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SECTION
3
Connecting in a Regarding Diversity
LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this chapter, it will be easy to
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Go over the options and problems of intercultural communication Specify culture and explain just how culture is definitely learned Define ethnocentrism and stereotyping, after that give 3 suggestions for beating these restricting mindsets Clarify the importance of recognizing social variations and list 8-10 categories of social differences
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Identify things you can take to boost your intercultural communication abilities Outline methods for studying additional cultures List seven recommendations for writing plainly in multilanguage business environments
COMMUNICATION CLOSE-UP AT APPLE
www.ibm.com
The " I” in APPLE stands for " International, ” but it can just as quickly stand for " Intercultural” as a testament to the pc giant's long-lasting commitment to embracing selection. Ted Kids, IBM's vice president of global labor force diversity, knows from numerous years of experience that communicating successfully across ethnicities is no simple task, however—particularly in a business that engages more than 325, 000 people and sells to consumers in approximately 175 countries around the world. Dialect alone reveals a formidable barrier to communication considering that IBM's workforce addresses more than 165 languages, yet language is just one of many components that be involved in communication between civilizations. Differences in age, ethnic history, gender, intimate orientation, physical ability, and economic position can all affect the conversation process. Kids recognizes the particular differences represent both a challenge and the opportunity, and the part of his job is helping IBM executives and employees interact in a way that changes their social differences into a critical organization strength. When he
Ted Childs oversees IBM's efforts to build competitive benefits by capitalizing on the benefits of a diverse workforce.
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PART one particular
Understanding the Foundations of Organization Communication bracing those dissimilarities, not trying to ignore these people or failing they may affect sociable communication. And it is a lessons that every aspiring business professional can take to heart. Since Ted Childs puts it, " No matter whom you happen to be, you're going to have to work with those who are different from you... and deal with people who are not the same as you. ”1
puts it, workforce diversity features " transferred from being a moral very important to becoming a strategic very important. ” During its extended history of employing and working together with people via different cultures, IBM offers learned some powerful lessons. Perhaps the most important is their conclusion that successfully owning a diverse labor force and rivalling in a various marketplace begin with em-
1 LEARNING AIM
Discuss the opportunities and challenges of intercultural conversation Effective intercultural communication • Opens up business opportunities around the world. • Improves the contributions of employees within a diverse workforce.
UNDERSTANDING THE OPPORTUNITIES AND ISSUES OF CONNECTION IN A DIFFERENT WORLD IBM's experience (profiled in the chapter-opening Communication Close-Up) illustrates the two challenges plus the opportunities for people who do buiness professionals who know how to communicate with diverse people. Although the concept is often framed in terms of cultural background, a broader plus more useful meaning of diversity " includes each of the characteristics and experiences comprise each people as people. ”2 As you'll find out in this part, these characteristics and experience can have a deep effect on the way businesspeople connect. To a significant degree, these effects in communication would be the result of fundamental differences between cultures. Intercultural communication is the process of mailing and receiving emails between people whose ethnic background may lead them to understand verbal and non-verbal signs...