Cross Cultural Communication in Jones & Jones Company

This report analyzes the interview conducted with the CEO of Jones & Jones Company regarding cross cultural communication and management. It discusses the communication techniques used, the role of diversity in organizational performance, and provides recommendations for developing an effective cross cultural environment.

Communication & Organization
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Communication & Organization
Executive Summary
In the contemporary business environment, cross cultural competencies are one of the most
significant set of skills that global business organizations are giving importance. This is
because the increasing global business opportunities and global talent attraction and retention.
The following report is the critical analysis of the interview conducted by the author with the
CEO of Jones & Jones Company in respect to cross cultural communication, competencies
and management. The author has discussed the interview in details and analysed the aspects
concerning communication. Observation and findings are drawn in the report according to the
analysis. Lastly, the author has concluded the report summarizing the observation and
recommended suggestions that can be implemented in Jones & Jones Company for
developing an effective cross cultural environment and workplace environment for the
success and sustenance of the organization.
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Communication & Organization
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Methodology..............................................................................................................................4
Findings......................................................................................................................................5
Interpretation..............................................................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
Recommendation........................................................................................................................6
Reference....................................................................................................................................8
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Communication & Organization
Introduction
I had conducted an interview with the CEO of Jones & Jones Company; Mr. David Jones.
The primary objective of the interview was to discuss about the significance of cross cultural
communication in contemporary business environment. Mr. Jones is regarded as one of the
most effective and successful organizational head in Australian market. The Jones & Jones
Company is one of the premier travel and tourism business organizations in Australian
tourism industry with diverse workforce performing effectively. Mr. Jones parents migrated
from South Africa in 1980 and settled in Melbourne. Mr Jones was born and brought up in
Australia. As a result, Mr. Jones was brought up in a cross cultural environment and for this
reason he understands the importance of cross cultural competency. In the report I am going
to discuss the communication techniques utilized in the interview process and interviewee’s
idea about obstructers in cross cultural competencies and role of diversity in organizational
performance. The basic purpose of the report is to discuss about the interpersonal
communication issues in Jones and Jones Company from the employee’s perspective.
Methodology
This report controls gears from objectivity to conscious and direct attempts to persuade the
ways an interviewee think or act. Interview is a common technique to explore the inspections,
perceptive, philosophy and motivation about an individual. I had approached Mr. Jones with
prior appointment to persuade him to participate in a face to face interview for the purpose of
the research study. I had utilized the qualitative research method for the interview which
focuses on acquiring data and information by open ended and conversational communication
process. This was a one on one interview that was performed to gather in-depth and precise
information about cross cultural communication issues in the organization. To conduct the
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Communication & Organization
interview successfully, the interview (myself) had researched about the topics to be discussed
with the interviewee so that the research is clear to the interviewee. I had a set of pre-
formatted questioner was formulated as per the theme of the interview topic. The total time
was a 40 minutes transcript recording of the interview which was then generated roughly into
8 pages dialogues.
Findings
This interview was designed to determine the effect of cross-cultural communication on
employee employer relation and its effect on the overall performance of the organization.
Perspective about the relationship among employee and employer varies in different cultures
(Thomas, and Peterson, 2017). For instance, coming late for a meeting in Australia is
regarded as unprofessional and unethical. Australians value the time most. However, the
work environment is in an Australian business organization is relaxed and co-workers are
often regarded as family and people like to socialize at workplace more often (Turner, G.,
Fiske, and Hodge, 2016). According to Mr. Jones, individual difference is less significant as
cultural diversity. Working in multi-cultural market place like Australia requires culturally
competent workforce, however there is still lack of awareness about cultural diversity and
respect or other cultures.
It has been observed in scholarly articles that when conducting an interview for scholarly
research, the primary purpose of the research should be conveyed to the interviewee so that
he can provide more relevant questions (Silverman, 2016). Interviewing in cross cultural
environment, there is a probability of forming an acceptance preconception. These situations
can generate biased reply from the interviewee.
