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stage 3 Difference – Acknowledgement, and valuation of cultural differences  

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Organisational
 Dialogue:

 

Theory
 &
 Practice
 

 

Case
 Study
 Briefing
 sheet
 

1

 

 

 

 

Changing the Communication Culture at Opal-Marti

 

 
Company Background

Opal-­‐Mart
  is
  a
  large
  retail
  chain
  (~30000
  employees)
  with
  several
  hundred
  store
  locations
  in
 
Australia.
  The
  size
  of
  this
  company
  is
  reflected
  in
  a
  large
  and
  culturally
  diverse
  workforce,
  with
 
Australian,
 Indian
 and
 Chinese
 staff
 representing
 the
 largest
 employee
 groups.
 Employees
 range
 in
 
age
  from
  16
  to
  senior
  citizens,
  many
  of
  whom
  work
  part
  time.
  Today,
  each
  Opal-­‐Mart
  store
  is
  a
 
business
 within
 a
 business
 –
 200-­‐300
 employees
 per
 store,
 round-­‐the-­‐clock
 shifts,
 and
 one-­‐on-­‐one
 
competition
 with
 other
 local
 and
 chain
 owned
 stores
 in
 the
 community
 in
 which
 they
 are
 located.
 
 

In
 the
 past
 10
 years,
 Opal-­‐Mart
 as
 a
 company
 has
 experienced
 both
 growth
 and
 retrenchment.
 The
 
opening
  of
  many
  new
  and
  larger
  stores
  has
  been
  counterbalanced
  by
  store
  closings
  and
  the
 
elimination
 of
 entire
 sales
 regions
 due
 to
 decreasing
 profits.
 Store
 closings
 became
 painful
 exercises
 
that
 the
 company
 wanted
 to
 minimize
 at
 all
 costs.
 Not
 only
 was
 the
 relocation
 and
 release
 of
 many
 
employees
 difficult,
 but
 the
 “ripple
 effect”
 on
 morale
 in
 other
 sales
 regions
 was
 a
 cause
 for
 concern.
 
Taking
 stock
 of
 itself,
 better
 communication
 between
 management
 and
 staff
 and
 among
 employees
 
became
 a
 central
 priority.
 
 

Opal Mart’s Communication Audit

Opal-­‐Mart
 decided
 to
 commission
 the
 conduct
 of
 a
 communication
 audit
 (Hargie
 &
 Tourish
 2009;
 
Tourish
  &
  Hargie
  2004)
  to
  gain
  a
  better
  understanding
  of
  how
  (in-­‐)effective
  the
  company’s
 
communication
 culture
 really
 was.
 
 The
 purpose
 of
 this
 audit
 was
 to
 identify
 the
 current
 barriers
 to
 
communication
 and
 areas
 in
 which
 the
 company
 could
 improve.
 The
 audit
  involved
 focus
 groups,
 
employee
 surveys
 and
 interviews
 with
 a
 number
 of
 staff,
 including
 sales
 personnel,
 store
 managers
 
and
 upper
 management.
 The
 complete
  list
 of
 communication
 barriers
 that
 were
  identified
  in
 the
 
audit
 is
 presented
 in
 Table
 1
 (p.
 2).
 
 

The
 audit
 results
 revealed
 that
 Opal-­‐Mart
 employees
 were
 more
 than
 just
 receptive
 to
 a
 more
 open
 
communication
 culture.
 They
 seemed
 to
 have
 a
 real
 thirst
 to
 become
 more
 involved
 in
 the
 company.
 
However,
 Opal-­‐Mart
 had
 a
 rigid
 system
 of
 top-­‐down
 control
 by
 management.
 Like
 many
 companies
 
of
  this
  nature,
  Opal-­‐Mart
  hierarchy
  greatly
  restricted
  the
  flow
  of
  information
  to
  its
  employees.
 
Although
 change
 was
 in
 the
 works,
 the
 staff
 survey
 results
 essentially
 confirmed
 a
 tight
 control
 on
 
information.
  Many
  Opal-­‐Mart
  employees
  believed
  that
  existing
  internal
  communication
  was
  ‘too
 
infrequent,
 too
 one-­‐dimensional
 (one-­‐way),
 and
 too
 management-­‐oriented
 to
 be
 useful.’
 
 

In
 addition,
 Opal-­‐Mart’s
 culture
 was
 characterized
 by
 frequent
 conflict
 between
 different
 groups
 of
 
staff
  and
  a
  general
  lack
  of
  trust
  and
  collaboration.
  This
  did
  not
  only
  show
  itself
  in
  cross-­‐cultural
 
issues
  among
  the
  highly
  diverse
  workforce
  but
  also
  in
  constant
  battles
  between
  two
  of
  the
 
company’s
 most
 important
 staff
 groups:
 buyers
 and
 merchandisers.
 
