A conceptual model for integrating communication and corporate culture

Abstract

South Africa has a somewhat unique environment within which businesses have to function. The fact that South Africa has eleven official languages and a mosaic of cultures are only some of the factors that contribute towards the complexity of the South African organisational environment. Cultural awareness is vital for effective communication, because different cultures communicate in different ways. While the universal objectives of marketing communication are to inform and more specifically to persuade, the way in which ethnic groups come in contact with information and are persuaded to act on information, varies widely. This article addresses the abovementioned issues, but its overall aim is to provide a conceptual model for integrating communication and corporate culture in order to enhance an organisation's efficacy in multicultural societies. The Mitroff model for problem solving in systems thinking is used as a guideline.