In this article Wang argues that the advancement of effective strategies for dealing with cultural conflict in business and technical communication is hindered by the lack of communication with other fields. Wang also concludes that when policies and practices are needed to deal with cultural conflict, the tendency is for the dominant group in organizations to reflect their own biases and value systems. Wang supports this argument and conclusion by introducing concepts of cultural conflict, examining models for addressing conflict, and by providing examples for identifying strategies for resolving cultural conflicts in business and technical communication.
My department is very diverse in culture, religion and ethnicity, but devoid of intercultural conflict on these dimensions. I would characterize the cultural tension in my department as generational and academic. The age difference from youngest to oldest is about thirty years, and the academic gap ranges from bachelor’s degree to terminal degrees. Others and I have experienced intergenerational conflicts with some older colleagues mostly over ways of doing things and project approaches. The conflict style would present as avoidance on their part (minimization), assertive on our part (defense) and has adversely affected working conditions for the department. The go to strategy for conflict resolution in my office is managerial intervention believing that creating rules and resetting norms would put an end to the disputes which appeared to get emotional. While managers were trying to enact compromise, they were missing the bigger picture and favoring age and credential as that is the culture of our management.
LO4: Apply communication-centered scholarship to strengthen communication and effectiveness.
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