Multicultural and Global

Communications
Cultural Diversity in Work Place

Course Code : BUS 313

Md. Hasan Tawhid
Sr. Lecturer, Khwaja Yunus Ali University
 Index

 Cultural Diversity in the Workplace

 Core Cultural Dimensions
 Multicultural Perspectives: Communication Barriers
 Multicultural Communication Guidelines
 Multinational and Global Business
Cultural Diversity in the Workplace

• The workplace environment includes employees and customers with a

wide range of needs, interests, abilities, and cultural backgrounds. If
cultural diversity is not understood and valued, misunderstandings
may occur that negatively affect business success. Analyzing the
effect of culture on message content and delivery is consistent with
the you–viewpoint.
• Cultural background affects how individuals view the world, what
they value, and how they interact with others.
Core Cultural Dimensions

• Generally recognized core cultural dimensions are

• 1. ethnicity:
• 2. Race:
• 3. gender:
• 4. age:
• 5. physical disability:

In addition to these core cultural dimensions for individuals, organizations such as

corporations have behavioral expectations, values, and patterns of operation that are
referred to as organizational or corporate culture.
Core Cultural Dimensions : Corporate Culture

• Corporate Culture : The culture of organizations defines shared

values and behavioral expectations. Sometimes referred to as “the
way we do things around here,” organizational culture includes
values, beliefs, assumptions, behavior patterns, norms, customs,
rituals, and symbols that represent the company’s vision and its
expectations of employees. Learning the culture of the
organization and adapting to it includes becoming familiar with
formal statements of purpose, philosophy, and standards of
conduct.
Core Cultural Dimensions

• 1. Cultural Ethnicity and Race : Race is defined as people who share the same language,
history, and characteristics or who have particular similar physical characteristics. Race is
defined as “a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits. Race is
thought to be profound and grounded in biological realities.
• The term ethnicities is more broadly defined as “large groups of people classed according
to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background
• However, race and ethnicity can be considered largely a cultural and historical construct used
to identify groups of people with similar characteristics. Identifying cultural characteristics,
ethnicity, and race is difficult because of overlap between groups and the cultural diffusion
resulting from worldwide communication and travel.
Core Cultural Dimensions

• 2. Gender Roles: Gender is another core dimension of diversity.

Within cultural groups, societal expectations affect how men and
women interact with one another. For example, in the Middle East
holding hands in public is considered proper behavior between
friends of the same sex but not between individuals of the
opposite sex. Cultural attitudes toward the appropriate roles of
men and women vary markedly throughout the world.
Core Cultural Dimensions

• 3. Age Diversity : Individuals’ ages and stages of life affect not only how they perceive the world
around them and what they value but also how others perceive them. Cultures tend to associate
different ages with special roles in society. Some author defined life stages in the United States as
follows:

• 18–22: leaving home; establishing identity and new alliances

• 23–28: regarding self as adult; living and building a future

• 29–34: searching for stability and security; reexamining relationships

• 37–42: becoming one’s own person; facing reality and a sense of age

• 45–56: settling down; becoming a mentor and grandparent; gaining self-confidence

• 57–64: mellowing; preparing for retirement; adjusting to aging

• 65+: beginning life review; accepting self; adjusting to different routines

Core Cultural Dimensions

• 4. Physical Disability : Persons with a physical disability comprise another core

dimension of cultural diversity. Different cultures have different views of disability
and treat children with developmental disabilities in different ways. In some
cultures, there is shame attached to being disabled that comes from a belief that
one's disability is caused by that person or his/her immediate family

• In the workplace, physical disability usually means use of a wheelchair, a

cane, crutches, or a walker or difficulty seeing, hearing, speaking, or
performing physical activities. Individuals with physical limitations are
sometimes patronized or avoided, usually because of the visibility of their
difficulty and a lack of awareness of how to interact with them. So It is
important to prevent discrimination against qualified employees with
disabilities.
Multicultural Perspectives: Communication Barriers

• Awareness that miscommunication can arise due to ethnicity, race,

gender, age, physical disability, and other differences such as
religions and lifestyles is the first step toward effective multicultural
communication. Greater cultural diversity in the workplace and
marketplace increases the need for understanding how cultural
background affects communication. The following paragraphs
describe potential barriers to effective multicultural communication.
• CULTURAL RELATIVISM AND ETHNOCENTRISM
• LACK OF KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF CULTURES
• DISCRIMINATION AND HARASSMENT
• LANGUAGE
Multicultural Perspectives: Communication Barriers

