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LESSON 2
COMMUNICATION AND GLOBALIZATION
The 21st century witnessed the explosion of social media, and its far- reaching effect now permeates almost every aspect of life. In the Philippines, it is not uncommon to see people doing Tiktok, taking selfies, and cam-cording for blogging purposes. These usually end up on their social media account in a matter of seconds.
More than ever before, connecting people has become so easy; thanks to social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and many others. These platforms have allowed instant sharing of events and information for free. With social media, you can freely converse with people in different time zones and locations, comment on their social media posts, and be updated on current events around the world. You can also meet new friends who have the same interests without leaving the comforts of your home.
The invention of the world wide web has indeed made immediate access to a vast array of information possible. Netizens can visit numerous websites to get relevant information for their assignments or research. All it takes is a functional internet, a smart phone (a desktop or a laptop or a smart TV), and a good service provider. People from all walks of life in all parts of the world can now connect with each other in just one click.
Lesson 1 laid down the basics of communication: the process, principles, and ethics behind it. This lesson will look at communication vis-à-vis globalization.
OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
- define key terms such as globalization , global village , culture , and cultural adaptation ;
- explain the factors that can mitigate the negative impact of cultural differences in the workplace;
- show improvement in intercultural communication; and
- discuss how technological advancement has impacted communication.
A. DEFINITION OF TERMS
The term globalization became popular in the early 90’s after the Cold War (i.e., a stand-off or political stalemate between the USA and the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1991). The Peterson Institute defines globalization as the growing interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures and populations. This became possible since countries have built economic partnership to facilitate these movements over many centuries. Similarly, Carol M. Kopp (2019) defines globalization as the spread of products, technology, information and jobs across national borders and cultures. In economic terms, it describes the interdependence of nations around the globe fostered through free trade.
Indeed, globalization is here and it is here to stay. Are you wondering how it has affected you? If you enjoy Facebook, samgyupsals, animes, and K-dramas, to mention a few, then you are experiencing the effect of globalization. And since this is a two-way road, our country, through ABS- CBN, is able to air its telenovelas, The General’s Daughter, The Heiress , etc. in other parts of the world. Moreover, visa-free travel to countries like Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, etc. was made possible because of globalization.
Abolishing the limitations of time and space, globalization has created what Marshall McLuhan (1964) calls the global village —an entire planet becoming a small community through the interconnectedness of media and technology. True enough, events happening in one country can be witnessed by people from other parts of the world in real time through Twitter, Facebook and YouTube as these platforms embody what real-time media is. When you post, tweet, or upload photos or videos, people from across the globe will see and will be able to participate via comment, a like, a heart or a re-tweet.
Consequently, globalization has also made possible cultural adaptation. How many of you like eating kimchi, japchae, maki, or drinking soju? These are admittedly not of our culture, but from our neighboring countries, Korea and Japan. Watching too many K-dramas has probably influenced you into tasting these until you finally developed a taste for them. And this runs true not only for food. Look at the way some of you dress! If you have grown to like food and fashion from other countries, or if you now do things or think about things in a different way
diversity. Diversity dictates acceptance of and respect for other people’s cultural differences. This is where communication comes in.
The following are culled from Chase & Shamo’s (2013) work on the factors that could address cultural differences in the workplace such that the differences will not impact the work negatively. These factors are leadership, work productivity, and task commitment.
- Leadership. How does the leadership handle its diverse employees? According to Cribbin (1982), leadership is an influence-process that enables managers to get their people to do willingly what must be done and to do well what ought to be done. Clearly, managers should know about the culture of their employees so that they can motivate their employees to perform well what is expected of them. They should also be able to communicate effectively the work that needs to be done by their employees.
- Work productivity and task commitment. Needless to say, when the leadership is successful in influencing or motivating its employees to perform well what is expected of them, commitment and work productivity will follow. Say for example that a foreign company has in its employ Filipino and Japanese workers, and the leadership of that company was able to motivate the employees to perform well because they have knowledge of Filipino and Japanese culture. On the part of the Filipinos, this means that the leadership was able to make the Filipinos work beyond office hours because they have let the Filipinos know that they trust them and that they value their work. You see, Filipinos like being valued and trusted. When they know they are, Filipinos can be expected to offer their assistance to help the company as a whole (Filipino Values and Work Ethic: Not your Average Employee; June 13,
- despite having a heavy workload. On the other hand, the Japanese like doing their best. In their culture, they call this ganbari. Knowledge of this would help the leadership to make appropriate steps to let their Japanese employees know that their work is great and would most probably thank them for giving their best.
- Intercultural Communication. Knowledge of the culture of other people in the organization, as well as the fact that culture affects communication, is one of the key factors in ensuring that cultural differences will not hamper work productivity and commitment. This
responsibility does not only lie at the door of the leadership but on every employee in the organization. Harmonious working relationship could result from communication that values cultural differences between and among employees.
C. IMPROVING YOUR INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Intercultural communication allows people of different cultures to interact warmly and successfully with each other, thereby engendering a feeling of being valued and respected. Most importantly, it promotes teamwork! It is therefore important that you improve your intercultural communication skills. How? PSLCorp.com gives the following tips:
- Do your homework. Find out about the nationality of your co-workers. Doing this will allow you to communicate appropriately with them since you already have knowledge about their culture and about the way they communicate.
