Developing Intercultural Competence in the Workplace

This report aims at understanding experiences of intercultural competence in modern workplace and developing a reflective analysis as well as theory of intercultural experiences. It covers cultural differences of various beliefs, behaviours and languages which are considered unique specific ethnicity. The selected movie is “Fear and Trembling” where the protagonist of movie deals with issues of cultural differences in Japan firm where she work. This report highlights various challenges the protagonist face due to cultural difference and recommend ways to overcome them.

Developing Intercultural
Competence in the
Workplace

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Intercultural experiences..............................................................................................................1
Evaluation of experience using cultural dimension approach.....................................................2
Analysis of scenario from an anti essentialist perspective...........................................................4
Impact of Globalisation................................................................................................................5
Elements to understand to effectively develop cultural competence...........................................6
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION............................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
The power to function across various cultures effectively and to think as well as act
according to personnels with diverse cultural backgrounds is termed as international competence.
It is an act of making communication smooth and to work with people from various cultural
without any conflicts. It is vital set of skills required in modern workplace as by understanding
how to engage better with individuals from different backgrounds, people can learn important
communication skills, impelling time and conflict management and how to work as team. It is
crucial for enterprises to have detailed knowledge of cultural characteristics of host nation as it
can help them to maximise their brand goodwill. Knowledge of intercultural relationship is one
the major variable of cultural complexities which comprises of learning and relearning of various
cultures dimensions (Ai, Wang and Zhang, 2018). Globalisation has helped organisations to
embrace difference of cultures without bring biased. Adopting cultural diversity in organisations
has resulted in expansion of interconnection globally by scattering products, exchange of ideas,
human resource and capital. Cultural variedness has generated creative products and innovative
thinking which resulted in bringing positive changes in organisations. Organisations can
emphasis on recruiting local people for providing transparent concept to other employees about
cultural characteristics. This report aims at understanding experiences of intercultural
competence in modern workplace and developing a reflective analysis as well as theory of
intercultural experiences. This report covers cultural differences of various beliefs, behaviours
and languages which are considered unique specific ethnicity. The selected movie is “Fear and
Trembling” where the protagonist of movie deals with issues of cultural differences in Japan firm
where she work. This report highlights various challenges the protagonist face due to cultural
difference and recommend ways to overcome them.
Intercultural experiences
The film “Fear and Trembling” explored various aspect of cultural differences and
complexities to adopt it. The protagonist of movie, Amelie, spent most of her childhood in Japan
so decided to make a life there only and embedded in Japanese society. She determined to
became a real Japanese thus she got a position as translator at export/import company. But her
inability to understand Japanese cultural and norms of organisation leads to maximising
demeaning demotions (Baranova, 2019). intercultural issues showed in movie are different
Adrian Holliday1

approaches to complete task and varied attitudes towards other members. Moreover, Japan
follows culture of individualism and Amelie believes in collectivism thus it created intercultural
issues. Her supervisors and colleagues takes great pride in humiliating her. Supervisor of
company makes her bathroom attendant which breaks her will to work and learn. Amelie decided
to not renew her contract. But she soon realised that she has adopted Japanese cultural when she
enters organisation's president office with fear and trembling. It is said that Japanese people must
feel fear and trembling when they address their emperor. Thus, it has been messaged in film that
integrating into a different culture may lead to facing humiliation and unnecessary criticism from
locals. Even when Amelie can speak perfect Japanese, she found it difficult to embed with other
employee of company. Sometimes she even goes against practices of Japanese corporate politics
and etiquettes. She serves tea and coffee to member, complete tedious work at photocopy room,
complete accounting where she makes many errors and finally placed to clean bathrooms. She
reached her lowest and most humiliating phase in organisation but ended up enduring those
hardships. Amelie managed to have a rich intercultural experience, even though she had to face
humiliations throughout her journey.
Evaluation of experience using cultural dimension approach
Hofstede's cultural dimension theory is a framework utilise to accurately understand
differences in culture across nations and to recognise measures adopted by organisations to
effectively handle those. Concept of this theory is given by Greet Hofstede, it outlines proper
structure for apprehending communication between cross cultures. It is used to differentiate
between various national cultures, their aspects and evaluating their impact on business practices.
Primary basis of this model is on differences in beliefs and values associated with business
objectives (Chen, 2021). It further outlines impact of society's culture on values of its citizens
and how these beliefs impact their behaviour. This theory describes six dimensions of national
cultures which are explained below:
Power Distance Index- This index views the degree to which less powerful people
tolerate inequality and power. Here, members of society accept that power and authority can be
scattered in unequal ways. It is crucial to understand how certain communities manages
inequalities between people. High extent of power distance index outline that culture perceive
power and inequality deviations, influences bureaucracy and displays high respect for order and
authority. Whereas, low power distance index highlights that culture emphasis on organisational
Adrian Holliday2

