Communication Encounter: Dora Ellison and Augustina Riverton
3. Should there be company policies in place that require hiring people of various ages? Why or why not?
Think, for instance, about the Middle East and the fact that the Israeli–Palestinian conflict has been going on for decades. Over the years, we have seen millions of refugees flee their homelands, only to be confronted with hate, hunger, fear, and violence (Bokore, 2016). Pilfering country resources and stomping out competing ideologies pervade so many societies and scores of residents risk their lives fleeing this oppression. This diaspora, or the movement of a group of people from their native country, continues today. Yet, any vision of “freedom” is soon undercut by a reality that is fraught with uncertainty. Refugees face so many struggles that thousands risked their lives crossing the Mediterranean alone in 2016.
These sorts of data and human loss are difficult for most of us to imagine or grasp. Yet, learning about these crucial events is an important part of intercultural communication.
While an ideal goal may be establishing peace, a more reasonable goal seems to be working toward peace. Global understanding can only be achieved if we understand the people around the globe. Some may view war as an inevitable cost of living among diverse populations. In fact, the Institute for Economics and Peace provides some sobering statistics that reveal only 11 countries as low in conflict: Switzerland, Japan, Qatar, Mauritius, Uruguay, Chile, Botswana, Costa Rica, Vietnam, Panama, and Brazil. More engagement in understanding diversity and effective intercultural communication may help move this number higher.
Fundamental Issues
A host of various issues makes cultural understanding an extremely important behavior across the globe (see Figure 2.2). In this section, we first articulate several dimensions of culture. We then explore a number of obstacles that inhibit intercultural understanding.
Figure 2.2 People Around the Globe Have Began to Recognize the Value of Intercultural Communication
Dimensions of National Culture
The scholar most recognized as a pioneer in understanding the dimensionality of culture is Dutch anthropologist Geert Hofstede. Prior to becoming a professor, Hofstede worked at IBM as a trainer and manager of personnel where he oversaw the use of 100,000 opinion surveys at various IBM locations across the globe. After leaving IBM, Hofstede (1980, 1984, 1991, 2001, 2003) published many articles focused on the various cultures he studied. He identified five dimensions that varied among cultures:
individualism-collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, distribution of power, masculinity-femininity, long- and short-term orientation. We discuss each of these below.
Individualism-Collectivism
This dimension refers to the extent to which a culture values connections to others, including friends, families, and the culture at large (Kadoya, 2016).
When a culture values individualism, it prefers the individual over the group.
The individualistic culture values competition over cooperation and the private over the public. The use of “I” functions prominently in individualistic cultures and individual responsibility is emphasized.
Individualistic cultures such as Italy, Canada, the United States, and Australia tend to embrace the philosophy of “pick yourself up” when things go wrong.
Collectivism places the group’s norms, values, and beliefs over the individual’s. Whereas individualistic cultures prefer people to “pick themselves up”, collectivistic cultures such as Pakistan, Peru, Colombia, and Chile believe that the community can, should, and will provide help. In
particular, collectivist communities typically believe that family members should assist each other in times of need. What are some of the ways you see individualism and collectivism within the US culture?
Uncertainty Avoidance
The extent to which individuals wish to avoid ambiguity and avoidance is what Hofstede called the uncertainty avoidance dimension. How tolerant are you of uncertainty? How willing are you to avoid certain communication encounters? Do you resist change when it is thrust upon you? All of these areas are part of this dimension.
If you are a person who doesn’t like change and gets rather anxious when change happens, you have a high degree of uncertainty avoidance.
Cultures that reflect this value – Japan, France, Greece, and Portugal, for instance – tolerate little uncertainty (Craig, 2013). People in these countries usually want to have everything clearly delineated so there is little misunderstanding. You can imagine, then, why some people will actively avoid risky decisions in these sorts of countries. If a culture has a low degree of uncertainty avoidance, it is relatively unthreatened by change. Countries including Sweden, Denmark, and Ireland are those cultures that typically have little problem with change and uncertainty.
Do the Right Thing: The Challenge of Diversity
You have always prided yourself as someone who is culturally compassionate and as someone who is proud to have gay friends, friends of color, and friends who disagree with your political beliefs.
But, at a recent training workshop, you were called out as being naïve. Glen, the seminar leader, was discussing the importance of working with diverse customers. He advocated for employees to understand various cultural differences with clients and to educate themselves to avoid embarrassment and loss of business. At one point in the workshop, you stated: “I think it’s important to understand our clients, because diversity is one of the most important issues in sales.”
It was a rather innocent-sounding comment, but one of the workshop participants – Nashota – yelled out: “What do you know about diversity? Try living in a poor community. Try having a job and losing it because you’re not the right skin color. Try even for one minute to imagine what it’s like to speak a language where people make fun of you!”. What do you do?
What do you say, if anything, in response?
1. If you used the categorical imperative as your ethical system, how