Effective communication abroad can be difficult to achieve because of the lack of understanding between different cultures. But there are many companies out there who are effectively promoting their products in multiple countries. So, how do they do it? To be able to communicate abroad takes excellent leadership skills from multiple parties.
With the rapid growth in globalization there are a number of firms who have taken their businesses abroad. Their challenge, cross cultural management and communication. An effective communication strategy begins first with understanding who the sender of the message is and who the receiver of the message is. Many companies have realized this and offer training in the different cultures to help better facilitate communication between leaders (Cross-Cultural Communication, mindtools.com). Without this basic understand between sender and receiver it can be very difficult for companies of multicultural to even begin to communicate. The second important understanding is that leaders must demand a cultural tolerance of acceptable behavior between cultures to facilitate effective communication (Cross-Cultural Communication, mindtools.com).
Communication is the key to organization for these companies and leaders depend largely on its effectiveness. In one study of cross cultural communication, managers were asked to think of seven problems before the meeting to make the communication effective (Barriers of Cross Cultural Communication in Multinational Firms). But, how do people understand each other when they do not share the same culture? To answer this question we must first understand cross cultural management. This type of management focuses on the behavior of people working together as a group ...
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...ting in one group differ greatly in another group. Solutions to these problem may include language classes, multilingual translators that can be incorporated into the teams and technological solutions such as translators.
Depending on the culture and society will determine how a leader should approach and create an effective communication process. Whether it be having classes or hiring translators. There are many tools and solutions to problems that can help companies overcome them. This is the main challenge of companies abroad. Because there CEO deals with so many different countries, cultures and societies they must learn to quickly adapt to change. They must have a plan of communication established and it should appeal to the culture they are presenting to. Without this most important quality, this is what could make or break a company looking to expand itself.
Hollander (1985) defined leadership as the process of influence between a leader and followers to attain group, organizational, or societal groups. Some leaders are innate, however now a days most of the leaders develop himself/herself by education. Education system takes a great place to develop leadership quality in context of globalization. “Students are now consumers who define quality education from a global perspective” (Drucker, 1995). Current education system has been changed in Asia basically in Thailand to create more efficient and effective leaders. There are lots of multinational and international organizations that are operating their businesses all over the world. Because of globalization cross-cultural workplaces has become a challenge for the organization. The culture of multinational or international organization has shared by the members of the organization. The individual level, the intra-organizational level and the inter-organizational levels are the three levels of contrast for cross-cultural organization. (Rhein, 2013)
A cross culture misunderstanding is when there is a difference between two cultures in the interpretation of a behavior, words, gesture that have different meanings in the different societies. In today’s multicultural business environment it is instrumental that managers are culturally aware so as to enable productivity and maximum efficiency of their human resource.
Communication strategies pose a direct influence on job performance, degree of job ability, and career development of employees, and thus have a direct association with leadership effectiveness (Argyris, 1962). Several challenges arise from communication deficiency , including the consequences of differences in cultural value, language, and situatedness. SAHC leaders can conquer these difficulties by striving to comprehend the root causes of the difficulties and integrate appropriate communication skills to manage the
Traveling to different countries can be very challenging, especially in business. Anyone who travels from Brazil to America will find it fascinating and sometimes confusing to live and communicate with each other because of the many cultural differences; however, it would not take a long time before they realize that there are many similes and differences between them. Although Brazilian culture is different from the Americans, it is exciting to learn how they act. The business world is something universal which needs both parties to come together and understand each other; in order to succeed any international transactions both countries needs to be able to communicate in the best way. For example, business communication,
Doing business with various multicultural companies it is easy to stop barriers between people and the business partners. In the source, the author points the cultural competence differently from professional in general and conducts of a new code that developed to remove the cultural system. By creating business with different culture, people one thing we know that is “culture” about the new nation and religious norms of that country. While working with different cultured people we also gain vast knowledge about caste, customs and much more. For example- people of Canadian’s are too friendly and helpful to talk and interact with the peoples of other countries and help them to settle down in their country by providing them knowledge about the customs of their country . By giving respect to another nation, people they feel a family relation to their business colleagues and partners. Thus, this brings a good relationship among peoples of different communities’ languages and help to create a strong bond between two countries and two
In Hall’s article, “Context and Meaning” it is revealed to us the importance in cross cultural communication. Context can be defined as the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed. Cross cultural communication is important because it creates diversity and understanding between the workers. In this essay the reader is provided with sufficient evidence to identify the staging of context with such importance to cross culture communication, teach about culture and joint cooperatives, and business transaction, and help create a diverse workforce.
