Interculturality (en)
Topic outline
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Cultural diversity can be defined as "the existence of two or more persons from different cultural groups in any single group or organisation". Cultural backgrounds are important considerations in assembling and managing work groups because they affect the way that people interact and deal with conflict. Both organisations and team members must be able to accommodate individual differences and possess the ability to work as a team to meet organisational targets. Much of the research in the area of diverse teams has found that diversity can be a ‘double-edged sword’.
Culturally diverse teams are proposed to present a number of benefits for teams such as increased innovation, creativity and problem solving capabilities. At the same time, however, they also provide opportunity for greater miscommunication and misunderstanding which can impact the social and task-related functions of the team, resulting in process losses. Consequently, cultural diversity itself will not generate the proposed benefits of cultural heterogeneous teams, rather it is learning to work with cultural diversity effectively that will allow a team to realise these benefits which are stated in the
EU’s economic strategies. In this regard , by “Interculturality” the project team will recognise skills of the introvert as well the extroverts who more naturally promote themselves. The project team will develop not only the soft skills and intercultural competence of business; but also adults’ individual ‘soft skills’ and collective intercultural competences such as entrepreneurship, civic skills, personal, social and learning cultural awareness and expression. Thus, “Interculturality” aims to meet the Europe 2020 targets which state that high quality education and training are needed to promote smart, sustainable and inclusive growth including key competences of adults.
“Interculturality” project specifically aims to address the above issues throughout a pedagogical approach designed to maximize impact through the production and sharing of OERs based on practical classroom and work based training activities and a mobile app to assess and develop personal intercultural competences of adults who are interested in improving their chances of securing employment, starting their own businesses or developing their skills.
Also the “Interculturality” project targets the adult educators and trainers who are not only the key actors to be engaged in the main activities of the project, but also being upskilled and empowered as facilitators, through a continuous professional development course (CPD), to improve skills and understanding of the importance of intercultural skills in adult learners. Since CPD is a holistic
commitment of professionals towards the enhancement of personal skills and proficiency throughout their careers, “Interculturality” project embarks the CDP approach for the target groups and beneficiaries of the project. The objectives of the “Interculturality” project:
1. To enable adult educators through a CPD course to develop intercultural competences in adult learners,
2. To provide a methodological framework to boost the key competences and intercultural skills of adults,
3. To minimize cultural disconnections which impact performance, by helping target groups and beneficiaries in international business environment.
4. To foster target group and beneficiaries for intercultural development continuum which involves the view of the business world realizing with intercultural lands.
5. To develop a multilingual learning platform providing open and instant access to the full suite of project’s outputs, including the eLearning space, the mobile app to support the access to the CPD course.
In line with the above mentioned objectives the nature of the business sector itself suggests that ICT may help support intercultural competence training. Therefore, “Interculturality” project will use the ICT which is also used facilitate the acquisition, assessment and ultimately accreditation of intercultural competence related knowledge and skills within a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programme. To ensure the success of such an initiative, it is important to determine the fundamental knowledge and skills making up intercultural competence and devise a pedagogical setting which is appropriate, for the targeted beneficiaries of the “Interculturality”. Changes in technology, globalization and communication have made the cultural competencies necessary to study internationally and transnationally. Through the above mentioned explanations the “Interculturality” project will develop European Communities of Practice, central to the sustainability of the project after the funding period. The interdependence of the European economy and the increasing international and transnational acting of companies need more and more European tools to improve human resources skills and in particular develop professional competencies in individuals.
This is a project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, with University of Deusto (Spain), Mugla Sitki Kocman University (Turkey), Training 2000 psc (Italy) and Łukasiewicz Research Network - Instytute for Sustainable Technologies (Poland) as partners.
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Learning Outcome: Learners will be able to increase awareness of the relationship between culture and leadership in a global context.
According to Edgar Schein “culture and leadership are two sides of the same coin”. This allegory is to clarify that these two ideas are interrelated and coincides between one another. Subsequently it gets fundamental, to arrive at a viable authority, to be a functioning chief that listens cautiously to the devotees musings and necessities (learning leader). Beginning from the rising culture of an organization, a leader can pick the initiative qualities that fit better with a specific corporate circumstance (Schein, 2010).
