Cultural Issues Affecting Communication

1. Cultural identity
2. Racial identity
3. Ethnic identity
4. Gender roles
5. Individual personalities
6. Social class
7. Age identity
8. Role identity
How Cultural Differences Affect Business
 Cultural Identity
Values and attitudes can have an impact on
communication across cultures because each
person’s norms and practices will often be
different and may possible clash with those of
co-workers.
 Racial identity
Refers to how one’s membership to a particular
race affects with co-workers of different races.
 Ethnic identity
Ethnic identity highlights the role ethnicity plans
in how two co-workers from different cultures
interact with one another.
 Gender roles
Communication between members of different
cultures is affected by how different societies view
the roles of men and women.
 Individual identity
This means that how a person communicates with
others from other cultures depends on his own
unique personality traits and how he esteems
himself.
 Social Class
This refers to the level of society that a person
was born into or references when determining
who she wants to be and how she will act
accordingly.
 Age Identity
This refers to how members of different age
groups interact with one another.
 Roles identity
The roles identity factor refers to the different
roles a person plays in his or her life including
their roles as a husband or wife, father, mother,
or child, employer or employee, and so forth.
Global Issues Affecting Communication
1. The Issue of Face to Face Communication

• Face to face “is the method that humans have been

using for as long as time,”… (Sebastian Bailey)
• However, for large companies with offices in
multiple locations, face-to-face communication is
not always feasible.
Global Issues Affecting Communication
2. The Issue on Social Network

Towers Watson and Company (2011) found in their

studies that more companies worldwide are embracing
social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and
LinkedIn to facilitate employee communication better.
Global Issues Affecting Communication
3. The Issue on Culturally Competent Workers

• Neal Goodman, Ph.D. president of Global Dynamics, Inc., a

cross-cultural training firm, said that technology tends to
race ahead of social norms. He added that it hides cultural
differences between employees.
• The solution, Goodman explained, is to train all employees,
not just managers and CEOS who travel overseas to be
“culturally competent.”
 Group Task
Form a group of 4 members each and prepare for an informal
debate on one of the following motions:
1. “ This house believes that the constant use of social media
platforms negatively affects the dignity of human life.”
2. “This house believes that television companies and news
channels should not be trusted.
3. “This house believes that the media’s reporting of violent crime
and events, like that of school shootings, is directly contributing
to further violent crimes.
4. “This house believes that social influence and peer-pressure is
the most damaging form of advertising.”
5. “This house believes that media organizations and social media
do not meaningfully influence society.”
Thank you!