Communication Challenges Among Cross Cultural Setting And Offshore Teams

     In business, successful communication is the key to success, and being able to relate to a customer is the best form of communication. This is why cross-cultural communication is so important as the business world continues to globalize itself. Unfortunately, “A lack of awareness about the culturally prescribed rules and norms of communication behaviors can cause public relations projects to fail, or worse, backfire.” (Zaharna, 2001, p.135).

In times of rapid economic development and internationalization of business, effective cross-cultural communication among managers remains a challenge. This thesis aims to research and analyze crosscultural communication in business context based on qualitative case study of a small Swedish company and its international business partners. Previous research has focused on differences and similarities in people‟s behaviour and ways

“To become a true global citizen, one must abandon all notions of 'otherness' and instead embrace 'togetherness” – Suzy Kassem. Cultural differences in organizations are important because they help build relationships between members regardless of their origin and background. Culture is the “Shared set of beliefs, values, knowledge, and patterns of behavior common to a group of people” (Kinicki & Williams, 2013, p.117). It is very important for companies to understand the culture they are working with, because it improves the efficiency of the organization. Members of different cultures share experiences and innovation thinking to achieve the goals of the organization. However, cultural differences may interfere with global business projects due to misunderstandings and miscommunication on both sides. There are many cultural variations affecting international business relationships such as language, interpersonal space, communication, time orientation, and

The shrinking borders of the international business landscape demand keen interpretation of the unique cultural expectations of organizational partners. Guffey & Loewy (2015) note that there are five distinct dimensions of cultural difference that inhibit effective intercultural communication. Barron (2013) states that it is imperative for North American organizations in particular to actively increase the cultural awareness of employees conducting international business. International negotiators can improve an organization’s rate of success through thoroughly understanding several important cultural differences. First, businesspeople should be aware of the communication idiosyncrasies of high and low-context cultures (Guffey & Loewy, 2015). Secondly, American workers should understand the varied importance of time orientation in foreign organizations (Keating, 2014). Finally, international negotiations will proceed more smoothly if cultural power distances are respected (Rao, 2013).

Languages, behaviour patterns and the values cause the differences in all the existing cultures in the world. People have different ways to communicate with each other and how to react to information. Especially for the international business, multinational communication is essential. Understanding the many types of communication, is a subject of importance to act successful as a global player. Furthermore, there are great benefits through intercultural communication like:

People residing in different countries have different cultures. A business alliance between companies in different countries will, therefore, consist of employees with different cultural backgrounds. The difference in cultures poses a risk to a business partnership. Despite the risk, there are factors that drive cross-cultural businesses and prove such alliances beneficial. One of the factors that drive cross-cultural

Purpose – This paper seeks to present the challenges reported by project leaders of cross-cultural

Doing business in a foreign country is not easy, because many people do not know how to communicate effectively with others of different cultures and background. Statistics show that more than half of international joint ventures fail within two to three years because of a lack of cultural Intelligence. Cultural differences became the main barriers of cross-cultural communication, and therefore overcoming cross-cultural communication barriers has become the common problems in the business world today. Most of the foreigners still cannot fit into a different culture when they have to transfer to another country to work with different people, even they were international business major or have learned the basic concept of international management in their colleges. Therefore, it is better to have someone who are familiar with the culture.

Having an understanding of behavioral and cultural differences will be the aspect that can either make or break a budding companies relationships abroad. Many times miscommunication is common and normal for businesses out of their element. It is not the occurrence of the miscommunication or misunderstandings that will break your chances with a potential client/ partner; it is how you react to these miscommunication. For example; Imagine yourself as a person raised in a country where optimism is expected in the work environment and everyone has a team attitude as well as rewards are given on a team basis.

A single thread cannot become a cord, and a single tree does not make a forest. This Cheng Yu is about cooperation and being part of a larger whole. Its roots stem from Confucian beliefs of organized society through togetherness. This is in stark contrast to the emphasis placed on individualism in some Western countries.

As businesses grow to the point that they operate globally, it becomes important for the personnel within the company to understand the cultural differences between the home office and the overseas operations. Every region of the world has its unique cultural idiosyncrasies. These idiosyncrasies can prove to be challenging if a manager is not prepared to deal with the cultural differences in a respectful, appropriate way. Some of the specific ways that cultural differences can affect international business relations are group mechanics, employee behavior, and norms.

New marketplaces are opening up as a result of modern technology and the internet. It is making businesses to expand to new geographic locations that possess new culture. Cross-cultural communication has become the new norm of essentially interacting with people remotely. Electronic information makes it easier to work with individuals in another country like working with someone in a closer location. Although English seems to be a global language, incomprehension arises sometime between individuals from different English-speaking nations. Cross-cultural communication is thus effective to bridge such gaps. Cross-cultural communication skills development is thus essential and not limited to observing other individual cultures and effective communication skills. The paper evaluates the necessary skills in cross cultural management of a global business.

There are a variety of reasons why multi-national corporations become successful, and possibly more reasons why they fail. One key aspect of being successful in the international arena of business is the ability to create a successful multinational/cross-cultural teams. Top companies such as Exxon Mobil, Wal-Mart, and GE have mastered the formula of building such teams (DeCarlo, 2013). Our world today has become more and more intertwined and has led to more cross-cultural business teams being created. To build a cross-cultural team, there are many obstacles a company may face. To become as successful in building cross-cultural teams for international business as the companies named previously, it is absolutely necessary to study the differentiation in several key areas. The importance in understanding difference in the areas of Legal and Political views, communication (verbal and non-verbal), and business practices in varying cultural dynamics cannot be understated. It is imperative to have a deeper understanding of each aspect if an organization hopes to create sustainable cross-cultural teams.

Communication underlies the effectiveness of coordinating exchange activities, developing strong relationships, which results in improved performance Without effective inter-organizational communications, learning among workmates is diminished and the long-run effectiveness of the relationship may be damaged. Communication presupposes that there is a particular cultural framework that allows "translation" of the meaning embedded within communication by the recipient to maintain the true intent of the communication (Blalock, 2005). When business partners emanate from different cultures, the underlying cultural inconsistencies in communication patterns create hurdles to the development of effective business relationships.

Language problem and other difficulties. English is the communication language within the company but it’s not native for the Russian managers. Therefore, they admit some difficulties related to this, such as sometimes it’s necessary to ask for the details from their American colleagues to understand their requests better. American managers admit the language difficulties as well but they understand that it’s not easy to express oneself in a foreign language. There are also differences in the approach to the business correspondence, e. g. the American managers use many introductory and conclusive phrases, while Russian managers go straight to the business and often