Overcoming Cultural Differences

The managers (whether women or men) must be ready to handle issues relating to ethnocentric. The term simply means using a set of standards as well as customs to judge everyone almost unconsciously (Kawar, 2012). Besides, they must be ready to address issues such denial when employees are unable to interpret the cultural differences. This is helpful because they can be assisted to overcome the state of being in isolation from other cultures. The managers must handle with care perceptions that some employees may be having on their colleagues because there is a likelihood that those who do not recognise that cultural differences exist can refer to their fellows as foreigners, Africans or even people of color (Issa et al., 2015). Overcoming the

At this stage of cultural development, people end up recognising and accepting trivial cultural differences because they have a belief that all people are similar by the virtue that they are human beings (Issa et al., 2015). Due to this assumption, there are certain cultural values that may be aired for universal desires, and therefore, the managers have to identify ways of dealing with such issues whenever they arise (Chaney & Martin, 2011). Further, acceptance is another stage whereby people normally enjoy exploring other cultures. As cultural beings, these people are fairly liberal of ambiguity. However, this does not mean that such individuals have to agree with other cultural perspectives that are not of theirs. Finally, at adaptation phase, employees are able to use their knowledge to shift knowingly to another cultural frame. In fact, they are able to modify their behavior to accommodate other cultures at the workplace (Powell et al., 2002). These employees can to an extra mile to keep the skills of operating in their cultures and at the same time adding the potential to work more effectively in one or more cultures because they have intercultural

An intercultural communication perspective provides a very effective way of analysing the interaction and exchange of information between or among people of different cultures. Among the issues identified and discussed include stereotyping and generalisation, social identity and ethnicity, cultural adaptation and ethno-relative ethics. As explained in the paper, intercultural communication visualises a reality that will strengthen or support the simultaneous macrocosm of oneness and diversity. Besides, it provides a platform upon which various voices can be heard in their distinctiveness and in synergistic harmony. In as much cultural divisions exist in a workplace; it is imperative for managers to identify ways in which cultural issues can be addressed. In conclusion, as managers work their ways of ensuring intercultural understanding exists in the organisation, they need to inculcate culture into a person’s consciousness and consequently bring such cultural awareness to bear on the establishment of intercultural