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Cultural differences in business communication
Influencing factors of stereotypes
Influencing factors of stereotypes
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In an era where globalization has increased we have observed an increase in multicultural teams in numerous companies. According to Inc.com a multicultural work force can be defined as: “one wherein a company 's employees include members of diversity of ethnic, racial, religious, and gender background.” A variety of backgrounds maybe an asset if all employees contribute their resources, however it can also so be a source of conflict. In multicultural workplaces, disputes are almost inevitable and often based on different needs, interests, perceptions, or cultural norms. The company must therefore, foresee how to amplify this diversity to the best interest of the company and decrease all conflicts. Primarily, Miscommunication is perhaps the cause of most conflicts, hence the reason why great communication plays a key role in minimising conflicts. Employers should prioritize written communication and ensure that everyone understands the message being transmitted. Employees should be given the chance to communicate their views and to increase their willingness to hear and accept feedback. Furthermore, an employee who comes from an individualistic culture may prefer a direct style of communication, whereas, an employee who is used to a collectivistic culture may consider it as aggressive. According to John Ford, author and former editor of mediate.com: “some cultures are very direct. They like to ‘cut to the chase’ and get frustrated with someone who ‘beats around the bush’. Indirect cultures prefer to deal with relational aspects first, and to restore harmony before addressing substantive issues.” Moreover, employees should pay attention to attributing meaning to nonverbal communication which can be even more detrimental than verbal communication. Additionally, without realizing it, managers and employees may reinforce stereotypes and thus conflicts. Therefore, it is better to avoid stereotype by communicating with each If the employees should aim to resolve their conflicts it should be based on common interest and not on rights and power. On the other hand, the employer must ensure that he is committed to resolve the disputes as close as possible to its source. Tackling the problem at it roots will reduce the chances of it being reproduced. However, it is even better if the company anticipate conflicts as well as measures that can curb these possible conflicts. In a multicultural team, sometimes it is necessary for an impartial third-party to mediate an argument between team members with culturally diverging norms for dealing with conflict. A mediator working across cultures should understand different cultures and identify cultural barriers as well as propose various solutions. The mediator can be someone that the company has trained to deal with such human resource problems or a mediator from outside of the
The modern world has experienced tremendous changes, which have contributed to changes in people living in the global world. These changes have mainly been brought by globalization, which is a major phenomenon in the 21st Century. Leaders across various professions, businesses, and governments need to cope with globalization since it forces them to cross borders more often and communicate or conduct business with people from other cultures. This process involves developing necessary skills for working effectively in the modern complex world. Actually, the ability of these leaders to work effectively not only requires the development of essential skills but the application of leadership principles in the global work environment. In essence, leaders must develop their ability to apply leadership principles across culturally diverse workforce in today’s global work environment.
Workforce diversity refers to the existence of individuals with different cultural, economic and social backgrounds within an organization (Claretha, 2014). In the modern world, there is increased level of diversity in the workforce due to increased level of awareness and socioeconomic interactions among people. Therefore, organizations have become multicultural places which require effective communication to ensure organizational success. That is, in the modern global community, the workplaces in various organizations have become more culturally diverse (Claretha, 2014). This has had serious impact on the personal and professional relationships among employees depending on the communication model that is established in an organization. In addition, due to the increased level of competitiveness in the business environment, organizations have been forced to establish suitable framework to effectively manage human diversity. This paper will analyze the concept of workforce diversity and organizational communication and determine its benefits and possible disadvantages in relation to business success.
Human Service Professionals will work with clients which have all different types of cultural backgrounds. Part of the responsibilities of the human service professional is to learn about the culture through research as well as through asking the client questions so they are aware of the client’s culture. Throughout this paper the following will be discussed African American culture, laws that impact a cultural group; how laws can affect the clients we will be working with, what represents a good and bad law, why multiculturalism and diversity are important for Human Services, and understanding global perspectives in cross-cultural work. I chose to discuss African American culture because the area that I will be moving to has a larger population
Being successful at managing workforce diversity involves attracting and retaining the highest quality individuals in the talent pool. For managers it means learning how to manage human potential sensitively. It requires an ever-increasing awareness of how people from different backgrounds deal with authority, communication, overall business etiquette, and relate to their communities of affiliation. Successful management of workforce diversity is a process that takes place in many stages and on many levels. It requires managers to first recruit a competent and qualified staff, then to accommodate individual needs within the context of the work team and the organization.
In several occasions, conflict occurs in the communication of one or two people. Several people have thought of conflict as cases involving pouring of furious anger in a communication process. Nonetheless, conflict is the misinterpretation of an individual’s words or values (Huan & YAzdanifard, 2012). Conflict can also be due to limited resources in an organization (Riaz & Junaid, 2010). Conflict may as well arise due to poor communication or the use of inappropriate communication channel of transmission of information between the involved parties. Management of conflict has various conflict management styles that include avoidance style, forcing style, passive-aggressive style, accommodating style, collaborating style and compromising style. Workplace conflict comes in two different kinds: task involving conflict, which focuses on the approaches used in resolving the problem and blaming conflict that has the aspects of blame and never brings element of resolving problems between the conflicting parties. In the perception of several individuals, relationship conflict is negative.
