Organizations increasingly more diverse in terms of their race, gender, ethnicity, and nationality

Help with better decision making, more innovation, better ways of solving problems, more
creativity, and better understanding of different market segments

Problems with difference in workforce: high interpersonal conflict, high rate of turnover,
breakdown in communications

A multicultural organization is 1. pluralism, 2. full structural integration, 3. full integration of the

informal networks, 4. an absence of prejudice and discrimination, 5. no gap in organizational
identification based on cultural identity group, and 6. low levels of intergroup conflict

Many big companies have no global strategies as they dont have global leaders and managers

Culture is the collective programming of the mind that separates on group from another. These
are passed and down and reinforced by the agents of socialization

Manifestation of culture: Values at the core, harder to see outright. Outer layers are symbols
(clothing, art), Heroes, and Rituals which are easily seen. Practices cuts across all layers

Culture and psychology: Mental Programming (Our psychology), Human Nature (Universal e.g.
eating), Personality (Inherited/individual vs learnt), Cultural Group (learned)

Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions: individualism vs collectivism, high vs low power distance, high
vs low uncertainty avoidance, masculine vs feminine, and long vs short term orientation

Masculinity: preference in society for values such as assertiveness, competitiveness, task

achievement

Femininity: preference for relationships nurturing, harmony, quality of life and relationships

Categorization: Allows us to make sense of complex world and environment by group large
chunks together

Stereotypes: can be consciously held> descriptive> accurate (Sophisticated stereotypes)>first

best guess> modified

When stereotyping we differentiate and categorise the other people based on gender, race,
ethnicity, nationality, profession, and politics

Individual differences are often overlooked, people become identified by their larger groups

Types of stereotypes: self-fulfilling stereotypes, stereotype consensus, stereotype threat

Ethnocentrism

In-group vs out-group

High vs low cultural distance

Dialectic logic process (Hegel): thesis>antithesis>synthesis (shifting perception by actively

observing opposite phenomenon)

Allports Contact Theory: increased contact between two groups and individuals generates
understanding, reduces stereotypes and conflicts (WWII, where German and French troops
celebrated Christmas together)

Cultural intelligence (CQ): Set of skills that allow an individual to operate with high effectiveness
in foreign cultures and culturally ambiguous settings

Enculturation: First culture learning

Acculturation: Second culture learning

The cultural script

Accepting that you dont know is a big step

Cultural quotient: Cognitive means (With your head)>physical means (With your
body)>motivational means (By rewarding achievement)

Communication depends on: codes, convention

Cultural field: surrounds our channels of communication and can affect the meanings of the
message

Different codes and conventions of communication can make transfer difficult

Intercultural communication: direct vs indirect, implicit vs explicit

Verbal vs Non-verbal communication

Non-verbal communication: Proxemics (personal space, office layout), Haptics (handshakes,

hugs, kisses), Kinesics (gestures, facal exp, eye contact), Paralanguage (tone, inflection)

Low vs High context

Saving face: keeping harmony and maintaining social norms, expectations, personal dignity and
respect. Relation before task.

Affective cultures: visibly emotional, allows emotions in discussions (India, Brazil, Egypt)

Neutral cultures: restraining and controlling, separating emotions from decision (Spock from
Star Trek)(China, NZ, German)

Issues in Intercultural Communication: communicating ethically, communicating electronically,

communicating through a translator

Negotiation: multi party discussion or communication to reach some type of agreement

Important to know the other party in negotiation, more so in high contest culture than low
context

In high context there would be lots of discussion about information and more time spent,
compared to low context

Persuasion phase not the most important in high context, room left to manoeuvre, all about
face, more emphasis on relation. In low context it is all about negotiating and persuasion, most
time spent here, early concessions made to move things forward

Agreement for high context can be broad and open, about maintaining relation. For low context
it is about legal and documented agreements, all about the present and profits

Business is not a zero-sum game, no business is an island. Alliances are a key part of current
business strategies, as well as strategic business groups

Discuss the china video we watched regarding American and Chinese businessmen and the
issues regarding communication and expectations (high vs. low context)

Disconfirmed expectancy: when something happens that is not expected, due to subject specific
enculturation, and often related to social interactions. Can be linked to concepts of fairness and
appropriateness

Parochialism>Ethnocentrism>Polycentrism

Cultural protocol

Motivation: that which drives goal directed behaviour, so it channels efforts towards real or
perceived need/want

McClellands Theory of Needs state that individuals specific needs are acquired over time and
shaped by ones life experiences.

