Evaluating My Intercultural Competence

It is very important in this cosmopolitan world to understand the culture and background of people with whom we are interacting. Culture is something that influences a person’s decisions and traits. In this blog I will be reflecting on my intercultural knowledge and communication.

My stay in 3 different places in India and then in Singapore has made me conscious of my own culture and how it differs from other cultures. This experience has made it easy for me to work in teams that have people from diverse cultures. However, after the class on inter-cultural communication, I realised that though we were comfortable working together we did not discuss much about our own cultures. Despite recognising the existence of different cultures most of the time we assume things based on the limited knowledge that we have about that culture.

However, NUS has been crucial in increasing my knowledge about various cultures and people in Singapore through events such as “Bits&Bytes” and modules like Singapore Studies. In fact, the Singapore Studies module which I took last semester has improved my understanding of how various cultures co-exist in Singapore. These things reinforce the concept that for any society with cultural differences to coexist, all cultures must be recognised, respected and the interest of one culture should not interfere with other cultures. I am able to see this both in the Singapore and the India’s context where the government’s policies and laws are framed with this cultural diversity in mind.

I learnt in the class other day that I was not aware of some festivals that were being celebrated by different communities. I believe that this ignorance was because I had not discussed much about culture with people though we discuss other day to day things. However, this does not mean that I was never curious or open about others cultures. I have tried to find out about other cultures, but most of the times the sources were from the internet and not the people from that culture.

The class on intercultural communication has enabled me to realize that I should try to find out about the cultures of other people and should not wait for people to talk about their culture. In fact, I understand that I can learn about a person by learning his/her culture as traits of a person are determined by the culture from which they come from. 

Application Letter

Dinesh Thangavel

63,John Street

Singapore 118795

97485624

abcd@gmail.com

Mr Steven Jack

Human Resource Manager

ABC Private Ltd.

36,Hedrick Street

Singapore 115798

16 September 2012

Dear Mr.Steven Jack 

Sub: Application for Internship Position

I am writing this letter to express my interest to join ABC Private Ltd. as an intern. I am a year two NUS undergraduate specialising in Computer Engineering.  I learnt from the industrial attachment fair that ABC Private Ltd. is hiring interns and hence, I would like to apply for the project Data Analysis process improvement for system level bring-up and characterization.

I feel that I have all the abilities that are needed for this project. My Programming skills are very good as I was a part of the team that developed Hypermarket Inventory Control and Monitoring System using C++ .Further, I was involved in another group project where we had designed and implemented an Autonomous Line Tracking Vehicle using hardware components. Further, my analytical skills have been recognised in some Mathematical and Physics competition.

My education in 4 different schools at 4 different places have made me adaptable to any situation .Thus, I am confident that I can overcome the challenge of working in this project with engineers present in different geographical locations. Also, my experience of working in teams in co-curricular activities by organising meetings and adhering to deadlines has improved my leadership and time-management skills.

My resume has been enclosed for your evaluation. Thank You very much for your time and consideration. If you have any further questions, I would be glad to furnish you with more information in an interview. Please do not hesitate to contact me at the number provided in my enclosed resume.

Thank you

Yours sincerely

Dinesh Thangavel

Resume

Dinesh Thangavel    Mobile:98746541  Email: dcba@gmail.com 

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EDUCATION

•          National University of Singapore(NUS)                                                          2011-present     Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Engineering)
•        DAV Boys Senior Sec School –Chennai, India                                              2003-2011
•      DAV Public School –Hyderabad, India                                                            2002-2003
•      Fravashi Academy Nasik-Maharashtra, India                                                1995-2001

TECHNICAL PROJECTS

·         Hypermarket Inventory Control and Monitoring System                           Jan-May 2012

           Team-mates: Yang Mo , Jia Hong

 

·         Autonomous Line Tracking Vehicle                                                                Jan-May 2012

      Team-mates:Henry, Rufina, Ruiqi

                

ACHIEVEMENTS  

Academic:

•          Received the "BRONZE AWARD" in the SINGAPORE MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIADS(Junior section)
•          Received CBSE Merit Certificate for centum in MATHEMATICS in class X and class XII
•          Received "CERTIFICATE OF MERIT" and "Rs 50 cash award" from Srinivasa Ramanujan  Academy of Maths Trust for outstanding merit in Mathematics
•          Received "CERTIFICATE OF HONOUR" from "THE PHYSICS SOCIETY", CHENNAI for securing 10^th rank in city level physics test in 2011. 
•          Awarded an "ENDOWNMENT PRIZE" for Highest in class X SCIENCE,.

