The Quintessence Of Intercultural Business Communication: An Overview

Cultural identity and nationality

Discuss about the Quintessence of Intercultural Business Communication.

Cultural identity can be termed as the separate wisdom of self that is gained from the formal or informal affiliate in the groups that spread acquaintance, views, values, backgrounds, attitudes and way of life (Canals, 2012). It is commonly demarcated as the individuality of the group, or an individual that is prejudiced by the one’s belonging to the group or culture. It is the perception of the person’s or group self-conception that is associated to nationality, religion, ethnicity or any kind of communal group that has its own diverse culture. This answer will outline that the cultural identity is related to nationality that can be of a person or of a group.

Cultural identity is the feeling or the identity of having its place to a group. It is the person’s self-perception that is associated to the nationality (Cai, 2010). Thus, the cultural distinctiveness is both arrivals of the separate but also of the cultural indistinguishable group of associates that follows the same cultural personality.  It has been portrayed in various reports that the culture of a person plays an important role in the identification of the particular community or a given group of people. It is used in the reference of how a particular community set and lives their lives. It has huge influence how people communicate with each other and it is also important to note that the methods of communication differ from one culture to the next. Every culture that is found in the community must be made of the variety of systems through which it functions (Canals, 2012). Cultural identity is the element that is brought when a person or a society appreciated its own culture and that helps the persona and the society to appreciate the culture of the other people as well.          

Cultural identity is related to nationality through anything that is of national significance that is handed down and preserved through generations (Mutanen, 2010). Tesco, which is among the world’s largest retail supermarkets, always shows the importance of cultural identity in its marketing decisions. The main purpose of the company is simple that is to become the champion for the consumers. And for this, the company appreciates the cultural identity of the employees and the customers. The specified company has its branch in many countries and in its every branch; the management tries to develop its outlet according to the native people preferences. This is to provide the feeling of being like themselves to the consumers (DATTA, 2012). The mega automobile company Volkswagen also has something common to Tesco. The company respects the cultural identity of the people and tries to communicate through accessible guidelines which are developed according to the organizational values.   

Skills that Manager’s requires

Thus it is important to understand that cultural identity and nationality have its influences on the people on how they communicate with each other. Though the corporations have its own structural culture and ethics, it is imperative that the ethnic group and cultural identity of the individuals should also be appreciated and valued.

What skills are needed for a manager to be competent in intercultural communication?

The work of the world has been changed now and more and more companies are obtaining the opportunity of being a global enterprise. Companies are more global now as well as the diverse employee groups. As the today’s offices are full of technological equipment’s, the answer will outline the skills that a manager needs to be competent in intercultural communication.

Intercultural communications can be defined as the situated communication in the middle of individuals and groups of dissimilar cultural origins and diverse ethics. And the intercultural capability is the aptitude to connect effectively and suitably with folks of other cultures. A manager in the current business situations needs to incur the ability of intercultural competence for communicating efficiently and properly with the employees and people of other cultures. A manager during the interactions with the people from foreign cultures has to understand the cultural specific concepts of thinking, feeling, and perception (Chávez, 2013). Managers have to develop the desire for the intercultural communication that usually starts from a view that the communication is better if it is constructive, and does not develop any misunderstanding.

Managers should have some knowledge about the cultural theories and history and should have some knowledge about the living style of different communities and nations. Managers also need to know how culture can affect the communication and the language (Ganesh & Holmes, 2011). For being competent in intercultural communication, managers first need to understand their own culture. It is important to understand own culture completely to have respect for the other’s culture. The second point is that the managers must to be aware of the cultural differences and the individual cultures. This pointy defines that if a person does something differently, it does not necessarily mean that it is less valid. Thirdly, managers should learn to read body language and should also understand non-verbal clues (Nair-Venugopal, 2015). Next point is that the managers need to be curious and should attentively listen and observe the communication. During intercultural communication, it becomes vital to keep the communication as simple as possible. While talking with someone who is not native, it is better that the managers avoid slang words, abbreviations, acronym and difficult idioms.

