Chapter 3

Intercultural Communication

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Learning Outcomes
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
3-1 Explain the powerful effects of globalization and the major trends fueling it.

3-2 Identify the primary characteristics and key dimensions of culture.

3-3 Discuss strategies for enhancing intercultural effectiveness and communication across
cultures.

3-4 Examine the complexities of ethics across cultures, including business practices abroad,
bribery, prevailing customs, and methods for coping.

3-5 Describe the advantages and challenges of workforce diversity as well as

approaches for improving communication among diverse workplace audiences.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-1
Building Intercultural Communication
Skills in a Globalized World

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-1 Building Intercultural Communication
Skills in a Globalized World (1 of 6)
The Emergence of Global Markets
• Some U.S. businesses are expanding internationally, while other U.S.
businesses are now owned by corporations based in other countries.
• Acquisitions, mergers, alliances, and buyouts can obscure the nationality of
many companies.
• Two different approaches to expansion:
− Current products in new territories
− Localized offerings to match a market

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Figure 3.2 Trends Fueling Globalization

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-1 Building Intercultural Communication
Skills in a Globalized World (2 of 6)
Trends Fueling Globalization
INTERNATIONAL FREE-TRADE AGREEMENTS
• General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) → World Trade Organization
(WTO): promote open trade and reduction of trade barriers
• North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) → U.S.-Mexico-Canada
Agreement (USMCA): expand free trade among Canada, the United States, and
Mexico
• 14 free-trade agreements (FTAs) with 20 countries have opened global markets.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-1 Building Intercultural Communication
Skills in a Globalized World (3 of 6)
A GROWING GLOBAL MIDDLE CLASS
• “Global income tipping point” — ½ world population is middle class or wealthier
• Projected to increase from 3.8 billion to 5.3 billion by 2030
• Global trade lifted a billion people out of poverty.
• Decimated the U.S. manufacturing sector
• Work outsourced to countries with cheaper labor and less restrictive
environmental laws and employment practices

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-1 Building Intercultural Communication
Skills in a Globalized World (4 of 6)
INNOVATION IN TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS
• Goods can be delivered to other continents overnight.
• Foods once available only in season are enjoyed year-round.
• Blockchain technology – in shipping, it allows users to digitize paper-based
processes, increase security, improve administrative efficiency, and allow all
supply chain partners to trace a package from shipment to smart locker
• Cobots – collaborative robots that help workers find merchandise or bring it to
them
• Self-driving trucks and delivery drones
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-1 Building Intercultural Communication
Skills in a Globalized World (5 of 6)
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES
• Geographic location irrelevant for many activities and services
• Teleconferencing, instant messaging, virtual private networks, and devices
keep workers connected to one another and to company data and software.
• Artificial intelligence (AI) advances fuel speech recognition, chatbots, and
biometrics that enable more natural human-machine interactions.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-1 Building Intercultural Communication
Skills in a Globalized World (6 of 6)
The Increasing Diversity of the Domestic Workforce
• Foreign-born people comprise an ever-growing portion of the total
U.S. population, from 45 million in 2017 to an estimated 78 million by 2065.
• Immigrants and descendants may account for 88 percent of U.S. population
growth through 2065.
• Cultural diversity is increasingly the norm.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Knowledge Check
1. What does the abbreviation UTC indicate? (Use Google and search for UTC definition.)

2. Internationally, time is shown with a 24-hour clock (sometimes called military time). What time does
14.00 indicate? (Use Google and search for 24-hour clock.) How is a 12-hour clock different from a
24-hour clock? With which are you most familiar?

3. You must schedule an audioconference for a businessperson in Omaha, Nebraska, who wants to talk
with a person in Seoul, South Korea. What are the best business hours (between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.)
for them to talk? (Many websites provide time zone converters. For example, visit timeanddate.com.)

4. What are the best business hours for an online chat between an executive in New Orleans and a
vendor in Mombasa, Kenya?

5. When should two businesspeople, one in Nevada and the other in Colorado, start a Zoom conference
call with a contact in the Netherlands during office hours?

6. Why did your new business partner in Ankara, Turkey, call you at 2 a.m. in the Eastern Standard Time
zone (UTC-5) and was understandably shocked that he woke you up?