structure to be flat and decentralised authority and decision making power in organisation. It
believes in adopting participative model of management and encourages to implement power
distribution (Ferreira-Lopes, Elexpuru-Albizuri and Bezanilla, 2021). Japan follows high power
distance where Amelie faced inequality from her supervisors. In the movie, it is shown that
Amelie was fond of Japanese culture but still end up facing cultural differences from her
colleagues.
Individualism v/s Collectivism- This dimension is given by Trompenaars's model, which
shows degree to which communities are united as groups and their sensed obligations as well as
dependence on groups. This dimension's high side is termed as individualism which is preference
for connection in tenuous ways in social framework where individuals look after only
themselves and their families. It highlights that achieving personal objectives should have given
great importance and gives a high level of freedom to personnels to take on their choices.
Whereas, collectivism defines societies where connections are tightly integrated and the degree
of loyalty as well as support is high between one another (Geller and Phillips, 2019). Here,
individuals puts more emphasis on living in groups and take care of their extended families as
well. Japan is considered to adopt high individualism as Amelie had to face group-ism from
other employees. Amelie believed in collectivism thus, opposite views of this cultural dimension
resulted in humiliations and hardships. The individualism culture can also be observed from
Amelie's supervisor Ms. Mori who at initial became her friend but later created many problems
for her as she felt envious of Amelie adopted Japanese culture so well.
Uncertainty Avoidance- This indicator views the magnitude to which uncertainty and
enigma can be accepted in societies. Uncertainty avoidance also states how unknown conditions
and unforeseen events are dealt with. Here, people either embrace or obviate a specific situation
which arises unexpectedly. High uncertainty avoidance highlights less tolerance for uncertainty,
ambiguity and risk taking. Societies adopting this makes strong codes of behaviour, laws,
regulations and guidelines. In contrast low uncertainty avoidance highlights high tolerance for
ambiguity and uncertainty (Giouroukakis and Connolly, 2019). Here, people are ready for
uncertain situations and keeps an open mind to differentiated thoughts or ideas. Societies do not
impose strict guidelines or regulations and generate more free flow environment. These are also
prepared for risk, unpredictability and changes. In movie Fear and Trembling, Japan has seen to
Adrian Holliday3