Discuss the complexity of intercultural business communication

Intercultural competence is the path to ensure that the decision taken for the determined goals and objectives are effective and efficient. The capability of intercultural capability is significant and can be derived as an essential skill in dealing with the migrant’s issues. Intercultural competence is the need to allow one’s attitudes to be challenged by recognizing the other cultural and ethnic groups (Nair-Venugopal, 2015). Administrators need to admit and identify the ethnic variances and should raise the spirits of the employees to participate in all the cultural and organizational events. Managers should also adapt their behaviors and does not expect always to adapt to them. If a person unintentionally does something that is difficult for the managers to accept; at that time instead of offending they should politely explain him or her why he or she is finding it hard to digest (Najar, 2015). For avoiding the misunderstanding, managers need to listen carefully. Managers should also not be afraid of making apologies and should use local television to understand the behavioral issues and norms of the workers.

It is important to say that multinational companies have spread its roots in almost every corner of the world as the global business environment is rapidly changing and getting more and more inter-connected and inter-dependent (Phipps, 2013). Companies are appreciating and understanding the cultural identity of one another and that is helping them to expand themselves. This answer will portray the complexity of intercultural business communication.

Recognizing and understanding the cultural differences have become more crucial than ever as this ensures the healthy economic growth and sustainability (Moll, 2012). Many studies have outlined that the major reasons for the failure of multinational companies are the deficiency of intercultural skills and proficiency, the powerlessness to communicate effectively in the global business environment and the inability to apply accurate decisions in the business discussions. As more and more nations are now taking part in global business trades; intercultural communication has textured as the essential topic that entails critical thought and investigation.

Conclusion

There are various complications in the cultural communication among the companies. The first difficulty is the relativity of each culture and the co-incidence of the cultures. When a corporation crafts its business in a foreign land, it is very problematic to fully acknowledge the cultural and ethical values and beliefs of the natives (Walker, 2015). It is then become important for the management to take their steps in an appropriate manner so that their decisions do not harm the cultural values of the land. Another complication in cultural communication is the ethical problems that are related to the cross-cultural studies. It is like what the companies can allow themselves to do in other cultures.

It is significant to comprehend the link in the middle of the culture and the communication as it is the cultural influence that persons learn to communicate (Walker, 2015). For example, children learn to communicate in the same way as the others and with the same meaning. International business culture can be referred as the manners and attitudes that would be considered as acceptable behaviors in the global business and social situations (Mutanen, 2010). In the business context, it is vital that how national and international firms can effectively with their stakeholders (Walker, 2015). It is important as it determines how successful can be the firm in the global business frame.

It can be thus analyzed that at the time of interacting with the colleagues and individuals of other culture in a business or in any market situations, it is imperative to know the customers to ensure that an unintended implication is not transported in order to avoid upsetting them unintentionally. 

References

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Chávez, K. (2013). Pushing Boundaries: Queer Intercultural Communication. Journal Of International And Intercultural Communication, 6(2), 83-95. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17513057.2013.777506

DATTA, R. (2012). Globalized Arts: The Entertainment Economy and Cultural Identity. International Studies Review, 14(3), 455-457. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2486.2012.01139.x

Ganesh, S. & Holmes, P. (2011). Positioning Intercultural Dialogue—Theories, Pragmatics, and an Agenda. Journal Of International And Intercultural Communication, 4(2), 81-86. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17513057.2011.557482

Moll, M. (2012). The quintessence of intercultural business communication (1st ed.). Berlin: Springer.

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Najar, U. (2015). The ‘intercultural field’: interrogatingcontextin intercultural education. Language And Intercultural Communication, 16(2), 148-163. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2015.1103248

Phipps, A. (2013). Intercultural ethics: questions of methods in language and intercultural communication. Language And Intercultural Communication, 13(1), 10-26. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2012.748787

Walker, R. (2015). Book Review: Managing risk and complexity: Through open communication and teamwork. International Journal Of Business Communication, 53(1), 131-133. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2329488415613574