Managing Communication Challenges in Multicultural Organizations

Multiculturalism is a reality the way world is globalized in the social sphere, political system, economic landscape,
geographical areas, and international relations. Multicultural organizations (MCOs hereafter)are omnipresent in the
current economic system; and we are persistently surrounded by diverse cultures; therefore, workforce diversity is
becoming the common feature of the MCOs. The size and number of the organizations operating across the globe is
also growing very fast. Consequently, the diversity is more in the consumer base, client groups, and partners (Sudhiir
and Sudhiir, 2016:95). An organization wherein the people of diverse culture work together in order to achieve
certain common goals is known as a “multicultural organization.” MCOs are the hubs of various cultures hailing from
across the world. At the present time, these MCOs possess a larger proportion of organizational workforce
throughout the world‟s economy. Since this workforce has huge potential to organizations improving their
effectiveness in the global business environment, they require deep understanding of mixed skills of employees from
different nations.

There are many instances of cultural variants in the different parts of the world. Knowing these differences can
simplify the functions of both multinational employers and employees. Knowing the cultural diversity helps in team
building, trust formation, conflict resolution, effective collaboration, and more importantly assess the performance
of the team members (Binder, 2007; McDonough, 2001:111).For example, East Asians presume that the people from
Western countries treat strangers like friends; and friends like strangers. Communication in Western cultures is
generally direct and explicit. The meaning of the message is very clear. But, this isn't the case in other countries, like
Japan, where formality and etiquettes play a major role in their communication. For some cultures, eye contact is
considered as discourteous while for others refraining from the same is considered as disrespectful. Further, in
Western cultures, and in Africa, giving a hug is considered very informal and fine but it may not be so in Asian
countries. Furthermore, some cultures treat women as subordinate and for men belonging to such cultures it
becomes near impossible to working shoulder to shoulder or having women as their superiors. Additionally, in some
cultures the appropriate greeting is a handshake, in others a bow, in others an embrace. It is cited in a study that
Arabs, Latin Americans and Southern Europeans look into the eyes of conversational partners whereas Asians and
North Europeans only use a peripheral gaze or no gaze at all during interactions. „Silence‟ is indicated as respect
among Chinese people while it is interpreted as shyness or lack of interest among Australians. Similarly, „touch‟ has
different meanings in different cultures. In Thailand it is considered rude to touch to strangers; whereas in Ethiopia,
walking hand in hand with friends and opposite sex indicates a romantic relationship (Sudhiir and Sudhiir, 2016:97).
Thus, difference in communication approaches, understandings, attitudes, and styles, is inevitable phenomenon
among the diverse workforce of MCOs.

2. FEATURES OF MCOS

The literature is both consistent and clear in demonstrating the power and potential of the MCOs. The prominent
features of MCOs are that they hire the best available human talent; possess high morale, and collective positivity
among workers; have broader perspectives and deeper ideas; and hold openmindedness and tolerance. Moreover,
MCOs are more efficient and productive; technologically more sound; more competitive; and higher in creativity and
innovation due to their diverse background. In addition to it, they have sound relationships with key partners in
foreign markets; and encompass greater problem solving ability. Equipped with the better decision making abilities,
MCOs exhibit change and flexibility, and they have large virtual network.

CONCEPTUALIZING COMMUNICATION IN MCOS Organizational communication is the study of communication within

organizations. The flow of communication within an organization is multifaceted: formal and informal, vertical and
horizontal, verbal and non-verbal, and written and oral. Managing communication in a MCO is indeed a herculean
task. Communication in multicultural organizations is like a neural network in the human body; and if there is a fall
through, the organism becomes inefficient or even dysfunctional. Similarly, in a multicultural organization, it is only
through the effective communication that the information is shared, trust is built, and constructive relation is
developed and maintained. Organizational communication is as broad in its domain as the field of communication
itself. Indeed, Iedema and Wodak (1999:7) stated that organizations do not exist self-reliantly of their members, but
are “created and recreated in the acts of communication between members.” Communication in organization is “the
central means by which individual activity is coordinated to devise, disseminate, and pursue organizational goals”
(Gardner, Paulsen, Gallois, Callan, & Monaghan, 2001:561). Organizations typically involve highly differentiated
social systems (Scott, 1997; Trice & Beyer, 1993), with formal and informal frontiers and negotiated distinctiveness.
Because MCOs are at the state of continual change, communication processes are also changing both to create and
to reflect the new structures, processes, and relationships. MCOs which fail to apprehend the cross cultural
communication barriers face several problems in many aspects of international business communication as it
encompasses free trade policies, localization and standardization strategy decisions, advertising, brand effectiveness,
business relationships, international business management, international marketing, international negotiation, and
consumer behavior, staffing, industrial relations, interpersonal relationships, negotiation, and teambuilding.

COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES IN MCOS Communication challenges are bound to come in the MCOs. The
significant communication challenges in MCOs are: language barrier, stereotyping, ethnocentrism, cultural
relativism, cultural shock, attitude toward conflict resolution, task completion, decision making, privacy, trust
building, and non-verbal language. COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES IN MCOS Communication challenges are bound
to come in the MCOs. The significant communication challenges in MCOs are: language barrier, stereotyping,
ethnocentrism, cultural relativism, cultural shock, attitude toward conflict resolution, task completion, decision
making, privacy, trust building, and non-verbal language. 4.1.Language Barrier Language barrier is the most common
problem found in MCOs as staffs have more chances of meeting and dealing with the speakers of other languages
(Jenifer and Raman 2015:334).There is no denying the fact that English is the lingua franca of the modern economic
world; and it has become the official standard language for business throughout the globe; however, because of this
many nonEnglish speakers can be overlooked and unrewarding because of their incompetence to communicate and
comprehend English, and thus convey what they want to say. Even sometimes, there are chances the managers take
a backseat as they are unable to convey their message crossways. This leads to Managing Communication Challenges
in Multicultural Organizations International Journal of Media, Journalism and Mass Communications (IJMJMC) Page|
46 thwarting and constant worry over a passage of time, and certainly it affects the productivity of the organization
(Sudhiir&Sudhiir, 2016:97). 4.2.Stereotyping Stereotyping is the notion that we carry about a certain set of people
and their culture, value judgments, overestimation or over-exaggerations. These stereotypes are the main reasons
for difference of opinions about the conflicting culture and leads to miscommunication (Jenifer & Raman 2015:332;
Sudhiir&Sudhiir, 2016::96). The popular examples of stereotypes are: Spanish people are bad-tempered and racist;
the English are business men; Chinese people make work their religion, Swiss people like exactness, Brazilians are
always late, and Japanese are forward-looking. All these ideas are stereotypes against a country and its people,
which can negatively affect the working employees or future employees. Because of already-made suppositions, an
employer can demonstrate bias and make a mistake in hiring, operation, and firing (Heyman 2017:19).
4.3.Ethnocentrism / Cultural Relativism Ethnocentrism is defined as a cultural superiority complex: rationalizing that
one‟s own culture or group behavior is advanced against all the other groups. It is an attitude wherein one‟s own
cultural experience unintentionally makes us to feel that our culture is distinctive. This feeling further increases the
level of the anxiety, which in turn affects the productivity of the working culture (Jenifer & Raman 2015:332;
Sudhiir&Sudhiir, 2016:96). The workforce of MCO faces a lot of issues due to ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism
interferes with interaction to other cultures and proves a barrier of communication. International workforces need
cultural understanding of local conditions to multiply competence and productivity (Singh, 2018:48). Cultural
relativism is the belief where in one compares the standards and conducts of target cultures and gauges them
against the norms of what's incorrect and what's correct. This becomes a hurdle when one presumes that cultural
norms, customs and traditions are not right if they vary from those of the other culture (Sudhiir&Sudhiir, 2016:97).
4.4.Cultural Shock Cultural shock is the accidental encounter of an employee with some unknown and unexpected
cultural practice. When employees enter another nation or territory, they tend to undergo cultural shock, which is
the diffidence and bewilderment caused by encountering a different culture. They may not be acquainted with how
to act, may fear losing face and self-confidence, or may become emotionally disappointed. Some individuals
segregate themselves, while a few even decide to come back home from the next flight. Cultural shock is virtually
universal, which happens even on a migration from one advance nation to another (Singh, 2014:47-48). 4.5.Attitude
toward Conflict Resolution Attitude toward conflict play a vital role for the working place, especially in the team
work. The different cultures of the world resolve clashes in the different ways. For example, the people of United
States take conflicts positively, and like to solve it directly, and face-to-face; whereas, for Easterners conflict is a
negative undertone and they like to resolve the conflicts quietly or silently(Kiss, 2005:216). 4.6.Approaches to Tasks’
Completion Westerners accomplish one task at a time, and they are individualistic; whereas, the Asians and African
accomplish many tasks at a time, and they are collectivistic in modes operandi. Individualistic cultures like United
States and France are more self-centered and emphasize mostly on their individual goals. People from individualistic
cultures tend to think only of themselves. They emphasize their achievements in job or private wealth and aiming up
