The impact of globalisation on organisational communication: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Background: Many journal articles, books and book chapters have been devoted to cross-cultural communication, highlighting aspects such as individualist vs. collectivist cultures, and high- vs. low-context cultures (Gudykunst & Kim, 2003; Lanier, 2010; Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010). However, very few studies have been carried out on the implications of these aspects on global business. It is evident that people are moving between cultures for various reasons such as work or studies (Office for National Statistics, 2014), taking their cultural communication styles with them (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010). The aim of this small-scale study was to look at the effects of communication on global operations. Culture varies across geographical regions (Agar, 1994), influencing the conveyed meaning being communicated. Hence, the research question for this study was: What are the communication implications of a global workforce?\ud Methods: A homogenous sample of four participants at senior management level was interviewed using Semi-Structured Interviews (SSI). Eleven carefully selected questions were devised with the aim of reducing demand characteristics. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) (Smith & Osborn, 2011) was applied to the collected data. \ud Findings: Findings suggested that explicit and implicit communication is a key element for successful global business, as well as a broad understanding of cultures. Consequently, participants reported that it is necessary to have knowledge of how other cultures behave so integrity of business can be carried out.\ud Discussion: It was concluded that implications are evident for global organisations, particularly towards management, who need to ensure there is a constant and consistent level of communication to help their employees and increase their profits