BKC 3023

INTERCULTURAL
COMMUNICATION

©2014 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved . 1-1

6 Imperatives or Reasons to
Study Intercultural
Communication
1. The Peace Imperative
2. The Economic Imperative
3. The Technological Imperative
4. The Demographic Imperative
5. The Self-Awareness Imperative
6. The Ethical Imperative

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 The Peace
1 Imperative
 Can individuals of
different genders, ages,
ethnicities, races,
languages, and religions
peacefully co-exist on the
planet?

 Individuals are often

born into and caught up in
conflicts that they neither
started nor chose and that
are impacted by larger
societal forces.
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 The Peace
Imperative:
The key issue is whether or not individuals of different sexes, ages, ethnicities,
races, languages, and cultural backgrounds co-exist on the planet.

A. Contact among different cultural groups often leads to disharmony.

• The history of humankind, as well as recent conflicts in the Middle East, Iraq,
North Korea, Iran, India, Pakistan, and Ireland, highlight this concern.
• Consider that of all the armed conflicts in the world between 2006 and 2012,
very few have been traditional international conflicts. The rest have arisen
between ethnic or political groups within a country--for example, in Nigeria, Iraq,
Russia, Kenya and Chad, or because citizens have organized to fight against their
government (Syria, Libya, Ivory Coast, Egypt).
• Some of these conflicts represent a legacy of colonialism around the world in
which European powers forced diverse groups differing in language, culture,
religion, or identity to form one state.
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 The Peace
Imperative:
B. Conflict is also tied to economic disparities and economic
colonialism.
• 1. The influence of U.S. technology and media is seen as a benefit
by some and as a cause for resistance by others.
• 2. Fernando Delgado states that cultural dominance “can spark
intercultural conflicts because it inhibits the development of other
nations’ indigenous popular culture products, stunts their
economic development and foists U.S. values and perspectives on
other cultures.”
• 3. In Delgado’s trip to Europe, he noticed anti-American
sentiments in graffiti, newspapers, and TV programs, and
resentment, frustration, and disdain among the locals.

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 The Peace
Imperative:
C. It would be naive to assume that simply understanding
something about intercultural communication will end war and
intercultural conflict, but these problems underscore the need
for us to learn more about groups of which we are not members.

D. We need to remember that individuals, impacted by larger

societal forces, are often born into and caught up in conflicts
they neither started nor chose.

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 (in the
workplace)
 How can
companies benefit
from cultural
differences in the
workplace?

Diversity is a
potentially
powerful
economic tool for
business
organizations.
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The Economic Imperative
(in the workplace)
A. The Workplace B. The Global Economy
- Business must be more i. Businesses are expanding into overseas
attentive to diversity markets (Globalization)
issues
- Dell was co-designed by engineers in Texas and
- As workforce becomes
more diverse, many Taiwan, memory came from factories in Korea,
businesses are seeking to Germany,Taiwan or Japan. The laptop was
capitalize on these assembled in Taiwan.
differences. ii. As U.S businesses face growing global
- Benefiting from cultural competition, the ability of the employees to
differences involves: communicate effectively in intercultural
 Working with diverse contexts becomes crucial.
employees and employers
iii. Many working people, seeing their jobs
 Seeing new business outsourced to cheap labour in India, China
markets and Malaysia, feel threatened.
 Develop new products for
iv. When multinational corporations move
differing cultural contexts.
their operations overseas to take advantage
 Marketing products in of lower labour costs (maquiladoras-
culturally appropriate. foreign-owned plants that use domestic
labour just across the US-Mexican borders.

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 Imperative
(in the
workplace)
v. To bridge the cultural gap, many companies employ
cross-cultural trainers who assist people going
abroad by giving them information and strategies for
dealing with cultural differences.
vi. Economic development in Latin America, Japan and
other Asian countries will increase the demand for
intercultural communication.
- Economic exchanges will drive intercultural
interactions.

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Imperative
(the global
economy)
 What is the
intimate impact of
globalization on the
average person?

 Economic exchanges
will drive even more
demand for intercultural
communication.

 This development
will create not only more
jobs but also more
consumers to purchase
goods from around the
world – and to travel in
that world.
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 Imperative
(technology & human
communication)

 What does high-tech communication have to do with

intercultural communication?

 What is the digital divide and how does it affect our

intercultural communication?

 There is high Internet usage in the U.S and other

countries in Asia, most of Western Europe, and North
America, but there are many countries, especially in
Africa, where Internet usage and even telephone service
are almost nonexistent.

 These inequities have

enormous implications
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Higherintercultural communication.
Education. All rights reserved . 1-11
 Imperative
(changing U.S.
demographics)

 How will the

workforce that you
enter differ from the
one that your parents
entered?
♀♂Changing
demographics
presents special
challenges and
opportunities for
intercultural
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Demographic Imperative
(changing
immigration patterns)
What is the effect of current patterns
of immigration on the social
landscape?

Can we profit from being exposed to

different ways of doing things?

 Is intercultural conflict a
consequence of diversity?

♀♂ Immigration changes along

with increasing domestic diversity
show that the U.S. is becoming more
heterogeneous, or diverse.

♀♂ These demographic changes

present many opportunities and
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 The Self-Awareness
Imperative

 Why is it important to gain

an awareness of one’s own
cultural identity and
background when studying
intercultural communication?

 Self-awareness that
comes through intercultural
learning may involve an
increased awareness of being
caught up in political,
economic, and historical
systems not of our own
making.

©2014 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved . 1-14

 Imperative
(ethical judgments & cultural
values)
 Is there any universality in ethics?
 Are any cultural behaviors always right or always wrong?
 How can we maintain universal values and still respect cultural
distinctness?
Universalist Position: An ethical approach that emphasizes the
similarity of beliefs across cultures . A universalist may insist that
cultural differences are only superficial, that fundamental notions of
right and wrong are universal.
Relativist Position: An ethical approach believing that any cultural
behavior can be judged only within the cultural context in which it
occurs. A relativist believes that only a community can truly judge the
ethics of its members.
Cosmopolitans: Become citizens of the world! Take seriously the
value of not just human life, but particular human life, never forgetting
that each human being has responsibilities to every other.
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 Imperative
(becoming an ethical student
of culture)

What skills are important in

learning about cultural patterns and
identities of your own and others?
 Practicing self-reflexivity

 Learning about others

 Listening to the voices of others

 Developing a sense of social justice

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 BUILDING INTERCULTURAL
SKILLS
Studying Intercultural Communication

1. Become more conscious of your communication.

2. Become more aware of others’ communication.

3. Expand your own intercultural communication

repertoire.

4. Become more flexible in your communication.

5. Be an advocate for others.

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Tutorial Questions

• How do electronic means of communication (e-mail, Twitter,

Faebook, instant messaging, and so on) differ from face-to-
face interaction? How might these differences affect
intercultural communication?
• How does the increased mobility of our society affect us as
individuals? How does it affect the way we form
relationships?
• What are some of the challenges that organizations face as
they become more diverse?
• How might organizations benefit from increased diversity in
the workplace? How might individuals benefit?

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Tutorial Questions

• How can we apply what we learn about intercultural

communication in an ethical way?
• How has technology changed your relationships with
friends, family, and others?
• How can learning about intercultural communication
reinforce the peace imperative?
• Why would intercultural awareness lead to a concern
for social justice?
• Which of the four skills important to becoming an
ethical student of culture seems most important to
you? Why?
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