Addressing the Challenges of Cross-Cultural and Virtual Communication in the Workplace

<p>The move toward a more global or geographically dispersed organization, together with the technology that is being used to enable this, has dramatically changed work and the workplace in the United States and United Kingdom within the last few decades (Ouye, 2011). This is prompting leaders to communicate with teams consisting of vastly different backgrounds, languages and styles, and to essentially ‘work at the same table’ in the absence of physical cues, such as facial expressions and gestures. Leaders of such teams are challenged to create a smooth operation despite the many differences; the possibilities for misunderstandings and cultural blunders can be magnified in these work situations, and leaders would benefit from expanding their own tools and techniques to deal with these differences (Zofi, 2012). This qualitative research is guided by the question, “How are selected leaders addressing the challenges of cross-cultural and virtual communication in their workplaces?” and presents the interview results of 16 selected leaders. The research investigates and analyzes the challenges, and identifies strategies and best practices that these leaders have used to address them.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

MA Strategic Communication

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Communication and the Arts

Year dc:date.available

2013

Author dc:creator

• Sundar, Sarabjit

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Albert Widman
• Msgr. Dennis Mahon

• Cross-Cultural
• Virtual
• Communication
• Business and Corporate Communications
• Organizational Behavior and Theory
• Other Arts and Humanities
• Strategic Management Policy

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/1925

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarship.shu.edu:dissertations-2927