• 1. CULTURAL RELATIVISM AND ETHNOCENTRISM : Cultural relativism

compares the values and behaviors of different cultures and usually means
judging them against standards of right and wrong for your own culture. This
approach to other cultures becomes a barrier when you assume that
cultural beliefs, values, and behaviors are wrong if they differ from those
of your culture.
• 2. Ethnocentrism is the inherent belief that your own cultural traditions
and values are correct and superior. People around the world are
ethnocentric to a degree. Beliefs, values, and behaviors that differ from
those of your culture may seem peculiar, strange, and even wrong. However,
as you study different cultures, recognize that there is not just one right or
wrong way but that different ways can be equally correct.
Multicultural Perspectives: Communication Barriers

• 3. LACK OF KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF CULTURES

Although a particular culture may generally exhibit similar
behaviors or characteristics, this does not mean all individuals in
that culture are alike. People form stereotypes when they assume
that behaviors or characteristics typical of a particular culture
define all members of that cultural group. Stereotypes result from
a limited knowledge of cultural diversity.
Multicultural Perspectives: Communication
Barriers

• 4. DISCRIMINATION AND HARASSMENT Discrimination is showing

favoritism toward or prejudicial rejection of people because of
differences. In the United States, laws prohibit employment
discrimination against persons in protected groups, including race,
gender, age, religion, national origin, and disability. Discriminatory
practices include failing to hire or promote individuals from a
protected group, making arbitrary or capricious decisions that
adversely affect their employment, or failing to treat them with
the same dignity and respect reasonably afforded to any human
being.
Multicultural Perspectives: Communication Barriers

• 5. LANGUAGE: Language may be a barrier to communication. An increase

in multicultural interactions presents language challenges. When
organizations communicate with large numbers of people who speak
languages other than English—employees, clients, customers, suppliers,
and government personnel—misunderstandings can occur. Voices speaking
languages other than English can be heard in public places almost
anywhere in the United States. In addition, most product directions are
printed in more than one language, and universal symbols are commonly
used as road signs. Although English has become the language of business,
increased global contacts through e-mail, e-commerce, offshoring, and
outsourcing, in addition to the number of immigrants coming into the
United States, increase language barriers to communication.
Multicultural Communication Guidelines

• You can become an effective multicultural communicator if you

follow a few simple guidelines:
• 1. UNDERSTAND YOUR OWN CULTURE Improve communication with
others by increasing awareness of your own culture and its
influences on your beliefs, values, and behavior patterns. Recognize
that your cultural background and experiences shape how you think,
what you value, and how you communicate. Consider how you might
have different beliefs and behaviors if you had been born a member
of the opposite sex or a different race or had come to the United
States from another country such as India, Russia, or Japan.
Multicultural Communication Guidelines

• 2. KEEP AN OPEN MIND AND RESPECT DIVERSITY Learn about other cultures,
beliefs, and customs without judging them by your own cultural identity and
unexamined biases. This is not to suggest that you change your beliefs or
disrespect your own culture, but rather that you recognize that cultural
values affect beliefs and behaviors and that understanding how others
interpret verbal and nonverbal language helps your communication receive
the intended response.
• 3. IDENTIFY AND ADAPT TO LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES If you are communicating
with persons from another culture, learn how that culture’s verbal and
nonverbal languages differ from your own. Observe and learn the meaning of
nonverbal communication signals such as facial expressions, social distance for
conversing, and hand gestures. Avoid nonverbal signals that may be offensive.
Multinational and Global Business

• “Multinational” and “global” are terms sometimes used synonymously. Both refer to
business operations across national boundaries with multiple countries.
Multinational business implies operations targeted toward and conducted in two or
more countries; global business is a broader term meaning operations and
strategies to serve a world market.
• Outsourcing uses outside workers to perform specialized tasks that can be
effectively communicated electronically and completed with a low-cost labor
supply.
• Homesourcing is another form of outsourcing used by American corporations to cut
costs and increase efficiency. JetBlue Airways outsourced its reservation system to
housewives in Utah who worked from their homes. These home reservationists
worked 25 hours a week and came to the JetBlue regional office only four hours a
month for updates and new skill training.
Multinational and Global Business

• Companies have had offshore operations for over a decade,

locating all or part of their business outside the home country. For
example, a manufacturing company in Texas may move
manufacturing operations across the Mexican border. A software
development company in Indiana may expand its service market by
opening branches in France, the Czech Republic, and Germany.
Another company may relocate all business operations except the
administrative home office. New market opportunities in countries
such as China are increasing offshore business operations