Abstract

The paper contends that the present global meltdown will end in restructuring and going forward, the restructured global order will certainly be different from the earlier one. Less efficient and outmoded companies will bite the dust, giving way to more efficient organizations with better survival potential. The entire process will involve large scale movements of the workforce, who in consequence, will need to cope up with greater cultural diversity. Managers will be forced to learn to retain their competence when implanted in new cultural environments. Most managers tend to make the mistake of presuming that knowing the language of a particular region or country, is enough. But communication mistakes are not just confined to mastery over the language of another country/region. Many executives also make the mistake of presuming that the social, class, and cultural values underlying management ideas are universally the same. Managers will need to review their earlier paradigms of communication, in order to ensure that lack of effective communication is not a stumbling block in delivering on their targets. The paper gives examples of failure modes of communication in new work environments as also the analysis of those failures. It shows how a comprehensive understanding of the socio-cultural dynamics is vital for retaining the effectiveness in communication. It shows that managers who retain their original cultural identity while adapting to new cultures, are liked and respected for their genuineness. The paper makes it clear that there is a need to understand this phenomenon better by carrying out a structured analysis of the feedback received from managers who were called upon to cope with cultural diversity; in particular the success factors and failure modes observed during dynamics of communication.