree of complexity, and tolerance
towards outsiders.
Contd..
 In addition to being automatic, culture tends to be coherent; that is, a culture
appears to be fairly logical and consistent when viewed from the inside.

 Finally, culture tend to be complete; that is they provide their members with
most of the answers to life’s big questions. This idea of completeness dulls or
suppresses curiosity about life in other cultures.

 Culture influences everything about communication, including:

 Language
 Nonverbal signal
 Word meaning
 Time and paces issues
 Rules of human relationships
Overcoming Ethnocentrism and
Stereotyping
 Ethnocentrism is the tendency to judge other groups according to the
standards, behaviours, and when people compare their culture to others,
they often conclude that their own is superior.

 Xenophobia which is a few of strangers and foreigners is not likely to help

business persons communicate successfully across cultures.

 Stereotyping is assigning generalized attributes to an individual on the basis

of membership in a particular group.

 Cultural pluralism is what is to be adopted. It is the practice of accepting

multiple culture on their own terms.
Contd..
A few simple habits can help:

 Avoid assumptions: Don’t assume that others will act the same way
you do, use language and symbols the same way you do, or even
operate from the same values and beliefs.

 Avoid judgments: when people act differently, don’t conclude that they
are in error or that their way is invalid or inferior.

 Acknowledge distinctions: Don’t ignore the differences between

another person’s culture and your own.
Recognizing Variations in Diverse World
1. Contextual Differences
 High- context culture
 Low- context culture

2. Legal and Ethical Differences : as you conduct business around the

world, you will find that both legal and ethical standards differ from
culture to culture. You can keep your messages ethical by applying four
basic principles:
 Actively seek mutual ground
 Send and receive message without judgment
 Send messages that are honest
 Show respect for cultural differences
Contd..
3. Social differences: the combination of formal and informal rules
influences the overall behaviour of most people in a society most of the
time. Social norms can vary fro culture to culture in the following areas:

 Attitudes toward work and success

 Roles and status
 Use of manners
 Concepts of time
 Future orientation
 Openness and inclusiveness
 Use of communication technologies
Contd..
4. Nonverbal differences:
 Greetings - Eye Contact
 Personal space - Posture
 Touching - Formality
 Facial expression

5. Age Differences

6. Gender Differences

7. Religious Differences

8. Ability Differences
 Guidelines for Adapting to Any
Business Culture
 Become aware of your own biases: understand your own culture and
the way it shapes your communication habits.

 Ignore the “ Golden rule.”: instead of “ Treat people the way you want
to be treated ”, go for “Treat people the way they want to be treated.”

 Exercise tolerance, flexibility, and respect:

 Practice patience and maintain a sense of humor: when you make a

mistake, simply apologize and, if appropriate, ask the other person to
explain the accepted way; then move on.
 Improving Intercultural Communication
Skills
 Studying other cultures

 Studying other languages


 Respecting preferences for communication style

 Writing clearly

 Speaking and listening carefully

 Using interpreters, translators and translation software

 Helping others adapt to your culture

Reading
 Business Communication Today
Communication Challenges in a Diverse, Global Marketplace (Part I,
Chapter 3, pg: 83 )