to reach more and/or a better job position. Especially, in the USA the fight about jobs and trying to climb up in the
hierarchy ladder is something very common. It just counts to get there, less caring of who will be left behind. In
contrast, collectivistic cultures have a great emphasis on groups and think more in terms of "we" rather than “I”. For
collectivists, harmony and loyalty is very important and is always maintained and confrontation is avoided. In China,
it is out of the question to disagree with someone's opinion in public. One has to do that in a more private and
personal atmosphere to protect a person from the Managing Communication Challenges in Multicultural
Organizations International Journal of Media, Journalism and Mass Communications (IJMJMC) Page| 47 "loss of
face." In collectivistic cultures, a direct confrontation is always avoided. Expressions or phrases are used which
describe a disagreement or negative statement instead of saying “no” clearly. Saying “no” would mean to disrupt the
synchronization in the group. The relationship between employer and employee or business partners is based on
trust, harmony, and a deep understanding of ethical values (Kiss, 2005:216). 4.7.Different Decision-Making Styles
Decision making abilities are found higher and deeper with MCO managers. The reason behind this is the diverse
natures of decision they take day to day meetings. A successful workforce is well aware with the styles of different
cultures in taking decision. The roles individuals play in decision-making vary widely from culture to culture. For
example, when decisions are made in group, the “rule of majority” is a common approach among the US people
whereas in Japan “consensus” is preferred mode in decision making style (Kiss, 2005:216). 4.8.Different Attitudes
toward Privacy Privacy is the important element of a culture. It is a mindset, which is related to the efficiency and
productivity. If managers of MCOs will properly know about the attitudes toward privacy of the employee, he/she
can accrue better competence among them. Different cultures in the world have different orientation towards
privacy. It is interesting to know that for instance, Americans have a low degree of privacy, and most of the time they
prefer to be in public. That means, they expose and show-up more in public, friends, and staff members. On the
contrary, the people of Germany, France, China etc. are enclosed people. They have high degree of privacy, and they
share just a low percentage with public (Shanthi, 2014:50). 4.9.Different Ways of Building Trust and Relationship
There is a strong association between the trust and productivity. Cultural differences play a vital role in the creation
of trust and relationship. For instance, in the United States, trust is demonstrated performance over time. Here one
can gain the trust of his/her colleagues by “coming through” and delivering on time on his/her commitments. In
many other parts of the globe, including many Asian and Latin American nations, building relationships is a
prerequisite for professional interactions. Building trust in these countries often involves lengthy discussions on non-
professional topics and shared meals in the restaurants. Work- related discussion starts only once his/her
counterpart has become comfortable with him/her as a person. Cultural difference in multicultural teams can create
misunderstanding between team members before they have had a chance to establish any credibility with each
other. Thus, building trust is a critical step in creation and development of MCO teams (Shanthi, 2014:50). 4.10. Non-
Verbal Communication Many communications are done through physical gestures, tone, touch, expressions without
using words. Folded arms, crossed legs are defensive whereas music, dance, painting, sculpturing are creative and
aesthetic non-verbal communication. The examples of non-verbal communication are: facial expression, body
movement, posture and gestures, personal appearance, dressings, touch, colors, silence, proxemics (science of
reflecting relationship that refers to space between two people when they communicate), paralanguage (the vocal
characteristics and sounds that adds flavor to words), pitch (raising or lowering of our voice), tempo (variation in
speaking too fast or slow), resonance (the variation of volume from a thin voice to loud), and quality of voice, add a
lot of flesh and blood to the words. Non-verbal communication plays an important role in any communication
situation. It often plays a supplementary role to the verbal content delivered orally. People with different cultures
have different styles of non-verbal communication. Knowledge of different nonverbal communications is essentially
very important so as to avoid the misunderstanding and other barriers of communication. They differ in the rules for
turn-taking, the use of silence, the posture, the eye contact, the proximity, the touch, the tone of voice, the node,
the facial expression, the gesture, and so on (Sudhiir and Sudhiir, 2016:96).
Activity 4

COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES IN SITUATIONAL EXAMPLE DISADVANTAGES

MULTICULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS

1. LANGUAGE BARRIER

2. STEREOTYPING

3. ETHNOCENTRISM

4. CULTURAL SHOCK

5. NON-VERBAL
COMMUNICATION