4.1 Intercultural Communication
All communication is intercultural. The term “intercultural communication” may conjure in your mind a picture of two people from different continents speaking or writing to one another. Considering the vast size of the United States and wide variety of cultures from the west coast to the east coast, or from northern borders to the southern borders, or from Indigenous peoples to first-generation immigrants, much of the communication in the U.S. is intercultural. You can hear it in the diverse accents across the states and even within a state from urban to suburban to rural cultures. Every culture you’ve ever participated in has left its mark on you with a set of perspectives and values that shape your worldview and behavior.
Similar to Professors Wrench, Punyanunt-Carter and Thweatt in Interpersonal Communication: A mindful approach to Communication , we consider culture as “a group of people who through a process of learning are able to share perceptions of the world which influences their beliefs, values, norms, and rules, which eventually affect behavior” (Wrench, 2001, p. 12). Let’s break this definition down. First, when we talk about “culture,” we start off with a group of people. One of the biggest misunderstandings for new people studying culture is that an individual can have their own personalized culture. Culture is something that is formed by the groups that we grow up in and are involved with throughout our lifetimes.
Second, we learn about our culture. In fact, culture becomes such an ingrained part of who we are that we often do not even recognize our own culture and how our own culture affects us daily. Just like language, everyone is hardwired to learn culture. What culture we pick up is ultimately a matter of the group(s) we are born into and raised in. Just like a baby born to an English-speaking family isn’t going to magically start speaking French, neither will a person from one culture adopt another culture accidentally. Applied to the workplace, people learn about their organization’s culture through many interactions they have with their colleagues.
Third, what we learn ultimately leads to a shared perception of the world. All cultures have stories that are taught to children that impact how they view the world. Similarly, as an employee you may hear stories that help promote cultural norms and demonstrate organizational leadership. For example, if you are an Uber employee, you may hear about how when Dara Khosrowshahi became the CEO of Uber in 2017, at one of the first town hall meetings, instead of presenting himself as the savior sent to change the toxic culture of the company (Swisher, 2017), he pledged to “retain the edge that made Uber a force of nature” as reported by Frei and Morriss (2023) in Harvard Business Review (“Storytelling That Drives Bold Change,” 2023).
Fourth, the culture we are raised in will teach us our beliefs, values, norms, and rules. Beliefs are assumptions and convictions held by an individual, group, or culture about the truth or existence of something. An excerpt from Uber’s mission statement gives us an idea into its beliefs: “We are a tech company that connects the physical and digital worlds to help make movement happen at the tap of a button since we believe in a world where movement should be accessible…Regardless of your gender, race, religion, abilities, or sexual orientation, we champion your right to move and earn freely and without fear” (Uber.com, 2024).
Next, we have values, or important and lasting principles or standards held by a culture about desirable and appropriate courses of action or outcomes. Integrity, concern for customers, respect for all, teamwork, and respect for employees are the top five mentioned values by 150 multinational corporations (Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership, 2024). Leaders often shape values. Travis Kalanick, ousted CEO from Uber, allegedly fostered a culture where employees stepped on each other’s toes resulting in a culture of aggression and growth (Swisher, 2017). Khosrowshahi addressed the need to shift this value given the perceived negative employee feedback. “Toe-stepping” was established under Kalanick to encourage employees to share their ideas regardless of their power level or position in the company, but too often it was used as an excuse for being rude and difficult (Swisher, 2017).
In addition, within the definition of culture are the concepts of norms and rules. Norms are informal guidelines about what is acceptable or proper social behavior within a specific culture. Rules, on the other hand, are the explicit guidelines (generally written down) that govern acceptable or proper social behavior within a specific culture. With rules, we have clearly concrete and explicitly communicated ways of behaving, whereas norms are generally not concrete, nor are they explicitly communicated. We generally know if a norm exists within a given culture unless we violate the norm or watch someone else violating the norm. The final part of the definition of culture is that these beliefs, values, norms, and rules will govern how people behave. Many organizations have their rules written in handbooks of operating procedures, employee code of conduct, or employee manuals to ensure employees follow policies and procedures.
This section is adapted from the following sources:
“Intercultural Communication” in Communication @ Work Seneca Edition Copyright © 2019 by Jordan Smith, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
“What is Culture?” in Interpersonal Communication Copyright © by Jason S. Wrench; Narissra M. Punyanunt-Carter; and Katherine S. Thweatt, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
