Communication And Cross Cultural Communication

Cross-Cultural Communication

Global leadership is more effective when organizations have a clear understanding of cultural differences. The differences in the culture create a different work environment and that is true all over the world. Moreover, the study of cultural differences helps organizations to better understand and prepared to take on the challenges of a diverse workforce, foreign and domestic (Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G.J., & Minkov, 2010). Every culture and every country will most likely have their own means of achieving success in global management; identifying what drives a culture to succeed, then, is paramount. According to Hofstede (1980), culture is the collective mental programming of people. Therefore, organizations

Today’s leaders are always seeking to improve their communications because they are faced with a multi-generational and diverse population workforce. Organizations that do business abroad should and must acquaint themselves with that country’s cultural practices for an effective collaboration. Therefore, effective leaders must be able to understand a diverse, multi-generational workforce to share a common goal. More importantly, when attempting to understand other cultures, leaders must be cautious not to overgeneralize, avoid stereotypes and misinterpreting differences and similarities (Barrett, 2014). While cross-cultural and global studies are fairly new in the last decades, it is spreading worldwide attention because businesses are done globally. Cross-cultural communication is possible and can be achieved when leaders remain open, flexible, and non-judgmental. A good rule of thumb is that while Americans are studying and learning cross-cultural communication, the other countries are studying the western culture as well. Cross-cultural intelligence is necessary in today’s competitive business practices because, in order to be successful as a global leader, one must be adaptable to the changing business practices and culturally sensitive to how businesses are conducted