COMMUNICATION IN A DIVERSE ENVIRONMENT

BY: Amarinder Singh Kanan Karthik

Neha Aggarwal Kajal Saxena

ENVIRONMENT

The environment refers to the immediate physical and social setting in which people live or in which something happens or develops. It includes the culture and the people and institutions with whom they interact.

CULTURE

Culture is understood as that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, laws, custom and other capabilities and habits acquired by an individual as a member of the society.

The inter-national manager needs to be aware of three levels of culture that influence overseas operation. It includes:

National CultureBusiness CultureOrganizational Culture

NATIONAL CULTURENational culture is the dominant

culture within the political boundaries of a country.

Formal education is usually taught and business is generally conducted in the language of the dominant culture.

It not only affects language but also business transactions and nature of law that govern the business.

BUSINESS CULTURE

It represents norms, values and beliefs that pertain to all aspects of doing business in a particular environment.

It tells correct and acceptable way to conduct business in a society.

It also provides guides for everyday business interactions.

ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

It refers to philosophies, ideologies, value, assumptions, beliefs, expectations and attitude that knit an organization together and are shared by its employees

DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY

PRIMARY DIMESNIONS

GENDER

AGE

RACE

ETHNICITY

PHYSICAL ABILTIY

SECONDARY DIMENSIONS

EDUCATION

MARTAIL STATUSPARENTSAL STATUS

INCOME

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION

WORK BACKGROUND

ELEMENTS OF

CULTURE

Culture is a very complex concept comprising of many elements

All these elements have evolved over time

Though the elements of culture are many , we focus here on languages , religion , aesthetics, attitudes ,customs , manners & supernatural beliefs .

The influence of language of culture The influence of culture on

language High and Low context languages

1. Language & Culture

Religion refers to a specific & institutionalised set of beliefs & practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons

There are around 1,00,000 religions across the globe but the major ones are :

1. Hinduism 2. Christianity3. Islam4. Buddhism

RELIGION AND CULTURE

• From the times of Rig Veda , which contains many prayers for riches , worldly wealth was looked upon as morally desirable for the ordinary man & indeed essential to lead a full & civilised life .

HINDUISM

Is the most widely practised in reigion in the world almost 20 % of the world’s populations identify themselves as Christians

The vast variety of Christians live in Europe and America

CHRITIANITY

Is the second largest religion with followers spread over more than 35 countries

Some critics argue that Islam discourages profit . THIS IS NOT TRUE

The Quran speaks approvingly of free enterprise & of earning legitimate profit through trade and commerce .

ISLAM

Has 250 million followers in Central , South East Asia , China , Korea and Japan

Buddhists stress spiritual achievement & obviously wealth creation is not encouraged

In Buddhist societies , we do not see the same kind of cultural stress on enterpreneurial behaviour that we see in protestant west

BUDDHISM

Education : Economic progress of a country depends upon the education of its citizens .

Aesthetics : Refers to the artistic tastes of a culture

Attitudes : It is positive or negative evaluation, feelings and tendencies which make an individual behave in a particular way

Customs And Manners : Manners and behaviou

Culture may sound abstract but the norms and values prevalent in the society do influence the cost of doing business in that country .

These costs influence the ability of enterprises to establish a competitive advantage in the global market place .

Culture And Competitive Advantage

Cutural Diversity activities at workplace

Table Tents Activities

For a large council or new board.Boldly mark the attendees’ formal

name and official titles.Especially when you know that

you are among a culturally diverse group.

Give members a chance during introductions to mention something culturally interesting about themselves.

Walk Together, Walk ApartUse two volunteers from your large group.Ask them to stand close together with their

backs to each other.Ask your staff to call out things about the

two volunteers that are different such as the color of each volunteer’s hair. 

As each difference is called out, the volunteers should take a step forward making them stand further apart. 

Ask the staff to now call out things that are the same about the duo.

Cultural Appreciation Day

Host an annual cultural appreciation day event at your workplace.

Here you give employees downtime to welcome each others' cultural backgrounds through display boards, activities and food.

Ask each staff member to post something that reflects their culture on their door or desk with a statement that summarizes what it is .

Attend Diversity Events

Register key division leaders for diversity training and conferences.

mix a little bit of social time to allow them to network with each other and other organizations.

to learn a little bit about how they explore diversity issues and activities in their workplaces.

FOUR STEPS TO CULTURAL DIVERSITY

SUCCESS

I. Leadership Driven

Create and maintain culturally and linguistically competent services by supporting: Multiculturalism embedded into all organizational units.

Continued efforts to recruit, retain and develop a culturally diverse workforce.

II. Staff Oriented

Support cultural competency of the staff. 

III. Client Oriented

To support and promote the involvement of clients, families and advocacy groups in the planning and development of care.

IV. Information Driven To support monitoring and

dissemination of  the level of cultural awareness, knowledge and skills

ADVANTAGES &

DISADVANTAGES

Diversity, though a challenging task to manage, carries within it certain advantages :

•DIVERSE EXPERIENCE:One main benefit of diversity is the generation of more & better ideas as individual group members come from a host of different cultures, they are often able to create unique & creative solutions & recommendations .

•EFFECTIVE DECISIONS:Decision-making may be very slow, unlike in a homogeneous group, but the decision reached tend to be very effective

Advantages

•GROUP THINK:

A second major benefit is that culturally diverse groups can prevent groupthink, which is social conformity & pressures on individual members of a group to conform & reach a consensus.

When this occurs, group participants believe that their ideas & actions are correct & those who disagree with them are either uninformed or are deliberately trying to sabotage their efforts.Multi-cultural diverse groups are able to avoid this problem, because the members do not think similarly or feel the pressure to conform.

As a result, they typically question each other, offer opinions & suggestions that are contrary to those held by others & must be persuaded to change their minds. Therefore, unanimity is achieved only through a careful process of deliberation.

There are problems associated with diversity, nevertheless

•COMMUNICATION ISSUES:Diversity impacts workplace communication in positive and negative ways. Between co-workers, diversity can place impediments in the way of effective communication, which can directly dampen productivity and the cohesiveness of small groups. Spending time with diverse employees can break down communication barriers over the long-term, but first impressions and co-workers' orientation periods can be difficult to control when cultures clash.

•There are perceptual problem too. When culturally diverse groups come together, they often bring pre-conceived stereotypes with them

Disadvantages

•INTEGRATION ISSUES:Social integration at work can only be influenced to a small degree. The formation of cliques and exclusive social groups is a natural process that can be impossible to control at times. Because of this, companies can experience informal divisions in their staff, creating a situation where culturally diverse employees avoid exposure to each other during break times and after work. Although there is nothing fundamentally wrong with this scenario, it can hinder the effectiveness of sharing knowledge, skills and experience, thus curbing productivity growth and the effectiveness of teams.

•Another problem is the way in which situations are interpreted

Example:Many Japanese nod their heads when others talk, but this does not necessarily imply their approval. They are merely being polite & attentive.

Use Simplified Language (The K.I.S.S. Principal)

Use Repetition for a Theme

Avoid Using Gender-Specific Metaphors

Employ the Most Effective Technologies Available

Seek Outside Training

Be specific about timelines and due dates for deliverables

Establish ground rules for your team to collaborate

THANK YOU!

ANY QUESTIONS?