adopt high uncertainty avoidance as the local employees feel threatened when Amelie tried to
serve tea and coffee within organisation.
Masculinity v/s Femininity- This dimension shows the preference of communities for
accomplishment, quality and behaviour towards sexuality equality. Masculinity side of this index
shows desire in society for heroism, assertiveness and materialistic rewards for success. It comes
up certain attributes like distinct gender duties, wealth creation and more attention on material
achievements. Whereas, femininity states preferences for more cooperation, decency, caring for
weak and improved quality of life. Here, society emphasis on being consensus oriented. It
includes certain attributes such as fluid gender roles, nurturing and emphatic. It is essential for
organisations to establish workplace culture with combination of both masculinity and femininity
(Hoefnagels & Schoenmakers, 2018). Japan follows high masculinity employees look for high
security and pay as well as where managers are considered as cultural heroes. Vice president of
Amelie's organisation enjoys humiliating his staff and assigns degrading jobs to people from
different countries.
Long term orientation v/s Short term orientation- This dimension shows the extent to
which communities considers its time horizon. This relates connection of past with existing and
upcoming challenges. Long term orientation aims at future and achieving success in long run and
do not emphasis on short term objectives. It comprises on persistence, perseverance and growth
in long run. Communities with high degree regard adjustment and circumstantial as necessity for
problem solving. On other hand short term orientation emphasis on near future and places more
importance on present than future (Horila, 2019). It believes in attaining short term success thus
emphasis on fast results and respect for culture. It indicates that beliefs are honoured and
firmness is valued. In the movie “Fear and Trembling”, Japan adopts short term orientation
where they focus more on present and places great importance on tradition.
Indulgence v/s Restraint- This attribute shows the degree and inclination of societies to
accomplish their needs. In indicates measures of how societies control its impulses and desires.
Indulgence is termed as when communities facilitates free satisfaction of basic and natural
desires of human associated with having fun and enjoying life. These communities thinks
themselves as controller of own emotions and lives (Komisarof, 2021). Whereas, restraint is
referred as society that regulates its members by strict rules and norms. These communities
believed other variables rules their lives and emotions. Japan follows restraint culture where
Adrian Holliday4

Amelie has to work on prescribed rules and norms. Her gratification of needs was suppressed by
her supervisor and pressurise to work on strict principles adopted by organisation.
Analysis of scenario from an anti essentialist perspective
Anti essentialist highlights that there is no essence to anything and it determines elements
as certain free set of variables. It is crucial to give right attention on certain variables to
effectively understand whole attributes of an individual. Anti essentialist is set of ideas that
appears out of discontentment with essentialism. It aids in shifting thinking paradigm in
societies. On basis of anti essentialism view, culture is complex and highly dependent on human
behaviours. It criticises that cultural dimension should not be generalised and highlights that
people can be both parallel or opposite to these attributes. In order to evaluate cultural
dimensions of certain group of individual, personalised and flexible structure is made through
this perspective (Lantz-Deaton and Golubeva, 2020). Structural evaluation of essentialist
perspective can help organisation to gain extensive understanding of overall variables of varied
cultures. Researchers proposed that anti essentialism refuses to accept the perspective that
culture is inherited in human nature. But it states that personnels may have some influence of
these cultural attributes on them. Modifications take place in these dimensions according to one's
life experiences and their idea of life. From perspective of Anti essentialism it can be seen in
Fear and Trembling movie as Amelie adapts to Japanese culture by changing her attitude towards
life when she faced hardships and humiliation. She was very confident and trained well but was
unprepared for the corporate culture she encountered. For example, Amelie was a person with
high masculinity power but later in the movie she entered president's room in fear and trembling
making her adopting femininity power. This indicates change in her perspective while adopting
Japanese culture. Therefore, alterations in character's behaviour indicates that culture is dynamic
and can be changed according to situations. Also complex culture identities in the film involves
gender identity where other staff discriminate with Amelie as she was a women. Her supervisor
wants her to do different types of work as they do not like that people younger than them and
also from different culture are doing better.
Impact of Globalisation
Characteristics of several nations are changing rapidly as result of globalisation making it
essential for organisation to understand mechanism of host country to effectively make their own
principles and practices. It contributes to exchange of cultural beliefs and values of various
Adrian Holliday5

