University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Intercultural internal communication: Engaging with multinational employees

(USC Thesis Other)

Intercultural internal communication: Engaging with multinational employees

PDF

Download

Open document

Flip pages

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content

INTERCULTURAL INTERNAL COMMUNICATION:
ENGAGING WITH MULTINATIONAL EMPLOYEES

by

Chan S. Lim
_______________________________________________________

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS)

May 2011

Copyright 2011 Chan S. Lim
ii

Dedication
I dedicate this paper to my parents who have been overwhelmingly supportive
throughout my study. Also, I thank all my instructors, especially Jennifer Floto, for
all the support and guidance. I am who I am because of you.

Thank you.

iii

Table of Contents
Dedication .............................................................................................................ii

List of Figures .......................................................................................................iv

Abstract ................................................................................................................ v

Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1

Internal Communication ........................................................................................ 4

Definition of Terms ............................................................................................ 4
Why is it Important? .......................................................................................... 6
Evolution of Internal Communications ............................................................... 7
The Change: Intranet and Social Media .......................................................... 11
Benefits of Social Media for Internal Communication ...................................... 14

Intercultural Communication ............................................................................... 16

Internal Communication in an International Environment ................................ 16
Culture Shock and meeting in the middle ....................................................... 19
Ways to Minimize Culture Shock .................................................................... 25

Case Studies ...................................................................................................... 30

NHN USA ........................................................................................................ 31
PEAK Sports USA ........................................................................................... 37
Novartis Oncology ........................................................................................... 43

Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 48

Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 50

Appendix ............................................................................................................ 54

iv

List of Figures
Figure 1 – U-Curve ....................................................................................... 19

Figure 2 – Double U-Curve ........................................................................... 23

v

Abstract
Internal communication has evolved over the years from simple one-way
communication to multi-directional communication; sources have gone online
and it is now easy for employees to talk to one another with help of social media.
People are relying on each other to provide and receive information which has
eliminated sole information broadcasting. Now, communicators have more
platforms and tools to explore in communicating with employees and having
them communicate among themselves. Additionally, internal communication
becomes more complicated once an employer goes multinational, bringing in
different cultural traits. Language and cultural barriers start to form providing
obstacles in communicating with each other. So, the role of what the author
deems “cultural translators” becomes important. To support this notion, the paper
also reviews three multinational companies, NHN USA, PEAK Sports USA and
Novartis Oncology.

1

Introduction
Every day, people communicate with each other. Whether it is on cell
phones or in-person talks with one‟s colleagues, people listen and respond both
verbally and non-verbally to each other. Despite the commonality of such
interactions, we have seen dramatic shift in way people communicate with each
other in the past decade. With the invention of pagers and cell phones, people
can be reached anywhere within cellular networks. Email also has changed not
only the ways companies do business, but also the ways people communicate
with each other in general. Then there was the dramatic turn when social media
was introduced. Platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, along with tools such
as YouTube and Flickr, attract not only those with a computer and Internet
connection, but smartphone users as well (Nielson, 2009). Technology before
social media (or Web 2.0 as many refer to it) allowed people to communicate
only with those whom they knew. Thus, it was “closed” communication, a sole
message generating from an institution or a person to a finite number of people
Social media is “open” communication where people can freely communicate
with “strangers,” with information emitting from numerous generating spots.
Such a shift in communication methods also brought change in the way
companies approach customers. Specific tactics differ from industry to industry
and depend on numerous aspects such as company size and topic, but the
overall strategy of reaching out to stakeholders using communication channels
2

that many of the audience are already using stays intact. Thus, for
communication professionals, it always has been about utilizing communication
channels that the target audiences are using. In other words, the professionals
are going where the eyeballs are.
An interesting field to explore with such logic in mind is internal
communication. Being a relatively young field, internal communication is used by
many companies as a form of employee engagement to share information and
ideas among employees. Internal communication is as important as addressing
other stakeholders such as prospective customers and investors. Consequently,
it is obvious that when the way people communicate with each other changes,
internal communication follows accordingly.
For the past five years, companies have been exploring the potential of
social media as an internal communication channel. Some companies use blogs
to allow employees to communicate with one another. Some use custom-built
platforms that derive from external source for internal communications. The
bottom line is that internal communication is altering along with other
communication methods. Companies are required to change as well in the way
they approach internal communication. As more social media platforms and tools
are used within companies, there is less demand for managers who are trained
to communicate with employee base. Instead, the managers are now
encouraging the employees to communicate with each other.
3

Anyone who has been on social media knows that one of its strengths
over traditional media is the ability to overcome geographical locations. For
example, someone in Los Angeles can easily communicate with another person
in Vancouver. This is what many organizations have realized: using social media
can bring an international body of employees together. It is convenient and cost-
effective way of allowing employees to share information and knowledge among
themselves. However, this raises a critical new issue: intercultural
communications.
Generally, communication is closely tied to one‟s culture. Verbal and non-
verbal cues are generated by culture. The way a person talks to his/her superior
in a workplace is determined not only by the corporate culture of the company,
but also the cultural background of the employee. Thus, if an internal
communication program is largely based on one culture, but is targeted toward
numerous cultures, it might fail or incite conflicts. There is no one size that fits all
especially in international environment (Hundal, 2003).
This paper will look at intercultural internal communication, especially how
companies based outside the United States are executing their internal
communication programs in the United States.
From personal experience and relevant readings, it can be predicted that
there is a need for cultural translators for companies with two strong cultures. For
example, if a Japanese company tries to penetrate the North American market,
the US branch of the company is very likely to have both strong Japanese and
4

American culture embedded in the company, yet the two cultures should co-exist
harmoniously. The cultural translator can be one person or a team, but the
translator would obviously need to possess knowledge in the different cultures
represented in the company. Yet, for bigger companies that have wider
international presence, it would require more than a cultural translator. It is
virtually impossible for a person to be knowledgeable in every culture. Therefore,
results of much needed research can provide valuable information about the
company to help properly plan internal communication strategies and tactics.
Internal Communication
Definition of Terms
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, employee means “one
employed by another usually for wages or salary and in a position below the
executive level (Merriam-Webster, 2011).” This definition implies what employee
engagement is about and defines the main audience of the practice. Yet, before
exploring deeper into the subject, clear distinction between internal
communication and employee engagement must be made.
Employee engagement in this paper will refer to a broader business
concept, whereas internal communication will refer to a communication function
utilized by a company to communicate with its employees. The two might refer to
the same set of actions, but employee engagement has broader definition
5

placing internal communication as an element of employee engagement (UK
Local Government Improvement and Development, 2009). For example,
increasing compensation to improve motivation among the employees would fall
under employee engagement, but not internal communication. It is the
communicators‟ job to let the employees know the details of the increased
compensation, but deciding on amount of the increase and the signing of an
approval is the job of human resources. Yet, informing the employees of the
benefits is still a part of employee engagement.
Internal Communication can be defined in variety of ways. It is not only
about informing employees what is going on in the board room and c-suite, but
also what other employees are doing. The larger a company gets, the harder it is
for employees to maintain contact with other employees. Since a company or an
institution is a group of people working toward the same goals, it makes more
sense to communicate with one another within the group. According to Hye Shin
Yoon, director at Korea-Personality Assessment & Consulting, a human
resources consulting company in Seoul, employees are partners who corporate
with the company and together achieve the company‟s goal (Yoon, 2011). From
a human resources point of view, employees are people who must be informed
about a company‟s strategic goals and achievement. In other words, they do not
work for a company, but work with the company. This also means that the
employees‟ personal goals and the company‟s goals need to align with one
another. Although, the communications team does not have authority over
6

deciding operating measures to get employees involved and motivated, the team
can communicate different aspects of a company to employees in inclusive ways.
Much like the communications team cannot determine what products to make; it
also cannot dictate hiring, training, merit, compensation or other human
resources operational policies. More and more, however, public relations
practitioners are being invited to comment on such policies and have long been
called upon to craft messages about them.
Why is it Important?
According to a study done by the Conference Board, “when employees
are more engaged with the company, it outperforms the competitors (Federman,
2009).” Both from revenue and stock price points of view, engagement levels of
employees play a significant role in the performance of a company. It is also
important to note that Edelman and Ketchum Pleon, two of the biggest PR
agencies in the world, have recently established separate internal
communications groups, which shows how rapidly the internal communications
genre is evolving. According to the Holmes Report, Edelman and Ketchum Pleon
are the third and sixth largest PR agencies in the world in 2010 based on 2009
agency fee income, respectively. Moreover, James E. Grunig discussed the lack
of academic attention and research on the practice despite its importance in his
1992 journal article (Grunig, 1992).
7

Thus, it is clear that internal communications is a significant practice in
operating a company and getting the employees engaged. According to Towers
Watson, a human resources consulting company, successful internal
communications will lead to financial performance and get employees engaged
(Watson Wyatt Worldwide, 2010). So, now the question becomes: how should a
company execute successful internal communications?

