Cross-cultural Business Communication
Cross-cultural communication is important in facilitating the role of international management in achieving the objectives and performance in international assignments for business organizations. Cross-cultural communication skills facilitate the attainment of competitive advantage in the global business arena. Conflict resolution and management is another important aspect of cross-cultural communication skills that bring about a unified workforce that works jointly towards achievement of common business goals without little concern on cultural differences. In many respects, the current world is now a global village. This implies that many people from different parts of the world interact as though they are in the same locality. Likewise, business transactions also take place between people of different nationalities with little regard on their geographical and cultural orientations across the globe. Most organizations also have gone a notch higher because of the world being a global village (Schneider & Barsoux, 2003).
Due to globalization, most organizations draw their workforce from various parts of the world that exhibit different and varying cultural orientations. Cross-cultural workforce and teams allows organizations to enjoy the benefits of diversity. Cultural differences among employees imply a difference in beliefs that involve customs, ethics, and how people do things may differ from one culture to another (Adkins & Caldwell, 2004). The perception of a good idea or behavior in one culture may be bad in another culture. Cross-cultural communication skills among business employees implies the ability of employees from different cultural orientations to interact and work together amica...
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...n page two, the authors explain the impact of culture on business and its success. With this regard, the authors of the book assert the importance of cultural training in boosting the success of business in the international context. Because of globalization, most organizations realize the importance of cross-cultural communication and its training as a managerial strategy. This study puts more emphasis on the importance of cross-cultural training as an important factor in fostering organizational productivity. The book is important in this research in the sense that it bring out the understanding of cross-cultural communication and its factor of improving communication among organizational staff of different cultural backgrounds. The book is also important for future research in cross-cultural communication intelligence and its impact on organizational performance.
Cultural diversity can bring tangible benefits to an organization who is ready to foster, maintained, and value the difference in cultures. The marketplace is becoming more competitive, many business executives are expanding and developing new ideas, products and services beyond their usual culture or environment. A diverse workforce will help to understand the need and interest of another culture within and outside of the region. Thereby helping the company to expand globally, acquire more business opportunities, provide opportunities to create an excellent, diverse customer base and remain compe...
“Cultural Awareness is the foundation of communication and it involves the ability of standing back from ourselves and becoming aware of our cultural values, beliefs and perceptions” (Cantatore & Quappe, n.d.). Cross cultural awareness is a vital piece of an organizations success as well as organization failure. The economy today is highly diverse and organizations support a wide range of individuals that derive from a variety of cultures. It is important to respect each individual’s culture, beliefs, and values. “Culture impacts behavior, morale, and productivity at work as well, and includes values and patterns that influence company attitudes and actions”. (Ching-Hsiang & Hung-Wen, 2008) Deficiency in cross cultural awareness results in opportunity loss for an organization. As organizations grow in the USA, it becomes imperative to hire a culturally aware staff. The staff should be able to develop positive attitudes towards establishing a more diverse workplace. The following three concepts pertain to cross cultural awareness and the impact culture awareness has on a business: communication, ethics, and etiquette.
It was interesting to read about the cross-cultural communication and its impact on the healthcare outcomes and well-being for the clients. The author provided a good synopsis of the critical elements to improve cross-cultural communication.
Cross cultural teams are quite unique when compared to traditional mono-cultural business teams. Mono-cultural team members share similar ideas on how to pass information. The team members of a mono-cultural team also interpret statements in a similar manner. Thus, mannerisms and words spoken are usually clearly understood with almost no ambiguity. This represents a possible advantage over cross cultural teams who have members with different communication styles. There is a tendency for people who come from a background where words and meanings are explicitly stated to misunderstand other members who like to imply meanings in their statements and vice versa. This misunderstanding can often lead to conflicts that can eventual...
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…).
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.
Cross cultural communication is a very important factor for businesses in these days because of the rapid economic development hence globalisation.
In the 21st century, globalization has required the formation of cross-cultural communication, in which there are the numerous opportunities for humanity to exchange and communicate with people from other cultures in the world. Intercultural communication is the era trend and plays a crucial role in many aspects of life, especially in business communication. However, to avoid culture shock, people need to comprehend inhabitants’ the basic communication habits in an unfamiliar environment.
Cultural intelligence assessment will enable the individual to have certain information about himself. It is posited that cultural difference has a greater impact on business effectiveness than we think. That our cultural backgrounds really influence the way we think and act and the way we interpret each others contributions. Our success or failure in communication will depend on the extent at which we understand the different cultural background of the employees and create a fruitful collaboration in situations where cultural differences play a role. To achieve this, we need to act in an appropriate way in multicultural situations coupled with the ability to have an open mind which admits new information and this is curious about difference. We need to both know who we are and be curious about “the other” so that differences can be elaborated rather than smoothed down.
When one looks at cross-cultural communication in the organization one has to look at many deciding factors. Cross-cultural communication is also known as “Intercultural Communication” (Afghari, A., & Pourakbari, A. A. 2015 p. 37). When one looks at any organization one would see where cross-cultural communication plays a part. Cross-cultural communication in an organizations are growing. It is a part of our world whether we like it or not. They have different ethical beliefs. Whether we like it or not what seems to be the norm to use will not be the norm to someone else. Business have to understand that when they bring different cultures together they might have issues of ethnic as well. An article written by Kuntz and others said
A well-managed bi-cultural team is proven to be a success because when people from different backgrounds bring their own unique cultural experiences to the situations they face in their companies and this broader perspective of viewpoints tends to allow for a better ultimate resolution, however if those teams are not managed properly, and if the size of those teams are not managed, and the individuals are not catered to, the cons may outweigh the
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 ...
Whether it be talking to your foreign neighbour, or trying to strike a multi-million dollar business deal overseas, the ability to share information across different cultures is imperative to our everyday life. However, while intercultural communication can assist people of two different cultures understanding each other, it does not necessarily mean this communication will be effective due to an array of limiting factors (Swarthout, 2016). The purpose of this essay will be to assess the potentials and limitations that the application of intercultural communication can have in the current day. Discussion of this topic is important, as interaction with other cultures continues to rise through aspects such as globalisation, we must evaluate how
The language barrier, which is also a difficult hurdle to encompass, serves as one of the most obvious cultural differences. A manager can delegate a task to be accomplished within a US based division and reap the expected results immediately. On the other hand, if an international manager is not familiar with the English language or culture, the same task may yield a different result. Language is the transmitter of both information and ideas. "The key to global competency is to develop the skills to cope, and that means integrating into the dominant culture and realizing how to properly interpret and analyze behavior" (Hayes, 1996). Being bilingual increases the advantage that foreign business partners have in interacting together. It nullifies the need of a third party translator. Business partners tend to be more open and receiving when communicating with bilingual personnel who speak there native language. "An understanding of the language allows the manager to pick up particular points of view, implied meanings, and other information that is not literal" (Moreno, 2006).
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