 

Traditionally,
 Opal
 Mart’s
 buyers
 came
 from
 an
 artistic
 creative
 background.
 Their
 main
 goal
 was
 to
 
develop
 an
 interesting
 range
 by
 considering
 the
 look,
 style,
 and
 customer
 appeal
 of
 products.
 Opal
 
Mart’s
  merchandisers,
  in
  contrast,
  were
  product-­‐oriented.
  Drawing
  on
  their
  background
  in
 
accounting
 and
 finance,
 their
 main
 goal
 was
 to
 create
 an
 economically
 viable
 range
 by
 continuously
 
scanning
  financial
  information.
  Friction
  was
  invariably
  created
  when
  buyers
  and
  merchandisers
 
sought
 to
 make
 decisions
 while
 viewing
 the
 range
 from
 a
 different
 angle.
 Ultimately,
 both
 groups
 
had
 to
 collaborate
 and
 make
 decisions
 that
 led
 to
 the
 best
 possible
 choice
 for
 the
 customer
 while
 

Organisational
 Dialogue:
 Theory
 &
 Practice
 
 
Case
 Study
 Briefing
 sheet
 

2
 

 

maximising
 retail
 sales
 and
 profits.
 This,
 however,
 was
 a
 source
 of
 frequent
 conflict
 at
 Opal-­‐Mart.
 
 

A
 further
 issue
 identified
 by
 the
 audit
 was
 a
 culture
 of
 ineffective
 meetings
 that
 often
 went
 over
 
time,
 wasted
 energies
 and
 left
 its
 participants
 wondering
 what
 outcomes
 had
 been
 achieved.
 Staff
 
often
  shut
  each
  other
  down
  and
  failed
  to
  listen
  to
  each
  other’s
  views
  which
  brought
  about
  a
 
negative
 climate.
 The
 audit
 results
 showed
 that
 senior
 managers
 did
 not
 feel
 they
 had
 the
 skills
 to
 
chair
 meetings
 in
 such
 a
 tension-­‐laden
 environment.
 
 

A
 final
 cause
 for
 concern
 was
 the
 increase
 in
 customer
 complaints
 at
 Opal-­‐Mart
 and
 –
 perhaps
 even
 
more
  importantly,
  the
  poor
  ways
  in
  which
  store
  staff
  dealt
  with
  such
  complaints.
  Rather
  than
 
seeking
  to
  understand
  the
  customers’
  issues,
  store
  staff
  tended
  to
  act
  defensively,
  brushing
 
customers
 off
 abruptly
 and
 sometimes
 rudely.
 This
 was
 partly
 due
 to
 the
 time
 pressures
 of
 store
 
staff,
 and
 partly
 due
 to
 their
 inexperience
 and
 lack
 of
 skills.
 Many
 part-­‐timers
 in
 particular,
 had
 never
 
received
  proper
  communications
  training
  and
  simply
  did
  not
  know
  how
  to
  appease
  and
  retain
 
customers
 in
 such
 difficult
 situations.
 

Opal
  Mart
  clearly
  had
  an
  opportunity
  to
  improve
  staff
  communication
  skills
  and
  develop
  a
  more
 
open
 and
 collaborative
 communication
 culture.
 The
 company’s
 CEO,
 along
 with
 his
 senior
 executive
 
group,
  decided
  to
  act
  quickly.
  A
  task
  force
  was
  created
  that
  should
  look
  more
  deeply
  into
  the
 
company’s
 communication
 problems.
 

 

Table
 1
 List
 of
 identified
 communication
 barriers
 

 

1. Poor
 understanding
 of
 the
 need
 for
 upward
 feedback,
 especially
 by
 senior
 management.
 
 Senior
 
executives
 are
 not
 aware
 of
 the
 importance
 of
 gaining
 an
 understanding
 of
 staff
 issues
 and
 concerns
 
and
 are
 perceived
 to
 lack
 empathy
 and
 listening
 skills.
 

2. Poor
 downward
 feedback.
 Staff
 rarely
 receive
 feedback
 on
 their
 work
 and
 if
 they
 do,
 it
 is
 negative,
 
given
 in
 a
 de-­‐motivating
 way
 and/or
 leaves
 staff
 without
 an
 understanding
 of
 how
 specific
 issues
 relate
 
to
 broader
 company
 goals.
 
 

3. The
 Opal-­‐Mart
 workforce
 is
 highly
 diverse
 culturally,
 with
 Australian,
 Indian
 and
 Chinese
 staff
 
representing
 the
 largest
 employee
 groups.
 Intercultural
 communication
 issues
 and
 misunderstandings
 
among
 store
 staff
 are
 frequent,
 rendering
 the
 task
 of
 running
 the
 stores
 effectively
 more
 difficult.
 
 

4. A
 silo
 culture
 and
 little
 understanding
 of
 how
 different
 occupational
 perspectives
 are
 part
 of
 a
 broader
 
picture.
 In
 particular,
 there
 are
 frequent
 tensions
 between
 the
 company’s
 buyers
 and
 merchandisers.
 
While
 both
 groups
 of
 staff
 rely
 on
 each
 other
 in
 their
 job
 roles,
 time
 and
 energy
 is
 wasted
 on
 
unproductive
 debates.
 
 

5. There
 is
 a
 culture
 of
 ineffective
 meetings
 at
 head
 office
 –
 in
 particular,
 meetings
 are
 characterized
 by
 
power
 struggles
 and
 frequent
 conflict.
 
 Managers
 chairing
 meetings
 lack
 the
 skills
 to
 resolve
 conflict
 
and
 facilitate
 dialogic
 communication.
 
