| This research looks at the effect of cultural diversity on a multinational, multicultural news organization overseas with the intent to study its political dynamics and culture-specific mind-games, the premise being that game playing exists, to some extent, in all organizations.; Studies on U.S. newsrooms reveal the intense conflict, organizational paranoia and mind-games within as journalists and editors fight to be recognized as “stars.” Being more homogenous or “one-culture” in racioethnic composition, it reflects the Anglo-Saxon organizational culture of sponsorship, alliance building, empire building, etc.; In more multicultural or “international” newsrooms, the organizational culture and mind-games tend to be based on the philosophical underpinnings of its dominant culture. Similar others become a part of one's in-group and, therefore, “good”; other racioethnic cultures form the out-group: different, strange, inefficient, bad. Intense clash-of-the-cultures are inevitable because of deeply ingrained cultural differences.; To survive and succeed, an expatriate (or foreign) staffer must know the dominant culture and its culture-specific rules, mind-games and strategies.; The goals of this study were to find out whether perceived cultural differences led to conflict, and how culture-specific mind-games are used to further one's ends. My analysis, based on my interviews, observations and participation at a news organization I named Confucian Times (for anonymity reasons), shows leadership to be weak; the Oriental managers did not believe in hands-on management, a reflection of their Oriental background emphasizing avoidance and non-action (wuwei). This led to the staging of Oriental mind games and a heavy reliance on patronage, guanxi (personal relationships) and houtai (connections).; The significance of the research can be seen on four levels.; One, it identifies culture-based problems between two distinct and diametrically opposed civilizations, Anglo and Oriental, that cut across national borders. Two, it provides a micro view of the clash-of-cultures between British Anglos and Orientals, between British Anglos and American Anglos. Three, it builds on the folklore, “myths” and culture of a tradition of Oriental literature. Four, it is centered on a theoretical framework that draws from Western management theories, political science explanations of cultural conflict, and Oriental literature on military strategies and war games. |
