UCLan MA IBC: Communicational Issues in Multicultural Companies Report

This report delves into the critical issues of organizational communication within multicultural companies, highlighting the challenges arising from diverse cultural backgrounds and communication styles. It examines communication barriers, stereotyping, language fluency, cultural relativism, software usage, noise, and harassment. The report then explores preventive solutions implemented by organizations and external training providers, emphasizing the importance of cultural awareness, diversity training, common language proficiency, teamwork, mentorship, and the use of both oral and written communication. It also stresses the need for grooming sessions, social awareness programs, and empathy. The report concludes by emphasizing the increasing importance of effective cross-cultural communication in a globalized world and suggests the need for active listening and participation to overcome communication barriers.

Running head: COMMUNICATIONAL ISSUES IN MULTICULTURAL COMPANY 1
Communicational Issues in Multicultural Company
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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................3
2.0 Organizational communication issues in multicultural company..............................................3
3.0 Preventive solutions to address the organizational communication issues by the organization
and external communication training providers..............................................................................7
4.0 Conclusion.................................................................................................................................9
5.0 References................................................................................................................................11

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1.0 Introduction
Organizational communication is considered to be an important factor that helps in
driving the quality of work in the workplace, maintains the productivity of the employees, and
builds loyalty and good relationship among the employees within the workplace. Organizational
communication can result in bringing various kinds of challenges and barriers for the
organization when the stakeholders of different cultures participate in the same business project.
People working in the multicultural organization have to face a huge communication gap
because of their dissimilar cultural backgrounds and method of communication is also different.
This report is going to concentrate on the issues of organizational communication where
the stakeholders are from different cultural backgrounds. Then, the report discusses the
preventive solutions to address the organizational communication issues by the organization and
external communication training providers. Finally, the report ends with a conclusion.
2.0 Organizational communication issues in a multicultural company
Organizational communication is regarded as the transferring of work-related information
from one part of the organization to another part for carrying out the business in an effective
manner (Lauring and Klitmøller 2017). Now a multicultural workplace can face a language
barrier issue and several kinds of culture-oriented issues within the employees. Currently, it can
be seen that most of the organizations are hiring people coming from various cultural
backgrounds and they are handling international clients as well. This kind of multicultural
interaction can result in fostering new business ideas and decision making can also be enhanced

COMMUNICATIONAL ISSUES IN MULTICULTURAL COMPANY 4
within these organizations. But on the other hand, having effective communication with the
people of various cultures can be very much difficult and it creates a barrier.
According to the research it has been found that any kind of ineffective communication
within a multicultural organization can result in anxiety, creates confusion within the employees,
and reduces morale and which in turn leads to a lack of teamwork (Abdulai, Ibrahim and
Mohammed 2017). The lists of issues that are associated with organizational communication in a
multicultural organization are as follows:
1. Creation of communicational barriers due to the difference in cultural
backgrounds: This kind of issue generally occurs when the employees work in a
multicultural organization or when the company is trying to perform business
operations with the stakeholders belonging to different cultures. The
communicational gap normally arises due to the dissimilarity in beliefs, values,
and cultures of the employees and clients involved in any multicultural
organization. The cultural norms are different for people of different cultures ad
which in turn results in the occurrence of business conflicts that leads to the
failure of projects. According to Western culture, the employees and clients of
Western countries are too much friendly during any business deals. While in the
case of Asian countries it can be seen that the employees are much professional
and perform any kind of business deals in a direct and professional manner (Yeo
and Pang 2017). Thus, it can be seen that there is a great difference in the way of
communication and which further creates business conflicts.
2. Stereotyping: Organizational stereotyping is considered to be differentiating a
group of people and showing them down within the organization based on their

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culture, gender, and religious beliefs. Sometimes the stereotyping is done in an
innocent manner and at times it can hurt the feelings of the employees which
creates a bad working environment. Stereotyping in the workplace can hamper the
productivity of the organization and can also lead to major legal issues within the
organization (Stocker et al. 2017). It is quite evident that when the employees feel
safe and get respect within the organization they become happy with their job
satisfaction and perform better for the organization. But, when the act of
stereotyping results in discriminatory and harassing situations, the employees start
feeling attacked by the people of other cultures and which can lead to sickness
and anxiety thereby lowering the organizational productivity.
3. Difficulty in language fluency: Due to the lack of fluency in the commonly used
language of the organization, the employees go through anxiety and stress.
Communication is the most important method of passing official information
within the organization and when the employees face difficulties with this
communication then an issue of job insecurity also arises. Differences in the way
of communication can result in creating a communicational gap which can further
hamper the teamwork if the issue is not managed in a proper manner (Georgescu
2016). For example, the way of communication in Western societies is commonly
immediate and unequivocal. The way of presentation of their information is quite
clear. But, this isn't the situation in different nations, similar to Japan, where they
try to implant the actual meaning of the information by changing the way of
presenting the information. Convention and manners assume a significant job in
their correspondence.

