Occupational Stereotypes, Perceived Status Differences, and Intercultural Communication in Global Organizations

Abstract

This paper offers a novel perspective on why individuals in global organizations make culturally based attributions of their colleagues that impede effective working relations. Drawing on observational and interview data from an ethnographic study of product development work at a global automaker's engineering centers in Mexico, the United States, and India, we show the important role that occupational stereotypes and perceived status differentials play in global workplace interaction. The findings demonstrate that individuals who consider themselves to be “low-status” attempt to increase their status by leading high-status individuals to believe that they work in ways that reflect dominant occupational stereotypes. However, because these stereotypes are often inaccurate, members of the high-status culture assume that the stereotype-imitating behaviors of low-status individuals represent deficiencies in how they work. These findings have important implications for intercultural interaction in the global workplace and for theories of communication in multinational organizations.

Keywords:

• Organizations
• Global
• Qualitative
• Stereotype
• Status

Acknowledgements

Financial support for this study was provided by National Science Foundation Grants ITR- 0427173 and SBE-0939859, as well as the Robert and Kaye Hiatt Fund for Research in Media, Technology, and Society at Northwestern University.

Notes

[1] Both authors are fluent in Spanish.

[2] A nodal body merge is a computational procedure by which an engineer simulates a spot weld by telling the supercomputer that two elements in the model are actually one. A 2T weld refers to using the simulation software to simulate a weld that joins two thicknesses (T's) of steel.

[3] Finite element analysis is a computational technique used to decompose an object into a large (though finite) number of much smaller objects known as “elements.” The elements are considered connected at defined nodes (corner and mid-segment points), and the entire connected system composes a defined structure called a “mesh.” The mesh is solved by software (known as a solver) run on a supercomputer.

[4] A “208 analysis” is the name of a roof crush test sanctioned by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Warpage refers to a distortion in the shape of an element that makes its analysis difficult for the solver code run on the supercomputer.

[5] Engineers would correlate their results of finite element analyses with the results of physical tests conducted in the laboratory to verify the accuracy of the simulation model. The b-pillar is the name for the vertical support beam, located between the front and rear doors of the vehicle, which supports the roof. Theta is IAC's code name for one of their vehicle programs.

[6] Penetrations are places in the simulation model where two parts share the same vehicle coordinates. The solver will not run the simulation until such problems are resolved.