nations and convergence of traditions. Learnings about other cultures and being aware of existing
beliefs is key to compete cultural differences effectively. Thus, it is imperative for business
leaders to evaluate traditional processes on basis of existing scenarios to yield best outputs. As
studied above, it has been assessed that study of Hofstede's model is important to comprehend to
know what type of power culture is adopted by various countries. It allows business to know that
high power index can became challenge in practising flexibility within workplace. In addition to
that, the approach of anti-essentialist perspective outlines a transparent concept regarding power
and control of government on activities of communities (Lantz-Deaton and Golubeva, 2020).
This perspective enhances operational efficiencies of organisations within different culture and
helps in making strong connections with government. As shown in movie, Japanese people tends
to speak in their native language to promote transparency and authenticity between their clients
and organisation. Extensively understanding impact of globalisation on intercultural
communication is important for enterprises to gain competitive advantage in global market.
Global businesses needs to understand how to effectively communicate with local people and
employees to increase brand reputation. In context to “Fear and Trembling” Amelie from Berlin
goes to Japan as she founds better opportunities there in field of translator. Globalisation has
allowed her to understand cultural competence and difference of Japan and to effectively adopt
that in her working. Intercultural contact and communications have maximised due to
globalisation in film and provides transparency to organisation to operate in various cultural. By
adopting factors like sensitivity, empathy, appreciation, respect etc. organisation in film can be
able to enjoy cultural competence within organisation.
Elements to understand to effectively develop cultural competence
Cultural competence is ability of individuals to develop meaningful relationships with
personnels of various cultural background and efficiently engage, interact and work in varied
environment. Achieving cultural competence is lengthy process of maximising self awareness,
adopting skills of social and demeanour about diversity and developing ability to advocate for
others. Globalisation has increased importance of cultural competence so that people can
effectively operate in rich culturally diverse environment where they can communicate and work
effectively with ethnic backgrounds (Nardon, 2019). Considering increasingly globalised
communities, organisations are emphasis more on cultural competence and related skills which
are crucial in modern workplace. But despite this, challenges regarding inequalities, bias and
Adrian Holliday6

discrimination are present in intercultural communications. These can lead to serious
consequences and can also be seen in their performances and productivity. Therefore, the process
of cultural competence should be continued till organisations attain satisfied development and
improvements. Factors that needs to be consider to develop impelling cultural competence are
described below:
Valuing diversity- Accepting and respecting variations between different cultures is
regarded as valuing diversity. Individuals in organisations may share different religious or
geographical experiences on basis of their culture. Thus in order to develop cultural competence,
it is essential to value diversity within workplace (Peng, Zhu and Wu, 2020). As when
individuals are new to certain areas and tries to get comfortable with different culture, it creates
kaleidoscope within sub cultures. It helps organisation to create environment of unity and
oneness. The vice president in film Mister Omochi can strive to value diversity at workplace to
bring in intercultural competence. He can also respects values and beliefs of Amelie so that she
can comfortably work in organisation.
Complexities- Mixing several cultures arises many complexities within workplace due to
different views on things. Diversity in opinions and experience leads to creating cultural
complexities in organisations. Understanding and examining cultural complexities can pose
serious challenges and needed extensive willingness to learn of communication cross cultural
differences. In film, Fear and Trembling, this can be attained by social distribution, appreciation
of various culture and culture exchange by all individuals. Cross cultural communication can
serves as measure to minimise complexities and stereotypes which Amelie has to face in Japan.
Cultural knowledge- Knowledge regarding various cultures should be embedded in
every aspect of organisations. Having detailed understanding of how several culture works and
thinks, employees can achieve harmony within workplace (Rico-García and Fielden Burns,
2020). In film, Fear and Trembling, proper training of employees by their supervisors can
facilitates them to understand other's point of view and resulted in more respect for each other.
As several elements can impact cross-cultural interactions, hence knowledge of these elements
can result in developing cultural competence.
Relativism- In order to remove cultural bias, it is essential to understand individuals on
basis of their cultural beliefs, values and practices. The act of judging others according to their
culture can results in broadening cultural differences within workplace. As it has been evaluated
Adrian Holliday7