Evolution of Internal Communications
Internal communications started with two types of communication methods,
one-way and two-way communications. One-way communication, as its name
suggests, has one main message transmitter pushing out messages to many
receivers and the receivers do not usually reply or provide feedback. Two-way
communication, in most cases, is similar to one-way communication except the
message receivers provide feedback.
In the 1940‟s, companies published periodicals, generally in a newsletter
format, called “house organs” for their employees. It was an easy way for the
management to say what they wanted to say to the employees, but not with the
employees. Management embedded corporate information into such periodicals
and assumed that the employees read the articles thoroughly and absorbed (and
agreed with) the intended messages. Unless a company had a robust feedback
mechanism, it was nearly impossible for employees to express their thoughts on
8

the material. There are other one-way communication channels that utilize
written language and messaging such as brochures and letters. Both distribute
messages using print media, but feedback is minimal. These print one-way
communication media have changed over the years. During the 1980s, strategic
internal communicators tried to revamp the one-way “house organ” mentality by
creating glossy magazines and corporate TV programs. However, it wasn‟t until
the late 1990s that companies began to acknowledge the importance of two-way
communication. That movement was due, in large part, to the advent of the
Internet. Since then, many newsletters and other printed notices have gone
electronic due to their environmentally friendliness, cost effectiveness and easy
access by readers (Gorey, 2007). Ni:m is the internal magazine published for CJ
Corporation, a multi-faceted South Korean corporation that has businesses in
sugar, entertainment, restaurant and retail industries. The magazine, which was
first published in March 2000, is online for not only the employees to view, but
also external audiences as well at http://www.cjmagazine.co.kr/. Although the
old-fashioned house organs have evolved to take advantage of the new
technology, due to the lack of ability to actually hold conversation, they might
seem outdated. The internal communications field has seen some exceptional
work in the past seven decades; in fact, the creators of the internal
communications concept were the founders of a company that is still a
powerhouse today. Hewlett-Packard‟s Bill Hewlett and Dace Packard pioneered
an interesting management tactic that focused on two-way communication.
9

Called “management by walking around,” two managers would literally walk
around offices listening to the employees. This not only allowed the employees to
talk to the managers, but also managers to be open to suggestions and opinions.
Such communication allowed managers to communicate the overall objective of
a project or task to the employees while the employees could work toward the
object at their own pace. Due to such emphasis on objectives, the style later was
called “management by objectives.” The term was coined by Peter Drucker in his
landmark 1954 book, “The Practice of Management.” Instead of micro-managing
the employees, telling them each step at the manager‟s pace, Hewlett and
Packard allowed the employees to choose their procedure and take responsibility.
By communicating objectives, not specific tasks, to the employees in face-to-face
communication HP was able to keep its employees engaged. The effectiveness
of such communication methods showed in the company‟s performance. In 1940,
the company only had three employees with total revenue of $34,396. By 1949,
the company had 166 employees outputting total revenue of $2.2 million. That is
5533% increase in number of employees and 6396% increase in revenue (HP,
2011). The managers‟ communication style was not the only factor accountable
for the growth, but it is undeniable that the communication method played a
significant role in growing the company, and still does today.
Such two-way communication methods are still in practice today at
successful companies. For a manager or chief executive to walk around the
office to chat with employees is not an unusual action. Any in-person meetings
10

can fall under two-way communication. Furthermore, Carole M. Howard, in her
article, “Face-to-Face Communications: Payback Is Worth the Effort,” points out
how important face-to-face communications is. It does take up top management‟s
time, but the “payback is worth the effort.”
Similar to one-way communication methods, two-way communication
methods also evolved as the Internet was introduced. With house organs going
online, two-way communication was also taking place in the virtual world. Email,
an effective two-way communication tool, is being widely used in workplaces.
Hotmail, a free email service provider, started service on July 4, 1996 and by end
of 1997, provided service to millions of users (Craddock, 2010) while the
worldwide user base reached 10 million (Left, 2002). In the following year,
Microsoft acquired Hotmail for $400M.
Introduction of the Internet was great news for large corporations,
especially international companies. The Internet‟s ability not to be restricted by
physical locations gave such companies a competitive edge. Also, email should
have allowed companies to save on phone bills and allowed smoother flow of
information between offices. However, email is a closed communication channel
where only those who are included in the email could share information. Thus, it
was either open in Internet or closed in the emails. Large companies needed a
more secure yet open system. Those companies took traditional Internet
protocols and affixed what is known as a firewall, a system designed to deny or
grant access to a network depending on certain criteria. This is Intranet, a
11

closed-network accessible only by authorized persons (Sinickas, 2005). Its ability
to share external links while sharing confidential information within safety of
firewalls met the needs of large companies and introduced exciting new ways
employees could share information.
The Change: Intranet and Social Media
When the mainstream audience accepts new technologies, it is very likely
for those technologies to be utilized by corporations for internal communication
(Holtz, 2005).
An intranet‟s exclusivity guarantees quality and control of content being
shared. Since traffic can be monitored, content is relatively easier to manage. An
intranet is still a mixture of controlled and uncontrolled media like the Internet.
For example, the communication team might have strong influence over what the
president of a company blogs about on his internal blogs, but the team has
minimal control over what an employee blogs about. Internal blogs must be a
free space where employees freely and willingly share their expertise and
thoughts on topics of choice. In other words, the topic or the motivation to blog
cannot be enforced. It must come naturally. However, the company should plan
topics ahead and provide guidelines (Shoss, 2011). The topics can vary
depending on different needs of different companies as there is no one size that
fits all (Hundal, 2003).
12

IBM is known for its innovative initiatives in usage of intranet. Called W3,
IBM‟s intranet network is one of the most well-known systems, which utilizes its
400,000 employees worldwide. Among some interesting initiatives that IBM has
devised within the network, there are two notable ones; blogs and Jam events.
During his speech on November 9, 2009 at USC Annenberg School for
Communication and Journalism, Jon Iwata, senior vice president of marketing
and communications for IBM, talked about the massive internal blog database
within IBM‟s intranet network, W3. The database is influential enough to change
web search experience once it becomes available to an outside audience. In
other words, these blogs are not diary-like postings, but ones that provide
expertise in specific professional fields. This approach allows IBM to reinforce the
image of cutting-edge technology provider to its employees. For a massive
company like IBM with 400,000 employees, these blogs not only provide a way to
share information and expertise among the employees, they also can unite
employees at 209 countries that IBM operates in. For example, a blogger at
IBM‟s Los Angeles office might interact with another employee at the Bogota
facility. This not only increases the information flow between two people or two
offices, but also enhances the employees‟ feelings of inclusiveness.
Another innovation IBM utilizes is its Jam program, started in 2001.
Considered to be one of the most innovative ways to get employees engaged in
their work, IBM Jam utilizes its massive employee base with its extensive intranet
infrastructure to hold conversations on various subjects among employees
13

around the world. In 2003, IBM held “ValuesJam” where employees redefined the
core values. In 2006, “InnovationJam” was aimed at devising new business ideas
utilizing the company‟s existing technologies. This was the largest Jam to date
uniting 150,000 people from 104 countries. Through “InnovationJam,” IBM was
able to launch 10 new businesses with a seed investment totaling $100 million.
Both initiatives use the fairly new technology and allows for two-way
communication. This has been the trend in internal and external communication
for the past decade. Communicators are allowing the employees to produce their
own input whether it is in starting conversations or carrying on already existing
conversations adding their expertise into it. By doing so, companies can ensure
transparency within social media. Companies provide guidelines and a platform
while employees provide the majority of actual content. There is no manipulating
of information or any other similar acts. As Michael Brito says in his blog,
Britopian, social media is an extension of people‟s daily life with friends,
colleagues and loved one (Brito, 2008). Thus, social media gets its ingenuity.
Another aspect of social media is transparency. Michael Brito has a very simple
logic to transparency on social media. People do not like to lie; why should they
lie on social media? Moreover, many professionals are talking about the
importance of being transparent in social media (Allen Hall Public Relations,
2009).
Therefore, it can be concluded that being transparent and allowing
employees to join in the conversation is the best way to utilize social media. Now
14

that the paper has reviewed examples and examined how to utilize the medium,
it would be worthwhile to analyze strength of social media as an internal
communication tool.
Benefits of Social Media for Internal Communication
As mentioned earlier, social media has various information-disseminating
points called employees in this case. An employee would be receiving
information from another employee who is not necessarily a superior. With
traditional communication channels such as newsletters, managers and directors
were pushing out information to rank-and-file employees and other managers.
Yet, with social media, employees can rely on others like themselves for
information. Such behavior is called Groundswell, a social tendency of people
relying on others for information otherwise would come from big corporations (Li
& Bernoff, 2008). Groundswell brings credibility as the information provider is
similar to the information receiver. Besides credibility, there are several benefits
of social media as an internal communication channel (Manchester, 2009).
Improving Internal Dialogue and Awareness – It is so easy to publish via
blogs and other social media tools these days that starting a conversation is
trouble-free. Such simplicity creates new opportunities for employees from
different practice groups to communicate and discuss on numerous topics with
other employees. Furthermore, companies can make use of such tools to better
communicate with employees.
15

Reducing Isolation for Remote Workers – It is a well-known fact that social
media can jump over time zones and vast oceans bringing people at different
locations together. There isn‟t any mountain high enough, valley low enough or
river wide enough to stop social media from connecting employees.
Creating Competitive Advantage with Real-Time Updates and Information –
Information sharing platforms such as Wiki sites and micro-blogging services
allow users to consume information as fast as people can type. This creates a
real-time information sharing environment. Also, instant messenger, as its name
suggests, is a great real-time social media tool that can be used by employees to
communicate with each other.
In addition to the aforementioned benefits described by Alex Manchester,
there are even more benefits of social media when used for internal
communication.
Minimal Training – When there was one or few message-disseminating sources,
the company would have to train the managers and prepare them to be good
communicators. Since the majority of communication is happening among
employees, managers need minimal training to become moderators not trained
communicators.
Credibility – As mentioned earlier, the groundswell has shifted the origin of
information. Since information generates from other employees, they are more
likely to believe each other.
16