Numerous specialists concurred that local culture is a significant factor that influences authority ascribes and styles. According to cultural methodology, leaders are progressively experienced the test of ruling local mentality, bridge cultural limitations, helping out people from various countries, and overseeing socially assorted in and out connections. The powerful answer for managing these difficulties is to navigate an ethnocentric outlook and structure a worldwide/global mentality – one that incorporates social insight, and comprehension of different societies, and worldwide business direction. In this respects, present studies propose a system for advancement of global initiative that draws from hypothetical structure and foundation, which assists with having an immediate look on the connection among culture and global mentality and authority styles in globalized world (Vakilbashi and et.all, 2004:194 ).
Source: Vakilbashi and et.all, 2004:194
Challenges or trials in businesses have progressively showed that the prior management performs and methods are eliminated. New approach is significant to purpose in the global business area. Globalized place of work needs a new mentality, and tactics to guarantee sustained effectively supervision along with the new leadership model that comprises intercultural compassion.
Communication and culture
An crucial feature of being a “good leader” is being good at collaborating. Conversely, ‘good communication skills’ are personal and vary all around the world. It is no surprise then that culture importantly effects this factor of leadership as well. Since this issue has been studied by many specialists, the most extensively recognised concept on communication and culture belongs to Edward Hall. He frames the communication under two aspects which are high-context and low-context communication. Besides he coupled with his ideas on direct versus indirect communication.
High-context communication
A high-context communication propensity is one where the body language, environment, and relationship between the two groups delivers more of the actual message than the words themselves. This example is usually seen in collectivist and community-centered societies like Latin America and Asia. Also this type of communication defines the responsibility of understanding a message on the receiver, not the sender. The receiver uses earlier understanding of the sender, their relationship, and their intentions and behaviours to interpret the message. This then concludes that, commonly, high-context communication cultures have a habit of to be secondary in terms of their language. These cultures don’t allocate much importance to the words themselves, nor do they use many words, but rather the sensitive quality and climate of the groups and the subject matter at that moment.
Low-context communication
Low-context communication accommodates less importance on the ‘intuitive’ features of linguistics and more on the words themselves. Contrariwise, in the societies where individualism is major like the US, UK, and Germany use a low-context communication style. These societies and this style don’t need a connection or understanding of the parties to get the message across. All that needs to be understood is in the words themselves. This then places the weight of empathetic messages on the sender, rather than the receiver. Clearness in language and word choice is supreme in low-context societies. With low-context communication comes direct language. Indirect and vague communications aren’t usual in these societies, and should be circumvented.
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LEADERS must encourage people from different cultures, religions, belief systems and customs to be a part of team work.
They must become...
Source: https://sites.google.com/site/managersandleaders/global-leaders/being-a-global-citizen
Source: http://globalcitizens.pbworks.com/w/page/9036295/Fundamentals%20of%20Global%20Citizenship
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Leadership and Cultural Backgrounds
Source: https://sites.google.com/site/managersandleaders/applying-your-leadership/cultural-backgrounds
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Learning Outcome: Learners will know the meaning of multidimensional leadership in both local and global level.
Localization
Localization is the progression of interpreting an application’s assets into localized forms for each culture that the application will courage.
In a common logic, localization is the process of tailoring a product or tactic so that it encounters the requirements of clients in specific foreign countries. Variances in culture, language or legal principles frequently necessitate companies to make changes to their products in order to better touch possible clients abroad and to avoid cultural blunder.
Globalization
It is the progression of shaping and rising a world-ready app that encourages localized edges and provincial statistics for consumers in various cultures. And this also means that application can cope with things like date, time formats, currency, string comparison and sorting etc.
Internationalization
It is the procedure of localizing and globalizing application, and therefore it is super-set of localizing and globalizing.
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If you are in the stage of creating a product, software or website and you aim to create it available in different regions you are globalizing your good. Both internationalization and localization will lead you to realise this goal.
