Stigma Management In International Relations: An Essay.

Culture's Impact on Internet Communication

Discuss about the Stigma Management in International Relations.

Internet and culture are two interdependent entities if considered from the perspective of contemporary standards. Internet has limited the scope for communication which has resulted in interaction between various cultures. The internet has created interactive platforms such as social media and blogging which enable individuals from distinct corners of the earth to communicate efficiently with little or no emphasis on intercultural differences. The applications of the internet for unconventional purposes such as business marketing and education have also created ample scope for integration of social variables. The use of internet has created awareness among various individuals and has also created platforms for interaction between individuals from diverse cultures. Interaction between people belonging to different cultures could result in flexible translation of necessary elements of cultures among one another. Use of emails and video conferences could be assumed as profound examples of internet’s impact on culture.

On the other hand culture has impacted certain ways in which the internet operates. The design of websites has been changing according to cultural preferences of target audience. Cultural implications have also resulted in modification of social media platforms over the years as they try to integrate elements of multiple cultures which could improve the efficiency of internet platforms. The increasing concern for information privacy can be considered as an example of cultural impact on the internet.

Punctuality signifies the credibility of a person’s character and indicates a favorable representation of character. The punctuality of a person is indicative of their concern for other individuals and in countries where people do not pay attention to punctuality, late coming would not be reprimanded. Therefore the variations in attitude towards time could create substantial friction between two distinct cultures and hence attitudes towards time can be considered as a foremost determinant of operational conflicts. The example of time differences can be found in North and Latin America. While individuals in North America are apprehensive of punctuality, the people in Latin America are somewhat irresponsive to time-keeping. Therefore operational conflicts are bound to arise when a Latin American organization shifts bases to North America or vice-versa.

Individualism is treated as a favorable entity in certain contexts which require the skill set of a single professional while collectivism is necessary for accomplishing organizational objectives and goals. The preference for individualistic attitudes in a collectivist society could lead to operational conflicts. For example, China does not support individualism and hence employees are assumed to work with team spirit in order to achieve collective goals as well as personal development.

Attitudes Towards Time and Punctuality in Cross-Cultural Communication

Stereotypes are generated especially in cases of interaction between multiple cultures. The stereotypes include cultural sensitivity, informality in communication and beach culture of the nation. Australians are perceived to be a culturally sensitive population owing to the residency of a large share of the population since 1945. However, the regulations for promoting globalization negate this stereotype. The use of slang in common Australian communication is also a prominent stereotype which can be attributed to the casual lifestyle of the residents. The third stereotype can be validated by the residence of a substantial portion of the total population along the beach. From a personal perspective, I conclude that Japanese people are self-oriented, Arabian people tend to be racist and the Chinese are hardworking people in my opinion.

Social media has transformed the conventional perspective of communication through integration of virtual, interactive and two-way process. The effectiveness of social media can be measured in terms of cost, time and speed with respect to the traditional entities used for communication. Global business communication has garnered substantial benefits from the social media platforms as customers and employees could be involved in personal relationships and thus develop promising brand image for the organization. The preference of current generation for the technological improvements in social media can also be considered as a vital contributor to the proliferation of social media’s role in global communication. Facebook, twitter and many other social networking platforms could be used effectively for globalization purposes and hence social media s being utilized as a resource for realizing an unconventional facet of communication and develop relationships.

Culture and language are strongly interdependent entities and the implication of transmitting culture through language has been a credible mention in human history. Culture can be defined as the norm for executing certain activities related to daily objectives and communication. Language is also interconnected to culture as culture indicates the interaction between individuals which is executed with the help of language. It has been observed that people communicating in a similar language could face troubles with communication due to culture disparities. Multicultural societies could result in conflicts despite the uniformity of language[5]. Cultures could also create specific dialects for the same language and hence communication pitfalls could become imperative in such scenarios. The use of tone also forms a significant aspect of the cultures and language as similarities in language and culture could not compensate the rudeness in the tone of an individual.

Individualism vs. Collectivism in Cross-Cultural Communication

Various research outcomes have indicated that majority of communication worldwide is non-verbal in nature. Body language can be considered as the use of body gestures and facial impressions for expressing oneself and has been considered as a formidable impact on the development and sustenance of business relationships. Body language is perceived as a contributor to communication at par with influence or words and hence it is considered as an imperative addition to cross cultural interactions. Body language in varying cultures differs and hence profound examples of differing body languages in varying cultures can be observed profoundly. The example of the French greeting with a kiss can be considered as a body language specific to the French. However, such greeting in Japan would be considered as a violation of respect. On the contrary, the Japanese method of greeting by bowing heads can be considered as ridiculous in France. This example highlights the example of touch being the element of non-verbal communication and thus the other examples of non-verbal communication such as posture, contact, physical appearance and distance between people are associated with prominent impact on the negotiation process.

