Advantages Of Richard Lewis

The harmony of the existing cultures is crucial for the survival and success of any communication and ignoring these aspects may challenge the communication. For example, speaking to employees in Middle East is quite different from Switzerland; talking about personal things is acceptable by Swiss. Individuals who move to other countries unprepared for cultural differences may face unpleasant frustration when communicating. However, those who try to learn other cultures are likely to avoid individual tragedies. For example, Americans doing business in Mexico need to learn the local language to enhance interactions with the locals.

My research is focused on the problems associated with cross-cultural communication and how awareness of culture, language, tradition, and business practices can increase the advantages to globalization. This report will be field specific in

Washington, Okoro and Thomas (2012) have written an analysis of the benefits and challenges of improving intercultural communication in international business. Their article functions as an overview of some key issues, and is fairly well-researched, but ultimately treads no new ground. The article first outlines the case for improved intercultural communication, noting that business is becoming increasingly globalized. As nations come together, there is the risk that ventures and deals could fail as the result of errors in intercultural communication. The authors note, however, that "as businesses begin to appreciate and respect cultural differences, they develop a better understanding of why people act in certain ways, and give them a better understanding on how they should be act while conducting business."

An author, scholar and Christian apologist born on November 29, 1898 in Belfast Ireland and 50 years post his death in 1963, still remains one of the worlds most influential writers of our time – this is the one and only Clive Stanley Lewis (Jack). In this essay I will share a brief overview of Lewis’s life, his key teachings and share my opinion on whether they are relevant and impacting today.

With the world embracing globalisation at a breakneck pace, there is increasing need for cross-cultural communication and sensitivity. After 45 minutes of roleplaying, I think that I managed to experience first-hand complications surrounding the idea of cross-cultural communications.

“SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis) is a framework for identifying and analyzing the internal and external factors that can have an impact on the viability of a project, product, place or person.” Margaret Rouse (2014) John Lewis – Strengths John Lewis use two formats to sell there products, online and in shop. If they did not have a website, there market would be just the UK as they do not have any shops outside the UK. The website is easy to understand and follow which allows people from other countries to buy goods.

Being able to understand how people from different cultures and religions communicate, interact, and perceive the environment around them allows for the formation of important guidelines and practices which help combat and avoid anxiety and uncertainty in government, business, and personal intercultural relationships for the purpose of efficient negotiations and merges different cultures into more tolerant cohesive existence.

In our textbook, Real Communications by O’Hair, Wiemann, Mullin and Teven, culture is defined as, “a learned system of thought and behavior that belongs to and typifies a large group of people”. In short, culture is the way we do things that is the same as people where we came from. It can vary not only from country to country, but even different parts of the city. It is part of an identity through which we see the world and can affect how we interpret information, especially speeches and body language. Culture includes lots of things such as languages, fashion, music, art, customs, and slang.

Uniquely put by Christopher Dawson, a British scholar, “the greatest obstacle to international understanding is the language barrier.” Essentially, Dawson speaks about the great lengths some people have to go through to understand another’s culture, and a lot of the time they fail. Inspired by the stimulus material, “Vanishing Voices,” I delved into the limitations language barriers put on society and how to solve them. I found these limitations are reflected in business, education, and cultural expansion. In essence, Future business deals, economic downturns, the health of foreigners and education for future generations are at risk without the mass integration of a universal language. Language barriers are what cause a great deal of risk in the business place and for foreign travelers and tourists. Ensuring a more successful and safe future for generations to come, involves the identification of issues caused by language barriers resulting in an absence of an effective health care system, economic downturns involving business deals that failed, and a lack of a proper education system for those who do not speak the major languages spoken by the majority of the world, English, Mandarin, French, or Spanish.

Our understanding of intercultural communication help us to realize the differences we have in assuming that human beings are fundamentally relational creatures and who strive for communion with the world as well as fellow beings. We need to understand that we are constructing at the same time deconstructing cultures (Rodriquez, 2012).

In addition to culture, Chapter 1 briefly touches on communication as an aspect of culture. Ineffective and improper forms of communication are detailed and several examples are discussed on “how not to” properly communicate in different countries.

Cultures differ from nation to nation. Culture plays an important role in communicating with other people. In Matthew Arnolds’ Culture and Anarchy (1867), culture is described as “special intellectual or artistic endeavors or products.” In Primitive Culture, Edward B. Tylor (1871) defined culture as "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." all folks “have” culture, learned by virtue of membership in some social group – society. In the book “Communicating at Work” by Ronald B. Adiel and Jeanne Marquardt Elmhorst, the definition of culture is “a learned set of shared interpretations about beliefs, values, and norms, which affect the behaviors of a relatively large group of people.”

The world has become hugely interconnected over the last couple of year. With globalization being the preferred mode of operation for many businesses, the world has become borderless. Developments made in the field of information communication technology have also played a key role in helping bridge the gap that exists between people from different regions of the world. Thus, the world has become more interconnected with a lot of intercultural sharing. These developments have made it easier for businesses to penetrate and dominate foreign markets. In their videos on Ted talk, both Peter Alfandary and James Sun argue that there is a need for people to try to learn about other cultures as this enhances relation and understanding among people. The paper presents an analysis of existing research and current trends that reiterate or disapprove the views held by these narrators. It seeks to show that though globalization has taken root in today’s world, there is a need to take an interest in learning other cultures as this will ensure a better understand especially when doing business.

As travel and communication have become faster and easier, interaction between people of different cultures has become more and more common. It was once the case that different cultures remained mostly separate from each other, whether due to war, geographic reasons, or beliefs in keeping ethnic purity. Trade and immigration have brought together people of diverse cultures and backgrounds, making communication between people of different cultures unavoidable.

Intercultural communication is a product of the direct communication by means of lan-guage or non-verbal expressions between people from two or more different cultures. However, the concept of intercultural communication does not only include verbal lan-guage, but also body language and emotions. In contrast to just face-to-face communi-cation, a broader term defines intercultural communication as the level of mediatized in-tercultural communication, such as in radio, television, movies, internet and literature. In order to further concentrate on the term intercultural communication and resulting prob-lems one first has to understand how people communicate. Therefore, a model of com-munication will be presented and the sub-division of verbal and non-verbal communication further elaborated.