Intercultural
Communication in
International
organizations
COM 372
In orde
John R. Baldwin
jrbaldw@ilstu.edu
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Existence of a social collective
Organizational and individual goals
Coordinating activities
Organizational Structure
Embedded within an environment of other organizations
5 Aspects of
Organizations
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• Messages
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Vocabulary
Themes
Temporality
Architecture
• Symbolic forms
• Metaphors
• Stories
• Fantasy themes
• Expectations
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Norm
Roles
Agenda
Motives
Style
• Purpose: Locating
meanings, values
Organizational Cultures
(Bantz, 1993)
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• What is Organizational Culture??? (BGM&S, Ch. 15, p. 7)
Organizational Cultures
(Bantz, 1993)
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• Messages
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•
•
•
Vocabulary
Themes
Temporality
Architecture
• Symbolic forms
• Metaphors
• Stories
• Fantasy themes
• Expectations
•
•
•
•
•
Norm
Roles
Agenda
Motives
Style
• Purpose: Locating
meanings, values
Organizational Cultures
(Bantz, 1993)
5
• Understanding organizational cultures (p. 23)
• Relationship between employees and organization
• Hierarchical system (supervisors, subordinates)
• General employee views about “destiny, mission and
objectives, and their roles in all of this” (p. 23)
Organizational Cultures
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• Corporate
Culture Models
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Family
Eiffel Tower
Guided Missile
Incubator
Organizational Cultures
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Trompenaars &
Hampden-Turner
• Individualismcommunitarianism
• Neutral-affective
• Specific-diffusive
• Achievement-ascription
Hofstede etc.
• Individualismcollectivism
• Power distance
• Masculinity-femininity
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Long/short-term
orientation
Cultural variation in
organizations
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Time (is not on our
side)
• Sequential/monochronic
/ linear-active versus
synchronic/polychronic/
multi-active
Thoughtspeech
• Impulsive
• Reflective
• Reactive
Cultural variation in
organizations
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• Mini-Case-Study: Your company is
opening a new branch in Nairobi (Kenya).
Going back to different cultural
orientations, brainstorm for a list of all the
ways you can think of that your
organization might need to change to work
in the new culture.
• Discussion Question: How is the current
generation of young men and women
characterized in your culture? Do you
think, as some reports suggest, that today’s
generation is made up of entitled,
narcissistic, self-absorbed, and selfobsessed praise seekers worldwide?
Cultural variation in organizations
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• Types of organizations
• Monolithic: Highly homogenous; work within one country
• Multinational/Plural: Identify with one country, but work in
others
• Multicultural: Values cultural diversity, absence of prejudice,
minimal intergroup conflict
• International: Identify with two or more countries, with
people in each culture following own cultural attributes
• Global: Identify with global system; treat world as integrated
whole, operate “borderless,” asset exchange
• Transnational: Make selective decisions for each country,
flexible; empower local subsidiaries to play key role; develops
shared vision
• THOGHT QUESTION: How “diverse” is your organization?
(pp. 21-22)
Globalization and the changing workplace
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• What is Globalization?
Globalization and the changing workplace
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• Types of organizations
• Monolithic: Highly homogenous; work within one country
• Multinational/Plural: Identify with one country, but work in
others
• Multicultural: Values cultural diversity, absence of prejudice,
minimal intergroup conflict
• International: Identify with two or more countries, with
people in each culture following own cultural attributes
• Global: Identify with global system; treat world as integrated
whole, operate “borderless,” asset exchange
• Transnational: Make selective decisions for each country,
flexible; empower local subsidiaries to play key role; develops
shared vision
• THOGHT QUESTION: How “diverse” is your organization?
(pp. 21-22)
Globalization and the changing workplace
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Terms & Ideas
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Knowledge workers
Changing social contract
Boundaryless careers
Portfolio career
Virtual work &
organizations
• Protean careers
• Cultural synergy
• Cultural intelligence
• Convergence versus
divergence perspectives
Globalization and the changing workplace
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• What are some ways globalization
is changing organizations
worldwide?
• What are some strengths and
limitations of such changes?
• Social responsibility: One
emerging value: What are some
key socially responsible values
you think should guide you in your
own work? What are some
concrete things you can do, as an
entry-level worker, as you enter
your new organizational life?
Globalization and changin workplace
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