that culture plays major role in societal accepted norms and ethical standards. In film, Fear and
Trembling, Mister Saito, who assigns bathroom cleaning job to Amelie can understand about
what is considered right and what is morally incorrect. Hence, cultural needs to be comprehend
and accepted so that it enables intercultural relationship and social acceptance.
Empathy- One of major attribute of cultural competence is showing empathy to people
from different backgrounds (Adrian Holliday, 1999) It is an act of seeing situations from others
perspective and feel according to them. Empathy states that understanding individuals point of
view and comprehend that people draws experiences from their experiences and culture. In film,
Fear and Trembling, in order to effectively develop cultural competence, it is important for
president and supervisors to engage in appropriate communication and relationships. It outlines
basis for creating strong relationship with individuals or group of certain culture.
Sensitivity- Each culture has its own kind of unique variables of complexities, sensitivity
and relativity. Sensitivity can be described as the ability to understand cultural diversions and
similarities between society of individuals. It allows people to be sensitive towards others and
not being insensitive towards other culture. Its lays foundation of respecting and valuing
individuals with diverse beliefs. In order to adopt sensitivity, it is essential to focus on people
with different culture, ask them questions about what they think about certain topics and strive to
learn from them (Wilczewski, 2019). It enables employees to be open minded and highlights
process of understanding cultural sensitivity. In film, Fear and Trembling, the inclination to
comprehend Amelie's cultural sensitivity without involving in any bias can turn in appreciation
in one other. Enhanced cultural awareness and recognition of cultural difference by her
supervisor minimises bias and helps in encouraging unity and team spirit. Organisation needs to
implement globalisation cultural in order to mitigate insensitivity from cultural competence.
Appreciation- This is an vital variable in keeping varied cultures close and reduce the
social gap from backgrounds. Appreciating others cultures and concession their beliefs can help
organisation to boost their cultural competence and social wellbeing. Procedure of integration
can make foundation for maximising goodwill and growth in shared value between individuals
from different cultural backgrounds (Zhang and Zhou, 2019). In film, Fear and Trembling,
openness and ability to learn about Amelie's culture and her values, organisation can effectively
conquer biases and discrimination.
Adrian Holliday8

Competences- Cultural competence principles and policies are essential factors to reduce
intercultural differences. Strategic planning, policy development and program designing tasks
should be created keeping in mind all competencies presented within workplace. In film, Fear
and Trembling, competence can maximise organisational and individual knowledge of how
several attributes of various cultures impact working of organisations. When individuals are
provided with freedom to exercise their cultural at workplace, it maximises their innovative
process which enhances overall productivity of enterprises.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
In conclusion, it it has been assessed that intercultural competency is a valuable aspect
that helps an organisation or society to understand varied cultural views. It is desirable for
employees or society to evaluate their differences and take right actions which helps them to be
with dignity. In film, Fear and Trembling, it is important for managers to understand that every
individual is different on the basis of their background, perceptions, interests and cultural
practices. This report concludes Hofstede's cultural dimensions model which helps in
understanding varied stance related to differential cultural practices. It is desirable for society to
understand the effectiveness and desirability of differential culture so that they can appreciable
are are in a position to help others. There are varied factors that are needs to understand the
cultural competence of a society or organisation such as as sensitivity, appreciation, empathy,
relativism and knowledge regarding individuals. It has been assessed from the movie “ Fear and
Trembling” that how cultural as well as cognitive bias can be conquered through collective
understanding of varied difference which are based on cultural practices.
It has been recommended to organisational managers of Fear and Trembling, to evaluate
varied cultural differences among their employees which will helps them to plan to delegate their
roles and responsibilities in a strategic manner. It is advisable to Amelie's supervisor to develop a
effective training approach which helps employees to forget their intercultural differences and
work in a collaborative manner for attaining organisational objectives in an effective manner
(Darla Deardorff's Intercultural Competence Model, 2006). For increasing team cohesiveness, it
is imperative for managers to establish interactive communication sessions as well as
recreational activities. It has been assessed in film, Fear and Trembling, that language barrier is
a significant aspect of cultural differences which can be reduced through creation of effective
communicational channels. It can be a challenging task for employers to lower the barriers in
Adrian Holliday9

relation to language and culture. But it can be lessen through use of effective techniques like
social interactions, get together parties and many more (Milton Bennett's Developmental Model
of Intercultural Sensitivity, 1986)
Adrian Holliday10

