Extension of Intercultural Competence and its Applications

1. Today’s Extension of Intercultural Competence, Intercultural Concepts and their ApplicationsInterculturalHorizon, Siena October, 8th 2013 Maura di mauro www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

2. Aims www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it • Describe two main ways at looking at intercultural communication, and at intercultural competence, based upon two main conceptions of “communication” and of “culture” • Reflect on the extension of the “classical” concept of intercultural competence and their application, due to nowadays cultural changes, globalization phenomena, new global assets, financial crisis, and the complexity of stakeholder requests

3. Contents www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it 1. The origin of Intercultural Communication and of Intercultural Competence 2. The development of Intercultural Communication and of Intercultural Competence 3. The evolution of Intercultural Communication and of Intercultural Competence 4. The extension of Interculturalism to Social Responsible and Sustainable practices

4. 1. The origin of Intercultural Communication and of Intercultural Competence Today’s Extension of Intercultural Competence, Intercultural Concepts and their Applications www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

5. A definition of “Interculture” Intercultural communication Intercultural relationships Intercultural training Intercultural negotiation and mediation Intercultural policies and governance sistem Intercultural competence …… • «Interculture» = relationships between cultural identities www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

6. Back to the rootsof “Intercultural Communication” 1920 1930 1950 1959 1945 Ethnograficmethodology: Studies on integrationprocesses Thomas & Znaniecki: Studies on stereotypes and cultural filters Establishment of FSI training divisionfor diplomatics and technitions Allport: studies on prejudges ETHNOGRAFIC METHODOLOGIES: INTEGRATION PROCESSES LANGUAGE TRAINING www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

7. From the rootsto the development of “Intercultural Communication” 1960 1976 1977 1980 1990 1991 2000 2008 1971 Introduction of the concept of Cultural Schock and of InterculturalCompetence Development and spread of multinationals Virtual team, CRS, sustainability INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE EVALUATION AND DEVELOPMENT CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT PROCESSES FACILITATION www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

8. The concept of «InterculturalCompetence» • In general, “Intercultural Competence” are included within relational competence and refers to different roles and contexts • Is the capability to behave appropriate (coherent with the rules and the expectations of a given cultural context) and effective (able to succeed in the light of ones personal goals and objectives within cultural diverse contexts) • The concept is rooted in an Anglo-Saxon pragmatism, which emphasizes individual achievement, pertinence and effectiveness www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

9. 2. The developmentof Intercultural Communication and of Intercultural Competence Today’s Extension of Intercultural Competence, Intercultural Concepts and their Applications www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

10. Communication as messages transmission • 1950s, Shannon & Weaver: The communication model isbased on the methaphor of the telecommunicationsystems www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

11. Culture as a «reified» concept • Human societies are built of culture, a “thing” that homologates and separates them: culture is a monolithic reality • Culture is a property of people, groups, organization, made up of traditions, norms, values, principles • Cultural differences can be measured and compared on a graded scale along lines of certain cultural and ethical dimensions www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

12. Culture as a «reified» concept Minus • Emphasizing the internal homogeneity of a target group, leading to over-generalizations and stereotypes • Impossible to offer recipes or exhaustive “does and don’ts” for each existing culture • Difficulty to identifying oneself as belonging to a single pure culture identity Plus • Furnishing a starting point for understanding a specific culture • Favours the understanding of certain cultural differences and intercultural misunderstandings • Highlights the need to change one’s interpretative framework and to make behavioural adaption • Reduces anxiety and uncertainty in encountering a diverse culture

13. 3. The evolutionof Intercultural Communication and of Intercultural Competence Today’s Extension of Intercultural Competence, Intercultural Concepts and their Applications www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

14. Communication as dialogical conversations Negotiation and meaningconstruction • ‘70s-’80, Habermans, Grice,…: Interaction and dialoguebetweenconversation’sparticipants and withinoneself www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