 

6. Opal-­‐Mart
 staff
 are
 often
 not
 skilled
 in
 handling
 customer
 complaints.
 This
 has
 led
 to
 a
 significant
 loss
 
of
 customers
 in
 recent
 years
 and
 is
 considered
 by
 the
 Executive
 as
 a
 key
 concern
 with
 implications
 for
 
brand
 reputation.
 

Organisational
 Dialogue:
 Theory
 &
 Practice
 
 
Case
 Study
 Briefing
 sheet
 

3
 

 

Opal Mart’s Path Towards a New Communication Culture

The
 mission
 of
 the
 new
 task
 force
 was
 ‘to
 create
 an
 internal
 communications
 strategy
 for
 Opal-­‐Mart
 
that
  will
  increase
  the
  flow
  of
  information
  among
  all
  employees
  of
  the
  company
  and
  in
  so
  doing,
 
create
  better
  and
  broader
  understanding
  of
  -­‐
  and
  support
  for
  -­‐
  Opal-­‐Mart’s
  business
  goals
  and
 
objectives.’
  The
  task
  force
  was
  unique
  in
  that
  it
  was
  comprised
  of
  several
  organisational
 
development
 and
 human
 resources
 managers
 from
 various
 Opal-­‐Mart
 sales
 regions,
 store
 personnel,
 
a
 consultant,
 and
 representatives
 from
 corporate
 headquarters.
 It
 was
 also
 exclusively
 devoted
 to
 
one
  mission:
  studying
  organisational
  communication
  within
  Opal-­‐Mart
  and
  advising
  upper
 
management
 on
 how
 to
 improve
 it.
 
 

The
 first
 order
 of
 business
 for
 the
 task
 force
 was
 to
 write
 a
 mission
 statement
 in
 order
 to
 address
 the
 
issue
 of
 what
 specific
 values
 and
 philosophy
 the
 company
 should
 espouse.
 Although
 the
 wording
 of
 
the
  statement
  was
  subject
  to
  much
  discussion,
  there
  was
  consensus
  about
  the
  desired
  central
 
values.
 Ultimately,
 the
 following
 mission
 statement
 was
 adopted:
 
 

Opal-­‐Mart
 is
 committed
 to
 the
 development
 of
 an
 effective
 organisational
 communication
 culture
 
which
 responds
 to
 the
 concerns
 of
 employees
 and
 customers,
 seeks
 their
 input
 in
 setting
 and
 
attaining
 company
 goals,
 and
 is
 characterized
 by
 practices
 of
 mutual
 respect,
 trust
 and
 collaboration.
 
 

This
 broad
 mission
 statement
 was
 translated
 into
 the
 following
 value
 statements:
 

1. We
 work
 together
 as
 one
 team.
 We
 help
 each
 other
 and
 ask
 for
 help
 because
 we
 know
 that
 we
 
can
 offer
 our
 customers
 the
 best
 service
 when
 we
 work
 together.
 
 

2. We
 build
 lasting
 relationships
 with
 our
 customers
 by
 making
 them
 our
 first
 priority.
 We
 listen
 to
 
feedback,
 provide
 support
 and
 are
 committed
 to
 the
 continuous
 improvement
 of
 our
 services.
 

3. We
 treat
 each
 other
 with
 respect.
 We
 embrace
 diverse
 communities,
 cultures
 and
 points
 of
 view.
 
We
 understand
 how
 we
 differ
 and
 how
 we
 are
 similar.
 To
 collaborate
 well,
 we
 trust
 each
 other
 
and
 work
 together
 towards
 shared
 goals.
 

4. We
 strive
 for
 excellence
 in
 what
 we
 do.
 We
 are
 committed
 to
 the
 continuous
 improvement
 of
 our
 
services
 and
 we
 achieve
 this
 by
 continuously
 developing
 and
 deepening
 our
 knowledge
 of
 our
 
people,
 our
 customers,
 and
 our
 business.
 

5. We
 lead
 in
 ways
 that
 provide
 recognition,
 motivation
 and
 empowerment
 –
 by
 listening,
 seeking
 
feedback
 and
 working
 with
 our
 staff
 on
 the
 attainment
 of
 shared
 goals.
 

 

The
  second
  order
  of
  business
  for
  the
  task
  force
  was
  to
  commission
  training
  companies
  with
  the
 
development
  of
  communication
  skills
  trainings
  that
  would
  help
  overcome
  some
  of
  the
  existing
 
barriers.
  A
  request
  for
  business
  proposals
  was
  developed
  in
  which
  the
  agencies
  were
  asked
  to
 
outline
 their
 suggestions
 for
 future
 Opal-­‐Mart
 communication
 trainings.
 The
 Opal-­‐Mart
 task
 force
 
specified
 clear
 priority
 areas
 and
 audiences
 for
 these
 communications
 trainings.
 These
 included
 (but
 
were
 not
 limited
 to)
 the
 following
 six
 topic
 areas,
 presented
 on
 p.
 4:
 

 

 

 

 

Organisational
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Case
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4
 

 

 

1) Improving
 performance
 through
 feedback
 
Target
 audience:
 Opal-­‐Mart
 store
 managers
 
Brief:
 Develop
 a
 proposal
 for
 the
 training
 of
 Opal-­‐Mart
 store
 managers
 on
 the
 provision
 of
 staff
 
feedback.
 The
 aim
 of
 this
 training
 is
 to
 make
 Opal-­‐Mart
 store
 managers
 aware
 of
 the
 importance
 
of
 feedback
 as
 a
 tool
 that
 leads
 to
 enhanced
 staff
 performance
 as
 well
 as
 assist
 the
 managers
 in
 
developing
 their
 feedback
 skills.
 

