Download - Culture Conflict Communication
CULTURE, CONFLICT AND COMMUICATION IN THE GLOBAL WORKFORCE
March 27, 2008
University of Illinois
Dr. Gary R. Weaver
American University
WHY IS DIVERSITY IMPORTANT?
Changing demographics
Not just in urban areas
“Globalization”
The American CultureToday
• Not a Cultural Cookie Cutter or Melting Pot• Patchwork Quilt • Salad Bowl• Mosaic• Tapestry
Minorities in USA Today
12% African American
15% Hispanic
4% Asian and Pacific Islanders
1% American Indian
TO MORE EFFECTIVELY SERVE YOUR CLIENTS
Conveying information
Developing skills
Overcoming barriers caused by differences
Using differences to create synergy
TRAITS THAT CORRELATE WITH FAILURE IN CROSS-
CULTURAL INTERACTIONS
• Low tolerance to ambiguity or high uncertainty avoidance
• Overly task-oriented or high need for individual achievement• Overly closed-minded and inflexible
What is “Culture?”
• culture - the way of life (values, beliefs and behaviors) of a people passed down from one generation to the next through learning
Generalization vs. Stereotype
• Cultural Generalization– Never applies to everyone
in every situation– Only a first “guess”– Discard it when no longer
accurate or useful
• Cultural Stereotype– Applies to everyone
in every situation – no exceptions
– Retained even when no longer accurate or useful
Culture is like an Iceberg.
Most of it is
UNDER the water.
BEHAVIORBEHAVIOR
BELIEFSBELIEFS
VALUES AND
THOUGHT
PATTERNS
VALUES AND
THOUGHT
PATTERNS
As we interact, differences will become LESS important.
• Leon Festinger–Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
• Muzafir Sherif–Development of a “Superordinate Goal”
CULTURAL CONTINUUMSTo Do To Be
• Earned Status• Individual Achievement• Individual Action• Equality• Immediate family• Self Reliance• Independence• Individual Competition• Individualism• Guilt• Future• Class Mobility
• Ascribed Status• Affiliation• Stability• Inequality• Extended Family• Reliance on Others• Interdependence• Cooperation• Collectivism• Shame• Past or Heritage• Caste Rigidity
CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
What Doesn’t Fit?
Nice weather we’re having!
Sunny, high in the 70s.
Haven’t we met before?
What Doesn’t Fit?• Nice weather we’re having!• Haven’t we met before?• High-Context - Relational - Associative• To Be - Poets
• Sunny, high in the 70s.• Low Context - Abstractive - Analytical• To Do - Memo Writers/Lawyers
Communication Styles
A B
Communication Styles
A B
Communication Styles
A B
Communication Styles
A B
Project Timeline
Stage One0 - 6
Months
Stage Two6 - 12
months
Stage Three12 - 18Months
Stage Four18 - 24months
Project Timeline
Stage One0 - 12
Months
Stage Two12 - 18Months
Stage Three18 - 22Months
Stage Four
22 -24Months
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
We send messages, not meaning
To Do people tend to be verbally-oriented
To Do people trust vision
Cross-Cultural Conflict
QUESTIONS:
How do you know if it’s a conflict?
Is it escalating or de-escalating?
When do you resolve it?
When it is beyond resolution?
How do you resolve the conflict?
Resources• Hall, Edward. Beyond Culture. • Weaver, Gary R., ed. Culture, Communication
and Conflict, 2nd edition. Boston, MA:Pearson Publishing, 2000.
• Weaver, Gary R. and Adam Mendelson, America’s Midlife Crisis: The Future of a Troubled Superpower, Boston, MA: Intercultural Press, 2008
• www.interculturalpress.com• www.imi.american.edu