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-2
Understanding Culture
and Communication

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-2 Understanding Culture and
Communication (1 of 8)
Characteristics of Culture

Culture Is the
Cultures Are
Culture Is Basis of Self-
Inherently
Learned Identity and
Logical
Community

Culture
Combines the Culture Is
Visible and Dynamic
Invisible
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-2 Understanding Culture and
Communication (2 of 8)
Basic Dimensions of Culture
HIGH AND LOW CONTEXT
• Context – stimuli, environment, or ambiance surrounding an event
• Low-context cultures
− Depend little on context of a situation and shared experience to convey meaning
− Messages are explicit and rely exclusively on written or spoken word.
− Logical, analytical, and action oriented
− Use linear logic (proceed from Point A to Point B to Point C and arrive at a conclusion)

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-2 Understanding Culture and
Communication (3 of 8)
HIGH AND LOW CONTEXT cont.
• High-context cultures
− Listener is assumed to be already “contexted” with background information left unsaid.
− More likely to be intuitive and contemplative
− May use spiral logic (circling around a topic indirectly and looking at it from many
tangential or divergent viewpoints)
− Conclusions may be implied but not argued directly.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-2 Understanding Culture and
Communication (4 of 8)
High Context High-Context Cultures
Asian Relational
Middle-Eastern Collectivist
African Intuitive
Indian Contemplative
South American
West/Southern European
Australian Low-Context Cultures
North American Logical
Scandinavian Linear
German/Swiss/Austrian Individualistic
Low Context Action-oriented

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-2 Understanding Culture and
Communication (5 of 8)
INDIVIDUALISM AND COLLECTIVISM
• Individualism – attitude of independence and freedom from control
− Belief in individual action and personal responsibility where initiative and self-assertion
result in personal achievement.
− Valued by members of low-context cultures.
• Collectivism – emphasizes membership in organizations and groups or team
− Belief that independence fosters competition and confrontation, where group values, duties,
and decisions are encouraged.
− Decisions are made by consensus of all who have competence in subject.
− Valued by members of high-context cultures.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-2 Understanding Culture and
Communication (6 of 8)
TIME ORIENTATION
• North Americans correlate time with productivity, efficiency, and money.
• Other cultures perceive time as an unlimited resource to be enjoyed.
• Sometimes punctuality exists alongside a need for deliberation and
contemplation.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-2 Understanding Culture and
Communication (7 of 8)
POWER DISTANCE
• The Power Distance Index, introduced by Geert Hofstede, measures how
people relate to more powerful individuals.
• High-power-distance countries
− Formal hierarchies
− Relatively authoritarian, paternalistic power relationships
• Low-power-distance countries
− Subordinates consider themselves equals of supervisors.
− More democratic, egalitarian, and informal relationships

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-2 Understanding Culture and
Communication (8 of 8)
COMMUNICATION STYLE
• High-context cultures
− More emphasis on surrounding context than on words describing a negotiation
− Contracts may be viewed as statements of intention (with changes assumed as projects
develop) or as an idea of what might be accomplished in an ideal world.

• Low-context cultures
− Words taken more literally, especially in contracts and negotiations
− Straightforwardness is valued; suspicious of evasiveness; uncomfortable with silence
and impatient with delays

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Discussion 1

Chat About It Topic 2

• Discuss the dos and don’ts when traveling abroad, or establish criteria of
appropriate behavior you would expect from tourists to your country.
• Be specific and give reasons.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Discussion 1 Debrief

• What are some dos when traveling abroad?

• What are some don’ts?
• What behavior would you expect from tourists to your country?
• Why?

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-3
Becoming Interculturally Proficient

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-3 Becoming Interculturally Proficient
(1 of 9)
Improving Intercultural Effectiveness
BUILDING CULTURAL SELF-AWARENESS
• Observe your own culture and automatic thought patterns.
• Take advantage of opportunities to travel or study abroad.

CURBING ETHNOCENTRISM
• Ethnocentrism – the belief in the superiority of one’s own race
• Increase your knowledge of other cultures and your intercultural sensitivity.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-3 Becoming Interculturally Proficient
(2 of 9)
ANALYZING GENERALIZATIONS AND STEREOTYPING
• Stereotype – oversimplified behavioral pattern applied uncritically to groups
• Prototype – ideas about people and cultures that are based on objective, open-
minded observations, not prejudice
• Prejudice – judgment that forms when a stereotype develops into a rigid
attitude and when it is based on erroneous beliefs or preconceptions
• Unfounded generalizations can lead to bias and prejudice, but cultural
prototypes are necessary when learning how to be interculturally proficient.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-3 Becoming Interculturally Proficient
(3 of 9)
BEING OPEN-MINDED
• Be less judgmental and more eager to seek common ground.
• Work toward common goals while learning about one another.
• Practice patience and know when to remain silent.

