Intercultural Communication Challenges in Crisis: A Detailed Report

This report investigates the challenges to effective intercultural communication, focusing on the context of a crisis situation. It analyzes three key challenges: differing cultural values and etiquette, contrasting direct and indirect communication styles, and varying cultural norms in decision-making. The report uses the case of the "Backpack Bed for Homeless" organization in the aftermath of the Sulawesi tsunami to illustrate these challenges. It explores how cultural differences, direct versus indirect communication approaches, and differing decision-making processes can hinder effective communication and collaboration during times of crisis. The report provides recommendations for overcoming these challenges, emphasizing the importance of open communication, inclusive decision-making processes, and a focus on shared goals to improve intercultural understanding and cooperation. The report concludes by highlighting the need for sensitivity to cultural differences to ensure effective communication and collaboration in crisis situations.

Running head: INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Intercultural Communication
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
The purpose of this report is to look in to several challenges which hamper the
efficient intercultural communication amongst the people. The report makes an
analysis of all those barriers to communication which prevents an individual to
communicate effectively with others even during times of grave crisis.

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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................4
Significance of Intercultural Communication.........................................................4
Purpose of the Report............................................................................................4
Preview the Structure of the Report......................................................................5
Literature Review of the three presenting issues..........................................................5
Intercultural Challenge Number One.....................................................................5
Intercultural Challenge Number Two.....................................................................7
Intercultural Challenge Number Three..................................................................8
Recommendations.........................................................................................................9
Conclusion....................................................................................................................10
References....................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
Significance of Intercultural Communication
Communication is required among individuals to carry out their daily activities
with efficiency. Communication does not always mean verbal, it can be non-verbal
also. People need to express themselves to other individuals who have the ability to
aid them in their work (Austin & Pinkleton, 2015). This requires them to
communicate with each other. However, there are many important differences
amongst individuals, such as barrier of class, gender, race, ethnicities, which prevents
them from communicating with those who are different from them. People have a
habit of communicating with only those with whom they find some comfort and
hence, find it very difficult to communicate with others who do not share some
similarity with them (Oetzel, 2017). This becomes problematic during the times of
crisis when people are required to help each other irrespective of their differences.
Intercultural communication will allow people to overcome their initial difficulty and
interact efficiently with others who do not belong to their culture. As such there is a
need to communicate with everyone, especially those who do not belong to the same
culture.
Purpose of the Report
The purpose of this report is to look in to several challenges which hamper the
efficient intercultural communication amongst the people. The report makes an
analysis of all those barriers to communication which prevents an individual to
communicate effectively with others even during times of grave crisis.

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Preview the Structure of the Report
The first challenge which is analyzed is that of different cultural values and
etiquette amongst the people. People usually do not tend to mix with those whose
cultural values are different from theirs. The second challenge discussed is that of
direct and indirect styles of communication. The third challenge dealt with is different
cultural norms of decision making.
Literature Review of the three presenting issues
Intercultural Challenge Number One
One of the major challenges to effective communication is that of different
cultural values and etiquette amongst the people (Greenaway et al., 2015). People
living in the same state follow many different cultural values, which they find to be
comfortable to their tastes and align with their ideologies. This divides the people
following different cultures in to different communities. Each community has their
own cultural values and traditions, has their own unique taste in food, has their own
style of wearing clothes. Moreover, the way they eat and the way they conduct
themselves in public is also different. For instance, some people might like the idea of
consuming alcohol with their meals while others might prefer not to. Their cultural
values is guided by their religious doctrines to a large extent. Similarly, the etiquette
of people also differ (Meuter et al., 2015). The way they conduct themselves aids in
the shaping of their personality and behaviour, which gives a formal shape to their
etiquette. The differences in the behaviour and personality of the human beings is
what set an individual apart from another individual. In spite of being human beings
in their core fundamental nature, individuals identify with each other on a different

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level. Some consider themselves to be superior than the other because of the
differences in their culture and races. For instance, the culture of ‘white superiorty’
makes it difficult for those with light skin tone to accept those individuals who have a
darker skin tine. The racial discrimination, even though banned in the modern times,
is still in wide existence (Thompson, 2018).The other cultural differences which
prevent an individual from effectively communicating with others also depends on the
religion they adhere to. Religious differences is one of the most pertinent issues faced
in the modern times. The cultural values and traditions of people are guided by their
religious doctrines which thus determines, which cultural values is similar to that of
the other (Sonntag et al., 2016). The interaction of people depends on these aspects of
similarity and differences.
The tsunami in Sulawesi had affected the nearby region to a great extent. This
resulted in many people being displaced from their place of living and damage to
many property. The people therefore had to live together in a makeshift camp where
all the basic necessary amenities were being provided by many different organizations
who had come there to help. One among the different organizations was the Backpack
Bed for Homeless and another one was World Health Organization. The basic
demand of the people were food and sanitation which was being fulfilled to a large
extent by these two organizations. However, conflicts were present amongst the
people living in the camps because of their different cultural values and traditions.
They found it very difficult to work effectively while living with people they could
not identify with. There was a lack in effective communication among the people
which led to miscommunication between them and also resulted in several arguments.

