Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Abstract: One of Norway’s main industries is oil and gas, which has an international character. In\naddition, within this sector there is a greater demand for knowledge workers as opposed to\ntraditional workers. To date, there is a lack of research and literature directly comparing\nNorway to Britain with respect to intercultural communication. Therefore, we wish to map\npotential barriers regarding culture and communication in order to fill this gap. Thus, the\nfollowing research question was proposed:\nWhat are the main cultural and communication challenges perceived by British knowledge\nworkers with regard to the Norwegian working environment?\nThe research question was answered through conducting 16 semi-structured in-depth\ninterviews with British knowledge workers in eight different companies. The Norwegian\nworking environment is assessed through a British perspective. As this approach is of a\nqualitative nature without hypotheses or a probability sample, we are not able to draw\nstatistical conclusions or generalize our findings. However, we aim to encourage further\nresearch within various fields as a result of our interpretation of our findings.\nOne of our most significant findings could be that the Law of Jante is underestimated with\nregard to the GLOBE cultural dimensions. The degree to which the “law” is rooted in\nNorwegian culture may not necessarily be revolutionary, but the scope of its effect on office\nculture in a multicultural context is of interest. Aspects of the Law of Jante could affect a\nNorwegian’s desire for feedback, conflict aversion, how ideas are shared, and who should take\nresponsibility. This might influence the manner in which British and Norwegians\ncommunicate in the working environment. Another finding concerns the importance of the\nrole of English as a Lingua Franca and the average English proficiency of Norwegians, as these\naspects may pose challenges for a Briton attempting to learn Norwegian.
Source: BIBSYS Brage (BIBSYS (Norway))
Language: English
Subfield: Communication
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2518203081