Non-Academic:

•          Awarded as a "Best outgoing student" of D.A.V. BOYS SR SEC SCHOOL, Gopalapuram,       Chennai in Science Stream- Class XII
•          Awarded Endowment prize for GENERAL PROFICIENCY 2009-2010,2007-2008
•      Second Prize in Debate Competition conducted in 2007.
•      Keyboard Excellency award issued by MINERVA EDUCATIONAL ACADEMY at the MINERVA TALENT FEST 2007.

CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

•         Events Executive                                                                                  2012-Present                                           NUS Student Chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery(NUS ACM)                                    
•     Corporate Visit Executive                                                                    2011-Present                                    NUS Corporate Social Responsibility Student Movement (NUS CSRSM).        

Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

      

        In any society and organisation, differences in opinions, attitudes and ideas exist. An interpersonal conflict usually arises when these differences infringe on others. In most cases interpersonal conflicts can be resolved through proper communication and by not taking hasty decisions. In many cases the inability to work under stress is the cause for many interpersonal conflicts. The following is one such example.  

        Kelmec is a Multinational Company specialising in Software Engineering. Henry and Joseph are two software engineers working in the company. In 2005, Henry was a part of a 5 member team that worked together with other teams in creating a big application. Joseph was the leader of the team in which Henry was present. These leaders of various teams were working under the supervision of Mr Rutherford, a senior project manager.

        Joseph divided the task into 5 equal parts and handed it over to the teammates and set a comfortable deadline of 20 days for each of the teammates. When it was the last date   for submission, everyone except Henry had completed their work. Joseph learned from Henry that he was unwell and hence was not able to complete on time. He extended the deadline for Henry by a couple of days.

       In the mean time, Joseph was called for a meeting with other team leaders and Mr Rutherford. In the meeting, Joseph was fired for being the only team leader who did not submit the team’s part on time. Joseph was agitated and lost his peace of mind as he felt that he was being blasted due to Henry’s delay. After the meeting, the Joseph went straight to Henry and shouted at him for his delay. He further asked Henry to somehow submit his work and did not bother about the previous extension in deadline. Henry too shouted back at him worsening the conflict.

       This incident illustrates that most interpersonal conflicts occur when we are angry or agitated. We try to put the pressure on others when we feel the pressure ourselves. In the previous situation I feel that it would have been better if Joseph had explained how to complete the project on time to Henry rather than just shouting at time. He could have also asked other team members to help Henry with the project.

What are the other methods that you think Joseph could have adopted to solve the interpersonal conflict?

Importance of Effective Communication

      Effective Communication is very important for the sustenance of any society. All of us are interdependent on each other and need to interact both physically and electronically. Any misunderstanding and lack of proper communication can result in disasters as in the case of mid-air plane crash of a Saudi Aircraft and Kazakh Aircraft on 12 November 1996.   Investigations revealed that the pilots of Soviet Union had difficulty in understanding the English of air traffic controller.  Also, in many cases mistakes are made due to preset notions about units being used for e.g. miles, foots or metric units.

     In my context, being   an Engineer I need to have the skills of explaining technical things involving   designs in a lucid manner to non technical people like those in the management sector. Also, most of the projects these days are done in groups and hence communication among the group mates is very essential for the success of the project. Furthermore, communicating with others makes my thoughts clearer and could also lead to new ideas.  John Thomas (2009), an engineering manager at Google explains that free lunch system was   introduced in order to encourage communication among the employees at Google during their lunch. This consequently had the potential to develop ideas into mega projects.

      
    The lack of proper communication skills will deprive us of various opportunities despite having the talent. In order to avoid this situation, I must work hard to improve my communication skills with the guidance of the lecturer and peers. Through various activities such as peer teaching, application letter writing, oral presentations designed in the module, I strongly believe that I will be able to master communication skills and will be ready to face the corporate world.

Reference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggjwmzcihK8(at 33.13 min)

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/the-indian-air-crash-tapes-point-blame-at-kazakh-pilot-1352266.html

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A42Tab_bu6A&feature=g-hist at 2.58 min)