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4. Cultural relativism: It is considered to be the act of comparing the cultural
norms of various cultures thereby judging them in terms of standards. In any
multicultural working environment, this kind of cultural relativism can result is
bringing serious legal issues within the organization. One of the identified issue
within the multicultural working environment is about assumptions and
generalizations. It is quite evident the working structure can be different with
respect to organizations and there is a hierarchical culture being followed in some
organizations where any direct communication is considered to be a rude act
(Hajro, Gibson and Pudelko 2017). Sometimes direct eye contact can be rude for
any group of employees and for some other employees it can be their cultural
characteristics. Thus, it can be seen that even people are trying to cooperate while
working in a multicultural organization. But it becomes very difficult to get
habituated with the working environment where people are from different cultural
backgrounds and working for the same organization.
5. Lack of knowledge is using Software that is used in the multicultural
organization: The software or applications used in the multicultural
organizations are not user friendly for all the employees belonging to different
cultural backgrounds. For example, in case of a video conference, there is going
to be a serious discussion regarding a product and decisions from all the
employees are needed in that project (Bell and Riol 2017). In this situation,
sometimes it can be seen that some of the employees feel difficulty in
communication or understanding the decision of the other employees and that
results in chaos and creates a cultural barrier.

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6. Noise: Noise is considered to be another kind of difficulty that can hamper
organizational communication to a great extent. Noise is considered to be any
source that can interfere and hamper any health communication within the
workplace. In the research, it has been found that psychological issues are also
considered to be noise which includes frustration, anger, and stress of the
employees that can result in hampering effective communication. It is found to be
more challenging in the case of the multicultural working environment due to the
difference in the way of communication, understandings, approaches, linguistic
barriers and so on.
7. Harassment and discrimination: Harassments and cultural discriminations of
the employees in multicultural organizations can be a great challenge for the
organizations to handle the issues. It can be seen that the sexual harassment with
the organization can make an employee go through anxiety for a longer period of
time and which in turn can hamper the process of organizational communication
thereby reducing the productivity to a great extent (Gut, Wilczewski and
Gorbaniuk 2017). When an employee is being discriminated against within the
workplace then that employee goes through an emotional struggle and whose
effect can be easily seen in the performance of the employee.
3.0 Preventive solutions to address the organizational communication issues
by the organization and external communication training providers
According to the research, it has been identified that for running a multicultural
organization in a good way it is necessary to develop cultural awareness within the employees

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thereby providing them diversity training for respecting each other within the organization
(Lauring and Klitmøller 2017). This kind of mutual understanding within the multicultural
organization between the managers and the employees can result in generating new ideas of
collaboration within the organization. It is necessary for an individual within a team to take the
lead of listening to the issues of other employees and need to provide them minimum confidence
for communicating with each other. It is also the duty of the employees to respect employees of
different cultural thereby reducing the communicational gap (Motschnig and Güver 2017). The
rules and regulations of the workplaces need to be checked thoroughly for identifying the
communication gaps immediately.
For having better organizational communication within a multicultural organization it is
necessary for the employees to be fluent in a common language and which is English. The
employees who are experts in communicating with the English language need to help the other
employees of different cultural backgrounds who may have difficulty in communication
(Walker, Cardon and Aritz 2018). Teamwork is considered to be the most important factor for
getting success by any organization and for maintaining good teamwork a proper and effective
communication is essential and which has no alternative. All the multicultural organizations need
to appoint mentors who are going to guide the employees to show respect among the employees
of different cultures for reducing the communicational barriers. Moreover, various kinds of
orientation programs are also needed to be introduced within the organization for showing
importance to all the employees (Ihtiyar 2017). Using slang languages by underestimating the
employees of minority groups need to be stopped in a strict manner and all these responsibilities
are to be given to the mentors of all multicultural organizations.