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Ai, B., Wang, L., & Zhang, J. (2018). Using English as Economic Capital in a Chinese–
Australian Workplace: Implications for Teaching Business English in China. Journal of
Teaching in International Business. 29(4). 272-288.
Baranova, L. N. (2019). DEVELOPING THE INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE OF
GRADUATE STUDENTS. In IX INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE SCIENTIFIC
SPECIALIZED CONFERENCAdrian HollidayE" INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC
REVIEW OF THE PROBLEMS OF PHILISOPHY, PSYCHOLOGY AND
PEDAGOGY" (pp. 27-32).
Chen, R. H. (2021). Fostering Students’ Workplace Communicative Competence and
Collaborative Mindset through an Inquiry-Based Learning Design. Educ. Sci. 2021, 11,
17.
Ferreira-Lopes, L., Elexpuru-Albizuri, I., & Bezanilla, M. J. (2021). Developing business
students’ intercultural competence through intercultural virtual collaboration: a task
sequence implementation. Journal of International Education in Business.
Geller, K. D., & Phillips, J. C. (2019). Book Review: Working in a multicultural world: A guide
to developing intercultural competence.
Giouroukakis, V., & Connolly, M. (2019). Using multicultural nonfiction and multimedia to
develop intercultural competence. In Teaching the Content Areas to English Language
Learners in Secondary Schools (pp. 85-101). Springer, Cham.
Hoefnagels, A., & Schoenmakers, S. (2018). Developing the intercultural competence of twenty-
first-century learners with blogging during a work placement abroad. In Innovation in
Hospitality Education (pp. 123-141). Springer, Cham.
Horila, T. (2019). Communication Competence in the Workplace. In Workplace
Communication (pp. 165-178). Routledge.
Komisarof, A. (2021). A new framework of workplace belonging: Instrument validation and
testing relationships to crucial acculturation outcomes. Journal of International and
Intercultural Communication, 1-22.
Lantz-Deaton, C., & Golubeva, I. (2020). Intercultural competence for college and university
students: a global guide for employability and social change. Springer Nature.
Lantz-Deaton, C., & Golubeva, I. (2020). What Are the Links Between Intercultural Competence
and Career Development?. In Intercultural Competence for College and University
Students (pp. 223-252). Springer, Cham.
Nardon, L. (2019). Reflection and intercultural competence development. In Oxford Research
Encyclopedia of Business and Management.
Peng, R. Z., Zhu, C., & Wu, W. P. (2020). Visualizing the knowledge domain of intercultural
competence research: A bibliometric analysis. International Journal of Intercultural
Relations. 74. 58-68.
Rico-García, M., & Fielden Burns, L. V. (2020). Intercultural communication in engineering
studies: a key competence in glAdrian Hollidayobal labour markets. European Journal of
Engineering Education. 45(6). 833-853.
Viel, L. M. (2018). Intercultural Competence and Educational Leaders: Factors Contributing to
Continued Intercultural Competence Development (Doctoral dissertation, Delaware
Valley University).
Adrian Holliday11

Wilczewski, M. (2019). Intercultural experience in narrative: Expatriate stories from a
multicultural workplace (Vol. 26). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Zhang, X., & Zhou, M. (2019). Interventions to promote learners’ intercultural competence: A
meta-analysis. International journal of intercultural relations. 71. 31-47.
Adrian Holliday: Intercultural communication, part 4. [Online] Available through:
<https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/adrian-holliday-intercultural-
communication-part-4>
Adrian Holliday12