In a survey conducted, as part of this research, 83,33% of participating South African
diplomats indicated that the effects of cultural diversity and culture shock are
underestimated. As South African diplomats are expected by the Department of
International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) to work effectively in a crosscultural
environment abroad, the psychological disorientation caused by culture
shock could have a negative effect when working and living abroad. Severe culture
shock could cause a high level of strain, which could influence the ability of diplomats
to adapt effectively abroad, including spouse or partner dissatisfaction resulting from
culture shock depression. This could lead to a diplomat requesting to return to his or
her home country, with the associated high financial costs.
Cultural diversity training is defined by various authors as one aspect that could
assist in minimising culture shock since training provides knowledge, insight and
skills to deal with the negative effects of culture shock when deployed abroad.
Furthermore, the South African Public Service Act [1994] requires that human
resource managers within government departments, such as DIRCO, have the
responsibility to ensure that staff are effectively utilised and trained.
The question that subsequently directed this research was the following: What should
be included in the curriculum of a training programme aimed at minimising culture
shock among South African diplomats? The research assessed the current culture
shock training programme at DIRCO against international best practice, and it was
found that a cultural diversity training programme in culture shock should comprise
specific fundamentals, components and defining attributes relevant to definitions and
explanations on culture, culture-specific information, cross-cultural skills, conflict
resolution and dealing with culture shock in terms of cultural diversity, which has the
potential of reducing culture shock among South African diplomats effectively.
This research also found that there appears to be a gap in the scholarly literature and
knowledge within the field of Public Administration on the defining attributes of a
cultural diversity training programme with the potential of reducing culture shock
among diplomats. Ongoing research is encouraged and recommended in this particular field of study within the public sector. / Public Administration / D.P.A.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/25582 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Brewis, Anton |
| Contributors | Van Jaarsveldt, Liza Ceciel, Wessels, J. S. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (229 leaves) : illustrations, application/pdf |
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