Intercultural Communication Analysis

Intercultural communication can be defined as the process in which two or more individuals from different cultures interact and exchange messages with each other. As a branch of communication, intercultural communication includes symbolism, diverse perceptions and nonverbal communication. Most of our cultures determine specific norms and values that limit or define how we communicate, that is why intercultural communication focuses on identifying if cultures are individualistic or collectivist cultures. Individualistic cultures members’ interest are centered in helping themselves, as opposed to members in collectivist cultures who give essential importance to the opinion of important members in their lives (Adler, Rosenfeld, Proctor II, 2015)

Therefore, intercultural communication can be a challenging process, because both individuals need to be informed of each culture principles and norms, otherwise misinterpretation may happen often. This problem may occur because intercultural communication also includes non-verbal communication and different perceptions. In the same way, the way one individual interprets the world is directly tied to their specific culture. For instance, if one culture, like the Jewish community, has experienced mass leadership as a atrocious approach, they may not be identify themselves as leaders, even when they really are taking those positions, because they have perceived leadership as something almost disruptive. In the same way, collectivist cultures can be more reserved from their own strengths because it can be a sign of narcissism, concept not well seen in many religious communities for example. That may be another reason why many individual do not identifying as leaders. In addition, other causes like economic statues can influence the way we think of ourselves, in this example if we are leaders or not. This happens because if we see in television a representation of leadership as wealthy, good looking and expensively educated people; one may think that the only way we can be leaders is if we have those, and sometimes people may think that they do not have

The difference between the companies is the rate in which they provide their products; Germans are more focused on quantity and mass production as opposed to Japanese who are more interested in design and functionality. In Pressentin (2015) comparison, many of the communication principles linked to effective multicultural leadership were highlighted. For instance, the Japanese’s power distance was significantly higher that the Germans which brought issues when talking between supervisors and employees. Power distance is defined as the extent in which individuals accept that power is not distributed equally among social systems like organizations or families. The Japanese sense of respect lays on the hierarchal interaction between employees and supervisors. The lack of knowledge of this concept from the Germans led to misinterpretation between both companies. In the same way, uncertainty avoidance was also analyzed and defined as the degree in which cultures prevent ambivalence within their communication. The uncertainty avoidance in the Japanese staff was significantly high compared to the Germans and caused delays in the sales of many products due to the Japanese demand to complete all essential and heavily structural tests in each tool. Finally, individualism among employees was widely examined and described as the