Open Access Article Intercultural Communication

Obstacles to Innovative Interaction: Communication Management in Culturally Diverse Organizations

Jakob Lauring (1)
1. Aarhus School of Business, Arhus University, Denmark
https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v7i3.446

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Issue
Vol. 7 No. 3 (2007)
Submitted
2006 January 2
Published
2007 September 30
Keywords:
    cultural diversity, multicultural organizations, innovative interaction, innovative thinking
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Abstract

Cultural diversity has often been described as yielding competitive advantages like, for example, innovation resulting from the combination of different cultural perspectives. However, there are also substantial organizational problems related to managing cultural diversity, which need to be overcome in order for diversity to be a useful asset. Based on an empirical study of Danish multicultural companies, this article argues that the understanding of communication processes may reveal important aspects about the obstacles of managing cultural diversity. The main argument is that language-use is linked to social processes that can create boundary creation or social fragmentation within multicultural organizations.

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Authors

Jakob Lauring
JaLa@asb.dk (Primary Contact)
Author Biography

Jakob Lauring

Jakob Lauring is an Assistant Professor at Aarhus School of Business, Arhus University, Denmark.
In the last years he has been working with intercultural interaction in culturally diverse organisations.

Lauring, J. (2007). Obstacles to Innovative Interaction: Communication Management in Culturally Diverse Organizations. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 7(3), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v7i3.446
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How to Cite

Lauring, J. (2007). Obstacles to Innovative Interaction: Communication Management in Culturally Diverse Organizations. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 7(3), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v7i3.446