Why Culture Matters.Challenges of a Diverse Team through the Lens of Intercultural Theories

Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject Communications - Intercultural Communication grade: 10 LMU Munich (Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft- und Medienforschung (IfKW)) course: Intercultural Competence language: English abstract: Culture has become so broad a term that it is almost impossible to find the right angle or an allencompassing example to begin this article with. Although Hall stated that culture is a word that has so many meanings already that one more can do it no harm it is not the aim of this article to contribute yet another meaning. Rather than adding to the vast amount of research on what culture is and where it comes from this article aims at making the case for why culture matters and how it can be properly analysed. The view put forth in this vein suggests that the analysis of cultural issues which lies at the heart of intercultural communication is one of the most important scientific endeavours of contemporary times. Prior to elaborating on the details of this endeavour it is necessary to address two crucial facts that emphasize the relevance of the applied approach as well as of intercultural communication in general. First as numerous researchers and scholars have repeatedly pointed out the globalisation is expected to continue at even faster rate than before. As a result of immigration that comes along with the process of globalisation - and that will continue to come along despite current efforts to restrict it - Western societies will undergo severe changes. Evolving concepts such as super or hyper diversity acknowledge this development and will contest the way societies and nations are perceived. It is beyond doubt that a more sophisticated understanding of cultures is essential the more the globalisation shapes every aspect of modern life. If an increasingly diverse world will eventually lead to a clash of civilizations or to their ultimate fusion has to remain unanswered. What both outlooks have i