Not every communication method is perfect. There are strengths and
weaknesses for each of them. For example, due to its real-time aspect, an
employee might expect an instant reply from another employee when such action
is not realistic. For example, the receiving employee might be away from her/his
desk or tied up with other high-priority work or in a meeting or at lunch. So
despite the fact that social media has gone where other channels could not
employees‟ expectations need to be managed.
Intercultural Communication
Internal Communication in an International Environment
Geographical Location and Time Difference – Once a company starts to
establish offices overseas, not only does the employee base become more
diverse, but geographical location gets diverse as well. This means there is time
difference between or among offices. A company might be already dealing with
time differences between the East Coast and the West Coast, but once the
company goes international, the differences become far more vexing. For
example, if a company has offices in London and Los Angeles, the only time that
both offices are working during regular business hours is between 9 a.m. and 10
a.m. PST. Also, real-time conversation among the employees in difference
offices can be limited. This can result in working overtime repeatedly which might
negatively affect employees‟ satisfaction. Moreover, the time difference conflict
17

can lead to another problem. For instance, if a company has several offices
throughout Europe and Asia, offices in same regions will tend to communicate
with each other, increasing the already existing gap between different regions.
Since there is narrow time window when different regions are working during
regular office hours, chances of having elongated real-time conversation get very
slim while those chances within same region increase. So the Asian offices will
talk among themselves more while the Europeans counterparts will do and so on.
Stereotypes - People build stereotypes because they are faster and easier to
process certain information (Macrae, Milne, & Bodenhausen, 1994). Although
Macrae and his colleagues described them as “energy-saving devices,”
stereotypes are not always accurate. As the description suggests, stereotypes
are just a way to save time and energy. In addition, popular culture has always
enforced such stereotypes. For example, a stand-up comedian, Russell Peters,
calls out certain nationalities during his show. After calling out for Koreans, he
says, “oh that‟s five closed dry cleaners in the town” (Peters, 2006). Thus, such
stereotypes implanted in everyone‟s minds by outside media might affect the
employees when communicating with each other. If an employee has relatively
negative image about a certain group of people, the employee might be very
hesitant or even reach conclusion of his/her own before communicating with the
group.
Language – One of the biggest challenges in intercultural communication is, of
course, language. Since not everyone in a multi-national company speaks the
18

same language, it is difficult for communicators to actually devise mechanisms
with specific messages embedded. Additionally, linguistic ethnocentrism, belief
that one‟s language is superior to others‟, can negatively affect the outcome.
Thus, Deanna Shoss, director of marketing, communications and business
development at Jewish Child & Family Services in Chicago, suggests companies
decide on what language(s) should be used for global communication (Shoss,
2011). Besides choosing multiple languages to address a wider audience base,
translation tools can be used, yet cautions must be taken as they are not always
accurate and definitely cannot account for slang, idioms or cultural nuances.
Culture – Taking language differences to an even broader concept, cultural
differences are another obstacle. Communication is easier among people with
similar cultures than those with different cultures. Hesitation to communicate with
one another can build up from lack of information on each other (Braithwaite &
Braithwaite, 2009). Also, ethnocentrism creates even bigger walls in intercultural
communication (McDaniel, Samovar, & Porter, 2009). Hesitation and being
ethnocentric are relatively minor consequences of difference in culture. In some
cases, it can be a little more severe resulting in what we term culture shock.

19

Culture Shock and meeting in the middle
Figure 1 – U-Curve
Culture shock is a concept that is mostly applied to national cultures and
experienced by people traveling or moving abroad. In 1955, Sven Lysgaard
published a study on cultural adjustment patterns of Norwegian Fulbright
scholars in the United States. He presented his finding in a U-shaped graph
indicating a stage of euphoria before entering the host culture, followed by a
sharp drop in satisfaction, or, what came to be known as the culture shock stage.
Next comes the recovery followed by eventual adjustment to the host culture.
According to a British anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, culture is a
“complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and
any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society
(McDaniel, Samovar, & Porter, 2009).” Taking the definition and applying it to
corporate culture, it would be something acquired by members of a corporation.
Satisfaction
Time
U-Curve
Culture Shock
Euphoria
Adjustment
Recovery
20

So, each employee would have influence in shaping unique corporate culture.
Geert Hofstede defines corporate culture or organizational culture as he likes to
call it, as “the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members
of one organization from another (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, Cultures and
Organizations, 2010).” Due to such uniqueness or differences among corporate
cultures, employees can also experience culture shock. The experience can be
applied to Lysgaard‟s U-shaped curve by substituting the host culture with
corporate culture to plot out the emotional change of a person when joining a
new company. He/she might start his/her first day with great expectations. Yet,
the corporate culture could be too different from his/her expectations, thus
causing the employee to enter the culture shock stage. As time passes by,
he/she recovers and eventually adjusts to new workplace. The knowledge that
allows the employee to navigate the initial emotional rollercoaster can be
exacerbated or enhanced by large consumption of different types of media
depicting the culture or familiarity with the culture as the subject might have lived
or experienced similar culture before. For example, corporate cultures of two
gaming companies based in San Francisco might be very similar to each other.
Thus, a person who has worked at one of the two might not experience severe
culture shock when joining the other company. However, if another employee
comes from different country from different industry to work at one of the
companies, then he/she might experience severe culture shock. Moreover,
21

moving overseas within the same company might result in such severe culture
shock.
For the employees of international companies, the U-curved culture shock
could be observed when moving to another office overseas or joining a new
company. From the company‟s point of view such a curve can be very costly.
The 1986 movie Gung Ho portrays challenges an international company,
Japanese automobile maker called Assan Motors in this case, might have in
expanding to the North American market. While the movie tends to exaggerate
some possible conflicts, the basis of the conflict is plausible. First, the culture
shock is experienced by both the Japanese workers and the American workers.
Oishi Kazuhiro, the Japanese manager played by Gedde Watanabe and his
management team from Japan were not used to the way things were done in the
US. With the strong presence of the worker‟s union, the Japanese management
team could not push the employees like they used to in Japan. Also, the
American workers could not understand the Japanese way and tried to stick to
their old way of working. Such differences made both sides more biased about
their own cultures. However, the conflicts were alleviated as the both sides
began to communicate and accept the cultural differences. First, when Hunter
Stevenson, a liaison between the American workers and the Japanese
management team played by Michael Keaton, and his girlfriend, portrayed by
Mimi Rogers are invited to a dinner with the Japanese management team Oishi
Kazuhiro, asks Hunter if they can talk about the factory. Then Kazuhiro‟s wife,
22

actress Patti Yasutake, leaves the table following the Japanese culture, while
Hunter‟s girlfriend stays at the table. Hunter tries to make her leave the table
while not saying it directly, but fails. Soon, Hunter gets irritated by his girlfriend
interfering with the conversation and shouts at her. Here, one can see how
Hunter has to adjust to the host culture. Another adjustment happens later in the
film when Hunter suggests raises and hiring additional employees to
produce15,000 cars in one month. In Japan, such an achievement would be
commonplace because, according to Kazuhiro, employees think of the company
as their own so they don‟t require additional incentives. Yet Kazuhiro accepts the
offer which can be seen as a gesture of adjustment to the American culture of
being motivated by monetary reward. As the fictitious Hunter and Kazuhiro
communicate more freely, the conflicts start to get solved at an even faster rate.
Thus, two theories which could inspire corporate communicators can be drawn
from the movie.
1. Corporate culture can be enforced, but it eventually ends up being
where the employees adjust
This could be interpreted using the U-curve. Consider the U-curve for Kazuhiro
and his Japanese management team. When they were flying over the Pacific to
run the auto plant in Pennsylvania, they had their own expectations. However,
when they encountered the American workers, they experienced culture shock.
Yet, as time passed and they spent more time with the workers, they slowly
adjusted to the American culture. The same process happens to the American
23

workers as well. Their adjustment time can be plotted as follows: where the two
cultures end up becomes the corporate culture of the company which is
represented on the graph by a shaded rectangular box. So, when two cultures
collide and are represented on the same grid using the U-curve, the adjustment
part at the end becomes more of a negotiation between the two cultures.
Figure 2 – Double U-Curve
2. Change starts at the top
Viewing the situation from a communication point of view, the conflicts start to get
solved once Hunter communicates clearly what is happening between him and
the Japanese management team and shows the employees the friendship and
partnership he has built with Kazuhiro. Toward the end of the movie, Hunter
alongside Kazuhiro walks up to the discouraged workers to announce that the
plant will be closing and encourages the workers to finish the last few cars left for
Satisfaction
Time
Double U-Curves
American
Workers
Japanese
Management
24

their 15,000 mark. What Hunter has done in two incidents is clear communication.
He communicated what really happened, not something that the workers wanted
to know. Clear communications is especially important in multicultural situations
as the action helps to reduce uncertainty about unknown aspects.
Deanna Shoss says that “the SENIOR LEVEL Management needs to be
committed to an engagement and inclusion strategy that exists within the
company.” In other words, the top level management needs to lead the way, and
then have other internal communication methods follow and reinforce what is
being done.
While Gung Ho is fictional, it provides a good framework for addressing
culture shock. In recent history, a real Japanese auto maker, Toyota, was in a
similar situation, but executed the US operation very well, mixing Japanese and
American culture together. In 1984, the company was manufacturing and selling
nine models and had 6% of the market. To increase its market share, Toyota was
planning to build a manufacturing plant and start vehicle production in the US.
Thus, Toyota hired former-Ford PR professional, James Olson, and invited him
to Japan where Dr. Shoichiro Toyoda, then-president of Toyota, had Olson learn
the Toyota way, genchi genbutsu meaning “go and see for yourself (The
Economist, 2009).” When Olson came back from Japan, he started “playing to
local sentiment.” In 1986, the new joint-venture plant in Fremont, California was
staffed with 3,000 laid-off GM workers. To take it a step further, company
executives and managers were eating in the same cafeteria with those 3,000 re-
25

hired workers (Bloomberg Newsweek, 2007). All of these actions communicate
that the Japanese management is trying to adjust to and accommodate the
American culture and sometimes even do more than necessary to keep the
factory running smooth. Interestingly, in the same year, Gung Ho was released.
Later, Toyota used the film to train its Japanese managers how not to manage
Americans.
In Toyota‟s case, the change started at the top when Dr. Toyoda tried to
teach Olson the Toyota way, genchi genbutsu. Olson did not execute everything
that the company did in Japan within the US operations. He applied. He had a
clear idea of the American culture in automobile plants and added what he
learned in Japan to lead Toyota‟s US operations. Thus, he was translating
cultures.
Visiting a country to learn about a new culture provides accurate
information at its raw state. Olson could see for himself how a Toyota plant in
Japan is run and maintained. However, physical travel sometimes is not an
option. Then, the company needs to rely on different aspects to minimize culture
shock.
Ways to Minimize Culture Shock
When an employee is going through culture shock due to recent relocation,
it is obviously very difficult to get engaged with work. Minimizing culture shock is
very important in terms of employee engagement.
26