- Ask. When in doubt about your understanding of what is being said or when you think you lack the cultural knowledge, it is always a safe practice to ask. It is better to ask than to offend the person you are talking with.
- Accept that you could commit errors. Be open to the idea that you might make mistakes despite the fact that you did your homework (Refer to number 1.) When you do, it is prudent to apologize to avoid further conflict. Most importantly, learn from your mistake, so you can avoid it in the future. In other words, file it for future reference!
- Avoid idioms and jokes. Because humor has to do largely with culture, it is best to avoid using idioms and jokes with other nationalities. Or if you intend to use them, make use that you are using the idiom correctly or that the joke you intend to use would indeed be funny and not offensive to them.
- Actively listen and observe nonverbal communication. It pays to listen carefully to what is being said. Even if what is being said contradicts with what you think, you still have to listen actively. Pay attention, too, to the nonverbal communication used by the person talking. Observe his/her facial expression and hand gestures as he/she speaks. Do the
D. IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON COMMUNICATION
Technology, specifically the introduction of the internet, has made the world accessible to everyone: connecting with people even on the other side of the world has never been easier and more convenient; sharing of information across different time zones and locations is practically effortless; and businesses now have the power to market themselves internationally. According to Ahmed (2018), global communication directly affects globalization and helps businesses create more business opportunities, minimize cultural barriers, and help develop global villages. Indeed, as Ash (2019) notes, change is more rapid in this century than any other time in history.
Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are responsible for connecting people from different places and time zones and have become catalysts in making new connections and building linkages. People can easily communicate with each other without even being physically together. Also, through the world wide web, published materials become permanent records and reference materials. Therefore, in just one click you can get the information you want.
However, the advancement of technology has brought with it certain disadvantages as well. What would these be?
- Plagiarism. Because of the massive influx of information available at the world wide web, some of you just copy-and-paste everything that you see on the internet. Worst, some of you call this “research” and submit the copy-pasted material to your teacher! While copy-pasting may be part of the research process, it is not the end step in a series of steps. In fact, it is somewhere in the middle steps. After copy-pasting the material, you still need to write your ideas and use the material you got from the net to prove or disprove or support the point or claim you are trying to make.
- Discourtesy or Rudeness. The anonymity the net affords digital natives like you, make you throw caution to the wind! Because some of you think that what you post or write cannot be traced back to you, you just write comments on a thread post without regard for truth nor the consequences of what you write. Refrain from doing this because just like walking in the sand where your footprints are left, you also leave footprints digitally in everything you do online. In short, everything you
do can be traced back to you! Go ahead, google “digital footprint”. You’ll see what I mean. That rude post you made? Or that discourteous comment? Might just end up ruining your chances of landing a job in a company who uses google to get to know its applicants.
- Fake News. The social media is neck-deep in news it’s so hard to distinguish which is real and not. Thus, fake news also abounds. And because you don’t check facts first before hitting the share button, you contribute to the spread of fake news! Next time you go online and browse your FB news feeds, check facts first.
- Crime. The number of identity theft cases has risen in the last few decades. To prevent your identity being stolen, DO NOT post sensitive or confidential information about you! These would be your birthday, your address, your license number, your social security number, or any information no one else has the business of knowing except you and your employer. Posting your ID is dangerous especially when you post the entire thing including the barcode! Hackers can steal your identity and transact business like obtaining loans. The next thing you know? You are being billed a huge amount of money!
Task 3 Directions: Browse your FB news feed and screenshot a post which you think shows the negative impact of technology to the way people communicate. Extra points will be given to a negative impact not included in the discussion above but can still be considered a negative impact.
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REFERENCES
Books
Padilla, Melly M, Dagdag, L.A., Roxas, F.R. (2018), Communication and Connect! Purposive Communication.
Websites
Ash, Thomas (2019, March 3). Effects of Globalization on global communication. Retrieved from: https://bizfluent.com/info-82/
Barriers to International communication. Retrieved From: www. Sagepub.com/
Culture and Conflict (2003). Culture and Conflict. Retrieved From: www. Beyondintractability.org/
Globalization (2017) Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/JJonFD19eT
Mangat, Mushtaq. Productivity Concepts and Definitions. Retrieved From: www.fibrefashion.com
Oatey, Helen (2012). What is Culture?. Retrieved From: https://warwick.ac.uk.culture
Rauch and Behling (2014). Chapter-3 Leadership 3.1 Definitions on Leadership. Retrieved from: https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.inc/leadership
Reader, Cosey (2017, September 6). Advantages and Disadvantages of Networking in Business. Retrieved from: https://bizfluent.com/info-82/
Send friend Editorial Team (2019). Filipino Values and Work Ethic: Not Your Average Employee. Retrieved From: www. Sendfriend.io/
Work Habits in Several Countries. Retrieved From: https://youtube.com/sL3qa227oL
Zakaria Caroussi (2009). Work Ethic in Japan Retrieved From: www. Slideshare.net/
