Communication and Culture in Organizations

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Questions and Answers

How do rapid developments in ICT contribute to organizations' competitiveness in the global marketplace?

They enable organizations to be agile and flexible, allowing them to adapt quickly to market changes and leverage global talent.

What are some cultural barriers that can impact global communication?

Cultural barriers include semantic differences, connotation issues, tone variations, and differing perceptions.

What is the distinction between high context and low context cultures?

High context cultures rely heavily on implicit communication and context, while low context cultures depend on explicit verbal messages.

What is a recommended practice for improving cross-cultural communication?

Assume differences until similarity is proven and practice empathy rather than making immediate evaluations. Signup and view all the answers

Why is it important to treat interpretations as working hypotheses in global communication?

It encourages openness to reevaluating assumptions and understanding others better, thus promoting effective dialogue. Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary definition of communication?

The transfer and understanding of meaning through verbal and nonverbal messages. Signup and view all the answers

Identify two major types of communication channels.

Formal channels and informal channels. Signup and view all the answers

Briefly explain the role of feedback in the communication process.

Feedback allows the sender to understand how the message was received and interpreted. Signup and view all the answers

What are the four major functions of communication within a group or organization?

Control, motivation, emotional expression, and information. Signup and view all the answers

According to Mehrabian's ratio, what percentage of communication is attributed to body language?

55%. Signup and view all the answers

What types of noise can interfere with the communication process?

Physical, psychological, and social/cultural noise. Signup and view all the answers

How does technology impact communication according to the content?

Technology improves efficiency and allows communication over distances. Signup and view all the answers

What is the difference between efficiency and richness in communication?

Efficiency refers to the speed and convenience of communication, while richness pertains to the depth and emotional context. Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary focus of social presence theory according to Rice (1992)?

The primary focus is on the extent to which the sender can be 'felt' in communication. Signup and view all the answers

According to media richness theory, what factors determine the communication choice?

The factors are the uncertainty and equivocality of the message. Signup and view all the answers

How do emoticons help in text-based communication?

Emoticons compensate for the loss of non-verbal cues, adding emotional context to messages. Signup and view all the answers

What defines 'closeness' in the context of boundaryless working?

Closeness is defined as the extent to which people are linked together through a network. Signup and view all the answers

What are the key characteristics of virtual teams as defined by Lipnack & Stamps (2000)?

Virtual teams have unique skills, are situated in distant locations, and collaborate using technology. Signup and view all the answers

List the three core dimensions that characterize virtual teams.

Virtual teams use more virtual tools, rely less on synchronous communication, and require less informational richness. Signup and view all the answers

What are the input factors that determine the level of team virtuality?

The factors include the number of boundaries to be crossed, the proportion of co-located members, and the team size. Signup and view all the answers

What role does technology play in globalisation according to the content?

Technological advancements have significantly contributed to globalisation. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Communication Overview

Communication is the transfer and understanding of meaning through verbal and nonverbal messages.
Communication serves four key functions within groups or organizations: control, motivation, emotional expression, and information.

Communication Process

Formal Channels: Established by organizations to transmit messages related to professional activities.
Informal Channels: Created spontaneously and emerge as responses to individual choices.
Channels of Communication: Different methods of communication, including symbolic (e.g., road signs), oral (e.g., telephone), written (e.g., email), and nonverbal communication (e.g., face-to-face).
Communication Process Model: The process involves a sender encoding a message, transmitting it through a channel, with possible noise, a receiver decoding the message, and providing feedback.

Communication Process: Noise

Noise can be physical (e.g., background noise, poor connection), psychological (e.g., semantics, attention, perception), or social/cultural (e.g., cultural misunderstandings, mistranslation).

Communication Process: The 55-38-7 Ratio

55% of communication is body language.
38% of communication is voice tone.
7% of communication is words.

Technology and Communication

Technology impacts communication by changing methods, efficiency, and the richness of the message.
The method used is a part of the communicated message.
Richness vs. efficiency of technology in communication.

Efficiency vs. Richness

Social presence theory (Rice, 1992) describes to what extent the sender can be felt in communication via the communication channel which may include lost non-verbal cues. Emoticons can compensate for lost non-verbal cues.
Media richness theory (Daft and Lengel, 1986) describes the need for presence contingent on message and that the choice in communication depends on uncertainty and equivocality. Examples from this theory include e-mail vs. telephone.

Emoticons and Emoji

Emoticons and emojis add another layer of meaning to communication to compensate for lost non-verbal cues.

Discussion Question

Text messaging is a common communication method; does it transmit correct messages, or does it open the door for misinterpretation?

Geographical Reach

Boundaryless working ("placeless organizations") and closeness in communication defined as the extent to which people are linked through a network (Latour, 1997).
Technological advancements and the internet have greatly increased globalisation.

Virtual Teams

Features of virtual teams (VTs) include having unique skills, located in different places, needing to use technology to collaborate over time and across distances, and having unique communication needs.

A Theory of 'Virtuality'

Virtual tools impact communication (VTs require less synchronous communication and less richness).
Three input factors, determining the level of team virtuality, include the number of boundaries to be crossed, proportion of co-located members, and team size.

Why Go Virtual?

Rapid developments in ICT technologies impact communication methods.
Communication technologies allow organizations to become agile, flexible to compete in the global market, communicate across geographical, cultural, contextual and temporal boundaries, and take advantage of the pool of global talent.

Global Implications: Cultural Barriers

Communication barriers can arise due to semantics, word connotations, tone differences, differences in perceptions, high context vs. low context cultures.

Global Implications: Illustration

Examples of cultural differences in communication, such as use of eye contact, body language, and gestures (e.g., smiling in Western cultures can be a sign of happiness, but may signal embarrassment in some Asian cultures).

Global Implications: What Can We Do?

To improve communication across cultures, assume differences until similarities are proven, use empathetic descriptions rather than interpretations or evaluations, practice empathy, and treat interpretations as working hypotheses.

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Description

This quiz explores key concepts in communication within a global context, focusing on cultural barriers, communication types, and the influence of technology. Discover the distinctions between high context and low context cultures, and learn best practices for enhancing cross-cultural communication. Aimed at improving understanding of communication dynamics in organizations.