 

 

2) Developing
 shared
 understanding
 
Target
 audience:
 Opal-­‐Mart
 buying
 and
 merchandising
 staff
 
Brief:
 Develop
 a
 proposal
 for
 the
 training
 of
 Opal-­‐Mart
 buying
 and
 merchandising
 staff
 which
 will
 
assist
 these
 groups
 of
 staff
 in
 developing
 a
 more
 collaborative
 mind
 frame.
 Proposals
 that
 focus
 
on
 the
 delivery
 of
 communication
 skills
 and/or
 methods
 that
 will
 increase
 the
 groups’
 mutual
 
understanding
 of
 issues
 will
 be
 looked
 upon
 favourably.
 
 

 

3) Listening
 to
 your
 staff
 
Target
 audience:
 Opal-­‐Mart
 senior
 management
 
Brief:
 Develop
 a
 proposal
 for
 a
 training
 of
 that
 will
 increase
 Opal-­‐Mart
 senior
 managers’
 
awareness
 of
 the
 importance
 of
 listening
 to
 staff
 concerns
 and
 showing
 empathy.
 The
 aim
 of
 this
 
training
 is
 to
 allow
 senior
 management
 to
 gain
 a
 better
 understanding
 of
 staff
 needs,
 thereby
 
reducing
 the
 current
 communication
 gap
 between
 senior
 management
 and
 staff
 and
 increasing
 
staff
 engagement.
 

 

4) Running
 productive
 meetings
 
 

Target
 audience:
 Opal-­‐Mart
 senior
 management
 
Brief:
 Develop
 a
 proposal
 for
 the
 training
 of
 Opal-­‐Mart
 senior
 managers
 in
 (meeting)
 facilitation
 
skills.
 Senior
 managers
 are
 expected
 to
 leave
 the
 training
 with
 improved
 knowledge
 and
 skills
 in
 
at
 least
 one
 of
 the
 following
 areas:
 facilitating
 meetings,
 conflict
 management
 in
 meetings,
 
meeting
 design
 and
 planning.
 

 

5) Communicating
 across
 cultures
 

Target
 Audience:
 Opal-­‐Mart
 store
 staff
 (culturally
 diverse
 group,
 predominantly
 Australian,
 
Indian
 and
 Chinese)
 
Brief:
 Develop
 a
 proposal
 for
 the
 training
 of
 Opal-­‐Mart
 store
 staff
 in
 intercultural
 communication
 
skills.
 The
 aim
 of
 this
 training
 is
 to
 improve
 staff
 communication,
 reduce
 cross-­‐cultural
 
misunderstandings
 and,
 as
 a
 result,
 increase
 team
 cohesion
 and
 productivity.
 

 

6) Dealing
 with
 unhappy
 customers
 
Target
 audience:
 Opal-­‐Mart
 store
 staff
 
Develop
 a
 proposal
 for
 the
 training
 of
 Opal-­‐Mart
 store/sales
 staff
 that
 will
 allow
 them
 to
 deal
 
more
 effectively
 with
 customer
 complaints.
 The
 aim
 of
 this
 training
 is
 to
 provide
 staff
 with
 
insights
 into
 how
 challenging
 communication
 situations
 with
 customers
 can
 be
 resolved
 in
 ways
 
that
 retain
 the
 customer
 and
 even
 increase
 their
 satisfaction
 with
 the
 company.
 

 
Your
 task:
 You
 are
 a
 member
 of
 a
 training
 company
 specialising
 in
 the
 development
 and
 delivery
 of
 
corporate
 communication
 trainings.
 Choose
 one
 of
 the
 above
 topics
 and
 respond
 to
 the
 Opal-­‐Mart
 
brief
 by
 (1)
 developing
 a
 proposal
 for
 the
 delivery
 of
 an
 Opal-­‐Mart
 communication
 training
 on
 the
 
respective
 topic
 (see
 briefing
 sheet
 assignment
 2)
 and
 (2)
 delivering
 the
 training
 in
 class
 (see
 briefing
 
sheet
 assignment
 3)
 

Organisational
 Dialogue:
 Theory
 &
 Practice
 
 
Case
 Study
 Briefing
 sheet
 

5
 

 

 
References
 
Hargie,
 O.
 &
 Tourish,
 D.
 2009,
 Auditing
 Organizational
 Communication:
 A
 Handbook
 of
 Research,
 Theory
 

and
 Practice,
 Routledge,
 London.
 
Tourish,
 D.
 &
 Hargie,
 O.
 2004,
 ‘Communication
 Audits:
 Building
 World
 Class
 Communication
 Systems’,
 in
 

S.
 Oliver
 (ed.),
 Handbook
 of
 Corporate
 Communication
 and
 Public
 Relations,
 Routledge,
 London,
 
pp.
 131-­‐44.
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
i
 Case
 study
 adapted
 for
 Organisational
 Dialogue:
 Theory
 &
 Practice
 from
 Fairhurst,
 G.
 T.
 (1990).
 Changing
 the
 Information
 Culture
 

at
 the
 Pearson
 Company.
 In
 B.
 Davenport
 Sypher
 (Ed.),
 Case
 Studies
 in
 Organizational
 Communication
 (pp.
 223-­‐234).
 New
 
York:
 The
 Guilford
 Press.
 