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All the multicultural companies need to implement both oral communication as well as
written communication. The reason behind the fact is that the employees weak in oral
communication can still communicate with the team via written communication and which can
reduce any cultural issues of communication to a great extent. Grooming sessions and social
awareness programs need to be introduced within the organization which will help the
employees to understand the negative effects of cultural barriers and accordingly those
employees can work on enhancing their cultural bonding and coordination (Cletus et al. 2018).
The employees who are working for long years within the organization need to help the new
employees in developing their interpersonal skills. After the enhancement of interpersonal skills,
it becomes easier for new employees to communicate effectively with employees of different
cultural backgrounds.
The multicultural companies are required to be more patient with the employees coming
from different cultural backgrounds for reducing their feelings of embarrassment within the
organization (Serrat 2017). All the employees need to learn about showing empathy and
sensitivity towards employees of various cultures and in this way the organizational
communication issues can be reduced. It has been found that many cultures are present in the
world those who have their specific kind of etiquette during the time of communication and
which need to be respected by the employees of other cultures (Suarta et al. 2017). Moreover, for
the enhancement of cross-cultural communication, it is necessary for the employees to become
an active listener. During the time of any conference, it is necessary for the employees to become
active participants for understanding the facts that are being discussed within the multicultural
organization (Serrat 2017).

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4.0 Conclusion
After the end of the research, it can be concluded that multicultural organizations are
going to be increased with the advancement of globalization thereby removing the cultural
barriers within the organization. It is quite evident that proper communication of people from
different cultural backgrounds can help an organization to become successful in the global
market. None of the organizations can provide a guarantee that there is not going to be any
cultural gap within the organization. For overcoming this issue it is necessary to recruit those
employees within the multicultural organization who can think differently about the cultural
differences and accordingly can cooperate with other employees of the team. The organizations
need to be very much aware of the issues that can arise due to the cultural differences and
strategic measures need to be taken for fighting with the cross-cultural barriers.

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5.0 References
Abdulai, M., Ibrahim, H. and Mohammed, M.A., 2017. Communicating across cultures in
multinational Ibis West Africa. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 58,
pp.42-53.
Bell, R. and Riol, C.F., 2017. The impact of cross-cultural communication on collective efficacy
in NCAA basketball teams. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 17(2),
pp.175-195.
Cletus, H.E., Mahmood, N.A., Umar, A. and Ibrahim, A.D., 2018. Prospects and challenges of
workplace diversity in modern day organizations: A critical review. HOLISTICA–Journal
of Business and Public Administration, 9(2), pp.35-52.
Georgescu, R., 2016. Analysis Of Intercultural Communication In Organizations. Scientific
Bulletin-Economic Sciences, 15(2), pp.67-76.
Gut, A., Wilczewski, M. and Gorbaniuk, O., 2017. Cultural differences, stereotypes and
communication needs in intercultural communication in a global multicultural
environment. The Employees’ perspective. Journal of Intercultural
Communication, 43(1), pp.1-20.
Hajro, A., Gibson, C.B. and Pudelko, M., 2017. Knowledge exchange processes in multicultural
teams: Linking organizational diversity climates to teams’ effectiveness. Academy of
Management Journal, 60(1), pp.345-372.

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Ihtiyar, A., 2017. A conceptual framework to explain transition of intercultural communication
conflict, social environment and personality. Journal of Management, Economics, and
Industrial Organization, 1(1), pp.37-50.
Lauring, J. and Klitmøller, A., 2017. Inclusive language use in multicultural business
organizations: The effect on creativity and performance. International Journal of
Business Communication, 54(3), pp.306-324.
Lauring, J. and Klitmøller, A., 2017. Inclusive language use in multicultural business
organizations: The effect on creativity and performance. International Journal of
Business Communication, 54(3), pp.306-324.
Motschnig, R. and Güver, S., 2017, October. Improving communication in multicultural teams—
A web-based model and its application in project management education. In 2017 IEEE
Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) (pp. 1-9). IEEE.
Serrat, O., 2017. Engaging staff in the workplace. In Knowledge Solutions (pp. 437-445).
Springer, Singapore.
Serrat, O., 2017. Harnessing creativity and innovation in the workplace. In Knowledge
solutions (pp. 903-910). Springer, Singapore.
Stocker, F., Abib, G., Fürbringer, G.V. and Lourenço, M.L., 2017. Virtual teams and
multiculturality: differences and impacts of organizational culture in an IT
company. REBRAE, 11(1), pp.35-55.
Suarta, I.M., Suwintana, I.K., Sudhana, I.F.P. and Hariyanti, N.K.D., 2017, September.
Employability skills required by the 21st century workplace: A literature review of labor

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market demand. In International Conference on Technology and Vocational Teachers
(ICTVT 2017). Atlantis Press.
Walker, R.C., Cardon, P.W. and Aritz, J., 2018. Enhancing Global Virtual Small Group
Communication Skills. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 47(5), pp.421-
433.
Yeo, S.L. and Pang, A., 2017. Asian multiculturalism in communication: Impact of culture in the
practice of public relations in Singapore. Public Relations Review, 43(1), pp.112-122.