Purpose

The purpose of this project is to develop a sensitivity to multicultural issues in a diverse environment.  In just the last few years, foreign countries have become major sources and destinations of technical information, and over your working lifetime, you will  almost certainly encounter multicultural situations in the workplace. Therefore, it is critically important that you become familiar with the basics of multiculturalism as it relates to technical communication.

Scenario

You work for a widget manufacturing company (Widg-O-Matic, Inc.), and your company has entered into a partnership with another widget manufacturer in another country. In order to make the partnership run smoothly, a team of your co-workers from the US plant is traveling to the foreign plant, where they will meet with their foreign counterparts; the joint group will then write documents relating to the specifics of the partnership.

The team from Widg-O-Matic consists of three men and two women. One woman and one man are management, and one woman and two men are shop workers. The woman in management is the team's leader. None of the team members have visited the foreign country before, and they know very little about the country. Your job is to research the country to which your co-workers are traveling and help them prepare for their meetings.

In addition to your own research, you are required to use the resources from the following website to complete the assignment: http://www.geert-hofstede.com/  

Deliverables

Multicultural Memo

You will print out and turn in a 500-word memo, addressed to your company's team, in which you discuss how to best communicate with their foreign counterparts while visiting the factory.

You may research and develop ideas together, but each student must turn in an individual, unique memo.

Reflective Memo

You will print out and turn in a 300-500 word memo, addressed to me, in which you reflect upon what you learned while writing the Multicultural Memo. I am not interested in specific aspects of your target culture; instead, I am interested in how your thoughts evolved while researching and writing.

For example, what have you learned about communicating interculturally? What have you learned about technical communication in general? Are there any aspects that would be particularly helpful to discuss in class?

Grading Criteria

A good memo will:

• follow standard format;

• fulfill the audience's needs and expectations;

• include analyses of the foreign culture, such as but not limited to

  • the cultural dimensions discussed in the Multiculturalism PowerPoint;

  • the meaning of specific images;
  • standard words and phrases that change meaning;
  • the use of idioms (expressions that make little literal sense, like "breaking the bank");
  • potentially offensive behaviors and conversation subjects to avoid;
  • polite behaviors to expect and use;
  • customs that your team may find surprising;
  • conventions of the written language;
  • religious considerations.

This memo should not be a travel brochure or a trivia compendium. Focus on aiding your coworkers' communications with their foreign counterparts.