 

Thebenefits of multicultural training program of CommPact

With the increasing international mobility as well as globalization, the interactions between individuals with different cultural backgrounds have become more prevalent (Hofhuis & F.Schilderman, 2020). Indeed, effective cross-cultural communication is critical for business success nowadays. In light of the beneficials of cross-cultural communication, the following paragraphs would further explain and elaborate how our cross-cultural training program can benefit our company.

Benefit for the target Audience (Employees in Opal-Mart)

First of all, trust and barrier-free communication can be improved with taking our multicultural training program. By taking our training program, it helps the employees in Opal-Mart to understand different intercultural communication frameworks so as to appreciate and recognize how individuals act, think and communicate from different cultures in Opal-Mart (Beckett et al, 1997). Especially, opportunities would offer to the employees in Opal-Mart for identifying cultural differences during the training. Once the employees in Opal-Mart learn how to communicate and recognize others cultural differences, the intercultural barriers could be eliminated. As such, the mutual understanding and trust can be formed by fostering the sympathetic listening and understanding in our training program.

Benefits for the company as a whole

There is no doubt that cultural difference and stereotyping is inevitable, our multicultural training program helps develop the awareness of the Opal-Mart employees who do not have a cultural communication sense and skills to learn how to skillfully communicating channels with others, so as to build better work relationship in Opal-Mart for achieving better work performance. Specially, the cohesion and self-confidence of individuals and teams can be improved to address the challenged group work in the workplace. Meanwhile, intergroup biases and stereotype threat in Opal-Mart can be evitabled after retraining to be more adroit in awaring of the personal stereotype to others values, beliefs and power distance or communication context (Kalinoski et al, 2013). Whereby, our multicultural training program provides learners with the correct way to interact with the team while reducing the negative impact of intercultural conflicts, helping them better communicate with colleagues and gradually increase respect and trust, and ultimately become a more competitive team.

With respect to our cross-cultural training program offering a variety of cross-cultural activities for Opal-Mart’s employees to recognize and explore the cultural difference, their mindset as well as the vision in different cultural contexts can be broadened. Improving the sight in different cultures means enhancing their creativeness and innovation at work with cultural exchanges and appreciation (Chebium, 2015). Due to the improved communication skill and perspective in multicultural contexts after taking our training program, not only their techniques in solving the problems can be then enhanced but also their work performance in developing the uniqueness and outstanding business plans can be consolidated. Therefore, our experiential multicultural training program equips the Opal-Mart employees to be more knowledgeable and skillful in different cultural contexts so as to have better achievement for business success in future.

Reference List:

1. Beckett, J.O., Dungee-Anderson, D., Cox, L., & Daly, A. (1997). African Americans and multicultural interventions. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 67(3), 540-563.

2. Chebium, R. (2015). How to create an effective cross-cultural training program. Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM).

3. Hofhuis, S. (2020). Multicultural personality and effectiveness in an intercultural training simulation: The role of stress and pro‐active communication. International Journal of Psychology, 55(5), 812–821. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12647

4. Kalinoski, Z. T., Steele-Johnson, D., Peyton, E. J., Leas, K. A., Steinke, J., & Bowling, N. A. (2013). A meta-analytic evaluation of diversity training outcomes. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34, 1076-1104.

5 half/days 4 hours each day

1.Self – Knowledge of Self (Managing Individual Differences) and Bianca

Day 1

8am to 8:30 am – Coffee and Tea Networking

8:30 to 9:30 am – Introduction and Reflection

 During this period, each participant will introduce about themselves and five interesting cultural facts about the regions/countries that they represent. After everyone finishes with the introductions, the facilitator will divide the team into four groups and ask each group to compare and contrast different cultures and their associated practice. Each group will send a representative to present their findings. The end result of this activity is to help participants recognise that although on the surface, every culture seems to be deeply divided, all culture shares a universal set of common values, which lay the foundation for cooperation.

9:30 to 10:30 am – Workshop

The workshop will be conducted by an expert presenting the topic of different models of intercultural management which addresses the behaviours of people in organizations around the world and provide tips as to how to work with people from different cultures all over the world. The workshop is in seminar format where the expert only introduces the key points and theory and the participants will contribute by sharing their knowledge and experience. The purpose of this workshop is to ensure every participant is equipped with sufficient knowledge and management theories.

10:30 am to 10:45 am – Break

10:45 to 11:45 am – Workshop

An expert will present on the topic of cultural dimension, cultural intelligence (including Linguistic Intelligence, Spatial Intelligence, Intrapersonal Intelligence, and Interpersonal Intelligence), and sources of cultural differences (male vs. female, individualism vs. collectivism, etc.).

11:45 am to 12:00 noon- Wrap up first day

https://toughnickel.com/business/Sample-Intercultural-Training-Programme

3.Difference – Acknowledgement and valuation of cultural differences Lingyun

A Vision of Valuing A Diverse Community Purpose:
This activity helps staff use their creativity and awareness to imagine a community

which truly values diversity and to create action steps in achieving this vision.

