The Cross Cultural Communication Issues

Different social, professional and cultural contexts may affect relationships and the way people communicate due to of a lack of understanding or knowledge of one another’s background and culture. This could be through their race, religion, ethnicity or where they come from. Each one of these can have similar or very different ways to communicate. For example

Barriers to effective intercultural communication can be defined as the aspects or conditions that interfere with effective exchange of ideas or thoughts (Antos, 2011). There are many barriers to effective intercultural communication and these may occur at any stage in the communication process.

A. Cross-Cultural Differences Company X is considering expanding its business to China. However, prior to moving into a new and foreign market, Company X must understand the various cross cultural differences that are relevant to properly conducting business in China. By being more sensitive to and understanding the cross-cultural differences, Company X's transition into the new market should be less challenging and improve its chances of acceptance. Language, work ethic and material culture are three cultural differences that should, first, be understood prior to pursuing opportunities in China.

Due to different attitudes it can be difficult for an international organisation to bring their message across to the public and build long term relationships with the customers and the partners. Attitudes can also affect the organisational structure and the management style of a company, i.e. according to Hofstede’s scale; British people like to be treated equally and they don’t want their managers to give them orders, whereas Indian people are used to being told what to do by their managers, and find it difficult if a company operates otherwise. This shows, that a company would have to change its management style completely if were to expand from UK to India as Indian people would find it difficult to work independently and without constant

Culture in the workplace can be a barrier that obstructs the good communication between people with different backgrounds. The main challenge that people face is language. This is because it is a very complex thing, and misuse of one word can change the meaning of the message. Also, hostile stereotypes can affect communication because the stereotypes only create a barrier of characteristics towards other people that prevents to have a good interaction. Behavior differences is also an obstacle to communication, this is because the cultures have guidelines of what is considered appropriate for their society. On the other hand, the demonstration of emotions is also considered a challenge, because what for some cultures is appropriate for others

6. Describe the way in which cultural differences can act to impede communication between business people of different nationality.

Humans have been communicating since four million years. On the other hand, the birth of culture is estimated to have taken place about 35,000 years ago. Today, both culture and communication have evolved considerably and have become interdependent of one another, to the point that communication is considered to be a product of culture. Thus, our own culture has a deep impact on our thoughts and behaviors. Since each culture has its distinct aspects, intercultural communication can be the cause of conflict and disorder. There are three main issues which are at the root of the problem of intercultural miscommunication : language as a barrier, cultural diversity and ethnocentrism. I will analyze

Nowadays, many companies have prompted business establishments to expand its network across cultures so that they can keep up being culturally competence in the internal business world (Vennapoosa, C., 2012, July). The importance of cross-cultural competence skill is becoming progressively important for many worldwide companies. In order to competitively succeed in the global marketplace, managers and professionals need to possess cross-cultural sensitivity awareness around the world in which they plan to conduct business

The real and perceived costs will affect the manager’s perception of the attractiveness of doing business with a party. Cultural distance influences decisions such as market selection for exporting and direct foreign investment (Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul 1975) (Davidson, 1980; Kogut and Singh, 1988). (Dow & Karunaratna, 2006). The influences of other cultures are thereby affecting the way in which information is communicated and interpreted to and from others.

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.

Cross-cultural communication is the process of exchanging meaningful and unambiguous information across cultural boundaries, in a way that preserves mutual respect and minimizes antagonism, that is, it looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds endeavour to communicate. The study of cross-cultural communication was originally found within businesses and the government both seeking to expand globally. Communication is interactive, so an important influence on its effectiveness is our relationship with others. All communication is cultural -- it draws on ways we have learned to speak and give nonverbal messages. We do not always

There is a significant divergence between the American and UAE cultures. The distinctions between these two cultures are such that life would be significantly different if individuals from one culture were born in the other. Aside from this, there are some significant differences in the business dynamics of both nations. UAE is characterized by a much lower unemployment potential in comparison to the west. Also, the business economic potential is higher given that, companies in the UAE operate in a money-rich environment in comparison to those in the U.S. Given that the government caters for a significant percentage of the healthcare costs; the business profit margins are also quite high. The factors above serve to avail an understanding of the degree of divergence between the business cultures in the two nations. The Alliance team needs to understand that the business approach to be employed will be dictated, to a large extent, by the UAE culture. Therefore, it becomes critical to ensure that a deep comprehension of the culture and its divergence from the American culture is developed.

When dealing with businesses there are always going to be cultural barriers and obstacles. This is because no two countries are the same and each person is different. Cross cultural communication looks at how people from various backgrounds interact and communicate and this is what this report will cover. It will look at how people from different backgrounds pass information and make negotiations despite the barriers of culture between them. The case study ‘Journey to Sharahad’ displays the cross cultural exchange between the Americans who have just arrived in Sharahad are completely oblivious to the culture and people of Sharahad and what

One aspect the profoundly informed my daily life and impacted on my life as a whole is the Christian life. At home I used to attend the Sunday service at church without fail. That greatly shaped my view of the world and the moral standards and even interaction with other. It became more like a culture that I walked in and lived in my daily life. Currently, I am not able to continue with the regular attending of the church services due to work that keeps me engaged, I have to do it for a living here. However, this has not drained all the impact religion had on me. It shaped the communication pattern that I used. I used different language pattern and word choice for talking to the varied audience, for instance predominantly polite language and official words while talking to elders and casual language while talking to peer.

Cross cultural differences affect or account for many failures, such as maladaptation, spouse dissatisfaction and poor job performance. Absence of cross-cultural training, may cause managers on international assignments to make uninformed judgments on the other culture, not understanding that the way the host culture behaves. If a manager or executive is sent abroad and fails to either settle into the new culture or work effectively with his/her new colleagues, the whole venture will be a waste of valuable time, effort and money.