Source: https://beckett-translations.com/blog/localization-vs-internationalization/
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Welcome to Module 2
Cross-Cultural Management
Overview
Cultural differences can be a serious barrier to international business. More and more companies and organisations not only cooperate with people from other countries or with different cultural backgrounds but also employ such people. To ensure the greatest possible efficiency of work it is necessary to skillfully manage a multicultural team. Module 2 will present the theory, tools and strategies related to cross-cultural management.
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2.1.3 What are the types of intercultural management?
According to the American professor Nancy J. Adler, who specializes in management sciences, we can distinguish three types of intercultural management. Those are:- cultural domination,
- cultural coexistence,
- intercultural cooperation.
Cultural domination can be characterized as imposing on others the culture of the parent organization. Differences between them are not taken into account. Cultural coexistence, on the other hand, focuses on finding a compromise between the parent organization and its employees coming from other cultures and its foreign branches. The most effective type of intercultural management, however, is intercultural cooperation, the basis of which is the assumption that cultures can interpenetrate and complement each other through the use of appropriate values, and in this case, cultural diversity becomes an invaluable tool for the development of the organization.
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2.2.2 Perceptions, stereotypes, and expectations across cultures.
Perceptions, stereotypes, and expectations are inseparable elements of culture. Depending on the specific culture, time or space, for example, may be perceived differently. Each of us has certainly encountered stereotypes about a particular nation. In this section, you will learn more about perceptions, stereotypes, and expectations across cultures.
Perception of time
Given cultural differences, we must be aware that time, punctuality, and schedules are viewed differently by different cultures. In monochronic cultures, great importance is attached to precise timing and punctuality is important. Representatives of monochronic cultures stick to a predetermined plan and being late is unwelcome. They expect to respect their time and use it well. Protestant countries are monochronic societies, but also Japan and South Korea.
The situation is different in polychronic cultures. In them, timely commitments or the meeting agenda are of less importance. As a rule, decisions as to when a given event begins or ends and how it proceeds are made ad hoc. Representatives of polychronic cultures treat time as more fluid, it is not precisely measured and managed, and plans can be changed spontaneously, as priority is given to interpersonal relationships and tasks that are not performed. Polychronic societies include, among others Mexicans, Pakistanis, and Filipinos.
Example: In Central European countries, being late for business meetings is perceived negatively. The expectations are to be there a few minutes earlier. The situation is completely different in the countries of Southern Europe, where it is permissible to be late for business meetings. There are also countries like Japan or China, where being late can even break negotiations, but you also can't come too early because it can be perceived as rushing your interlocutor or not respecting your own time.
Perception of space
Representatives of different cultures also differently perceive the way of using space in interpersonal interactions. In this regard, two types of cultures have been distinguished:
- contact cultures - in which touch and closeness are natural (e.g. representatives of southern countries: Italy, Spain),
- distance cultures - in which an appropriate distance should be kept between the interlocutors (Sweden, Finland).
It is generally accepted that the distance between two business talkers is equal to the length of an arm's length. Of course, there are some differences in the behavior of interlocutors in different countries. We can distinguish here:
- a short distance, which is characteristic of the Arab world and in Europe for the Romanesque countries,
- a large distance, in Asian countries and northern, central, and eastern Europe.
Stereotypes
Using stereotypes in the workplace certainly simplifies assessing colleagues by being able to quickly create an image of a certain person. Such an assessment, made on the basis of belonging to a given culture, allows avoiding a much more complicated task, i.e. creating an image of a given person based on their individual characteristics. Over the past few decades, employees and employers of multicultural organisations have begun to realize that using stereotypes poses a potential threat. When assessing culturally different colleagues, there is a risk of using negative stereotypes, which may lead to discrimination of a given group on the labor market. However, obtaining an image of a given employee without using stereotypes requires a lot of practice and a lot of effort, but it will certainly contribute to mutual understanding, improve the atmosphere in the workplace, and thus increase the efficiency of employees.
Finally, a short humorous video about stereotypes about European countries. Remember that this is a video that is not meant to perpetuate stereotypes! Listen what are the stereotypes about your country and then think if they are 100% true. No? It will be the same with stereotypes about other countries. -
2.2.3 Semantic barriers and psychological barriers.
Communication barriers in multicultural organizations can be divided into three groups:
- semantic barriers,
- psychological barriers,
- environmental barriers.