Material: Blank flipcharts (one chart or page for each group) Multi-colored markers

Time: 25 minutes
Divide the staff into groups of four to six people each. Ask them to do the following:

1. Brainstorm as a group what this community would be like if they had an environment which truly valued diversity.

2. Create a graphic image of their vision and draw it on their flipchart, using multi-colored markers. (They may want to conceal their image from the other groups for a grand “unveiling.”)

3. Create two to three action steps which they, as an individual or staff group, can implement that will contribute to achieving this vision.

Have each group present their vision and graphic image to the whole group. Then, have them list their action steps. The other groups can ask questions or make comments.

Summarize by stating that we all want to work and live in an environment where we are free to be who we are, and to be appreciated for our unique contribution. Only by working together, caring about this topic and wanting to create open communities that embrace diversity can we do just that.

Finally, ask each participant to go away with and on their own complete the “Breaking Down Barriers” worksheet (attached). Ask them to focus on individual and staff group actions they can take to break down the barriers to creating diverse communities on their floors. This worksheet should be a continued discussion item for staff members at both staff meetings and individual meetings with supervisors in the coming days/weeks!

4.Assumptions – Identification and avoidance of stereotypes Grace

Role play

Discussion

BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS Worksheet

Individual ACTIONS I can take to break down the barriers to creating

diverse community are:

A few sample action ideas could be…

· Talk to someone you’ve never talked to before.

· Fight stereotypes by getting to know different kinds of people.

· Reach out to people who are alone.

· V olunteer with a community organization.

· Mentor younger children; give them a hand or advice when they need it.

· Join a new club or organization. Get to know different kinds of people.

· Speak up when you hear someone make a put-down or unfair remark.

·

______________________________________________________________________________

· ______________________________________________________________________________
· ______________________________________________________________________________
· ______________________________________________________________________________
· ______________________________________________________________________________
· ______________________________________________________________________________
· ______________________________________________________________________________

Staff Group ACTIONS we can take to break down the barriers to

creating diverse community are:

A few sample action ideas could be…

· Start a floor/hall club that brings together people from different groups.

· Work with Area Government to sponsor a community night each week, with sports, homework help or

other activities.

· On your floor, replicate some of these dialogues or activities as a part of your floor meetings to address

all kinds of issues.

· Get other RAs involved in co-programming to mix up communities.

· Get clubs and organizations to co-sponsor projects and events in the halls.

· As a staff group, create or join a “campus climate” committee that includes both students and

administrators (e.g. LGBT Concerns Committee, Alcohol Task Force, etc)

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

5.Appreciation – Appreciation of other employees’ cultures

2. Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) In Flower Petals

This recreational activity needs 4-10 members in each group and it is one of the best ways to learn more about each other. All the members should be encouraged to make the best of their creativity and ideas. Here’s how to proceed –

1. All the groups should get a large art paper and some colorful markers.

2. Each group has to draw a large flower. It should have a round center and an equal number of petals to the number of participants in their group.

3. After discussion, each participant should fill the petals with something that is unique about themselves- anything that makes them stand out from others. However, physical characteristics should be ignored.

4. The center of the flower should be filled with their ‘common’ something.
The flowers should be shared with the other groups so as to discuss the differences and similarities.

This game provides mental exercise and a wide scope for social interaction.

11. Take The Privilege Walk

The privilege walk helps the participants to understand more about themselves and know-how they have or don’t have a privilege in comparison to the others. It goes like this:

1. Explain to the group that we all have some privileges which others do not, in a subtle way.

2. Take a wide free space and ask the group members to stand in a line.

3. Explain to them that you will start reading out a series of statements.

4. Instruct them to take one step forward or backward when a certain statement applies to them.A series of 25-30 statements can be read out. It can include statements like:

· If you are left-handed, take a step forward.

· If you are of Indian origin, take a step forward.

· If you rely on public transport, take a step forward.

· If you have come from single parent background, take a step back.

· If you have ever faced sexual harassment at the workplace, take a step back.

· If you have ever faced an identity crisis, take a step back.

5. After all the statements, ask the team members to look around and see where other people are in the room. Finally, let them sit in a circle and facilitate a discussion about how they are feeling. Depending on the differences and disadvantages, you can have a great conversation and hope to be truly inclusive.

https://www.uh.edu/cdi/diversity_education/resources/activities/

https://www.uh.edu/cdi/diversity_education/resources/_files/_activities/diversity-activities-resource-guide

Draft

Executive summary

1. Background, scope, and purpose of training

1.1. Background

Across Australia you can find the large retail chain that is Opal-Mart. Hundreds of stores sitting within urban, rural, and suburban communities allow each individual Opal-Mart to be their own business under the retail chains umbrella. The diversity from the store locations extends through the 3000 employees. The three leading cultures within the Opal-Mart workforce are Australian, Indian and Chinese.

Unspoken rules that are present in each culture can have an effect on individual communication. Within organisations, these cultural rules are not clear to all employees. As a result, consequences big or small have the opportunity to arise (Crossman et al. 2011).

