La construction du sens des expériences interculturelles au sein d’une organisation multinationale : une étude de cas
As globalization expands, the intercultural dimensions of organizations and organizational communication draw more and more scholars and practitioners’ attention.  Along these lines, this study describes how managers of a multinational organization make sense of their intercultural experiences in everyday work life and their views on the intercultural aspect of the company, using an interpretive perspective.  Current research identifies a number of themes as central to intercultural communication: context, message flux and language (Hall, 1976, 1990).  This study revisits these constructs from the standpoint of the theory of sensemaking developed by Karl E. Weick (1995), on the basis of which managers’ accounts of their daily experiences of intercultural communication are examined.  From interview data, the study shows how the issue of interculturality, although regarded as important and as a valuable asset of the organization, is not consequential for the daily communication practices of most managers in the case under study.  It is however quite influential for HR and PR management because of the very nature of their activities.   Results also suggest that the intercultural dimension of a multinational organization is experienced in slightly different ways depending on the framing of the organization’s identity.  From the standpoint of its region or country of origin, the organization is framed as “local” and domestic.  From the perspective of its many relations with its divisions around the world, the organization’s identity tends to be framed as “multinational” and, finally, from the standpoint of the host country, the organization’s identity is framed as “foreign”.  These framings are consequential for the definitions and meanings of intercultural communication managers make out of the intercultural dimension of the organization.   Keywords: intercultural experiences, intercultural communication, sensemaking, multinational organization.
intercultural experiences intercultural communication sensemaking multinational organization