Non-verbal communication is considered as a notable contributor to the communication process and the thinking as well as action of an individual which are dependent on their national culture. The extent of non-verbal communication can be observed in the widespread use of non-verbal approaches for communication on a global level. The examples of different cultures indicate that the German and Latin cultures are associated with consistent interruption in the activities of peers while the Russian culture characterized with a high power distance suggests minimal physical contact and extended silent periods. Other findings have indicated that the Koreans are more likely to interrupt and negate opinions frequently while the Japanese show contrasting behavior. Therefore, it can be concluded that varying countries in the ASEAN community are characterized by different body languages. Countries with collectivist approaches to society formation and culture could be flexible for adapting to multicultural nonverbal behaviors. The scope for eye contact in nonverbal communication also needs to be considered from the example of French people who are inclined towards gazing eye contact and hence it could create differences in multicultural environments.

Attitudes towards risk are dependent on the culture of an individual and are considered as notable contributors to the decision making process of an organization. Risk tolerance can also be considered as uncertainty avoidance with respect to the Hofstede’s model and is characterized by an individual’s capability to cope with risks and undertake measures to do the same. The factors of nationality, gender, education, national culture, income and age play a crucial role in formulation of uncertainty avoidance capacity of individuals. The inference can be drawn that a person with minimal access to resources would be less likely to assume any sort of risk tolerance. Collectivist cultures are found out to be more eager to undertake risks and countries like China validate the fact. Furthermore, risk propensity can affect the decision making process either in a positive or a negative direction. For example, higher risk levels could enable openness of decision makers to innovative opinions alongside increasing the uncertainty of the outcomes.

Stereotypes in Cross-Cultural Communication

The multiple stages of a negotiation process require preparation of a profile of the Germans especially in terms of social habits, body language and cultural precedents. Germans have been found out to be highly perceptive of their civilization and status and their association with economical and material things. The nature of Germans is characterized with discipline, logical attitude and punctuality alongside prevalence of individualistic behaviors with profound emphasis on self-preservation. The attitude of Germans during negotiation is formal and polite and they do not prefer to engage in informal communication. Building relationship would be the next stage for negotiations. Preparation for negotiations with Germans has to be complemented with preparation for formal meeting and attire alongside adapting to the cultural profile of Germans.

Exporting is concerned with product trade in international jurisdictions without a permanent presence in the selected jurisdiction. Exporting provides numerous advantages such as opportunities to earn foreign exchange, economies of scale and diversification of operations. The global operations as per exporting could also be characterized by the limitation of risks. Turnkey projects are concerned with outsourcing of tasks which cannot be accomplished by the owners. The advantages of turnkey projects include reduction of emergency costs, timely and efficient completion of project alongside an integrated and safe approach. Wholly owned subsidiaries on the other hand are responsible for entities which are under the ownership of a parent company. The advantages of wholly owned subsidiaries include low labor costs, tax incentives, access to total profit and promotion of global strategy of an organization.

The trend of globalization has prompted organizations to rethink the prospects for globalization. A domestic organization could prefer globalization in order to capitalize on the benefits of credibility and visibility in an international context. Globalization could also be associated with benefits such as diversification of portfolio and sustainable increase in revenue. Thereafter, the exposure of an organization to a pool of resources and acquisition of competitive advantage could be perceived as benefits of globalization. Furthermore, a domestic firm can avail the benefits of economies of scale which could allow the organization to establish strategic advantage over peers in the industry. The costs of globalization could be considered as limitations which could be leveraged for accessing the opportunities. The costs of taxation, licensing and compensation for international trade barriers also serve as threats for globalization. Management of international workforce could be a cause for threats for globalization and could be a determinant of conflicts and inferior productivity levels. Other global risks such as regulations, political influence, foreign exchange and diversification are considered as imperative additions to the list of threats in globalization.

