Symbolic Systems Forum - "Cross-Cultural Models of Hierarchy in Virtual Worlds"

Kent Griffin (M.S. Candidate, Symbolic Systems Program) speaks about "Cross-Cultural Models of Hierarchy in Virtual Worlds: Or Who needs a boss when you have a computer?"

ABSTRACT:

International businesses have always faced challenges, and communication has always been one of the more important of these challenges. Whether communicating locally or across nations, these businesses face an uphill battle since different countries tend to have different models for hierarchical communication and operation. The literature in business

management tells us how different cultures have different models for interactions. For example, American systems tend to be more vertical. On

the other hand, Japanese managers tend to be liked more by their employees than do American managers. The question in international

relations and business management has always been, "How can we operate one company or group to satisfy two different models?" Now, with the

continual onslaught of new technologies, methods of communication can change drastically. Thus, a new question arises: "How does a new medium

affect and/or represent the hierarchical forms of communication in various cultures?" For example, if we change the setting from a company's conference room to a virtual conference room, would this have an effect on

the interaction? What if we changed someone's boss to be nothing more than an agent? Would he/she still treat the agent like a boss? And, of course, how do these questions differ by country?