Inclusivity is also present among the age of workers. Among the 200-300 employees per store are individuals working their first job as a 16-year-old, senior citizens who have been loyal to the store for many years and a range of ages in between.

Guido et al. (2013) notes that the inclusion of a large age gap in employees requires the use of several human resource management strategies. Recruiting, staffing, leadership, career development, and incentive programs are all strategies Guido et al. (2013) suggests.

With so much diversity, Opal-Mart took it upon itself to commission a communication audit. A classic top-down control was creating a barrier for information to reach employees as well as stopping them from having their voices heard. On top of that, frequent conflict took place among staff together with a general lack of trust and collaboration. A lot of which stems from cross-cultural issues and misunderstandings. Results from the audit revealed that employees were ready for a shift in communication culture and they desired to be involved.

In relation to the company statement, ***Connectors Company Group*** envision to implement and achieve a communication change that will honour and reflect trust and respect among all employees, but more specifically between those with diverse cultural backgrounds and their effective collaboration.

1.2. Scope 

Given the current issues mentioned above, our training is designed to increase the intercultural communication ability among Opal-Mart’s employees as well as enhance their teamwork quality. Therefore, the main target audience of the course is all the store staff from culturally diverse backgrounds. Besides, we also collaborate with HR department to ensure that the training would be implemented smoothly and efficiently.

1.3. Purpose of training

The communication training sessions that our company proposes to bring a variety of desirable learning outcomes will be conducted in three-day in-class. We insist that our training program focuses on fulfilling the gap and up-skilling intercultural communication within Opal-Mart, which positive results in the business performance.

The lack of intercultural communication skills at Opal-Mart is an on-going issue that deeply relates to the company culture and daily business operation. Hence, our training sessions can efficiently improve the employee’ ability in well-dealing with cross-cultural situations, reducing the cultural bias and misunderstanding by implementing plenty of strategies for better intercultural communication. The training program further aim to develop teamwork skills and interpersonal relationship, which are supposed to boost employee engagement when everyone feels being equally treated and respected. It cannot deny that it is a crucial element in forming the culture of collaboration and inclusion, which lead to a low level of employee turnover and the high business growth for Opal-Mart.

Together with the HR department, we would support to build an appropriate communication framework and behaviours, which form a new active communication culture and guide Opal-Mart in reaching its core mission statement. With before and after-training actions, we commit to follow up our training process and give relevant recommendations which assist the HR department in managing cross-cultural contexts in the long run.

2. Training Plan

2.1. Company Philosophy

Connectors Group is one of the top reputable training companies located in Australia. Our mission is to deliver the outstanding training services which prioritise and customise upon to our clients’ needs and expectations. Given the communication context of Opal-Mart, our training program is highly practical in its design to match with the cultural diversity workforce, including raising self-awareness, cultural sensitivity and building a new communication culture. We aim to offer employees a combination of knowledge and practice which assist them in adapting and adjusting their communication behaviours in light of cultural differences. Notably, we do not treat the training as a ‘quick-fix’, and thus, we are continuing to work and support Opal-Mart in the long run at the right cost. We will provide training certificates which add value to employees’ resume.

2.2. Training contents

2.2.1. Raising self-awareness in the workplace

The first component in our training course is to increase employees’ self-awareness. To prevent negative biases and stereotypes from happening, we will use Hofstede’s model (Hofstede Insights 2020) to equip Opal Mart’s employees with the in-depth knowledge of cultural differences and similarities, mainly focusing on Australia, Indian and Chinese backgrounds. Also, we will present them the communication styles used in low and high contexts so they can avoid unexpected conflicts when interacting with each other. The final point that we propose to train your employees is about non-verbal communication, including body movements and gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact.

2.2.2. Developing cultural sensitivity

The following training content is to emphasise the Opal-Mart’ value statements and embraced with the sense of cultural sensitivity in communication to ensure that all of the staff understand what the company considers as appropriate intercultural communication behaviours. The common norms and some undesirable behaviours in interacting with others will be introduced as the approach to assist employees in treating each other with respect and building a strong interpersonal relationship simultaneously. This training session further highlights the positive contribution of effective communication in collaboration and productivity.

2.2.3. Promoting new communication culture

· Explicit communication

Promoting an explicit culture where the communication style is simple, clear, and pays more attention to the spoken words which result in reducing a high level of misunderstanding, developing a shared understanding and being open-minded among the staff. Some useful guidelines will be introduced to employees to reinforce this culture, such as avoid using slangs, inappropriate language and behaviour, and using open-ended questions to resolve the conflict.

· ·Active listening

Encouraging ongoing active listening and observing in the conversation demonstrates full concentration and active involvement, responding and asking questions to show that what has been said between colleagues is understood as well as comprehended. This approach is not only beneficial for employees but also for Opal-Mart’ top managers to build a trustworthy and robust workplace relationship.

· Trust and collaborative

Within the intercultural team at Opal-Mart, building a culture of trust is the priority, by promoting support in eliminating cultural barriers, encouraging others’ professional growths, sharing and caring. The high degree of trust facilitates better employee performance, engaging people, strengthening the advantage of cultural diversity and boosting team efficacy (Bandura 1997; Matveev & Nelson 2004).