SAVING FACE
• Saving face – concern for the image a person holds in that person’s social
network
• Accept cultural differences and adapt to achieve harmonious compromise.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-3 Becoming Interculturally Proficient
(4 of 9)
Communicating Nonverbally Across Cultures
NONVERBAL CUES INFLUENCING COMMUNICATION
• Can convey basic messages, but be careful in using and interpreting them
• Be aware of cultural differences in nonverbal communication, particularly hand
gestures, which elicit very different reactions in different cultures.
• Broaden intercultural savvy by associating with people from different cultures.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-3 Becoming Interculturally Proficient
(5 of 9)
ACHIEVING INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE
• Descriptiveness – an attitude that involves the use of concrete and specific
feedback
• Nonjudgmentalism – an attitude that prevents defensive reactions from
communicators
• Supportiveness – an attitude that requires us to support others positively with
head nods, eye contact, facial expressions, and physical proximity
• When interacting with people from other cultures, follow their lead.
• Learn basic phrases in other languages to avoid relying on gestures.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-3 Becoming Interculturally Proficient
(6 of 9)
Technology and Social Media Affecting Intercultural Communication
SOCIAL MEDIA: BLURRING BOUNDARIES?
• Social media blur cultural gaps, reduce hierarchies, and empower people.
• Online environments may deepen feelings of social isolation.

SOCIAL MEDIA: GLOBAL AND LOCAL?

• Cultural differences persist from color symbolism to digital nationalism
(restricted access to the Internet in authoritarian countries).
• Splinternet – a fragmentation of the Internet
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-3 Becoming Interculturally Proficient
(7 of 9)
Improving Intercultural Communication
REFINING ORAL COMMUNICATION

Learn greetings and basic phrases. Encourage accurate feedback.

Speak slowly. Accept blame.

Use simple English and short sentences. Listen without interrupting.

Avoid complex words. Smile when appropriate.

Observe eye messages. Follow up in writing.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-3 Becoming Interculturally Proficient
(8 of 9)
PERFECTING WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

Adjust your writing style and tone for other

Observe titles and rank.
cultures.

Know when to avoid humor. Avoid ambiguous expressions.

Familiarize yourself with customary channels

Strive for clarity.
of communication.
Don’t try to avoid bureaucracy with cultures
Use correct grammar.
where it is widely accepted.

Use short sentences and short paragraphs. Cite numbers carefully.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-3 Becoming Interculturally Proficient
(9 of 9)
Examining an Inadequate Intercultural E-Mail Message
• Don’t adopt a casual tone when a formal tone is more appropriate.
• Avoid slang and ambiguous expressions.
• Use complete sentences and grammar.
• Be aware of family and given name usage.
• Clearly organize information.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Pair Activity

Identifying Ethnocentrism
• Identify a situation in which you were aware of ethnocentrism in your own
actions or those of friends, family members, or colleagues.
• In general terms, describe what happened.
• What made you think the experience involved ethnocentrism?

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Pair Activity Debrief

• What examples of ethnocentrism were you able to identify?

• Were they present within your own actions or those of friends, family members,
or colleagues?
• Describe what happened.
• What made you think the experience involved ethnocentrism?

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-4
Considering Culture and
Ethical Business Practices

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-4 Considering Culture and
Ethical Business Practices (1 of 4)
Doing Business Abroad
• Ethics considerations include business gifts, bribery, child-labor abuse, and
environmental mistreatment.
• Ethical codes of conduct inform decisions and governance.
• You may be faced with reconciling legal requirements, company policies,
and conflicting cultural norms.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-4 Considering Culture and
Ethical Business Practices (2 of 4)
Understanding Antibribery Laws
• The 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) prohibits payments to foreign
officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business, but only applies to
U.S. companies.
• The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was created as a tool in the anticorruption
battle and forbids off-the-book bribes.
• The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s global
treaty (agreed to in 1999 by many of the world’s industrialized countries) bans
bribery of foreign government officials.
• Estimates show bribery costs the world $1.5 to $2 trillion annually.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-4 Considering Culture and
Ethical Business Practices (3 of 4)
Deciding Whose Ethics to Follow
• Cultural filters can make ethical considerations murky:
− Child labor is condoned and considered necessary for the survival of families in some
countries.
− Harmful pesticides may be used because crops would otherwise be consumed by insects.