15. From a «reified» to a «narrative» conceptof culture «Reified» culture • Considers culture as static and crystallized • Emphasises deep cultural differences, cultural groups’ homogeneity and purity • Cultural characteristics and group’straditions are described «Narrative» culture • Considers culture in their dynamism and evolution • Considers cultural differences … but it reduces the use of culture dimensions, and of “us vs. you” contrapositions • Cultural reality have porous edges, where interactions and exchanges occurs, as well traditions and innovation www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

16. Culture as a «narrative» concept • Culture is an open and complex relationship system, where interactions, as well, storytelling are interconnected • Culture itself is a mediation system: a space of exchanges • Culture is a polyphonic narration where a multiplicity of actors participate building it (Bachtin, 1981; Mantovani, 1998) www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

17. «Conversations» and «Storytelling» asinterventiontools • Intercultural communication as an occasion to become aware of assumptions, to understand and to consider different moral positions and values • It allows to explore antagonisms of different groups or identities (e.g., different institutions, associations, organized groups, and so on) • Conversations and storytelling become intervention tools, through which people and organizations can collaborate, reflect on, and co-create new solutions www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

18. The evolution of the conceptof InterculturalCompetence • From Interculturalcompetenceas the ability to considerdifferent perceptions and different ways of constructing meaning, by using appropriate mindset and skills … • … To Intercultural competence as the ability to recognize differences in a cultural capital and to be able to interact with them. • No more something inside a person, or that a person can have with a certain degree; but something socially distributed and shared, among different actors and within a certain context www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

19. The evolution of the conceptof InterculturalCompetence Becomes important: • To be sensitive to shape diversity (i.e. to process an “intercultural gaze”) • To know how to recognize and to map diversity • To be capable of activating and faciliting inclusive processes • To listen actively, being open to different sense-making frameworks without to stuck in a rigid perspective or fixed identity • To be able to integrate different perspectives, values and opinions, thus make it possible to create alternative narratives, new knowledge construction, and eventually re-design practices, policies, processes www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

20. 4. The extension of Interculturalismto Social Responsible and Sustainable practices Today’s Extension of Intercultural Competence, Intercultural Concepts and their Applications www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

21. Culture as a marker of identities Unites, parties Schools, university Supplyers Local community Collectivty Environments Outseurces employeees No profit organizations Employees, Internalunites Mass-media Clients, consumers, users Public Administration Trainers, consultants Stakeholders CFO, partners www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

22. Cultural identitiesprotest and stragglefor theirownrecognition www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

23. Some examples of badStakeholders Management www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

24. Some examples of badStakeholders Management www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

25. Some examples of badStakeholders Management www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

26. Some examples of goodStakeholders Management www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

27. Some examples of goodStakeholders Management www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

28. Some examples of goodStakeholders Management www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

29. StakeholdersManagement applications • Organizational knowledge sharing and creation: i.e. organization improvement or innovation processes • Alternative ideas generation, product or services co-designing, in order to answer customers' or users’ new needs and requests • Designing and implementing socially responsible or sustainable organizational communication campaigns, policy and practices www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

30. Conclusions • The success of an organization today depends more and more on: • Customer and client fidelity • Brand trust and reputation • Organization's ability to manage multi-stakeholder relationships • Organization’s ability to implement socially responsible practices sustainable in the long term www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

31. Learnings • The evolution of intercultural communication processes into complex multi-stakeholder relationships requires managers that have greater intercultural competence • A new generation of managers is needed: one that can see diversity from an intercultural perspective, and that can handle relations involving internal and external diversity or identity differences • Managers need to be able to include different interlocutors in conversational processes, to integrate their points of view into responsible and sustainable organizational decision making and into implementation in the organizational processes www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it

32. Maura Di Mauro InterculturalTrainer, Coach & Consultant Tel. (+39) 02 / 43 1284 40 Mob. (+39) 340 / 32 38 702 E-mail: maura.dimauro@libero.it www.mauradimauro.weebly.com www.mauradimauro.weebly.com maura.dimauro@libero.it