Intercultural Communication

Øyvind KalnesHeld at the University of Wollongong

3. December 2007

Plan

1. Some words on communication2. Culture and globalization3. Challenges and opportunities for the

organization4. Intercultural competence and the

dangers of “culturalism”

1. Some words on communication

Communication•• Any behaviorAny behavior that is

perceivedperceived by anotherperson

• Verbal (spoken, written),non-verbal or graphic

• Dynamic and interactiveprocess of encodingencoding andsendingsending a message, aswell as receivingreceiving anddecodingdecoding it

•• FeedbackFeedback: The receiverresponds by encoding andsending a message to thesender. The roles arereversed

Transmission model

How do you encode a message?Examples of channels and “noise”

A company using WWW as a channel

A speech … in a film..

Who is the sender?What is his message?

What is his channel?Who are the receivers?

Perception• The sender’s idea is not the

same as what the receiverunderstands

• Aspects of a message isselected (and othersdeselected), organized andinterpretated, to find themeaning

• Culture is regarded as acrucial in this process

2. Culture and globalization

What is culture?• Learned behaviour• A deposit of collective knowledge accumulated over

generations• Collective programming of the mind (Hofstede)

Does it matter?• Always, although we often take it for granted.• But it is most visible under variation (fast changes and

multiculturality)

Analytical approach to organisations (KISS!):• As rational systemsrational systems under stable and homogenous

conditions• As natural systemsnatural systems under unstable and/or heterogenous

conditions• As open systemsopen systems considering internal characteristics, as well

as environmental characteristics

Globalization• Migration leads to cultural

diversity at home• Multinational companies

operate in diverse cultures• Internationalization of trade

makes for cultural diversity ofoverseas suppliers andcustomers

• Traveling and media

Learning culture

• Enculturation: Learning one’s own culture• Acculturation: Learning and adjusting to a

“host culture”

Culture as a condition for communicationCulture as a condition for communicationIntercultural communication - Between individuals

belonging to different culturesIntracultural communication - Between individuals

belonging to different cultures

Culture createsImagined communites

• A cultural group is an imagined community• You feel part of a group, even though you have

never met – and never will meet – most of theother individuals in that group

• You imagine ”others” that are not part of thegroup

(Benedikt Anderson)

Perspectives on culture

•• EthnocentrismEthnocentrism: The belief in thesuperiority of one’s own culture. “Theother” should learn and adjust.

•• Cultural relativismCultural relativism: Each culture is asgood as the other culture. I should learnfrom and adjust to “the other”.

Take up the White Man’s burden—And reap his old reward:The blame of those ye betterThe hate of those ye guard—

Rudyard KiplingThe White Man's Burden 1899

3. Challenges and opportunities forthe organization

Diversity in cultureHofstede’s cultural dimensions

Ronen and Shenkar’s Country Clusters using Hofstede’sCulture Dimensions. Numbers indicate country cluster’s rank

4451Far East

3262Latin Am.

5133Latin Eur.

2514Anglo

1345Germanic

6626Nordic

Masculine> Femi

Uncertaintyavoidance

Individualism> collectivism

Power distance

Migration

Tamils in a sea food factory inNorthern Norway

200 million international (firstgeneration) migrants.

Cultural diversity in workforce Multicultural competence

Australia: 25% born overseas 140 different countries 85% of workplaces more than4 nationalities

Acculturation, as learning and adjusting to host cultures Chinese in Australia differs from Chinese in the USA, inSingapore, as well as China.

What are the challenges and opportunities for themulticultural organization?

Chelsea FC:Chelsea FC:77 Brits, 14Brits, 14 nationalitiesnationalities

Owned byOwned by RussianRussian tycoontycoon Roman AbramovichRoman Abramovich

Transnational companies

30,000 local restaurants in more than 100 countries.

• Global branding and standards in products andorganisation (“McDonaldization”, “McJob”)

Versus

• Adapting and adjusting to local culture in productsand organisation

Local

Global

Glocalization: How can the global be local?

Universalisationof the particular

Particularisationof the universal

What were once the particular:• a product of “local” cultures (hamburgers, pizza, football, production

norms, TV-soaps etc.Becomes universalised at the global level• But will still be adapted to local cultures or interpreted according to

local culture.

4. Intercultural competence and thedangers of “culturalism”

Dangers of “culturalism”

StereotypingHuman beings are individuals with• A capacity to act on a basis of

independent reasoning• Multiple and changing identities

Determinism• Cultures develop and change

through human interaction• Or it may be locked in through

human interaction

Stereotyping “others”

The final victory of liberalismThe final victory of liberalism

1. Economy: The free market2. Politics: Representative

democracy

.... and

Francis Fukuyama (1989):TheThe EndEnd ofof HistoryHistory –– (and Diversity?)(and Diversity?)

The triumph of the West …canbe seen also in the ineluctablespread of consumerist Westernculture …

The end of history will be a verysad time …daring, courage,imagination, and idealism, will bereplaced by economiccalculation, the endless solvingof technical problems ..thesatisfaction of sophisticatedconsumer demands.

"We know only who we are when we know who we arenot and often only when we know whom we are against….. The velvet curtain of culture has replaced the iron

curtain of ideology”

Samuel Huntington:The Clash of Civilizations (1993)

Intercultural competence

Know your own culture, as well as the “other”culture

•• Culture specificCulture specific: Facts and information•• Culture general:Culture general: Awareness, flexibility,

“other-orientation”

Sensitivity Success and cooperationInsensitivity Failure and conflict

The wrong codebook