Abstract
This paper provides the results of an exploratory survey of construction industry managersin Singapore to isolate some of the common effects of national and organisational culture,together with the personal characteristics of managers, on the efficacy of project communication.By examination of significant correlation coefficients, the various types of influencesare identified. The results of the research suggest that the managers’ attitude andbehaviours toward communication may be guided to large extent by their level of competence.The study also provides evidence to suggest that the individuals’ understanding ofthe communication process and its barriers, the way they behave with other individualsand expect to be treated, varies according to national cultures.
Highlights
Right across industry, the attitude of senior management to their corporate affairs is evolving in response to the globalisation of business, the spread of information technologies, the growth of shareholder activism and increased intrusiveness of international and national governments in key areas of business management
In the Australian context, the research described in this paper aimed to explore the impact of national culture, organizational culture and inter-cultural communication on the management of a company by means of a small empirical study of the correlation between the culture diversity and intercultural communication and its barriers
This paper provides the results of a small survey of 36 Singapore managers aimed at identifying the main cultural and individual factors affecting project communication
Summary
The attitude of senior management to their corporate affairs is evolving in response to the globalisation of business, the spread of information technologies, the growth of shareholder activism and increased intrusiveness of international and national governments in key areas of business management. A major challenge of doing business internationally is clearly to adapt effectively to different cultures. Such adaptation requires an understanding of cultural diversity, perception and values (Granell, 2000). In Australia, historically high levels of protection, in the form of tariffs, have been the mainstay of Australian industry policy (Buxey, 2000). The consequence of this protectionism has been an inwardlooking industry with a low level of competitiveness in international markets. The tendency to date has been to take those management concepts and techniques that worked at home into other countries and cultures. Both from practice and cross-cultural research, that a single, universal style of management, at least across cultures, is not tenable (Adler, 1997)
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