Essay on Putting My Best Food Forward

Submitted By Claudia-Taylor
Words: 560
Pages: 3

Abstract
As explained in our text book Organizational Communication by Alan Jay Zaremba, Organizational Culture “Is the set of key values, norms, and assumptions, that is shared by members of an organization and taught to new members as correct” it continues by stating that, “It’s the values, heroes, myths, and symbols that have been in the organization forever” (pp 157). In the case reading it is clear that this company is struggling with intercultural communication. In my opinion both the hiring manager and the HR manager reflected the barriers that make communication in between cultures ineffective. In this analysis I hope to give more insight to the barriers in the context of the Case.

“Singer defines perception as the process by which an individual selects, evaluates, and organizes stimuli from the external world. (pp. 218)” In the case, we get to see the perspective of both the hiring manager and the potential employee. When Brad finishes his interview with Sunny, they both have different accounts on how the interview went. There perceived opinions of the interview are completely different. Brad almost feels insulted that Sunny is late and overly confident. Brad also mentioned that Sunny’s lack of detail in answering questions helped him in deciding not to hire Sunny. We know Sunny is Indian, but what we don’t know is how Sunny’s culture and perspective may have influenced how he answers questions and how he views time. Both during and after the interview we know that both hiring managers don’t consider this fact at all, instead, they completely write him off.
Another barrier clearly portrayed in the case is Nonverbal Disparities, where nonverbal messages vary significantly on the basis of culture. During the second interview outlined in the case we meet Tara who is also Indian. Throughout the case, Tara mentions multiple physical interactions with the hiring managers that completely offended her. She was offended that Scott sat right next to her during the interview. She also thought it was odd and offensive when Scott touched her shoulder and clasped her hand with both of his. From Tara’s experience lines were clearly crossed and it forced her to decline the job interview. On the other end of the spectrum, the hiring managers saw the interview completely different. Both