CULTURE, CONFLICT AND COMMUICATION IN THE GLOBAL WORKFORCE

March 27, 2008

University of Illinois

Dr. Gary R. Weaver

American University

WHY IS DIVERSITY IMPORTANT?

Changing demographics

Not just in urban areas

“Globalization”

The American CultureToday

• Not a Cultural Cookie Cutter or Melting Pot• Patchwork Quilt • Salad Bowl• Mosaic• Tapestry

Minorities in USA Today

12% African American

15% Hispanic

4% Asian and Pacific Islanders

1% American Indian

TO MORE EFFECTIVELY SERVE YOUR CLIENTS

Conveying information

Developing skills

Overcoming barriers caused by differences

Using differences to create synergy

TRAITS THAT CORRELATE WITH FAILURE IN CROSS-

CULTURAL INTERACTIONS

• Low tolerance to ambiguity or high uncertainty avoidance

• Overly task-oriented or high need for individual achievement• Overly closed-minded and inflexible

What is “Culture?”

• culture - the way of life (values, beliefs and behaviors) of a people passed down from one generation to the next through learning

Generalization vs. Stereotype

• Cultural Generalization– Never applies to everyone

in every situation– Only a first “guess”– Discard it when no longer

accurate or useful

• Cultural Stereotype– Applies to everyone

in every situation – no exceptions

– Retained even when no longer accurate or useful

Culture is like an Iceberg.

Most of it is

UNDER the water.

BEHAVIORBEHAVIOR

BELIEFSBELIEFS

VALUES AND

THOUGHT

PATTERNS

VALUES AND

THOUGHT

PATTERNS

As we interact, differences will become LESS important.

• Leon Festinger–Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

• Muzafir Sherif–Development of a “Superordinate Goal”

CULTURAL CONTINUUMSTo Do To Be

• Earned Status• Individual Achievement• Individual Action• Equality• Immediate family• Self Reliance• Independence• Individual Competition• Individualism• Guilt• Future• Class Mobility

• Ascribed Status• Affiliation• Stability• Inequality• Extended Family• Reliance on Others• Interdependence• Cooperation• Collectivism• Shame• Past or Heritage• Caste Rigidity

CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION

What Doesn’t Fit?

Nice weather we’re having!

Sunny, high in the 70s.

Haven’t we met before?

What Doesn’t Fit?• Nice weather we’re having!• Haven’t we met before?• High-Context - Relational - Associative• To Be - Poets

• Sunny, high in the 70s.• Low Context - Abstractive - Analytical• To Do - Memo Writers/Lawyers

Communication Styles

A B

Communication Styles

A B

Communication Styles

A B

Communication Styles

A B

Project Timeline

Stage One0 - 6

Months

Stage Two6 - 12

months

Stage Three12 - 18Months

Stage Four18 - 24months

Project Timeline

Stage One0 - 12

Months

Stage Two12 - 18Months

Stage Three18 - 22Months

Stage Four

22 -24Months

NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

We send messages, not meaning

To Do people tend to be verbally-oriented

To Do people trust vision

Cross-Cultural Conflict

QUESTIONS:

How do you know if it’s a conflict?

Is it escalating or de-escalating?

When do you resolve it?

When it is beyond resolution?

How do you resolve the conflict?

Resources• Hall, Edward. Beyond Culture. • Weaver, Gary R., ed. Culture, Communication

and Conflict, 2nd edition. Boston, MA:Pearson Publishing, 2000.

• Weaver, Gary R. and Adam Mendelson, America’s Midlife Crisis: The Future of a Troubled Superpower, Boston, MA: Intercultural Press, 2008

• www.interculturalpress.com• www.imi.american.edu