Cultural Dimensions
In the 1980s, Prof. Geert Hofstede, emeritus professor at Maastricht
University, conducted multicultural communication studies within IBM, utilizing
the company‟s massive international employee base. He presented his findings
in five simple categories with numerical scores: Power Distance Index (PDI,)
Individualism (IDV,) Masculinity (MAS,) Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) and
Long-Term Orientation (LTO) (Hofstede, Geert Hofstede™ Cultural Dimensions,
2009).
Power Distance Index – PDI measures how well a society accepts unequal
distribution of power. Thus, the countries with high PDI scores are more
acceptable towards inequality. It is true that all society is unequal, but the index
measures relative unfairness. Malaysia, Slovakia and Guatemala have the
highest scores while Denmark, Israel and Austria scored the lowest.
Individualism – As its name suggests, this index measures how individualistic or
collectivistic a culture is. Individualistic cultures emphasize well-being of
individuals which only extends to immediate family members. Such tendency
keeps the ties between individuals loose. On the other hand, collectivistic
cultures hold value in being integrated into strong group environment. The US,
Australia and the UK are the top individualistic cultures while Panama, Ecuador
and Guatemala are the most collectivistic cultures.
Masculinity – Masculine cultures value aggressiveness and competition while
feminine cultures value nurturing and interest in standards of living. Slovakia,
27

Japan and Hungary are at the top masculine cultures while the Netherlands,
Norway and Sweden show the most feminine traits.
Uncertainty Avoidance Index – This index measures how uncomfortable a culture
feels about uncertainty. Similar to PDI, everyone will find uncertainty disturbing,
thus it measures relative discomfort. Thus, countries with high uncertainty
avoidance index will try to avoid any uncertainty or ambiguity while the opposite
side will try to have as few rules as possible. Also, the uncertainty accepting
cultures will allow many different opinions flow side by side. In Singapore,
Jamaica and Denmark, one will find culture opened to different opinions while
Guatemala, Portugal and Greece will have numerous laws, rules, and safety and
security measures to avoid any uncertainty.
Long-Term Orientation – This index looks at how a culture views the future.
China, Hong Kong and Taiwan tend to view the future via long-term goals while
the Philippines, the Czech Republic and Pakistan tend to set short-term goals.
Although the study was done within IBM to uncover any weaknesses,
Hofstede argues that such unity among the subjects‟ backgrounds helps point
out cultural differences in any organization and in any profession. For example, if
Hofstede compared an American who works at IBM with an Italian farmer, the
difference would not only exist in culture, but the profession as well.
Although it has been over 20 years since the initial data collection it is still
a widely referred source. A new study needs to be conducted to ascertain the
impact of social media and the Internet on culture shock. Also, it would be
28

worthwhile to study vice versa, how different culture traits affect social media
usages. However, the dimensions can definitely help employees including
managers to understand other employees with different cultural background
which in turn might minimize intercultural difficulties.
The dimensions also can be learned by employees in advance to gain
more information about certain culture before the initial encounter to help
minimize culture shock.
Cultural Translators
Another way to minimize culture shock besides Hofstede‟s cultural
dimensions is usage of cultural translators. As seen in Gung Ho, conflicts started
to get solved once Hunt Stevenson and Oishi Kazuhiro tried to understand each
other and accept differences. In Toyota‟s case, James Olson took lessons in
Toyota culture in Japan. Although, the American culture would be significantly
more dominant for Olson, he at least took time and effort to travel to Japan and
tried to learn not only the national culture, but also the corporate culture. Besides,
he was very aware of how American automotive industry was ran as he held
several management positions at Ford before joining Toyota. Thus, Stevenson,
Kazuhiro and Olson were all acting as what the author deems “cultural
translators.” In situations where two national cultures are considered, cultural
translators should be able to provide valuable information and play critical roles
in connecting the two cultures, minimizing culture shocks. As the term cultural
translators suggest they are translating culture just like any translators would
29

translate languages. A businessman/woman would not walk into a meeting room
full of people who do not speak his or her language. He/she would be
accompanied by a translator to better communicate with the people in the
meeting. It is the same concept. The businessman/woman should be
accompanied by a cultural translator if he/she does not know anything about the
culture of people in the meeting. . A real life implication of cultural translators in
internal communication will be discussed further in the case studies section.
In addition, there is more to a culture than the five cultural dimensions. In
his book “Cultures and Organizations,” Hofstede talks about the motivation
theory with emphasis on culture. Culture influences not only our behaviors but
also the reason behind the behaviors (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, Cultures
and Organizations, 2010). As a result, different cultures are motivated by
different aspects. And cultural translators should be able to distinguish those
differences.
After looking at the evolution of internal communication and culture shock,
the author hypothesizes that in today‟s world, where real-time conversations take
place across oceans and continents, there is an increasing need for cultural
translators who understand cultures represented by the employee base. This not
only will help to minimize culture shock, but also will help with internal
communication. However, as a company gets larger and more cultures are
represented, it becomes difficult if not impossible to apply cultural translators. In
reality, it would be pretty difficult to find a person who understands several
30

cultures thoroughly and can lead internal communication initiatives. Then, the
company can conduct thorough research to understand the audience better.
Furthermore, it would be wise for companies to acknowledge benefits of social
media as an internal communication tool, yet the author fears some companies
are overlooking the power of social media.
Case Studies
For case studies, three companies will be reviewed. The first two are
similar, yet different. Both NHN USA and PEAK Sports USA are the US branch
offices of international companies based in South Korea and China, respectively.
NHN USA is an online game publisher which serves North America, South
America, and Europe. PEAK Sports USA is an active wear and footwear brand
that is relatively new to the North American market. It prides itself in being the
fastest growing basketball footwear company in the world. The two companies
will be studied to look how international companies are executing internal
communication in real life situations. Also, role of cultural translators will be
addressed. After the two companies have been reviewed, Novartis Oncology, an
international pharmaceutical company, will be studied to look at importance of
research.

31

NHN USA
Situation Analysis
Strengths
Controllable environment – According to Calvin Yang, NHN USA houses about
50 employees. A smaller employee base means easier communication among
the employees. This also leads to being less dependent on technology such as
social media and email. As Yang puts it, “everybody is seated within shouting
distance,” thus, shouting can be a communication channel if employees decide to
so. This is significant because not many companies have the luxury to use such
channels. The number of employees will also help the company keep everything
under control. When there are less people involved, it is easier to control which
information gets sent out and if necessary, find out the origin of any unwanted
information.
Weaknesses
The divide – Every international firm would suffer from the internal divide of its
employees. It is natural for people to behave as a group. Thus, in companies like
NHN USA, there is a divide between two groups of people, Koreans and
Americans. Koreans are the expats who have crossed the Pacific with the help of
NHN. The American group consists of local hires with or without Korean ties. The
weakness comes in lack of knowledge of the two cultures, including language.
Korean employees who have just arrived in the US would not have a full grasp of
the culture and language, unless they have previously lived in the US.
32

