CHAPTER 7 (Roots & Routes)

Religion and Intercultural Communication

Definition of Religion

• “…a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature and purpose of the universe, [especially] when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs”

Characteristics of Religion

• Private

• Spiritual

• Sets values

• Sets standards for moral and immoral behavior

Ethnicity, Race, Religion and Nationality Combinations

Examples:• South Africa (The Lemba)

-Ethnicity: Venda

-Race: Black/African

-Religion: Jewish

-Nationality:South Africa

DNA Analysis of Lemba and Other Jews

(FROM:http://www.freemaninstitute.com/Gallery/lemba.htm)

Ethnicity, Race, Religion and Nationality Combinations (cont.)

• Israel (in general)

-Ethnicity: Various

-Race: Various

-Religion Jewish

-Nationality: Israeli

Religion and Work

Protestant Work Ethic

A universal taboo is placed on idleness, and industriousness is considered a religious ideal; waste is a vice, and frugality a virtue; complacency and failure are outlawed, and ambition and success are taken as sure signs of God's favor; the universal sign of sin is poverty, and the crowning sign of God's favor is wealth.( Oates, Wayne E., Confession of a Workaholic; the Facts about Work

Addiction. New York: World, 1971.)

Religion and Work (cont.)

Work As a Calling

• The belief that God decides and “calls “ people to their respective occupation

• How is work viewed in Israel?

Chapter 8 (Roots & Routes)

Language And Cultural Roots

Language And Cultural Roots

• What is Language?

The Triangle of Meaning (From: Ogden & Richards)

Thought(Your image)

Referent) Actual

object(

Symbol)Word(

Structure of Language

• Governed by rules

-Ordering of words in sentence

• Different rules in various cultures

• What are the implications for interpretations?

Semantics

• Study of meaning

• Words and classification

• Words and their association with prior experience

• Classification as stereotype

-e.g. Maya is acting silly vs. Maya is acting silly now.

Language and culture

• Linguistic determinism

-Language determines interpretation

• Linguistic relativism

-Language affects thought

Communication , Credibility and Race• Assigning

• The 39 Words for green (Zulu)

Chapter 4 (Roots & Routes)

Race and Gender

Race as a factor in communication• Visibility of race and gender

-Implications for attitudes

• Tendency to make people “Ministers of Native Affairs”

-Implications for managing diversity

Race and Inter-cultural Accessibility

• Willingness to communicate with people of other cultures

• Take into account proximity

• Approach-Avoidance

Race and Cultural Contacts

• Race ethnicity and perception– Think of American, Japanese, African,

Moslem, Christian, Jew, Black, White, Russian

• Expectancy-Violation theory– Evaluating hose deviating from us in the

direction of us as standard

Race, Language & Culture

• Ebonics vs. English in the USA

• English vs. Afrikaans vs. African Languages

Ethnicity

• Impact on perception of others

• Implication in general

• Implications in the work place

Gender Differences in Communication• Men talk more than women• Women tend to use more tag questions• Women use more qualifiers and intensifiers • Women communicate to build rapport• Men communicate to report factual information• Women use more cooperative language• Men use more competitive language

Chapter 10

Why Diversity Programs Fails and What to do About It

Major Saboteurs1. Perceived lack of relevance

-To be relevant, bring it closer to individual (WIFM)

2. Not using data to drive initiative

-Data catches attention

-Sources of data, surveys, focus groups etc.

-Once collected what happens to it?

Major Saboteurs (Cont.)

3.An “Us Versus Them” Mentality• Polarization

-Win-loose • Positioning diversity • Building common ground

4.Lack of understanding at the op regarding the nature and implications of commitment

Major Saboteurs (Cont.)

5. Failure to set context-Strategic positioning

(Domestic/Global)

6. Not doing the Up-front Work-Laying the foundation:e.g. collecting data to assess support

7.

Major Saboteurs (Cont.)7. Absence of clear goals and objectives

-What exactly would you like to achieve?-How will you tell that you have achieved it?

8. Lack of sufficient tailoring & rationale in training

-Training an end in itself instead of a means to an end

-Generic interventions

Major Saboteurs (Cont.)

10. Human nature & reluctance to change

-Tendency to hang to status quo

11. Turning diversity into a religion

-Unchecked zeal

-intolerance of change agents

Proactive strategies:Getting it right from the start

1. Gain commitment from the top:

Make a business case

-Customers & Markets

-Global diversity

-Productivity

-National work-force demographic trends

-Internal work-force trends

Proactive strategies:Getting it right from the start (Cont)

2.Assessment and diagnosis

3.Diversity Task Force

-Establishing a team to make change

happen

4.Training

-Awareness

-Knowledge

-Skills

Proactive strategies:Getting it right from the start (Cont)Types of training• Individual focused:

-awareness, attitudes and beliefs

• Managerial skills focused:-Performance review-Conflict resolution-Problem solving & conflict resolution-Giving and getting feedback

Proactive strategies:Getting it right from the start (Cont

5. Systems change

-Accountability

-Reward

-Reporting relationships

-Communication

-Decision making

-Norms