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Intercultural Challenge Number Two
A second intercultural challenge faced by individuals which prevents effective
communication amongst them is that of the different styles of direct communication,
in comparison to different styles of indirect communication (Watson et al., 2016).
Direct communication refers to the way in which the communication is explicit in
nature and is detailed as much as possible. It is the type of communication where the
necessary information is given to another individual and nothing is left to assumption.
Indirect communication on the other hand, refers to the style of communication where
the information of the communication is not given in an explicit manner, but rather
the details are implicit (Gluyas, 2015). The scope of assumption is higher in this form
of indirect communication. Indirect communication as a consequence, has a higher
chance of leading to mis-communication.The different forms of direct and indirect
communication exists for the purpose of facilitating understanding among the people.
As a result, direct communication is preferred over indirect communication as there
are less chances of misinterpretation (Austin, & Pinkleton, 2015). Also, in direct
communication, people know what is expected out of them; the details and
information are explicitly mentioned and hence, there is no possibility of
misunderstanding.
In the context of tsunami hit Sulewasi, the people were in an uproar because of
the damage done to human lives and property. The disastrous effect on the lives of the
people was seen as a huge inconvenience to them. They could not carry out their daily
activities and the fulfillment of their needs and wants depended on how effectively
they could communicate with each other. The camps here the people lived during the
time of crisis, were organized on the basis of who needed more help than the others.

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There was no discrimination made on the basis of cultural differences, language
barrier or any other kind of discrimination. As a result, people living in the camps
could not make efficient communication with those who were not similar to them.
The needs for their basic survival were made explicitly. Moeover, those who were
providing aid were familiar with the immediate needs of the people. However, there
are several implicit wants of the people such as pschological wants, which could not
be met by the aid givers. The tsunami had a psychological effect on the minds of the
people who lost their homes and lives due to the disaster. As such, they needed
someone to help them to realize and understand what had happened to them.
However, the priority of those who were helping was to ensure the basic survival of
the concerned human beings. This meant that help was given only on the material
front and not on the psychological front. As a result, the indirect communication was
not effective in helping the people in need.
Intercultural Challenge Number Three
The third challenge faced by the people is different cultural norms of decision
making. Different cultures have different ways of handling a problem and providing
solutions (Berman & Chutka, 2016). The cultural values and traditions play a
significant role in shaping the behavior and personality of human beings and this
further aids in shaping the decision making process in the concerned individuals. This
decision making process as such differs from people to people. For instance, some
people might like to take logical steps in trying to find a solution to their problem. On
the other hand, some people might consider any act of crisis to be a consequence of
the angry almighty and wait for some divine intervention to help solve the problem.
All these leads to creation of conflict among the people as there is no consensus on a

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preferred course of action (Ulmer, Sellnow & Seeger, 2017). The conflict can be
considered as a result of ineffective communication. It depends on the people to
communicate effectively and pursue someone to follow or do something which the
individual does not want to do (Turner,2016). The effectiveness of communication is
judged on this basis of persistence.
This was seen in the case of Sulewasi. The damages done by the tsunami needed
to be rectified and that required the formulation of a strong decision making process.
Steps were needed to be taken which would help in the reconstruction activities and to
ensure the return of people to their normal daily business. However, no consensus was
reached among the people which would help to take a strong and effective decision.
Conflicts and arguments pursued with respect to what steps and measures were
needed to be taken. This was the result of ineffective communication which was a
consequence of the differences in cultural values and tradition.
Recommendations
Cultural differences and the consequent differences in opinions of the people only
leads to more harm rather than helping in finding solution to a problem. The priority
of the people should always be in trying to make their lives better (Turaga, 2016). For
this purpose they should be open to any ideas and way of thinking so that all the
possible measures can be undertaken which would help to improve a situation. One of
the recommendations to help in solving the problem of intercultural differences and
ineffective communication is to allow people to speak and give opinions which they
think will aid in solving a situation. After that, a small body of individuals should be
constituted who shall judge all the measures mentioned and then vote upon those

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which they consider to be effective in the current context (Macdonell et al., 2015).
The small group of individuals must be impartial and should always have the
betterment of people in their minds.
Another recommendation is that the people who are affected should be allowed to
speak their minds and should be given a chance to help themselves. The different
communities of people should be brought together and the actions taken should be a
group effort, irrespective of any cultural differences (Williams, Kemper & Hummert,
2016). The main aim is the peaceful reconstruction of the entire society so that people
can go back to their normal routine.
A third recommendation which can help the affected people to rectify their
situation is to effectively communicate their wants and desires to the people who are
taking care of them. Those who are providing help in the camps only have a basic
understanding of human wants. Their job and responsibility is to ensure that the
human suffering is reduced to a minimal level. For this purpose they are concerned
with the distribution of the basic materialistic things to the affected people. The
implicit wants of the affected people are not communicated to them in a proper
manner (Garrett, 2016). As such, the people should ensure that they are being able to
effectively communicate their wants and desires to such helping people in an explicit
manner so that those who are providing aid can ensure the fulfillment of such wants
and desires of the concerned people.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is observed that communication among people is very important.
This communication should be effective in nature so that there is no misinterpretation

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of information. Communication helps in making the lives of people easier and gives
them a chance to understand and know something which they were not aware of
before.

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