• Doing the right thing can result in serious economic consequences.

• Fighting corruption may offer tangible rewards such as the recovery of lost tax
revenues and the restoration of public trust.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-4 Considering Culture and
Ethical Business Practices (4 of 4)
Making Ethical Decisions Across Borders
• Use these suggestions to acknowledge different values while emphasizing
moral initiative:

Refuse
Create Don't
business if Resist
Broaden virtuous Find Embrace rationalize
options violate legalistic
your view. incentives alternatives. transparency. shady
your basic strategies.
for staff. decisions.
values.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Group Activity
Gifts and Entertainment Limits: What Is Nominal Value?
You are one of a group of new-hires at a large company. As part of your onboarding, your
director asks your team to investigate the codes of conduct of other organizations. In particular,
the manager asks you to find comparison information on gifts, gratuities, kickbacks, and
entertainment limits.

• Search the Internet for sections in codes of conduct that relate to gifts,
gratuities, kickbacks, and entertainment.
• From three companies or organizations, investigate specific restrictions.
• What do these organizations allow and restrict?
• Prepare a list and summarize your findings in your own words.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Group Activity Debrief

• What companies or organizations did you choose?

• What types of gifts and gratuities are allowed?
• What types of restrictions did you find?
• Were you surprised by anything you found in the codes of conduct you
reviewed?

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-5
Evaluating Benefits and Challenges
of Workplace Diversity

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-5 Evaluating Benefits and Challenges of
Workplace Diversity (1 of 4)
Advantages of Diversity
CONSUMERS
• Diverse teams are better equipped to respond to diverse consumer demands.

WORK TEAMS
• Team members with different backgrounds and perspectives may result in more
innovative and effective solutions.
• Diverse teams are 45 percent more likely to increase market share and
70 percent more likely to capture a new market.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-5 Evaluating Benefits and Challenges of
Workplace Diversity (2 of 4)
BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS
• Companies that cultivate a diverse workforce suffer fewer discrimination
lawsuits, fewer union clashes, and less government regulatory action.
• Diversity is critical to increasing revenue, engaging employees, and driving
innovation.
• Gender and ethnically diverse executive teams were 33 percent more likely to
lead their industry in profitability.
• “The best workplaces forge bonds among co-workers of different political views,
different backgrounds, different job titles.”

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-5 Evaluating Benefits and Challenges of
Workplace Diversity (3 of 4)
Challenges of Diversity
• Diversity may lead to divisiveness, discontent, and clashes.
• Women face the glass ceiling (invisible barrier of attitudes, prejudices, and old
boy networks blocking them from reaching important corporate positions).
• Older employees may feel the deck is stacked in favor of younger employees.
• Minorities face discrimination in hiring, retention, wages, and promotions.
• People with disabilities fear their potential is often prejudged.
• Religious affiliation can lead to uneasy workplace relations.
Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 3-5 Evaluating Benefits and Challenges of
Workplace Diversity (4 of 4)
Improving Communication Among Diverse Workers

Understand
Seek Don't expect
the value of
training. conformity.
differences.

Make fewer Build on

assumptions. similarities.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Discussion 2

Chat About It Topic 1

• In “It’s Time for ‘They,’” New York Times columnist Farhad Manjoo muses,
while observing his young children, that the traditional male/female binary is
restrictive: “Gender is a ubiquitous prison for the mind, reinforced everywhere,
by everyone, and only rarely questioned.”
• What does Manjoo mean?
• Debate his statement from the perspective of a gender-nonconforming person.

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Discussion 2 Debrief

• What does Manjoo mean?

• What might the response to this be from the perspective of a
gender-nonconforming person?

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Self-Assessment

Nouns and Pronouns

EXAMPLE: When my friend and me traveled to Japan, we learned that they

often avoid saying no.
REVISION: When my friend and I traveled to Japan, we learned that they
often avoid saying no. [Guide 12]

Guffey/Loewy, Business Communication: Process & Product, 10th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.