The acknowledgment and leveraging of employee’s socio-cultural diversity will also signify
sustainable competitive advantage for business organizations (Tjosvold, 2017). People
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Communication & Organization
coming from varied cultural background in Australian workplace often faced discrimination,
especially the Aboriginal of Australia. Therefore to understand and acknowledge the different
cultural and ethnic diverse workforce, the Australian federal government has taken many
legal policies to create a workplace environment where the individual cultural background is
respected. However, new immigrant employees often find it tough to accept new culturally
diverse workplace environments (Luthans, and Doh, 2012). As a result, often employee
employer communication process gets hampered as a result of misunderstanding and
misinterpretation of dialogues.
Interpretation
The significance of effective communication process in multi-cultural business environment
cannot be underestimated. Australian business environment is one of the most culturally,
socially and linguistically diverse attracting global talents every day. Mr. Jones also
acknowledges the importance of cross cultural communication competency for effective
sustenance and growth of an Australian business organization. Australian market is attracting
and retaining new and innovative skilled and proficient migrants from diverse socio-cultural
background, the capability to express social consistency and acceptance will enlarge the
competitiveness of Australian industries as other international industries are experiencing
shortage of skills. Cultural competency is important in international trade performances
(McFarlin, and Sweeney, 2014). Referring Max Weber’s, Weber’s Classical Theory it can be
stated that Jones & Jones Company has is a bureaucratic business organization, with clear
and comprehensive job roles and responsibilities within the organization (Alexander, 2014).
As a result the communication process is hierarchical, structured, and obvious. However,
according to the Gerard Hendrik Hofstede, six dimension cultural theory, the employees often
tend to form groups with similar cultural background in the workplace due to the collectivism
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dimension where individuals coming from diverse cultural background forms well-knit
informal groups (Isfahani, et al. 2013).
Conclusion
After analysing the interview with Mr. David Jones, it can be stated that the current business
scenario in Australian market can be categorized as cultural and social interactions between
organizations on global platform by exchanging information, knowledge and technology and
more dominant competitions. As new global business opportunities are forming, the risk of
cross cultural communication management is also increasing. Therefore, to become
successful and competent in the new business arena, managers must be cross culturally
competent to effectively manage diverse cross cultural workforce.
Recommendation
Analysing the interview and the report I have made the following recommendations or Jones
& Jones Company-
1. Organizations should know their employees well by encouraging them to share their
journey or stories with the team. This will help building a sense of appreciation. Also,
management can become aware about unique skills of individuals which can be later
utilized for the success of the organization.
2. Individual cultural differences should be respected and recognized in the organization.
This can be achieved by creating self serving software for the employees to minimize
miscommunication in operational processes within the organization.
3. Conflicts within the organization should be addressed immediately. By adopting
immediate action orientation goal, conflicts can be managed when it is small and
manageable and stopping it to become immense and uncontrollable.
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Reference
Alexander, J.C., 2014. Positivism, Presupposition and Current Controversies (Theoretical
Logic in Sociology). Routledge.
Isfahani, A.N., Jooneghani, R.B.N. and Azar, M., 2013. Analyzing the Effects of Cultural
Intelligence on Employee Performance in Azaran Industrial Group (Isfahan
Province). International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 3(5),
p.363.
Luthans, F. and Doh, J.P., 2012. International management: Culture, strategy, and behavior.
New York: McGraw-Hill.
McFarlin, D. and Sweeney, P.D., 2014. International management: strategic opportunities &
cultural challenges. Routledge.
Silverman, D. ed., 2016. Qualitative research. Sage.
Thomas, D.C. and Peterson, M.F., 2017. Cross-cultural management: Essential concepts.
Sage Publications.
Tjosvold, D., 2017. Cross-cultural management: foundations and future. Routledge.
Turner, G., Fiske, J. and Hodge, B., 2016. Myths of Oz: reading Australian popular culture.
Routledge.
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