Furthermore, the divide creates another problem in language. A lot of day-to-day
conversation in the office happens in both languages. Yet, since not everyone in
the office knows both languages, some people will feel left out from time to time.
For example, if two Korean employees start talking in Korean during a meeting
with both Korean and English speaking employees, some English-speaking
employees will feel left out or even offended.
The Pacific Divide – The divide between Koreans and local hires is concern of
only NHN USA. However, when the whole corporation is considered, the divide
gets bigger. NHN Corporation is headquartered in Korea, which means that
considering regular business hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., there is only three
hours, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. PST every day that both NHN USA and NHN
Corporation is up and running. Realistically, since employees would need an
hour or so at the beginning of the day to settle and get ready, there are only two
hours a day for both offices to actually communicate with each other in real-time.
Opportunities
A growing industry – The ultimate goal of internal communication is employee
engagement. One of the numerous sources of employee engagement is trend
setting. For example, the gaming industry has been growing for the last couple of
years. The Audit Bureau of Circulations recently released data that Game
Informer magazine is the fifth most-circulated print magazine in the US with over
5 million copies annually (Orland, 2011). Also, according to NHN‟s 2010 4
th

quarter earnings report, profit from overseas operation, including the US, Japan
33

and China, increased by 116% compared to 2009 and 120.5% compared to the
3
rd
quarter of 2010. Also, overall profit from online game has increased from 243
billion won in 2007 to 422 billion won in 2010. As the report states, NHN
Corporation, along with its international arms, has been growing in the online
gaming arena and the US gaming market is larger than ever. Such trends will
affect how engaged employees will be. Simply put, a mechanical engineer would
be more likely to speak proudly of his job if he were working for Ferrari rather
than a relatively less-prestigious automobile maker.
Threats
Stereotypes – As mentioned earlier, stereotypes are “energy-saving devices,”
that are not always accurate. Such inaccurate stereotypes will act as threat to
communicating with international body of employees.
Audiences
The main audience for NHN USA‟s internal communication effort should
be the 50 employees working in the Irvine office. Yet the program can extend
itself to include 1,000 people at the Korea office working on Hangame, the online
gaming portal site that only operates in Korea.
Strategies and Tactics
Reducing the Gap with Classes
NHN USA provides different classes to educate its employees and to
reduce the gap among different types of employees. English language classes
are provided for Korean employees who are not fluent in the language. The
34

company also provides Korean business culture and language classes for its
American employees. The classes are not mandatory. Languages are better
learned when practiced more often and NHN USA can provide that environment
for the employees. By taking classes, employees can learn the language, but
really practice it in the office by talking to other employees. This can be
especially effective in smaller group environments since employees will know
who is in their class. As Calvin Yang said, “our organization is small enough that
sharing of information is not (and should not be) a big issue.” Furthermore, as
many cultural texts point out language as the biggest challenge in intercultural
communications, providing classes would be a great way to reduce the gap
between the two cultural groups in the company.
Although, Yang did not point it out during the interview, NHN USA can
expect increasing number of cultural translators as the classes will teach
employees opposite cultures including language.
Lack of initiatives that crosses the Pacific
Although the company has created an intimate and family-like culture at
the US office, workers here still need to communicate with its headquarters in
Korea. However, the company seems to lack such programs. An ex-employee of
the company expressed her irritation with the lack of communication between the
two offices. The rule of thumb in the industry is that Asian free-to-play games that
are serviced in the US are generally a couple of months behind the Asian
counterpart. This means that the US version receives patches after they are
35

implemented in the Korean version. Thus, knowing what the headquarters is
working on provides a lot of information in terms of the direction of the games
being developed and serviced. By eliminating such communication channels, US
employees can feel left out, which can be detrimental to the company.
Currently, only upper management directly talks to each other across the
Pacific. According to the ex-employee, she could only talk to her immediate
supervisor and if she tried to talk to someone higher, it would be considered
“rude.” Such incidents can be interpreted with Hofstede‟s cultural dimensions.
The company is headquartered in South Korea and has numerous Korean
workers that came from the headquarters. PDI measures how widely unequal
power distribution in a society is accepted. The cultural dimensions indicate that
South Korea has Power Distance Index of 60 while the United States has 40.
Thus, South Koreans are more amenable to their bosses having more power and
influence on the Americans. In the case of the interviewed junior level ex-
employee, the incident would be more acceptable in South Korea than in the US
as more people are accustomed to such incidents.
In addition, this incident can be a representation of the corporate culture of
NHN. As mentioned, the corporate culture has strong Korean traits, and even
some of American employees‟ frustration is a part of the corporate culture. This
supports the double u-curve model that was observed in the movie, Gung Ho.
After certain period of time, the corporate culture settled in with a mixture of
American and Korean cultures, giving birth to a unique corporate culture.
36

The situation can be also analyzed according to Hofstede‟s motivation
theory. Different cultures have different methods to motivate people. In this
instance, managers seem to be unaware of the factors that motivate certain
employees. Analyzing the junior level ex-employee‟s answers, it is clear that she
is someone who would get motivated by being heard and feeling as if she
belongs to the team and the company. Not being able to see through such
aspects is a mistake that the management should address. It is true that the
management might make an argument that her performance was not on par.
Internal communication is not about just listening to those who perform above
average; it is about engaging employees and bringing the best out of them.
Additionally, American employees at the US office might feel even more
left out since Korean-speaking employees can get their information via Korean
news sites. Hearing about one‟s own company from an outside person is not a
pleasant way to communicate. It is as simple as a person would feel obligated to
share news with his/her friend in person because he/she cares about the friend.
Using a third party platform to communicate information about a company is
never a good idea whether it was intended or not. Another way of looking at it is
that if the US employees hear about the headquarters from a news source, they
are being treated just like the intended outside audience. That means that the
company is leaving its US employees out of the loop, which eventually would
decrease employee engagement. Such action goes exactly opposite to what the
company should achieve in terms of communication.
37

Evaluation
To evaluate the internal communication effort, the company conducts
anonymous surveys. They are done at least once a year to measure not only the
effectiveness of communication, but also employee morale.
PEAK Sports USA
Situation Analysis
Strengths
Controllable environment – Similar to the online gaming company, the size of
PEAK Sports USA gives it the ability to control the message and the content of
what employees communicate with each other within the US office. Furthermore,
PEAK Sports USA has a social media policy which does not allow any work-
related content to be shared among the employees or any other related third
party personnel via social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. PEAK
Sports USA only houses eight employees. For larger companies, such policy
might harder to enforce, but for smaller ones like PEAK Sports USA, it is
relatively easier and executable. On the other hand, management encourages its
employees to Facebook or tweet about the company. Although these two specific
policies do not directly address internal communications, such strong
understanding of social media and encouragement will lead to the successful use
of medium when the management decides to implement it for internal
communication.
38

Steady growth – Employees are more likely to feel engaged with companies that
are growing and performing better and better. Thus, communicating such growth
is important in engaging its employees and financial report is a good way to do
so. Reviewing PEAK Sports‟ financial report section on the website, anyone can
see with a quick glance that the company is growing fast. Numbers of PEAK
Sports-endorsed NBA starts are increasing as well as the company profit. One of
the best things that a company can do to make its employees feel proud is to
make the company well-known and inspirational. PEAK Sports is doing exactly
that by signing more NBA players and increasing profit.
Weaknesses
The divide – Due to its minimal staffing of eight, PEAK Sports USA should not
have any problem about the division between Chinese and American employees
within its office. But as the US office grows, the divide will be an obstacle that the
company must address. Also, with such growth, two groups on each side of the
Pacific Ocean will be a bigger problem. Such divides can make communication
very hard to happen as uncertainty and unfamiliarity towards each other grows.
Opportunities
Recent Exposure to Main Stream Media – PEAK Sports endorses several NBA
players including JaVale McGee. PEAK Sports prepared five different pairs of
shoes for McGee during 2011 Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. His shoes received
some attention from all kinds of media from national dailies to special-interest
39

blogs. Such wide exposure of the company and its products on wide variety of
outlets will increase employee engagement.
Threats
Stereotypes – Again, a very similar threat can be identified. As mentioned earlier,
popular media portrays a lot of stereotypes in different nationalities and the
Chinese are no exception. A local hire that is not familiar with Chinese culture
and business practices might walk into the office with stereotypes which might
affect internal communication negatively. Part of these stereotypes is fueled by
China‟s decades-long closed door policy, but employees on both sides of the
Pacific need to be cognizant of the stigmas.
Audiences
The main audience is very similar to the online gaming company. Its main
audience should be PEAK Sports USA‟s eight employees. Although the
employee base is small enough to fit all of them into a van, a robust internal
communication in the beginning will spearhead the soon-to-follow strategies for
larger employee base. Also, due to its small size, PEAK Sports USA should have
strong communication initiative with its headquarters in China. PEAK Sports
houses around 1,000 employees in China. To a certain extent, those 1,000
employees have everything to inspire the eight employees at the US office to get
engaged and perform better.

40

Strategies and Tactics
QQ
PEAK Sports USA is a very new company in the US market with only eight
employees. The shoes are not even sold in the US market yet. Therefore, PEAK
Sports USA places a strong emphasis on communication between the Chinese
headquarters and the US office. Also, to have it happen real-time and to avoid
spamming each other‟s inbox with emails with one or two lines, PEAK Sports
uses QQ, one of the most used free Chinese instant messaging programs, to
communicate between the headquarters and the US office. Although QQ creates
some barriers to non-Chinese speaking employees (as the program is in Chinese
and the registration process requires users to read Chinese), it is a great way to
communicate across the Pacific. Email is a good way to communicate between
two offices, but it lacks real-time aspect and is not suited for quick questions.
According to Cherie Zhang, the corporate public relations coordinator for PEAK
Sports USA, QQ is a communication channel for her to have daily conversations
with the head of public relations in Beijing. Also, the program is used to share
information and documents including media info, clippings, videos and even
photos. QQ provides an alternative to file transfer protocol (FTP) servers and
provides real-time advantage over FTP servers. Thus, for daily conversation that
involves questions like “Have you reviewed the company fact sheet that I emailed
you?” and “When do you think the management will have the decisions by?”
41

instant messengers such as QQ might be the best communication medium.
Besides QQ, PEAK Sports USA uses Skype for video conferences.
For this case, social media is acting to bring those eight employees closer
to “reducing isolation for remote workers.” Also, the four who use QQ, Cherie
Zhang, Sharon Su, the COO and CEO are capable of acting as cultural
translators when time comes as all four of them are bilingual.
External Social Media
According to Sharon Su, the executive assistant, PEAK Sports USA does
not allow any work related posts on external social media platforms such as
Facebook and Twitter. Using external social media to discuss work-related topics
might seem unprofessional and the company hopes to avoid such image.
However, PEAK Sports USA encourages its employees to post about the
company as long as the information being shared is not confidential and
proprietary, and it does not negatively affect the company‟s image. For example,
Cherie Zhang posted videos and articles on JaVale McGee, a PEAK Sports
endorsed NBA athlete, during the 2011 All-Stars Weekend. The information she
shared was something that was in the public and did not damage the company‟s
image.
Although using external social media in such ways is not a typical internal
communication method, it shares the same goal of getting employees engaged
and feeling proud of the company. By posting news and relevant information
about the company on social media, one‟s love and affection for the company
42

may grow. Some might argue that employee engagement must make the
employees to feel proud of the company, but it is true that one might feel such
way by posting the news first. Employees can feel a sense of satisfaction when
they receive responses from their friends and followers about the company they
work for.
Evaluation
In terms of using QQ to communicate between offices, Sharon Su talked
about deadlines as a way to measure effectiveness of the medium. However, she
did not mention other evaluation tools to measure the usage of QQ along with
encouraging employees to be active on social media about the company is
affecting how employee morale. As the US operation grows larger and starts
setting up retail spaces, the company must establish such evaluation methods in
order to better communicate with the employees. For example, QQ might work
when there is minimal workforce for the US operation, but as the US operation
grows, the need for another medium might arise to communicate between the US
office and the headquarters in Beijing.

