Culture is a subject that can be complex to explain, however we can call it all the actions, ways of thinking, feelings and behaviors that define and give identity to a particular person or a group of them.
"Culture is the collective soul, mental programming and social adhesive that includes some values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors as well as the norms that are common, heroes, symbols and even rituals" (Álvarez, 2013)
The environment in which we live is an important and influential factor for our mental and physical development, but it is not the only factor that influences our development, the people around us and the way we communicate with them also influence. The result of all these interactions of people and their unique culture results in what is known as Infomulticulturalism.
Infomulticulturalism is a recently new term that refers to the diversity of information that comes from different people, each with their own culture, which is destined for a receiver who in turn will interpret this information according to their cultural roots.
In organizations, this has been an issue that has taken on great importance since it directly influences the way in which information flows in the company and more importantly, it is a factor in decision-making at the top.
Important concepts
To correctly understand all the implications of Infomulticulturalism, the terms of information, multiculturalism and communication must be very clear, since these three terms are the ones used to form it.
information
Information is called the content that is transported through communication, it is a basic element for communication to exist, without it we could not communicate. It is also defined as the set of data or codes that have a message that is formed in the thought of human beings, whose main objective is to be transmitted.
Therefore, it can be said that information has contributions to human knowledge, it is the basis for transmitting knowledge of any area to anyone regardless of their geographical location or location in time. For a good flow of information there are some tools that must meet specific characteristics for a correct flow of data.
Communication
Human beings are social beings by nature, which conditions us to live in society, and interact with other people to communicate, according to Chiavenato (2006) communication is “the exchange of information between people, which represents making a message or a message common. information. It constitutes one of the fundamental processes of human experience and social organization ”.
For there to be communication, four main elements that interact with each other are needed, these are:
Sender and Receiver
For communication to take place, there must be two parties, the sender and the receiver, both must be predisposed to communicate, that is, one to issue a message and the other party to receive it. As soon as one of the parties is not interested in giving and / or receiving an automatic message, the communication is canceled.
Message
It is the element created by the issuer which will be sent through a medium, this is encoded; that is, the information contained in the message will be understood only by him or the recipients who will receive the message.
Channel
It is the means by which the message is transmitted, these can be:
- Air, when the message is transmitted in a spoken form Paper, when the message is communicated in written form By waves, when it is sent by radio, television or telephone signals By virtual means, when computer media such as a computer are used to send and receive the message.
(Chiavenato, 2006)
Culture
Tylor (1871) defines culture as: "That complex that includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, customs and any other habits and capacities that are acquired by the male member of a society."
Geertz (1988) instead defines it as all those ideas that form the basis of learning, also perceives cultures as the mechanisms that manage societies through rules and norms of behavior.
And the RAE1 (2014) defines culture as "the set of ways of life and customs, knowledge and degree of artistic, industrial, scientific development at a time or in a social group."
Definition of Infomulticulturalism
Cancino Velásquez (2012) defines the term Infomulticulturalism as “the exchange of information between individuals, where culture is a primary element for understanding the message between individuals of different cultures”.
While López Ramos (2015) defines it as “the process of transmitting information to a receiver, based on its specific cultural characteristics to decode the information from a unique and incomparable perspective”. Basically Infomulticulturalism is the interaction that exists within a mixed cultural environment, which can be generated in a personal or professional environment.
In organizations it is a topic of interest, due to its influence on staff to carry out tasks and even to make important decisions.
Infomulticulturalism in decision-making
The way in which human beings process information is complex and requires many internal processes, to make decisions we need to process the information we have, and this is where our knowledge, beliefs, way of thinking and other cultural bases participate.
The action of making a decision is highly personal and is given by people's conception of what is wrong and good, however the previous processes of digesting information and comparing with previous knowledge and beliefs also influence, therefore it can be said that Infomulticulturalism has a great impact on elections.
Decision-making is an essential responsibility of companies, the choice of a path to follow is of utmost importance, information about the organization and the external environment is needed, It helps the organization to learn and Decision-making can include the involvement of subordinates
Types of decisions
Scheduled
They are all those that are done frequently, they are routine and repetitive, so there is already a defined unconscious procedure to take them. To take them, pre-established policies and norms are followed that define the alternatives.
Not scheduled
They are decisions that are made sporadically, in unforeseen situations, generally a specific procedure is needed to make them.
Strategic
They are high-level decisions, they are related to institutional goals and policies with respect to the vision of the organizations.
Administrative
These decisions are made at the middle management levels, generally related to the management of resources.
Operational
These types of decisions are made at the lower levels of the hierarchical structure, they are related to the procedures and methods used.
Risky
They are the decisions that have to be taken when there is some risk, they are taken to foresee some danger in a short or medium period of time.
(Quispe, 2009)
Decision-making process
Decision-making is generally defined as the choice of alternatives, however for Robbins, decision-making is a process that consists of eight steps, these steps can be seen in illustration one below.
Illustration 1: Decision-making process. (Robbins, 2005)
1. Identification of a problem
The decision-making process begins with a problem, it is the change from a state of tranquility to an unstable one, so you must have the ability to analyze and identify the problem to be solved.
2. Identification of the decision criteria
Once the conflict is defined, the decision criteria that will be taken into account to resolve the conflict situation must be studied. For the resolution of a problem, the guiding criteria that define the options are always needed.
3. Assignment of weight to the criteria
The criteria selected in the previous phase do not all have the same importance, therefore, it is necessary to weight the variables that are included in the list in the previous step, in order to give them the correct priority in the decision
4. Development of alternatives
It is in this step that all the possible alternatives that meet the previously defined restrictions are generated.
5. Analysis of alternatives
In this step, all the alternatives generated in the previous step will be analyzed, considering the strengths and deficiencies of each of these in order to choose the best option to solve the problem.
6. Alternative selection
In this step, a consensus is made to choose the best alternative.
7. Implementation of alternative
Another important part is the implementation of the alternative, since even if the correct decision is made, if it is not applied in the same way, it will not have good results.
8. Evaluation of the decision
Once the alternative is implemented, it will be necessary to analyze how the decision made works, if it does not give the expected results, it will be possible to return to step five to make another decision.
(Robbins, 2005)
Bibliography
- Álvarez, HF (2013). Administration and cultural deversity. Young Management. Chiavenato, I. (2006). Introduction to the general theory of administration. Mexico: McGRAW-HILL. Geertz, C. (1988). The interpretation of cultures. Barcelona: Gedisa. Quispe, J. (2009). The decision making of the company. RAE. (January 2015). Royal Spanish Academy. Obtained from: http://dle.rae.es/?id=BetrEjXRamos, L. (2015). Gestiopolis. Obtained from infomulticulturalidad: http://www.gestiopolis.com/infomulticulturalidad-y-toma-de-decisionesRobbins, S. (2005). Administration. Mexico: PEARSON.Taylor, E. (1871). The science of culture. Madrid: Prentice Hall.Velazquez, C. (2012). Gestiopolis. Obtained from Multiculturalidad:
Thanks
I thank the Technological Institute of Orizaba for allowing me to do a postgraduate degree in Administrative Engineering for my academic preparation, as well as Professor Fernando Aguirre Hernández who teaches the subject of fundamentals of administrative engineering for encouraging me to write formal and relevant articles.
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