Environmental barriers are those that are independent of people (e.g. noise, temperature, telecommunications network failures, etc.), so in this section, we will only deal with the first two barriers.
For communication in a multicultural organisation to be effective, barriers must be eliminated. A quick response to the barriers you have identified will certainly prevent misunderstandings and conflicts. If you want to overcome the existing communication barriers, you must remember about the most important thing - listening. Below you can see the four steps of effective listening:
Kindness also plays an extremely important role in the communication process. It is not about contradicting yourself and your feelings, but about keeping certain words to yourself sometimes, especially when they are not very relevant in a particular situation. Silence and reticence, and sometimes even dishonesty, can be really helpful.
Effective communication also requires empathy. It allows us to perceive certain things from the perspective of another person, thanks to which we can better understand their situation and needs.
Another important issue in effective communication is non-verbal communication, which is our body language. We must pay attention to gestures, facial expressions, touch and physical contact, spatial distance, eye contact, and body position, which is why it is so important that we are aware of what cultural circle our interlocutor comes from. Adapting the way of communication and breaking down barriers will help to achieve the goal of effective communication between people from different cultures.
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2.3 Solving the Conflict
2.3.1 Culture and conflict
A conflict can occur in any organisation. To reach an agreement, first of all, we need to understand its background and then implement the appropriate solution. In an organisation where representatives of different cultures work together, the conflict also requires careful consideration. In this part of the training, you will learn about the impact of culture on conflict management and change management.
According to researchers Thomas and Kilmann, there are 5 main approaches to conflict management:
1. competing,
2. collaborating,
3. compromising,
4. avoiding,
5. accommodating.Thomas and Kilmann emphasize that everyone is capable of applying any of the five approaches to conflict management, although it is possible that we will prefer one particular style over another. Additionally, this preference may change depending on the circumstances of the conflict or may change in response to our personal disposition at a particular time. In the table below you can see the characteristics of each approach.
Currently, the concept of conflict resolution has been replaced by researchers with the term conflict management. It means actions taken by management to eliminate, reduce and weaken the conflict, or to give it a specific direction so as to take advantage of its positive and creative features. As mentioned above, the key to a successful conflict resolution (conflict management) is the ability to understand the cause of the conflict, the attitudes of individual people involved in it, and to address their needs. Below you will learn about 3 models of the conflict management process by M.K. Kozan.
It's time to check what you remember about this part of the training.
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2.3.2 Change management
Each organisation resembles a living organism that evolves over time. It is influenced by various external and internal factors. (e.g. hiring new employees, changing the law, economic conditions, etc.). Taking into account the need for constant changes, we must remember to keep these changes under control - this is called change management.
Researchers emphasize that today the need to shape a multicultural organisation is not only caused by the mixing of different cultural groups within one organisation. The progress of civilization and globalization have an increasing impact on people, which leads to more and more differentiation also among people of the same nationality.
The most effective and, at the same time, the most desirable flexible multicultural organisation today is one that is characterized by heterarchy, acceptance of uncertainty, and individualism. In this case, heterarchy is a network of elements with equal position in the structure, and a common purpose. The acceptance of uncertainty means the willingness of members of the organisation to take risks, innovate and take on challenges. Individualism, on the other hand, motivates the members of the organisation to act independently and assume greater responsibility. It can therefore be assumed that each organisation should strive to turn from a monocultural organisation into a multicultural organisation:
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2.4 Tools and Strategies
Practical tools and strategies for leading across cultures.
In this part, you will learn about selected tools and strategies that will help you manage a multicultural team.
One of the tools you can use in case of occurrence of conflicts in your organisation is the Model of solving intercultural conflicts developed by C.C. Clarke and D.G. Lipp.
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Glossary
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Welcome to Module 3
Global Leadership
Overview
Global leadership is defined as "the processes and actions through which an individual influences a range of internal and external constituents from multiple national cultures and jurisdictions in a context characterized by significant levels of task and relationship complexity" (Reiche, Bird, Mendenhall, & Osland, 2017, p. 553). Global leadership focuses on cross-cultural interaction with those from diverse countries, and influencing across cultures and borders requires a complex set of skills and knowledge.
