Discourse‐based technology support for intercultural communication in multinationals

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to suggest a framework based on the discourse approach to analyze intercultural communication problems in multinational organizations. The paper also aims to suggest solutions to these problems by designing support in computer‐mediated communication. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses qualitative methodology to discover communication problems and strategies as they are used by employees in a multinational organization. Findings – Communication problems and strategies were associated with differences between communicators at three levels of discourse: different assumptions about communication; different ways of structuring information and differences in style. Research limitations/implications – The implementation of the suggested tools introduces potential sensitivities that need to be considered. Originality/value – The paper highlights how to apply the discourse approach to the analysis of intercultural communication problems and suggests several implementations of computer‐mediated communication mechanisms and techniques that can effectively mitigate communication problems in multinational organizations.