To be successful in managing diversity in the workplace first one must understand it from a personal perspective. To be able to derive knowledge and strength from one’s lineage and differences shows deep facets in character. These traits show brilliantly when dealing with individuals of many cultures and backgrounds in the workplace. A leader with this ability can handle everyone uniquely and ethically and is in tune with what differentiates one associate from the next. Once one has a firm grasp on who they are then and only then can one expect to have the aptitude to lead a diverse team.
The modern American workplace has become culturally diverse as different immigrant communities increased in size. According to the US Department of Immigration, 148,426 immigrants received their residency in 2011 in New York. Because of the increased workplace diversity, businesses have to deal with a variety of cultural awareness and multiple language issues. These are very pressing issues in New York City, the “melting pot” of cultures from all over the world. Each workplace in New York City has at least one employee of a non-American background or a bilingual employee.
Diversity in the workplace is very important in today’s global workforce because workers in the economy all over the world are currently made up of many different ethnicities, varied cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds. People that are involved in management such as managers, and supervisors could greatly benefit from being accustomed to diversity in the workplace because their job entails dealing with a multicultural work environment on a daily basis. Knowing how to handle diversity in the workforce and having the necessary skills for supervisors would be beneficial not only to them but also to the success of the company and economy because a strong, diversified workforce will create a more “creative, innovative, and productive workforce.” (Kerby, 2012).
Conflicts in the workplace are one of the most challenging managerial tasks because of the differences in people’s morals and principles (Mayhew, 2013). It’s a double-edged sword because managers needed to use his person skills to gain the confidence of his subordinates and at the same time, be firm and bold in upholding company policies (Mayhew, 2013). An effective manager handles potential issues with a precautionary approach, keeping in mind that conflicts may arise due to diversity of opinion, values, and individual backgrounds (Mayhew, 2013).
...e backgrounds, to do business or work together. If, by any chance, this people do not understand each other in terms of cultural backgrounds, the company is at a risk of underperforming. Among other factors, a company’s exceptional performance depends on a favorable relationship among the employees. People from diverse backgrounds often crush on each other at the work place because the frequency of misunderstanding each other is very high. This owes much on prejudice and stereotypes which people hold on those from different backgrounds. It is in such scenarios that the importance of diversity training cannot be underscored. This is due to the fact that diversity training aim at ironing out all the differences emanating from diverse backgrounds and help in establishing impeccable cohesion among all the stakeholders in an organization (Bezrukova, Jehn and Spell 218).
Brett, J., Behfar, K. & Kern, M. (2006) ‘Managing multicultural teams’, Harvard Business Review, 84 (11), pp.84-91, Business Source Premier [online].
In the workplace, it is common to encounter individuals of different cultures, ethnicities, and genders. This diversity can either lead to an introduction of new work methods, or it can lead to conflict between coworkers. In order to avoid conflict, and have all employees work as a cohesive team, managers must educate themselves, and their employees on the topic of cultural diversity. In order for your practices to be considered effective, you must not only respect and recognize an employee’s diversity, you must use their difference to benefit them.
Unnecessary conflict may be prevented through employee involvement and treating employees in a fair manner. Ethical employment practices, involving employees in decisions, and treating employees as valued organizational members all work towards a positive employer-employee relationship. Unfortunately, however, it sometimes becomes necessary for an outside party to help employers and employees resolve differences through processes such as mediation or arbitration. Taken together, positive engagement strategies and constructive resolution of differences help to develop relationships which support organizational performance and success.
Yet despite the claims made by Tyson, Castellino and Darity, there are studies that support the idea that performance among black students may be impaired because of the threat of being stereotyped into various societal groups. Black students feel the pressure of performing well on exams, as those who are regarded as successful students feel greater pressure than white students, which could hinder their academic performance. Black students often feel that as a result of their success, they are losing part of their cultural identity and their connection with the black community. Because of this pressure, black students tend to take a longer time answering questions on exams and perform worse on diagnostic exams compared to their white peers
America is often referred to as “The Melting Pot” of the world. With this appellation, it is not wrong to assume that the U.S. has one of the most diverse cultures. Conversely, a majority percentage of people in America would disagree with this sentiment and argue that the U.S. is comprised of many subgroups. These subgroups vary based on race and skin color and are hardly “melted” together. This apparent racial divide is very common in many American corporations as well. Management researchers have found that maintaining a racially diverse workforce has been proven to have many important benefits within a corporation. For example, having a racially diverse workforce can help match the culture of the customers in the economy to build trust, provide new and differing insights, and right some of the wrongs caused by racism and sexism in our society. Facilitating diversity is not easy, and many organizations have encountered challenges from attempting to do so. Fortunately, there actions that organizations can take to overcome these challenges in order to make diversity a reality.