International differences in leadership styles and their effectiveness have been extensively examined. However, another issue probably matters more for most organizations: How can we develop leaders who are effective across cultural boundaries? Is it possible to create a truly global leadership style that will extend across cultures?
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The table above shows country specific examples of scores on each leadership dimension. Scores above 4 indicate the leadership dimension contributes to outstanding leadership.
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3.2 Universally desirable leadership attributes and dimensions
The GLOBE project analyzed whether the specific characteristics and behaviors of leaders were universal. The following questions were addressed: Are universal endorsements enacted by leaders worldwide? What are the leadership qualities and actions that are tightly linked to cultural characteristics and should not be considered as universally endorsed and enacted?
3.2.1. Universally desirable leadership attributes and dimensions
Integrity was found to be one of the more highly rated dimensions. Other leadership dimensions such as visionary, inspirational and team builder are also highly rated as contributing to outstanding leadership. Ideal leaders are expected to develop a vision, inspire others, and create a successful performance oriented team within their organizations while behaving with honesty and integrity. These attributes mainly correspond to the charismatic/value-based leadership and team-oriented dimensions.
Universal Facilitators of Leadership Effectiveness
• Being trustworthy, just, and honest (integrity)
• Having foresight and planning ahead (visionary)
• Being positive, dynamic, encouraging, motivating, and building confidence (inspirational)
• Being communicative, informed, a coordinator, and team integrator (team builder)
Source: Adapted from House et al. (2004), Culture Leadership and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies.
3.2.2. Universally undesirable leadership attributes
The malevolent primary dimension was generally rated among countries as inhibiting outstanding leadership
Universal Impediments to Leadership Effectiveness
• Being a loner and asocial (self-protective)
• Being non-cooperative and irritable (malevolent)
• Being dictatorial (autocratic)Source: Adapted from House et al. (2004), Culture Leadership and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies.
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Welcome to Module 4
E-leadership and multicultural teams
Overview
Today, new complex dynamics involve a higher degree of complexity to be managed, this is the reason why companies urge the need for effective global leadership. By defining the concept of interculturality, Module 4 will guide you through different aspects related to company organization, approaching the following topics: matrix management across borders, virtual global leadership, leadership models of excellence and personal action planning.
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4.1.1 Seven Aspects of Organizational Culture
A complex system
As we have previously seen, organizational culture involves values, beliefs and norms. Put together, these aspects form a complex system characterised by 7 aspects.
Every organisation gives different priority to these aspects. Consequently, judgements of the insiders and behaviours are dictated and regulated by the different importance given to each aspects
In the following lesson you will find out more about them. Then, complete the case study.
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Effective global leadership involves many unprecedented aspects. Technology and new hybrids lead to the creation of new scenarios which constantly require adaptation. In this presentation, you will get to know more about challenges and opportunities involved in virtual teams.
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In conducting global teams, leaders should have clear in mind how to manage a project appropriately, see the chart below named Figure 2.
The academicians Hertel et. al. (2005) proposed a model to manage and foster the development of a good team, and finally accomplish the objective scheduled in the mission. It is based on 5 phases, each of them foresees specific actions and attention, needed during the launch of a team.
Figure 2, Hertel et. al. 2005
As one can see, Phase A is the debut of the project management process, it is the most important phase as it implies the determination of the mission.
In Phase B global leaders have to clarify goals, workshop and intra-term rules.
In Phase C the leader is called to audit and mediate between diverse areas: communication, motivation and engagement.
In Phase D, monitoring is the key activity, where possible impediments and further measures need to be observed and implemented.
Phase E, it is the last phase, at this point tasks and goals set have been accomplished, and team members reintegrated.
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This workbook contains a series of additional resources to support your learning experience. Here you will find a brief summary of the topics shown in Module 4 and a series of case studies and suggested activities. Feel free to complete the exercises and share your comments, results and opinions with other participants in the Forum: Module 4 below.
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Forum
This is a shared space in which you can share ideas and results about the main topics, activities and case studies suggested in Module 4.
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Glossary
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