Challenges Of Globalisation And Internationalisation For Professionals In The 21st Century

The Challenges of Globalisation and Internationalisation

1. What challenges does globalisation and internationalisation pose for professionals in the 21st century? Focus especially on what Jadhav & Gupta (2014) call ‘gaps in conveying and interpreting thoughts’

2. In Working with Emotional Intelligence (1998), Goleman created a model of EI with 5 clusters and 25 competencies. Discuss how the 3 competencies of the Self-Awareness cluster can affect professional communication (Jadhav & Gupta 2014, p. 85).

3. Goleman (1998) included Communication in the Social Skills Cluster. Explain why recent research argues that Communication as a skill is also closely related to self-regulation, motivation and empathy (Jadhav & Gupta 2014).

4. Choose one competency from EI and explain how it can help you to function as a professional.

1. Globalization has increased the opportunities and expanded the market for the business enterprises. Globalization is a dynamic process which integrates different markets through international trade and is affecting every level of industry and nation. Free market capitalism and advancements in communication are the major drivers of globalization. Although globalization is very important for the growth and the development of the international economy and businesses, it comes with several challenges. The foremost challenge in the globalization process is the difficulty in understanding and interpreting the viewpoint of nationals of different countries. Every country has its customs and culture which is apparent in the communication of the locals. However, when these people communicate with the people of different countries, their views can be misinterpreted. Moreover, with the globalization, the diversity in the workforce has also increased. In multinational organizations, the workforce is composed of people of different ethnic background who bring along their own culture and language in the workplace. However, significant communication challenges arise when the people grown in different countries try to communicate with each other. Moreover, these challenges exponentially arise when the differences in the local culture are extreme and people have a low level of emotional outside. It is important that the global workforce possess cultural sensitivity and acknowledge the difference towards the other cultures (Brislin, 2008).

Even when people acknowledge the difference between two different cultures, they have choices regarding their behavior. In big business dealings, the representatives of different organizations have to negotiate and advance the dealings by adapting to different cultures. However, when the partners involved have less experience in international dealings, it becomes a challenge to communicate even when the dealers realize the cultural differences (Norales, 2006).

How Self-Awareness Cluster of Emotional Intelligence Affects Professional Communication

2. Goleman (1998) created a model of emotional intelligence in which he defined twenty five competencies which are clustered in five groups. The self-awareness cluster encompasses three competencies, namely, emotional awareness, accurate self-assessment and self-confidence. The self-awareness is essential criterion for effective business communication and interpersonal relations. If a person is self-aware, he can hone his communication skills by practicing as he is already aware of his strengths and weaknesses in communication. When people do not have understanding of their communication capabilities and how they are perceived by others, they cannot effectively communicate with their peers. The people having low self-awareness are not able to communicate the true meaning or intent to their peers. The professionals can work on their self-awareness to identify their strengths and using it to improve their skills. The self-awareness cluster comes is used for the identification of the emotional strengths. At a personal level, it leads to the identification of self-awareness, self-assessment and self-confidence while on the social level it leads to empathy, service orientation and awareness to the needs of others. The first component of self-awareness is the emotional self-awareness which represents what one feels about him. It refers to the ability of a person to sense, analyze and reflect on his emotional state and its impact on the decision-making (Goleman, D. 2009b).

In the development of emotional intelligence, emotional self-awareness is very important for effective emotional-management. Therefore, it is important for the development of the social skills. The pathway to great social skills is from self-awareness to social awareness and then to social skills. In business communication, the management of social and business relationships is dependent on the self-management and empathy which can only be attained from self-awareness. In business organizations, it is also beneficial in identifying the impact of the emotional intelligence on one’s performance. An employee can examine and improve his performance by increasingly becoming aware of their strengths. With high emotional intelligence, the employees can effectively communicate about sensitive issues to their clients and can handle their own emotional reactions better at the workplace (Goleman, 2011).

An accurate self-awareness is also an essential criterion for high performance of an individual. The people with accurate self-awareness also take the feedback of their seniors and coworkers seriously and use them to hone their skills. They are also aware when they need to improve their work or work with other people in order to improve their skills (Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee, 2013).

