INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION AMONG COWORKERS IN A MULTINATIONAL COMPANY: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY
Keywords:
Cultural diversity, intercultural communication, multicultural workplaces, phenomenological studies, qualitative researchAbstract
This phenomenological study studies the intercultural communication of non-native English speaking professionals working in multinational companies in the UK to form the basis of comparison with their native English speaking counterparts. In this study, five native English speaking professionals currently working in England were interviewed. Respondents drew pictures to depict their professional and cultural experiences through interactions with non-English speaking colleagues. This study interacts on expected cross-cultural interactions or expectations and any miscommunications that may occur. Most of the respondents interacted positively between their cultures and shared their vocal and communication challenges. To overcome their challenge, all respondents admitted to speaking late or asked some confirmation questions such as "Do you need further explanation?" or "Is there anything you want to ask?" to reduce the possibility of conflict and miscommunication. However, all respondents agreed that there was a potential for unwanted harm and it was close to offending to occur. Based on the results, all respondents claimed to have good intentions in their actions but lack the skills to better facilitate communication with their non-native English speaking counterparts.
Downloads
References
Castelli, Francesco. 2018. Drivers of migration: why do people move? Journal of Travel Medicine, vol. 25(1).
De Haas, Hein, et al. 2019. International Migration: Trends, Determinants, and Policy Effect. Population and Development Review, vol. 45(4), p. 885-922.
Del Giacco, Luca, M. Teresa Anguera, and Silvia Salcuni. 2020. The Action of Verbal and Non-verbal Communication in the Therapeutic Alliance Construction: A Mixed Methods Approach to Assess the Initial Interactions With Depressed Patients. Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 11, article 234.
Duchek, Stephanie, Sebastian Raetze, and Ianina Scheuch. 2020. The role of diversity in organizational resilience: a theoretical framework. Business Research, vol. 13, p. 387-423.
Edberg, Mark, and Laurie Krieger. 2020. Recontextualizing the social norms construct as applied to health promotion. SSM - population health, vol. 10, article 100560.
Evans, Adam, and Harika Suklun. 2017. Workplace diversity and intercultural communication: A phenomenological study. Cogent Business & Management, vol. 4(1).
Kapoor, Kawaljeet Kaur, et al. 2018. Advances in Social Media Research: Past, Present and Future. Information Systems Frontiers, vol. 20, p. 531-558.
Köllen, Thomas. 2019. Diversity Management: A Critical Review and Agenda for the Future. Journal of Management Inquiry, First Published.
Liu, Qiu Ting. 2017. Phonetic Accommodation to Non-Native English Speech. UC Berkeley Phonetics and Phonology Lab Annual Report, spring 2017, p. 108-140.
Office for National Statistics. 2020. UK and non-UK people in the labour market: February 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020 https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/ukandnonukpeopleinthelabourmarket/2020.
Ozgen, Ceren, et al. 2018. Does Cultural Diversity of Migrant Employees Affect Innovation? International Migration Review, vol. 48 (1), p. 377-416.
Perih, Nicholas. 2017. Identity and Intersectionality: The Critical Autoethnography of a "Transplant" Teacher in Hawai'i (doctoral dissertation). Hawai: University of Hawai'i at MÄnoa.
Scott, Melvia Edna. 2016. Strategies for Retaining Employees in the Hospitality Industry. Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection. Retrieved October 25, 2020 https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2905&context=dissertations.
Selmer, Jan, and Jakob Lauring. 2013. Cognitive and affective reasons to expatriate and work adjustment of expatriate academics. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, vol. 13(2), p. 175-191.
Suklun, H. 2014. Professional immigrant women in medium and large organizations in the USA: A Phenomenological study exploring communication conflicts that arise from language barriers (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Louisville: Sullivan University.
Swartz, Talia H., et al. 2019. The Science and Value of Diversity: Closing the Gaps in Our Understanding of Inclusion and Diversity. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol. 220 (2), p. S33–S41.
UNESCO. 2020. UNESCO World Report: Investing in Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue. Retrieved October 25, 2020 http://un.org/en/events/culturaldiversityday/pdf/Investing_in_cultural_diversity.pdf.
University of Oxford. 2019. Migrants in the UK Labour Market: An Overview. Retrieved October 23, 2020 https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/migrants-in-the-uk-labour-market-an-overview/.
Verkuyten, Maykel, Kumar Yogeeswaran, and Levi Adelman. 2019. Toleration and prejudiceâ€reduction: Two ways of improving intergroup relations. European Journal of Social Psychology, vol. 50(2), p. 239-255.
Yong, Enn Lun. 2019. Understanding cultural diversity and economic prosperity in Europe: a literature review and proposal of a culture–economy framework. Asian Journal of German and European Studies, vol. 4(5), article 5.
