Tension Analysis in International Organizations: A Tool for Breaking Down Communication Barriers

A communication barrier arises between overseas managers and head office staff when the latter cannot grasp foreign work contexts. The barrier hinders cross‐border management. Communication is likely to improve through training based on the research finding that managers tend to talk about problems in terms of dilemma, paradox and other tensions generated by environmental forces such as culture and politics. Such tensions pervade organizational, managerial and other literature. Learners who study the tension construct become adept at identifying tensions generated by forces affecting domestic as well as international scenarios. More research is needed, but indications are that head office staff learn to empathize with overseas colleagues, and become less inclined to rely on a domestic mindset when analyzing unfamiliar contexts. Study of the tension construct may also improve skills in other forms of scenario analysis, and refine learners' knowledge of negotiation dynamics. Tension analysis has potential as a generic skill for analyzing organizational issues at home and abroad.