Communication and its Relationship with Self-regulation, Motivation, and Empathy

3. Goleman (1998) gave the emotional intelligence model in which communication was a part of the social skills cluster. According to the latest research, it is also considered a closely related to self-regulation, motivation and empathy. The communication skills refer to effectively sharing knowledge and ideas with other people. An effective communicator must be able to transmit enthusiasm and motivation to the peers. Although communication skills are considered as a part of the social skill cluster, it is closely related to other clusters of the emotional intelligence. The communication skill encompasses different processes through which people exchange or share information. It includes written, oral or gestures. Even silence is also considered as a part of the communication. The persons with effective communication skills have more capability to contribute to the organization (Kotzman and Kotzman, 2008).

In order for a person to be effective communicator, he must be able to effectively deliver that message with the proper use of gestures, facial expressions and symbols. In this regard, it can be posited that a significant skill set is required to effectively deliver message. The person should also be sure of his effectiveness in delivering the message which can only be established by self-awareness. Therefore, self-awareness is essential for communication and interpersonal skills. Communication is also related to the self-motivation of the individuals. The person having low level of self-motivation, show negativity of thoughts which can be observed in their actions and body language. It is important that the people should mitigate the negativity of thoughts before they can be observed externally. These individuals need positive self-motivation to reduce the negativity in their thought process. A person with a high level of self-motivation is also perceived as confident and extrovert. Naturally, these people get significant advantage in their career growth. Good communication skills are also associated for demonstrating empathy to peers and followers. (Dwyer, 2012)

In business communication, empathy is essential as the people often ignore to show empathy towards other employees which create a negative atmosphere in the organization. With the self-awareness, the business leaders can use the right set of words and filtering so that they can effectively communicate with their peers and keeping empathy with the rationale of the task. The communication skills are also essential in the development of social skills and effective networking skills. The people with effective social skills and emotional intelligence can establish effective network which will be beneficial for their professional growth and reduce anxiety and stress (Goleman, 2009a).

One Competency from EI and its Role in Professional Functioning

4. The emotional intelligence model encompasses twenty five competencies which are essential for the emotional growth of a person. These twenty five competencies are categorized in five different categories. In the personal opinion, the initiative competency is a significant competency for the professional growth. The initiative can be defined as a behavior wherein the individual has a proactive approach and takes sincere initiatives in the pursuit of their goals. Initiative is significant skill for the growth in the workplace. The initiative is also important for the realization of the innovative ideas and everyday skill development. There are several instances in which the employees show initiative in their work and show their team and leadership skills. Taking initiative in work also demonstrate the management skills and the self-confidence of an employee. It is the characteristic of successful persons and assists them in realizing their goals. When a person takes initiative, he does things without being told and demonstrates high analytical thinking skills (Mindtools, 2017). 

A business leader always demonstrates initiative and takes new challenges and risk in their professional life. It helps them to grow and achieve new heights in organization success. Moreover, it is also essential in effectively positing or presenting the opinions in team meetings and in front of leaders. With demonstrating initiative, an individual show his capability and skills. It is important that a person does not wait for opportunity and consider every prospect for the growth (Robinson, 2015). Moreover, in order to take every opportunity, an individual should always be prepared. When taking initiatives, an individual can develop knowledge and skills which will also be beneficial in the development of self-confidence of an individual. It is also important that an individual not only has initiative but has the capability of motivating others to follow that ideas and be persistent that the idea is implemented into success (Fontana, 2000).

References

Barak, M.E.M. 2016. Managing Diversity: Toward a Globally Inclusive Workplace. SAGE Publications.

Brislin, R.W. 2008. Working with Cultural Differences: Dealing Effectively with Diversity in the Workplace. Greenwood Publishing Group.

Dwyer, J. 2012. Communication for Business and the Professions: Strategies and Skills. Pearson Higher Education AU.

Fontana, D. 2000. Personality in the Workplace. Palgrave Macmillan.

Goleman, D. 2009a. Working with Emotional Intelligence. A&C Black.

Goleman, D. 2009b. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. A&C Black.

Goleman, D. 2011. Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships. Random House.

Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. and McKee, A. 2013. Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence. Harvard Business Press.

Kotzman, M. and Kotzman, A. 2008. Listen to Me, Listen to You: A Step-by-Step Guide to Communication Skills Training. Aust Council for Ed Research.

Mindtools. 2017. Taking Initiative. [Online.] Available at:  https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/initiative.htm [Accessed on: 11 February 2017].

Norales, F.O. 2006. Cross-Cultural Communication: Concepts, Cases and Challenges. Cambria Press.

Robinson, A. 2015. 10 Tips For Adding Value By Showing Initiative. Work it Daily. [Online.] Available at:  https://www.workitdaily.com/10-tips-adding-showing-initiative/ [Accessed on: 11 February 2017].