Cross Cultural Communication

Kartik's Web poster about cross-cultural communication is very relevant in a globalized business world. I liked the fact that the poster used a specific example to illustrate a larger point. I have read about collectivist vs individualistic cultures in text books, but it takes personal experience to know the smaller, more subtle differences that can have significant consequences. Communication literature has many examples of cultural mis-steps by corporations entering new markets. Euro-Disney is one example of poor cultural planning. While initially Disney expected to clone their success in Anaheim, in the French countryside, they soon found out that cultural differences can be financially costly.

Story Coach

The subject of Violet's Web poster is organizational culture. I was interested particularly in the the "Story Coach" diagram, because several years ago, the organization I work for attempted a culture change. As Violet points out, this is not an easy thing to accomplish. Our company spent many hundreds of thousands of dollars on promoting the new vision of the company. The consulting firm that was hired to structure the roll out, had a motivational speaker who told a story from past experience to inspire employees. I did think the story was useful and dramatic, and the company put a lot of effort into this change. After about a year however, the effort seemed to fade out as management no longer seemed to be quite as commited. Although I think it the program did make some positive changes, it was not as successful as the company had hoped.

Communication Climate

Looking at Crives's Web poster about the relationship between communication and job satisfaction reminded me of a related section in our text; job satisfaction does not necessarily translate to organizational effectiveness or success. It seems Crives was on the right track in expanding the "Current" section of his poster to look at job satisfaction and organizational culture. I think job satisfaction would have a definite impact on culture, which is bound to "seep out" to customers or other external constituents. Even a lack of communication can be seen as a manifestation of a company's culture that has far reaching implications for business relationships.

Transparency

I agree with the idea behind ZamoraDesign's Web poster, the public would definitely benefit from greater transparency in GO's and NGO's. I also thought that the challenges were well represented. NGO's get the benefit of being good corporate citizens if they are transparent, but at the same time they have to maintain some degree of confidentiality in a competitive market. Government organizations however should be obligated to be transparent, after all, they are in a position of public trust. I am not sure how it would work to have third party oversite, as Zamora pointed out, who would keep an eye on them, and more importantly, who would foot the bill?