Communications and Media

Literature Review
Business organizations in different countries usually encounter problems related to communication. This problem affects all facets of the organizations output and often becomes one of the critical factors in the success or failure of the business. The problem stems out from the scenarios of having a native language as opposed to English being the international language. Aside from language conflicts and barriers, the basic culture and custom of a local region is always the focal point of the communication difficulties. International organizations operating locally in UAE often hire expatriates or foreign managers and high ranking officials which facilitate the local employees operational activities. These foreign managers are obviously not accustomed to the culture of UAE and of their employees this disparity leads to communication problems ranging from following exact guidelines, expectations, disparity in output, and many more.

In 2004, Hakeem did a study regarding the application and recognition of core values which contribute to organizational success. The values include organizational culture, quality of work and traditional culture. The findings of the study suggest that the core values of each organization is defined by its effective communication all throughout the sub-levels of organizations. This means that communication must be clearly defined starting from the highest ranking official down to the entry level employees. Furthermore, it was concluded that the improvement and definition of the ore values will allow better organizational stability and growth. This means that an organizations capability to define it core values through effective communication will improve the capacity of each manager and employee to understand guidelines, adapt to changes, and create innovative solutions to all organizational related problems. Similar to Hakeems findings, an in depth study made by Nadim Jahangir back in 2003 gave insights to specific facets of a foreign managers style of communication and implementation of rules and guidelines. Jahangir was able to come up with relationships between a managers use of power and procedural justice, and the employees commitment and job satisfaction. On the other hand, Jahangir was not able to find out specific signs of problems in communication which stems out from educational attainment, gender, age, and power. The main highlight of the study was recommendations of the author to the organization.

In relation to communication, Jahangir (2003) suggested that managers and high ranking officials should provide modifications both on the organizational level and individual level of work. This means that employees should have specialized job related training as well as relationship management skills. Furthermore, it was suggested that the managers of organizations should be trained in order to improve their inter and intro-personal skills.

It has been said that through effective communication, all problems will be resolved. This is one of the most important needs of any organization today. Foreigners who work internationally become exposed to different cultures and work environments. This means that they should be the one who will be adjusting more rather than the employees. In UAE, a significant number of organization are headed by foreigners. In 2002, Zammany performed a study of the different difficulties which surround the implementation of quality management in Yemen. Although the location is different, there are a lot of technical similarities in terms of the findings. These findings are very much applicable to UAE and any other country. Zamanny found out that there is an enormous amount of anxiety from an employee whenever faced with a foreign manager. This anxiety leads to conflicting assumptions on how to communicate and how to prove each self to be acceptable. Furthermore, Zamanny stated that the basic problem of communication difficulty between foreign managers and employees is normal how ever it can be worked on to improve and further lessen the negative effects.

Different cultures lead to different interactions. Acceptance of different cultures is one of the key in having a good working relations hip between managers and employees. Zamanny stated that the solution to communication difficulties would be the creation of a special cross cultural training to all workers and managers alike. This will improve the cohesion between coworkers and also increase their productivity. On the other hand, poor communication will lead to low production and dismal results. Statistical results from UAE employees were obtained and analyzed by the CMR Institute back in 2004. These results indicate that over fifty percent of the emotional reactions of the UAE employees working in companies with international managers will exhibit behaviors that will affect their performance in the workplace. The results also suggest that manager coming from other countries should be trained in UAE Cultural background before engaging in the position. It was also indicated that the acceptance of UAE national employees were good although many suggested that managers be trained on how to communicate effectively with their Dubai counterparts.

Most of the organizations in UAE are dominated by westerners or Caucasians which come from either the United States of America, Great Britain and sometimes Asia. Recently, astudy was performed by  Bakr Ahmad Alserhan, Ingo Forstenlechner  Ahmad Al Nakeeb on the employees attitudes towards diversity in a non-western context. The study focused on the banking sector of the United Arab Emirates. It was found out that the all the banks have a high level of diversity among their employees and only a small percentage of the  employees were from the United Arab Emirates. This diversity of culture and origin can be classified in two sections namely diversity in religion and diversity in nationalities. The highlight of the study was that there was not so much differences in language although the religious disparity was much more overwhelming. It was found out that the Islamic banks were the least diverse in terms of religion. Communication difficulties were set to a minimum following the study and it was also concluded that culture doesnt really dictate much on the communication barrier but the language issue was the real highlight problem.

A good in depth look at this problem would be the consideration of Western culture in the context of UAE. A study by Paton and Behery addressed this issue by developing critical questions for the Middle Eastern practices with regards to professionalism and efficacy. Communication difficulties arise from the various influences and also from the organizational fit. An employees satisfaction with regards to his or her job will dictate the positive outlook to any manager and also the increase in self development which will enhance interpersonal communication. Furthermore, Paton and Beherys conclusion suggested that employee s job satisfaction and commitment is linked to organizational fit and cultural alignment.

Enhancements of communication in the workplace will be one of the top objectives of any organization if they want to improve their productivity. In 2007, Code did a study and came up with  certain strategies for success. The study was based on the diversity in the workplace which heavily impacts businesses and was pointed in the direction of an effective management of issues surrounding the workplace. Codes findings state that each business organization must enhance their diversity management techniques. This means that the priority of setting a task oriented and goal oriented should be at the top. Furthermore, ti was suggested that these steps should be done by organizations diversity recruiting, fair and equal employee development and involving diversity champions within the organizations. Codes conclusion was very innovative as it utilized the real environment of the problem of communication. Code suggested that the environment surrounding the application of diversity is constantly changing. This means that  business organizations should prioritize the to yearly assessment of their diversity approaches. This means that the creation of new goals to sustain involvement and commitment of all employees as well as managers should be done to increase interaction and develop good working  relationship despite their differences.

It can be observed that most of the studies suggest an arrangement of a training revamp and an establishment of a goal-oriented approach together with community involvement. Similarly, Khalid Alrawi did a research regarding International Human Resource Maangement. This research aims to resolve the barriers of successful communication between foreigners alike. Alrawi (2008) stated that there is a need for more effective integration can best be advanced through the use of the geocentric approach, which uses the best available managers without regard for their countries of origin, and allows for the development of international managers and reduces national biases.

Overall, in UAE, Globalization has been driven largely by issues of marketing, cost and competition. The creation of an effective training module for all employees national or foreign, will greatly reduce the negative effect of cultural diversity and language diversity and this will also improve the working relationships of all people. Organization should take advantage of strength through diversity.