There are three classifications: Achievers need to excel and avoid both high and low-risk
situations (goes for 50% chance) and usually works alone with other high achievers. Those with
high need for Affiliation want harmonious relationship with others and work in areas that
provide significant personal interaction. A finally need for Power, with personal power being the
ability to control others (not preferred), and institutional power being the ability to organize the
efforts of others to further the goals of the organization.

Herzbergs Motivation-Hygiene theory states that unlike Maslows Hierarchy, there are factors
which if not present lead to dissatisfaction and if present lead to no dissatisfaction (Not
satisfaction) (Hygiene-company policy, salary, personal life, security). But there are also factors
which lead to higher levels of satisfactions if present and no satisfaction if not present
(Motivators- achievement, recognition, responsibility, growth)

Equity Theory suggests relational satisfaction comes from perceived equality in terms of input
and output (input- time, effort, loyalty) (output- salary, reputation, responsibility). Any unfair
distribution will lead to dissatisfaction

Vrooms Expectancy Theory is about the mental process regarding choice, on how we behave in
certain ways due to what we expect the outcome to be

Content Theories: Tend to examine what the needs are and their arrangement in order of
importance (McClellands, Herzberg, Maslow)

Process Theories: Tend to examine the process of fulfilling needs (Equity theory, Vroom)

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs: physiological needs, security/basic needs, social and affiliation,
esteem, self-actualization

Higher we go up and away from the more universal human nature motivators, the more
culturally relative they become. Self-actualization and the need for security may mean different
things depending on types of cultures (individualistic vs. collective)

CCM Motivation Adjustment Steps: Describe the motivational situation, identify cultural
assumptions, generate culturally synergetic alternatives, monitor and make adjustments to the
motivation strategy (4 steps)

Leadership is the ability influence/motivate/enable others to contribute toward the success of

the organisation/team

Types of Power: Reward (valance), coercive (punishment), legitimate (positional power),

referent (charisma and persuasiveness), expert (ability/knowledge), affiliation (association)

Which one of the above are most effective for young managers?

A modern leader is not born, but learns and uses different approaches and traits to fit the
context and followers. He/she wears many hats depending on the context

GLOBE Study investigated among other factors how cultural values are related to organizational
practices and conceptions of leadership

Cultural universal vs. cultural contingent attributes

Culturally contingent attributes need to be tailored for each cultural groups, such as
participation in leadership, and relation with subordinates

Eastern cultures prefer indirect praise while Western cultures prefer direct ones

A multicultural team may face hurdles, but if overcome can potentially perform better than a
mono-cultural team

In multicultural teams it is about forming a hybrid culture, taking the best from different
cultures and applying that towards the team goal

Culture shock is the natural, staged reaction to new socio-environmental patterns. It can be
both physical and emotional, and usually involves disconfirmed expectancies

Also relates to cultural distance, the further the two cultures the more pronounced the shock

Stages of cultural shock: honeymoon, emptiness, conform, assimilation

One of the goals of building CQ is to lower the severity and duration of the emptiness stage

In our daily lives there can be more minute ups and downs in the stages of cultural shock

Coping strategies Selection and assignment acceptance (psychometric measures, family

dynamics, organizational support), pre-departure preparation if possible (study basics,
disconfirmed expectancy, talk to expats), on arrival and during assignment (realistic goals, have
sense of humour, cultural informant, choose battles carefully), return (reverse cultural shock)

Negativity talk is a form of self-fulfilling communication in acculturation, patterns of

communication that disrupt and reduce the possibility of effective cultural adjustment

Steps handling negativity talks determine pattern, validate perspective without engaging in
neg talk, postpones awareness effort, collaborative redirection strategy

Repatriation can often be more shocking than going into an alien culture (reverse cultural
shock)

Problems with repatriation idealised view of home, expectation of total familiarity,

disconfirmed expectancy, social re-entry, professional re-entry

Use of facebook to reduce the many effects of reverse cultural shock

Increased cultural differences within a workforce also potentially create costs in terms of higher
interpersonal conflict, turnover, and communications breakdown. To maximize productivity
leaders are advised to oversee the change process into a multicultural organization

Characters of a multicultural organization are: pluralism, full structural integration, full

integration of the informal networks, absence of prejudice and discrimination, no organizational
identification based on cultural identity of groups, low intergroup conflicts