The Role of Social Media in Cross-Cultural Communication

Korean culture is noted for the emphasis on traditions and therefore the Koreans are more loyal towards their culture. The Koreans also take pride in their indigenous culture and hence the demand for locally manufactured car brands such as Hyundai and Daewoo is high. Therefore, the most probable market entry strategy for entering the Korean automobile market is through joint ventures. Joint ventures account for strategic partnerships and facilitated the desired competitive advantage to the two independent companies. The association with a Korean company would mean acceptance from the domestic customer market in terms of culture. Korean workers could implement their voracious skills in language to cater the needs of persuasive and aggressive marketing. The facilities of contacts derived from Korean partners could be used for increasing marketing presence. The implications of marketing are also improved with a joint venture and the integration of government support for the alliance would be a major accomplishment in terms of globalization.

In today’s growing globalization, there has been an increase in the companies or organizations with respect to the global market. In such conditions there are small scale industries, medium scale industries and the large scale industries. But most of the times depending upon the market conditions there have been the overlapping of the conditions which leads to the emergence of the mergers in the market. The mergers arise due to existing competition in the market. Mostly mergers are the resultant of the adaptation of the organization towards the environment of the high power organization in the market. Mergers are there in all the sectors of industries like in health sector, retail sector and any other business environment in the global market. Like in the technology industry there are many huge entities like Google, Facebook which in any cases are ready to grab the small companies who were incapable of handling their position in market and unable to compete.

The matter of cross border alliances are the common type of understanding that is done through an agreement and that is between two or more entities that are intended towards the achievement of the goals and objectives of their individual organizations. The incompatibility sources in the cross border alliances are the issues that are related to HR department along with that the issues that are came out of the conflicts between the management with the employees which eventually make the environment of the organization negative. These two issues like HR matter and the conflict management will have the whole negative impact on the business scenario of the organization. These issues can be minimized by the evaluation of the cultural status and environmental status of the present organization and the alliance organization. Furthermore the agreement between the two will eventually minimize the scenario of the issues of the organization making the management having a good control over the organization.

Language and Culture in Cross-Cultural Communication

The strategic implementation is being made by having the consideration of the nature and type of culture of the organization with having all the negative and positive impacts on it. Therefore the variables that are affecting this process are the basic feature that is the nature of the country which can be got through the individualistic and the collectivistic ideology of the country that will have the inclusion of the mixture of the opinions of the family along with the business decisions. The exact amount of power distance can also lead to the formation of another variable in the country. Like the example of the Mittal Steel industry case, the strategic implementations are varied due to the presence of the highly particular norms of the nation. Mittal Steel is becoming the very much successful by making the alliances across the nations but in some instances it is influenced by the variations of the national culture.

The origins of the MNCs are by the action of the globalization only to develop and enhance the global market. Therefore by going through the process globalization the MNC make itself compatible for the adjustment in every type of market in the global market. But sometimes the issues in the adaptation due the cultural indifferences make the organization more difficult in having comfortable with the environment. Also in addition to that the market specialization is also necessary along with the customer’s satisfaction and needs. Likewise the example of Disneyland which has the impacts of globalization on its entrance in the Hong Kong market. Evidences show that the entrance in the Hong Kong market made the very well design of the organization which is faced towards the facing of the controversies and issues in the attraction of the local people. Furthermore Disney has formulated many policies and many attractive offers which have lured the customers towards it.

By the role of an international manager there is having to keep into account many important factors that will further give an idea regarding the improvement or reconstruction of any of the current policies that is lacking the efficiency in every step. In this role another important work is to prevent the conflicts that are prevailing between the employees, or any kind of illegal acts that are going which are affecting the position of the customers resulting the decrease in the revenue. The demotivation of the employees by the impact of the internal and external environment is sometimes becomes a hurdle in decision making process which makes the negative working environment affecting the performances. Therefore a well-organized structure makes the maintenance of the official environment good with motivation within employees that will enhance the productivity.

Non-Verbal Communication in Cross-Cultural Communication

The transnational organizational can be defined as the organizations that can be said to have a well-structured and well defined hierarchy of them and along with that having an autocratic bureaucracy which basically results in the merging of the companies by going through many local and global strategies. These types of organizations are mostly said to have adaptive nature which makes them flexible and culturally sensitive. Mostly these types of companies are intended to have their development in the global market across the globe. As per there is my question, in my view, it will be my pleasure working in the transnational company which is very much intended towards valuing the culture of the individuals working with them. By working with this company, I will be definitely enhancing my skills of competencies and capabilities which will give an experience of competitive advantage in the global market.

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