The Intercultural communication is a way of sharing information across the different cultures and used to describe the processes and problems that arise within an organization made up of individuals with different backgrounds (religious, social, educational…).
... maintained over lengthy periods of time, a more comprehensive approach to understanding the subjective interpretations of communication partners could help an intercultural partnership enhance their working relationship (Heffernan, 2008). In a sense, miscommunication and conflict could be not only minimized but hypothetically avoided all-together by communication partners. The possibility of this phenomenon could make Communication Accommodation Theory an inviting prospect for researchers interested in the development of cross cultural communication practices, organizations operating over-seas, and individuals who engage in intercultural discourse on a regular basis. The practicality of CAT in addressing the causes of intercultural conflict management, could make a significant impact on the way modern business and social interactions are conducted across the world.
Therefore, it is essential to study nonverbal and verbal communication Nonverbal communication is all forms of communication other than words themselves, which includes “body motions; vocal qualities; and the use of time, space, and even smell” (Neuliep, 2011, p. 269). On the other hand verbal communication or language “consists of symbols in the form of spoken or written words (Wood, 2014, p. 67). Thus cultures have different representations of symbols and what one culture interprets another may define or view differently. Communication is closely related to culture because communication expresses and alters culture. In a culture you learn behaviors and acceptable ideologies. This can be seen in verbal and nonverbal communication. For example, the tone of your voice is based on culture. Without communication you are unable to establish cultural differences. Your own culture directly shapes how one communicates, such as when it is appropriate to make eye contact. We are not born knowing when and how we should speak; this is a learned behavior that is taught by interaction with others. This is not an easy task because nonverbal signals differ from culture to culture. Charles Braithwaite stated, “One of the fundamental components of cultural and linguistic competence is knowing how and when to use silence as a communication tactic” (Neuliep, 2011, p. 64). Before one can communicate effectively one must understand the context in which the culture exchanges information. One must have a working awareness of how each society conveys meaning, hence high vs. low context cultures. According to the Central Michigan University text, organizational dynamics and human behavior (2009), to become a successful international manager one must develop “cross-cultural skills”. One part of the skill set involves the comprehension of the difference between high-context and low-context
The way people communicate varies widely between, and even within, cultures. One aspect of communication style is language usage. Language has always been perceived as a link between people but it can also constitute a barrier. Across cultures, some words and phrases are used in different ways. For example, even in countries that share the English language, the meaning of "yes" varies from "maybe, I'll consider it" to "definitely so," with many shades in between . Furthermore, communication between cultures which do not share the same language is considerably more difficult . Each culture, has its distinct syntax, expressions and structure which causes confusion in intercultural communication. For example , in Asian countries the word “no” is rarely used, so that “yea” can mean “no” or “perhaps”. Therefore, an American traveling to Japan might be considered impolite if he ignores this rule. Furthermore, individuals who are not comfortable with a certain language may not be taken seriously. Such is the case in the classroom, where a student who has a perfect knowledge of the subject in question may have difficulty expressing his idea due to his inability to write properly and therefore he would not receive the grade he truly deserves. Similarly intercultural communication is dominant in the workplace. In the past, many companies and organizations could operate entirely within their country of origin and conduct their activities exclusively in their own native language. But now, due...
Using 1997 financial crisis and other examples, discuss how globalization is important to the modern business journalism. Introduction
The differences in other cultures vary from beliefs to ways of life, or norms, of the different societies. The importance of understanding and sensitivity to other countries’ differences is crucial to a business’ success. “Lack of familiarity with the business practices, social customs, and etiquette of a country can weaken a co...
...eded. I wish I could take this class more early. When I saw the responses from classmates, the responses were very different because the experience of each classmate is different. Now, I realize how diverse the customers would be. Even though most of the customers were from United States, I am not from United States. I could not understand what they need in first place. I have seen some ads example showing how simply translating words is not enough. Pepsi Cola’s “Come Alive With Pepsi” campaign when it was translated for the Taiwanese market, conveyed the unsetting news that, “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave.” This shows that deeper understanding of the other culture is necessary to translate meaning effectively. In short, cross cultural communication is relatively important for me when I want to do business international or domestically.
Abstract: Globalization has made intercultural communication inevitable. Communicating with other cultures characterizes today’s business, classroom, and community. Technology, especially the internet, has increased the probability that whatever is documented online will be read by someone from another culture. Intercultural communication is of importance in any career field, thus the art of knowing how to communicate with other cultures should be a workplace skill that is emphasized. This is a conceptual paper whose purpose is twofold.
Sonderberg, A-M & N Holden. (2002), Rethinking cross cultural management in a globalizing business world' International Journal of Cross Culture Management 2(1): 103-121