The Cross-Cultural Communication Problems between Taiwanese and Indonesians in A Multinational Company: A Study in PT XYZ

• Main Author: Indriani Lestari (29116064), Marina
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/28757
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

PT XYZ is a multinational company that is consisted of managers and employees with various <br /> <br /> nations, such as Taiwanese and Indonesian. To understand someone who came from different <br /> <br /> nation and culture is challenging, including in a working environment. Therefore, learning to <br /> <br /> understand each other within this kind of company is needed in order to reach the common <br /> <br /> understanding and achieve the company’s goals. However, there are some problems regarding <br /> <br /> cross-cultural communication in PT XYZ that indicate that the cultural differences are not <br /> <br /> anticipated well by PT XYZ. <br /> <br /> <br /> The author interviewed 5 Taiwanese and 5 Indonesian workers in PT XYZ to get a balanced <br /> <br /> information regarding the problem and used the qualitative method for this research because <br /> <br /> the qualitative method is the best method to support the semi-structured interview, especially <br /> <br /> about culture, as in cultural studies, theories are seen as different frameworks, not as universal <br /> <br /> theories about social mechanisms. The obtained information then analyzed with the theory of <br /> <br /> Communication Profile by Richard Lewis, Cultural Dimension by Geert Hofstede, and <br /> <br /> Cultural Context by Edward Hall. Next, those three theories will help to explain the <br /> <br /> language/communication skill problems that are faced in PT XYZ. Furthermore, it will be <br /> <br /> brought and analyzed to the Communication Process using the Communication Model by <br /> <br /> Shannon-Weaver. The 5-Whys analysis then used to find the root cause of the problems. <br /> <br /> <br /> As the lack of cross-cultural understanding/competencies/awareness is finally discovered as <br /> <br /> the root cause of the problems regarding cross-cultural communication in PT XYZ, it is also <br /> <br /> found that there has no any cultural training that has been held yet to anticipate such problems. <br /> <br /> Therefore, a cultural training needs to be run in PT XYZ, so similar problems could be avoided <br /> <br /> in the future. BIPA training is chosen as a proposed training to answer the problems. <br /> <br /> <br /> In the proposed training, the learning materials are divided to language learning and cultural <br /> <br /> activities. Language learning is used as language is a window of learning a new culture, and <br /> <br /> cultural activities are held so the participants will improve the participants’ cultural <br /> <br /> engagement and their understanding about culture in Indonesia.