2.2.4. Following – up actions

The final content of the training is to evaluate the interaction quality of employees and to provide them with the effective communication policy, which is about the acceptable verbal and non-verbal language used throughout Opal-Mart, and some language support sections that can help them to communicate better with other workers.

2.3. Timeframe, delivery mode, target goals

To achieve a successful outcome of training sessions, we propose to go through three stages

· Stage 1:

Launching

· Stage 2:

Training sessions

· Stage 3: Following up actions

1 week

Stage	Time	Content	Delivery mode	Target goals
Stage 1 Launching		1 week	Collecting thoughts and expectations of employees toward the ideal communication culture	A survey to collect the general expectations and opinions of employees. Focus group interviews to gain deeper insights of employees	Opportunity for employees to raise their voices and create a feeling of being a part of Opal Mart. Collect the critical information to build the communication policy Redesign the course structure to be more practical if necessary
Training course information	Sending emails, messages to inform employees the brief information of the training course.	To make sure that all the store staff have sufficient information about the future course.
Stage 2 Training sessions	Day 1	Raising self-awareness in the workplace	Conduct an introduction based on three main group in different languages Activities / role play for assumptions, stereotypes	One group will better understand cultures of other groups, including communication styles, verbal and non-verbal languages. Their biases and stereotypes towards other ethnic groups will be positively changed, they will be open to embrace the differences.
Day 2	Developing cultural sensitivity	Icebreakers Team building game activities Cultural experience sharing Lunch and learn	To build a sense of culture sensitivity among the employees. Familiar with the basic norms from Australia, India and China. Forming a stronger bond and positive interpersonal relationship among employees.
Day 3	Promoting new communication culture	Role playing Video sharing Providing new communication culture Wrap-up	Identify how using slangs and inappropriate communication behaviours could lead to misunderstanding and conflict. Familiar with open-ended question and confidence to apply this approach after training sessions. Clarify positive and negative consequences for good and poor intercultural communication Clear understanding and involvement with a new communication culture whichis built upon Opal-Mart’ mission and statement.
Stage 3 Following-up	1 month	Supporting to HR department	Emails Online surveys Language support	We would continuously work with HR department to evaluate the improvement in communication among all employees and offer useful solutions and recommendations.

2.4. Benefits to target audience

Through the training activities mentioned above, we do believe that it would benefit both store staff and Opal-Mart as a whole.

At the individual level, employees would gain a better understanding of different ethnic groups within Opal-Mart, mainly Australian, Indian, and Chinese cultures, which then build up their confidence, cultural sensitivity and the understanding of its impact on intercultural communication. Using practical activities such as role-play, cultural stories sharing, and ice breakers provides participants with in-depth experience in developing cultural intelligence which is the capability to behave appropriately as well as avoid unexpected conflict in cross-cultural context (Blasco et al. 2012). Consequently, Opal-Mart’ staff would become an effective intercultural team which demonstrates team cohesion, respect, trustworthy and the bonding among individuals at all levels as their ability to classify and bridge their culture differences (Adler 2002). Moreover, it would improve better communication with customers in the given multicultural context of the Australian market.

For the organisational level, Opal-Mart would reach the business purposes reflected on the company’ statement to embrace all the diverse cultures with trust and respect in daily business operation towards achieving shared objectives. Besides, nurturing a good communication culture facilitates better workforce relationships where misunderstanding and conflicts are dispelled quickly and effectively. Hence, a new but effective communication culture proposed for the long run would be the critical foundation in promoting a healthy and productive working environment and gaining the competitive advantages for Opal-Mart.

3. Conclusion

To sum up, our training proposal provides an overview point of intercultural communication at Opal-Mart lately and show our desire to deliver a high-quality training which beneficial impact to the communication change and purchase Opal-Mart’ core mission in a proactive and voluntary manner. We highlight the importance of cultural awareness and sensitivity in building mutual respect, trust, and collaboration. We do believe that our training would honour the human capital in educating and building a strong culture of productivity and thus profitability at Opal-Mart in the long-term business.

A higher level of intercultural communication skill within Opal-Mart would offer the company a competitive advantage and outstanding with other competitors and to create a positive working environment which attracts and attains many potential talent employees.

Reference list:

Adler, N. 2002, International dimensions of organizational behavior, 4th edn, Cincinnati, OH: South-Western, Thomson Learning.

Bandura, A. 1997, Self-efficacy, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall

Blasco, M., Edholm Feldt, L. & Jakobsen, M. 2012, ‘If only cultural chameleons could fly too: A critical discussion of the concept of cultural intelligence’, International Journal of Cross-cultural Management, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 229-245.

Crossman, J., Bordia, S. & Mills, C. 2011, Business Communication: for the Global Age, McGraw-Hill, North Ryde, NSW.

Guido, H., Van Der Heijden, B.I.J.M., De Lange, A.H. & Jüger, D. 2013, ‘Facilitating Age Diversity in Organizations’, Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 28, no. 7/8, pp. 729-740.

Matveev, V. & Nelson, E. 2004, ‘Cross Cultural Communication Competence and Multicultural Team Performance’, International Journal of Cross-cultural Management, vol. 4(2), pp. 253-270.

Hofstede Insights, 2020, Country Comparison, viewed 18 May 2020, <

https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/australia,china,india/

>.

Appendix 1

Cultural comparison between Australia, China and India by Hofstede’s Model