So far, the paper has looked at two Asian companies. One is starting to
grasp the concept of internal communication while another has executed some
initiatives, but both definitely have room for improvement. Both companies
shared some similarities in terms of size especially in how the US branch office
stands against the headquarters. For both case studies, there are two countries
43

involved, which simplify culture, time zone and geographical location conflicts.
Thus, the cultural translator plays a significant role in bridging the gap as he/she
is familiar with both countries involved. Both Yang and Su expressed their
knowledge in different culture during the interviews. From human resource‟s
point of view, it is relatively easy to find such bi-cultural personnel, since there
are more people who have studied abroad or can speak another language today
than a decade or two ago. Also, when only two countries are involved, there are
numerous factors to group the employees together. In other words, in creating
key messages for the employees, it is easier to find similarities among different
type of employees.
Intercultural internal communication can get more complicated as more
countries get involved and the employee number increases.
Novartis Oncology
For NHN USA and PEAK Sports USA, the analysis focused on day-to-day
operation on how employees talk to one another and how the management
communicates with the employees. For Novartis Oncology, the author will focus
on a program that was executed with Fleishman-Hillard, a global public relations
agency that prides itself in client-based service. Novartis Oncology, a subsidiary
owned by Novartis International AG, is dedicated to helping cancer patients with
innovative medicines.

44

Situation Analysis
Strengths
Strong research – The approach to tie a group of 5,000 employees working for a
multinational pharmaceutical company started with extensive research.
Fleishman-Hillard started the process by gathering information from the
employees via in-person meetings and web-based sessions. This was to ensure
that a global perspective was represented in the program. It is crucial to gather
accurate and adequate information as increased number of unique cultures
involved can affect the way employees accept different messages. Therefore, in
creating accurate message that will resonate with wide spectrum of different
cultural backgrounds, research is critical.
Corporate culture – Novartis Oncology has a strong corporate culture. This can
be largely credited to the line of work done by the company. The employees
devote themselves to shared goal: “discover and develop innovative medicines to
fight cancer.” One employee‟s work can change someone‟s life or even save one.
Such a well-built mission statement can act as a strong tie to bring a wide variety
of employees together.
Weaknesses
Diverse Workforce – Novartis Oncology employs 5,000 workers in 39 countries.
This is a very large and diverse audience. Tying such a diverse audience
together to develop key messages is difficult at best. The situation gets even
more convoluted when language and geographical location are considered.
45

Language barriers broaden when employees are located far from each other.
The percentage of body language and paralinguistic cues that accounts for
meaning in communication varies among different theories, but all of them do
argue that non-verbal communication takes up the majority (Engleberg & Wynn,
2006) (Borg, 2008). One dilemma is that if the employees are away from each
other, it is difficult to observe non-verbal cues.
Gaining participation – Since the campaign would require extra time and effort
from the employees, a strong incentive must be provided to get the employees
involved. If the campaign turns out to be another political scam that a group of
manager wants to execute, the involvement would not be promising.
Opportunities
Increased use of social media – As social media becomes more popular,
applying the trend to internal communication becomes easier and more seamless.
This also translates to more involvement from the employees and less time spent
on training on concepts and ways to use certain platforms. Thus, the program
becomes cost effective in the long run.
Threats
Stereotypes – Again, one of the biggest threats is the stereotype that some
employees might have about others from different countries. Furthermore, in this
case, there are more than two cultures involved, which complicate the situation.
With two cultures are involved, it is easier to predict the stereotypes against and
for each culture. However, it becomes more and more difficult to predict once
46

more cultures and countries get involved. As mentioned earlier, stereotypes
created by mass media may be funny and entertaining, but are not necessarily
accurate.
Strategies and Tactics
Open Employee Generation Campaign
The campaign started with two missions:
Create a consistent internal culture that celebrates the unique stories taking
shape at Novartis Oncology locations around the world, uniting employees in the
fight to help cancer patients live longer, better lives; drive business objectives by
evolving the internal campaign into an external program to meet company hiring
goals: to recruit hundreds of new employees worldwide through 2009 and into
2010 (Fleishman-Hillard, 2009).

The three-month long campaign allowed employees to share their stories on
commitment, enthusiasm, diversity and special aspects of working at the
company with other Novartis Oncology colleagues.
For the campaign, 125 Flip cameras were distributed among the Novartis
Oncology offices around the world. To gain interest and provide incentives, three
key messages were developed:
 Celebrate internal stories, while also targeting hiring goals.
 Acknowledge the critical contributions of employees to the success of the
company.
 Enhance employees‟ commitment to growing with the company and
referring top talent.
Also, grand prizes of $1,000 were to be rewarded to top five videos. To
communicate such messages, F-H employed an integrated effort involving
47

internal communications, creative print design, Web design and marketing was
implemented. The campaign used HTML emails, CEO blog posts, fliers and
posters to inform the employees and drive traffic to the internal campaign website.
As mentioned earlier, in social media there are influencers rather than a
broadcasting center that disseminates messages. Influencers, as the name
implies, are the ones who inspire others to get involved. As “Open Employee
Generation Ambassadors and Directors,” these influencers were placed around
the world. Ambassadors were the key influencers in motivating employees to
upload videos and participate while Directors provided support to those who
wished to enter. Training such Ambassadors and Directors usually requires
minimal training compared to training a manager to be the communication center.
Evaluation
The Open Employee Generation campaign can be evaluated
quantitatively. In three months, 131 videos were submitted and 500 employees
voted for and commented on the videos. The website received 7,000 hits from
the employees who casted over 1,500 and left 375 comments on the videos.
Furthermore, the company placed Ambassador and Directors in different offices
to help with the campaign and encourage involvement.
The program was very successful and reaffirmed the brand. The
submitted videos talked about diversity, passion for helping cancer patients, work
life balance, and great teamwork. The campaign not only brought 5,000
employees together, but also provided great content to be shared with
48

prospective employees as a method to introduce company in a way that no other
medium can.
The Open Employee Generation campaign was one of the finalists for the
2010 PR Week Employee Communications Campaign of the Year. It stands as a
shining example of how intercultural communication issues can be successfully
addressed.
Conclusion
Internal communications has come a long way evolving from simple one-
way communication to multi-directional communication. The practice might seem
a specialized communication field, but it can be as simple as improved
understanding of the audience, employees, to better communicate with them.
Making them feel as if they belong and are being taken care of can derive from
simply sharing information or listening to them. In doing so, many internal
communication methods evolved to online sources while social media was
introduced providing unprecedented communication method. Thus, social media
provided numerous benefits as an internal communication tool. Yet, when such
useful medium was introduced to international environment, some challenges
were identified. Furthermore, when dealing in an international environment,
culture shock poses a great threat, keeping employees disengaged and,
therefore, less productive. Accordingly, cultural translators were associated to
minimize culture shock and assist with internal communication efforts. However,
49

translators are only feasible in situation with few cultures involved as the persons
would need to be familiar with cultures represented. So, for larger companies
with offices are several different regions, thorough research was hypothesized as
a substitute for cultural translators.
By studying the internal communication efforts of NHN USA and PEAK
Sports USA, we can see that both companies are finding ways to engage a
cultural translator to spearhead internal communication efforts. On the other
hand, a much larger corporation, Novartis Oncology relied on research to figure
out how to encompass all workers. Public relations practitioners would be wise to
study these cases and adjust their internal communication – employee
ENGAGEMENT – accordingly.

