Although the U.S. workforce is becoming increasingly multicultural, research and
theory in business communication continues to be based on the assumption of cultural
similarity. This paper develops a framework for understanding multicultural com
munication in organizations that is based on the assumption of cultural difference.
The framework comprises two steps, resistance to privileged discourse followed by the
creation of harmonic discourse. The author suggests four directions for future research
in multicultural communication in organizations: (a) documentation of different or
ganizational discourses, (b) documentation and analysis of privileged organizational
discourse, (c) documentation and analysis of organizational discourse in which
privilege is resisted, and (d) documentation and analysis of multicultural organization
al discourse.
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