Effect of Cultural Globalization in Intercultural Communication

Globalization has, for better or worse, altered the economic arena for every country in the world. For many less developed countries, globalization has leveled the playing field so that their economies can compete with the larger, more developed ones such as the United States and other large western economies. For instance, technical engineers in India and China are now just as qualified as engineers in America, but at half the cost. The once large and prosperous service sector in the United States as well as telemarketing services have largely been sourced to India as a large exodus of American multinational corporations find cheaper workers who deliver comparable quality. This then seems to be the essence of globalization - businesses

This text is a good reference point. This text is used to understanding communication within culture. This source also gave a better understanding

You know that feeling of home whether it’s with family members or even your loved ones? I don’t think that home is something that is automatically there, I believe that it is something that’s created. I learned that lesson through the eyes of one of my older friends who came from India with his brother when he was 16 in order to make a living. My friend Vikas, told me everything he had to do and the struggles he conquered in order to make his own successful business here in the U.S. Some things he told be reminded me of interpersonal communication, intercultural communication, and intracultural communication. He had to have a lot of communication with his friend who also happened to be from India and some new friends and colleagues he met through his journey. Of course there was homesickness and the occasional depression, but that didn’t stop him from creating his now successful business.

The term globalization can be defined as a process by which societies, regional economies and cultures have been integrated via a global network of transportation, communication and trade. It has both positive and negative impacts in all the areas that it touches on be it economical, social, technology, cultural, political, environment, health or any other. Globalization started to have an impact on businesses world wide in the eighteenth century since that time marks the merging of modernity and globalization. However, in the modern sence, globalization kicked off after the end of Second World War since its during that time that leaders felt the urge to break down the borders

To tell the truth, globalization is nothing new to the world, it has been around for centuries. As far as the history of globalization, Thomas L. Friedman splits it up into three different categories:

The affairs around Globalization are not new to the study of World Politics. Although Globalization is not a new phenomenon and historians, anthropologists and economists can agree that Globalization is not a new phenomenon there are little to no agreements to the origin of Globalization and when it started. The definition of Globalization from the Mirriam-Webster dictionary defines Globalization as “the act or process of globalizing : the state of being globalized; especially: the development of an increasingly integrated global economy marked especially by free trade, free flow of capital, and the tapping of cheaper foreign labor markets”. With taking the Miriam-Webster definition into account while looking into influential theories that

The ability to grow and be successful in any society depends on its ability to transcend limitations of intercultural communication. The chief aim of social groupings is to harness the capacity of the human mind. The ability to channel this process information during communication impacts our social connections to one another, especially in intercultural communication.

"Culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are nuisance at best and often a disaster." - Dr. Geert Hofstede

Previous researchers have found that for a person to achieve better and more effective communication competence, it is necessary to develop skills that allow an appropriate participation in specific situations. The ability to listen, ask questions, and express concepts or ideas effectively is an important part of communication competence. Intercultural communication presents an unexplored and challenging field that needs to be understood for a better development in communication. (Dillon and McKenzie, 1998). The variables of listening depend on the different perceptions that a person obtains through their cultural background. Furthermore, culture often affects the structure of consciousness in the act of listening. When a person seeks to

The theory of globalization today is a field of intensive debate as the efforts towards defining globalization most often highlight its individual aspects. According to Held and McGrew (1999), “globalisation is an idea whose time has come, yet it lacks precise definition”. Despite the ambiguity of the term “globalisation,” the use of the term, according to Held and McGrew, reflects increased interconnectedness in political, economic and cultural matters across the world creating a shared social space. Given this inter-connectedness, globalisation may be defined as: “a process which embodies a transformation in the spatial organisation of social relations and

Globalization involves a variety of links expanding and tightening a web of political, economic and cultural inter-connections. Most attention has been devoted to merchandise trade as it has had the most immediate (or most visible) consequences, but capital, in and of itself, has come to play an arguably even larger role than the trade in material goods. Human movements also link previously separate communities. Finally, there is the cultural connection. All the individual data would indicate that we are undergoing a process of compression of international time and space and an intensification of international relations. The separation of production and consumption that is the heart of modern capitalism appears to have

Globalization can best be defined as the shrinking of our world. As technology advances the gaps between Countries is closed, and our society as a whole becomes more integrated. Globalization is something that has been occurring for thousands of years, with one early example of Globalization being the use of the Silk Road, which connected China and Europe during the Middle Ages. Globalization can offer businesses many was to increase business, while at the same time threatening them (Globalization101.org, 2014).

Intercultural communication competence refers to the ability of an individual to adapt and communicate appropriately and effectively across a wide array of cultural contexts. That is to say, for an individual to be considered an intercultural communicator they must understand other’s cultures as well as they understand their own, and apply this understanding to communication (Chen 1-2). With the increasing diversity at the workplace, school and other social settings, it has become increasingly important to learn how to communicate with people from a diverse array of cultures. More importantly, adapting to a more effective intercultural communication competence model provides us with learning opportunities occasioned by the interaction with people from other backgrounds. The intercultural communication competence model comes with some key components including tolerance for uncertainty, self-knowledge, and motivation. The greatest and most important of these aspects is motivation. An individual must be willing to foster relationships with people from a different cultural background. If an individual lacks the willingness to promote intercultural relationships, then other aspects of the intercultural communication model become moot.

There are many ways to look at and understand modern globalization. In general terms, globalization means that the world, as a whole, is leading to a more utopian society, meaning that the globe is become very interconnected and similarities are growing between different regions and cultures of the world. Globalization is a phenomenon that has been evolving since before 10,000 B.C. This constant evolution can cause many problems, but it can also solve many issues positively as well. Development of any country, however, seems to be a key issue when discussing globalization. Globalization and development present two different factors in the world today. Many countries are lacking in their own development while the world around them is becoming more developed and globalized. Globalization hinders development because with globalization, less developed countries depend on more developed countries to help them to sustainability and self-reliance.

Economic globalization has become the most important feature and a general trend of present world economic development. Globalization is a phenomenon and also a process of development of mankind and human society (Hamilton, 2008). It is the essential feature of the modern age. Globalization is the cross-border flows of capital and goods, including capital, labour, technology and natural resources (Bożyk, Misala & Puławski, 2002). Economic globalization is a historical process, and the germination of it could date back to the 16th century. After the industrial revolution, capitalist commodity economy, modern industry and transportation have been developing rapidly. The world market was fast expanded and the foreign trade was