50

Bibliography
Allen Hall Public Relations. (2009, December 17). Transparency is not the
Exception, It's the Rule. Retrieved March 19, 2011, from Allen Hall Public
Relations: http://www.allenhallpr.com/2009/12/transparency-is-not-the-exception-
it%E2%80%99s-the-rule/
Bloomberg Newsweek. (2007, March 5). Why Toyota Is Afraid Of Being Number
One. Retrieved March 19, 2011, from Bloomberg Newsweek:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_10/b4024071.htm?chan=top
+news_top+news+index_businessweek+exclusives
Borg, J. (2008). Body Language: 7 Easy Lessons to Master the Silent Language.
Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
Bragg, S. (2011, March 15). Social Media. (C. S. Lim, Interviewer)
Braithwaite, D. O., & Braithwaite, A. C. (2009). "Which Is My Good Leg?":
Cultural Communciation of Persons with Disabilities. In L. A. Samovar, R. E.
Porter, & E. R. McDanile, Intercultural Communication (p. 210). Boston:
Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Brito, M. (2008, September 30). Why is transparency so important in Social
Media? Retrieved March 19, 2011, from Michael Britopian:
http://www.britopian.com/2008/09/30/why-is-transparency-so-important-in-social-
media/
Cameron, G. T., & McCollum, T. (1993). Competing Corporate Cultures: A Multi-
Method, Cultural Analysis of the Role of Internal Communication. Journal of
Public Relations Research , 217-250.
Craddock, D. (2010, January 5). A short history of Hotmail. Retrieved March 19,
2011, from Inside Windows Live: The Engineering behind Hotmail, Messenger,
and Windows Live:
http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_live/b/windowslive/archive/2010/01/06/a-
short-history-of-hotmail.aspx
Dyer, K. (2009). Taking Employee Engagement to New Heights. Strategic
Communication Management , 1.
Engleberg, I., & Wynn, D. (2006). Working in Groups: Communication Principles
and Strategies. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Federman, B. (2009). Employee Engagement. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
51

Fleishman-Hillard. (2009, October 9). Novartis Oncology PR Week Award Entry.
Washington D.C., DC, US.
Gorey, A. (2007). E-Newsletters: Spread Your Message with a Click. ASHA
Leader , 29.
Gray, R., & Robertson, L. (2005). EFFECTIVE INTERNAL COMMUNICATION
STARTS AT THE TOP. Communication World , 26-28.
Grunig, J. E. (1992). Symmetrical Systems of Internal Communication.
Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management , 531-576.
Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture's Consequences. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publication.
Hofstede, G. (2009). Geert Hofstede™ Cultural Dimensions. Retrieved March 19,
2011, from itim International: http://www.geert-
hofstede.com/hofstede_dimensions.php
Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and Organizations.
New York: McGraw Hill.
Holtz, S. (2005). The impact of new technologies on internal communication.
Strategic Communication Management , 22-25.
Howard, C. M. (1996). Face-to-Face Communications Payback is Worth the
Effort. Public Relations Quarterly , 11-14.
Howard, R. (Director). (1986). Gung Ho [Motion Picture].
HP. (2011). HP timeline — 1940s. Retrieved January 26, 2011, from HP:
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/histnfacts/timeline/hist_40s.html
Hundal, S. (2003). Streamlining communication and building strategy at Nokia.
Business Communicator , 8.
Left, S. (2002, March 13). Email timeline. Retrieved March 19, 2011, from
guardian.co.uk: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2002/mar/13/internetnews
Li, C., & Bernoff, J. (2008). Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by
Social Technologies. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Lysgaard, S. (1955). Adjustment in a foreign society: Nowegian Fulbright
grantees visiting the United States. International Social Science Bulletin , 145-
151.
52

Macrae, C. N., Milne, A. B., & Bodenhausen, G. V. (1994). Stereotypes as
Energy-Saving Devices: A Peek Inside the Cognitive Toolbox. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology , 37-47.
Manchester, A. (2009). Three Common Problmes Solved with Internal Soical
Media. Strategic Communication Management , 9.
Mara, R. N. (1982). A Changing Role for Internal Communications. Public
Relations Quarterly , 25-27.
McDaniel, E. R., Samovar, L. A., & Porter, R. E. (2009). Understanding
Intercultural Communication: The Working Principles. In E. R. McDaniel, L. A.
Samovar, & R. E. Porter, Intercultural Communication A Reader (pp. 6-17).
Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Merriam-Webster. (2011). employee. Retrieved February 24, 2011, from
Merriam-Webster: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/employee
NHN. (2011). 2010 Q4 and Annual Earnings Report. Seoul: NHN.
Nielson. (2009, June 22). Twitter Grows 1,444% Over Last Year; Time on Site
Up 175%. Retrieved February 2, 2011, from Nielson Wire:
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/nielsen-news/twitter-grows-1444-over-last-
year-time-on-site-up-175/
Orland, K. (2011, February 7). Game Informer Circulation Up One-Third in 2010,
Now 5th Largest Mag in U.S. Retrieved February 24, 2011, from Gamasutra:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/32881/Game_Informer_Circulation_Up_O
neThird_in_2010_Now_5th_Largest_Mag_in_US.php?utm_source=feedburner&
utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+GamasutraNews+(Gamasutra+News)
&utm_content=Twitter
Peters, R. (Writer), & Blomquist, A. C. (Director). (2006). Russell Peters:
Outsourced [Motion Picture].
Plantronics. (2010). How We Work: Communication Trends of Business
Professionals. Santa Cruz: Plantronics.
Rosswurm, G., & Bayerlein, P. (2005). Overcoming barriers to global success at
International. Strategic Communication Management , 14-17.
Shoss, D. (2011, February 23). Director of Marketing, Communications and
Business Development. (C. S. Lim, Interviewer)
Sinickas, A. D. (2005). The Role of Intranets and Other E-Channels in Employee
Communication Preferences. Journal of Website Promotion , 31-51.
53

Su, S. (2011, February 26). Executive Assistant. (C. S. Lim, Interviewer)
The Economist. (2009, October 12). Idea: Genchi genbutsu. Retrieved March 19,
2011, from The Economist: http://www.economist.com/node/14299017
UK Local Government Improvement and Development. (2009, October). What is
employee engagement? Retrieved March 19, 2011, from Local Government
Improvement and Development:
http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=8407178
Watson Wyatt Worldwide. (2010). Capitalizing on Effective Communication. New
York: Watson Wyatt Worldwide.
Yang, C. (2011, February 25). Director of Business Development and Marketing.
(C. S. Lim, Interviewer)
Yoon, H. S. (2011, February 15). Director. (C. S. Lim, Interviewer)
Zhang, C. (2011, March 7). Corporate PR Coordinator. (C. S. Lim, Interviewer)

54

Appendix
Calvin Yang Interview
Can you give a brief overview of your internal communications program?
I think there are a lot of different facets to „internal communications‟. It depends
on whether you‟re talking about sharing information about company‟s direction,
relationship between employees, company policy communication, etc. Honestly, I
think our organization is small enough that sharing of information is not (and
should not be) a big issue. I don‟t know that we could call it an „internal
communications program‟, but our division and team managers are integral cogs
in this dynamic because they are the ones that communicate the most with other
divisions and other teams.
In this small tight-knit environment, having structured/rigid policies could more
than anything become hindrance to the free-flowing information sharing. Hope
that makes sense.

Have you used social media to communicate with your employees? If so,
can you list some strengths and weaknesses of using social media?
Again, we only have about 50 employees who are all very close. Everybody is
seated within shouting distance. Most of them go out to lunch and/or dinner in big
groups. It would be stranger to communicate with them using social media when
we can just walk over to them and talk.

55

What were some challenges that you face in communicating with your
employees?
The biggest challenge in this type of setting in my opinion is that everyone
becomes too close. It makes it difficult to bring up issues or problems when
everyone is friends. No one wants to hurt anyone‟s feelings! The trick is to create
an environment where constructive criticism is offered and accepted without
them becoming personal.

I believe that you have both Koreans and Americans at NHN USA. How do
you take culture into consideration when you communicate with them?
This is probably the most difficult aspect of our internal communications efforts.
Although we are based in the US, majority of our employees are Koreans (either
expats from the mother company in Korea, or local hires who have Korean
backgrounds). Some of our employees do not have a perfect grasp of the English
language or the American culture. We do have US local hires who do not have
Korean ties and they can sometimes feel left out of conversations. Although we
make it a policy to disseminate all of our corporate communication in English, a
lot of office conversations can and do happen in Korean.
We offer English classes to all Korean employees who want to participate
We also offer Korean business culture and Korean language classes to anyone
who wants to participate. These free classes have been very popular and
successful.
56

But at the end of the day it‟s all about respect and being understanding of the
differences.

Have you noticed any difference in how different cultures accept messages
that you try to communicate? Mainly, between Korean and American
culture.
Sure, Korean employees tend to be very obedient towards superiors and
directives. They will usually say „yes yes‟ even when they are not sure, which can
be difficult for managers to gauge the exact level of understanding.
I‟ve also noticed a lot of work-related issues are discussed during off-hour get
together or over dinner and a drink.
American employees are usually more direct and tend to want/ask for feedback
from managers. However, American employees sometimes tend to do what is
(and only what is) clearly stated, failing to investigate the task deeper on their
own. It is then on the manager‟s part to give clearer instructions and explain what
the expectations are.

How do you measure your effectiveness in internal communications?
We conduct anonymous surveys at least once a year to gauge the employee
morale including effectiveness of communication.
Also, in our employee evaluation process, communication is a required item.

57

Shyla Bragg Interview
Is there any communication channel that NHN USA encourages its
employees to use to communicate with employees in Korea HQ?
Yes, it is called "upper management". Although most of the time it felt as though
all of the messages were not being relayed.

If not, have you tried to communicate with them?
Unfortunately due to the language barrier it is rough. Either they know what you
are saying but do not understand the entire meaning, or they are not accessible
for communication.

How did you feel about not being able to communicate with employees in
other regions?
It was rough. Not being able to share ideas that may benefit the company was a
hard situation to be in, especially when decisions were made that you were
against due to the differences in cultures.

Did NHN's strong presence in Korea and other regions compared to
relatively weak presence in the US affect your feelings described in the
previous question #3?
58

No, it made the feelings of number three more justified. The fact that they would
not listen to us but rather the Korean "transplants (workers over here on visas)
gave off the impression that they cared more for their business out in Korea than
in the United States.

How familiar were you with Korean culture when you first joined the
company?
Not too familiar, but fortunately for me I was accepted by most of them and
adapted to their culture fairly easily. They were very welcoming of anyone who
was interested in their culture; a very close-knit bunch.

Were you shocked by how some things are done in the company? Such as
reporting to your manager and etc.
I was shocked, but since I understood that this was a Korean company and not
an American one I knew that there would be differences in the way the
organization was run. It did seem like they listened more to the employees who
were more like them (on here with visas) then they did some of the American
employees.

What do you think NHN USA can do to make you feel belong not just to
NHN USA, but to the whole NHN Corporation?
59

They could have taken the time to listen to us. There have been numerous times
when decisions were made that negatively affected the company (internally,
externally, revenue, customer retention, customer acquisition, etc.) that could
have been avoided had they heeded the warning from their American employees.

Was there any communication channel for you to say what you just said in
question #7 to your managers?
Only your immediate supervisor. If you tried to speak to someone higher up you
would get scolded and your supervisor would be upset that you went around
them. Although that can be true for almost any business.

60

Sharon Su Interview
Can you give a brief overview of your internal communications program?
Our internal communication still have some distant from being acceptable in my
opinion but we have been improving a lot in the last few months. Reasons to this
inadequacy has a lot to do with our company being a new startup in the US and
our team composes of people from completely different cultural backgrounds. It‟s
always difficult to get people to step out of their comfort zone to understand and
accept others‟ opinions or perspectives. To bridge this gap and strengthen our
internal communication, I would to set up opportunities for our staff to interact
more on a personal level outside of the office. I believe without all the stress that
comes with work, people would be more open to accept others. Also, creating an
environment where employees feel safe to voice their opinion is a great way to
enhance internal communications.

Have you used social media to communicate with your employees? If so,
can you list some strengths and weaknesses of using social media?
This will depend if applications like Skype, MSN, and QQ, etc. can be classified
under social media. We used these applications to communicate internally and
with our teams in China. However, we do not communicate publicly with our
employees through Facebook or Twitter and we do not permit any work related
topics to be exchanged through the latter social medias between employees or
with people we work with outside the office. Such conduct carries a message of
61

being unprofessional and we would not want our clients to perceive us in this way.
We do encourage employees to facebook or tweet about the company as long as
what they tweet about is already public and not offense to the company‟s image
or others.

Do you have a method in use for your employees in China to communicate
with the ones in the US?
QQ is the application we use to communicate with our team in China. Reason
being QQ is more widely used in China than any other similar applications.

What were some challenges that you face in communicating with your
employees?
As I mentioned above, we are a new startup in the US and our team composes
of people from very different backgrounds. With this said, the challenges we face
is language barrier and getting our employees to be more open minded.

How do you take culture into consideration when you communicate with
your employees in the US and China?
In communicating with either employees in the US or China, I take culture into
consideration when an employee's body language or tone of voice does not
correlate with what they said. This is my clue to either rephrase what I have to
say or find out what's causing the confusion.
62

Have you noticed any difference in how different cultures accept messages
that you try to communicate? Mainly, between Chinese and American
culture.
Yes! Absolutely there is a difference in how different cultures accept messages.
A very good example would be when a manager assigns a task or makes a
decision. From my experience, I have notice Chinese employees would not
question their higher-up and would do as they are told. Where as Americans
would do the opposite. American culture are built more on open communication
and Chinese culture are built heavily on respect. To improve internal
communication, employees of both culture would have to first understand and
accept each other‟s custom then learn to work together effectively.

How do you measure your effectiveness in internal communications?
I would measure our effectiveness in internal communications based on how
efficient things get done around the office. Meeting deadline is the key.

How many employees are working in the US office? Are they all bilingual in
Mandarin and English?
Currently 8 employees and 3 are bilingual in English and Chinese.

63

How many employees are working in China? (This only counts for the
corporate employees, not retail.)
Possibly 1000+, not including retail employees

Do you have any financial report on the company that you can share with
me?
You can do a search online, I think we have two public annual reports online

Cherie Zhang Interview
How do you use QQ for your work?
In our office, only me, COO, CEO and Sharon use QQ to talk to our people in
China. Yes, we are all fully bilingual in Mandarin and English except Sharon,
who's only conversationally fluent. For me, I use QQ to talk to our head of PR in
Beijing directly on a regular basis, usually sharing internal resources such as
media info, clippings, videos, event photos etc. Basically, using QQ is like an
alternative for a share drive or FTP site. The only reason I have QQ is for work
and work only. I don't use that to talk my parents and friends in China. It's the
fastest messaging tool to transfer big files for long distance users, especially
those in China. Just an FYI, we also use Skype for video conferences with our
team in China.

64

Deanna Shoss Interview
The one thing to always remember is your social media or multi-way
communication, as you call it, is your TOOL--it's your vehicle for delivery. That
said, whether communicating internally or externally, it's important to remember
your OBJECTIVE--because that will determine your results.

So, for example, if the goal of multiway internal communications is to help bring
together a global work force and increase employee engagement, then that
needs to be clear at the outset, and you need to put in place mechanisms to
make that happen:

1. The SENIOR LEVEL Management needs to be committed to an engagement
and inclusion strategy that exists within the company. Your internal
communications then is a tool to reinforce the messages that employees are
learning/hearing from many other sources--maybe there are training sessions;
maybe individual managers have to include engagement and inclusion goals in
their management measurements for team members...but engagement and
inclusion need to be a cultural value of the company--then the social media tools
are just the way that is reinforced and communicated.

2. While social media is "uncontrollable" there needs to be a central point of
"controlling it." In other words, if there is a blog, plan your topics. Maybe one
65

week it's a post from an employee in Japan who tells us his/her name, job
responsibility, and a quick insight into his/her culture--e.g. how names work, as in
"in many western cultures, someone's first name is listed first on their business
card, and it's okay to call someone by their first name right after meeting them. In
Japanese culture, the last name is listed first, and it's always better to address
someone as "Mr." or Ms."...then of course it could go into the cultural equivalent
of Ms., but I hope you get the idea. Any large organization, whether local or
global, has challenges getting one arm of the organization to know what another
is doing. A good, planned internal communications strategy can help. Invite
people to send articles about their work or culture to a central marketing person
who can draw from that to send out Tweets (I just started doing that now for an
organization I work with, @jcfscommunities). Have a single designated person
or team dedicated to managing the social media for the organization. Include
department highlights, individual profiles, comparisons as to how the same topic
might be discussed in meetings in two different countries, explanations of
holidays in different countries (as in why is everyone off work in India today?).
People often want to get it right, but don't always know how when communicating
across cultures, so your multi=channel communications can include the "how"
tips mixed in with the other content.
.
3. Set your moderation policy carefully, but do set one. As Chris Brogan once
said, set your moderation policy based on there being a 6 year old in the room.
66

It's okay to disagree and state your opinion, but use language and tenor that's
appropriate with a child in the room.

4. One final note, and this is a challenge across the company, but there needs to
be a decision as to what language(s) will be used, or there need to be tools to
address language differences. Will there be easy translation tools (with a
disclaimer that mechanical translation isn't always 100% right); will there be white
boards for real-time conversation/translation? Will you tweet, update, etc. in
multiple languages.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Internal communication has evolved over the years from simple one-way communication to multi-directional communication

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Conceptually similar

PDF

The evolution of the internal communications practice and its importance to the survival of organizations

PDF

The effects of corporate social responsibility one employee engagement

PDF

Babies without borders: exploring perceptions of international adoption

PDF

Social innovation: Crowdsourcing and the new face of corporate social responsibility

PDF

Public engagement, media relations and the future of the PR industry

PDF

Multinational corporations and corporate social responsibility: how history, non-governmental organizations and international groups are changing business

PDF

The civic responsibility of professional sports teams: Exploring the role of a team in its community

PDF

Power party girls, good looking crowds and one hellish boss: The portrayal of the female entertainment publicist on reality television

PDF

Surviving the "Made in China" stigma: challenges for Chinese multinational corporations

PDF

It's not you, it's me: Generation me and the public relations stategies to reach it

PDF

Crisis communication for tourism destinations in the new media environment

PDF

The entertainment value in food and its value to the public relations industry

PDF

Whole foods market -- a communication plan to engage the German market

PDF

Guide to corporate internal communications in China: a policy handbook

PDF

An inconvenient truth about the public relations industry and greenwashing

PDF

Politics, public relations and internal communications: a look at the DNC

PDF

Evolution in the processed foods industry: exploring the impact of the health foods movement

PDF

Fast fashion meets luxe: a case study of the brand strategy and consumer perceptions of Forever 21

PDF

The financial crisis: signaling a new order of communications

PDF

For the love of the game and community: evaluating professional athletes' charitable giving

Asset Metadata

Creator Lim, Chan S. (author)

Core Title Intercultural internal communication: Engaging with multinational employees

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Public Relations

Publication Date 05/05/2011

Defense Date 04/01/2011

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Intercultural communication,internal communication,OAI-PMH Harvest,Public Relations

Place Name USA (countries)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Floto, Jennifer D. (committee chair), Pierson, Jillian (committee member), Thorson, Kjerstin (committee member)

Creator Email chansoo_83@hotmail.com,clim0927@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m3876

Unique identifier UC1214157

Identifier etd-Lim-4478 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-469196 (legacy record id),usctheses-m3876 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Lim-4478.pdf

Dmrecord 469196

Document Type Thesis

Rights Lim, Chan S.

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu