Challenges in Cross Cultural Communication

Answer 1)

The ability of communicating effectively is a challenge in relation to the global environment. Both parties can speak the same language but still there can be misunderstandings owing to cultural differences. Poor communication of the employees thus leads to poor performance within an organization. Cross cultural communication is an important business issue that affects the profit of an organization. The organizations can create competitive advantage over that of the competitors if they understand the implications of cross-culture communication.

The challenges in the economic arena causes the organizations in developing internal communication capacity that can help in the process of monitoring the external threats ( Ferraro & Briody, 2017).  The business should know the way of effective communication with employees coming from different ethnic backgrounds so that the mission of the company is accomplished and it can also help in building value for that of the stakeholders. Technology plays a crucial role in the modern era for communicating successfully in the global arena. It can help in the marketing of products and services of a company.

The advancement in technology demands that organizations must keep in mind the cultural nuisances that can help in increasing the profits of an organization (Stahl & Tung, 2015).  For the companies who are involved in international business operations relationship between managers and subordinates is of crucial importance.  Results have shown that teaching employees belonging to different cultures to behave in a similar manner proves to be ineffective in improving the intercultural interaction within an organization.

Answer 2)

Communication skills are vital for an organization. The organizations should become accustomed to all kinds of working styles of employees belonging to different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. It is important that firms understand the cultural differences so that they can communicate effectively within the organization. Cross cultural communication within a company plays a pivotal role in establishing the name of the product across the globe (Merkin, Taras & Steel, 2014).  On the event of effective communication, the service is oriented to that of the cultural norms and this paves the way for the purchase of the product. Ineffective communication can offend an employee and a particular message can be misunderstood that can lead to broken relationship between the employees.

            Ethnocentrism is a belief that plays emphasis on one’s own culture. It involves the judging of another culture by comparing it with the own culture of an individual. There are some employees within an organization who think of themselves to be superior as compared to the others by virtue of their distinct culture (Ang & Van Dyne, 2015).

Role of Technology in Cross Cultural Communication

  This kind of mentality should be done away with in the organization and respecting the culture and ethnic back ground of other people can have a positive impact on the performance of employees within an organization. Understanding of ethics is important for communicating effectively with people belonging to other cultural back grounds (Chen, 2017).   Not knowing about the distinctive characteristics of people of other cultural back grounds can give rise to conflict within the organizations. These conflicts have an impact on the performance of the employees of a company and will reduce their motivation of working.

Answer 3)

Understanding the effect of globalization on that of cross-culture communication is of crucial importance in gaining a competitive advantage over that of the competitors. Countries throughout the world have been affected at all levels owing to globalization. Globalization has enabled the developing of closer economic relation between different countries. Globalization has created opportunities within the less industrialized countries and they can tap into a larger market.

The countries that are less industrialized can become part of global production network and this has greatly facilitated trade (Islam, 2017).  Present economic condition prevailing in the world has caused people to move from that of low income to that of high income group countries. The modern age has witnessed the movement of people from that of one country to that of another and this creates an intermingling of people from different kind of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. People of different mindset and differing cultural background work in an organization and the effective functioning of a company rests on the perfect development of internal communication capacity (Kraidy, 2017).

  This can help in reducing misunderstandings and foment unity between the different employees in an organization. It creates less chances of conflict and ensures perfect co-ordination of the employees in the company. The ability of communicating well has increased manifold on account of the global structure of the economy of the present age (Moran, Abramson & Moran, 2014).  It is of increasing importance that global business should know how to communicate with the employees that can help in achieving the vision of the organization.

The using of technology is a boon of globalization. It has a great impact on the global communication of business and helps in the marketing of products along with services. Organizations should be able to know the cultural nuisances that will help them in rising above the barriers and increase the profit margin of the organization (Adekola & Sergi,  2016).  Cultural proficiency does not point forward to memorizing each nuances of culture but it means that one knows when to listen and to speak.

Importance of Understanding Cultural Nuances

Answer 4)

Understanding the cultural differences within an organization can help in effective adjustment in a company. Being respectful to the thoughts and opinion of others can help in building sound relationships within an organization. It helps in creating the right kind of organisational culture that appreciates differences and uses it in order to help in the development of the organization. It is not necessary to memorize all aspects of culture but one should be understanding and empathetic that can go a long way in creating bond between the employees in an organization.

Globalization has paved the path for mingling of people belonging to different cultural backgrounds. The differences should be properly nurtured and appreciated so that it can contribute in a positive manner for the development of the organization (Crane & Matten, 2016). 

 One should have cultural knowledge that can help one in understanding people belonging to other ethnic groups. It helps an individual in staying open to the ideas of people belonging to other cultural backgrounds. The employees in the age of globalization should be culturally sensitive and they should not assign any kind of value to any difference (right or wrong). Judging will give rise to clashes and conflict can easily be managed if one keeps in mind the organizational goals (Trevino & Nelson, 2016). 

The vision of the organization is the sole factor that an individual should have in mind because that will help in rising above the cultural and ethnic differences. One is accountable to the organization and should be able to speak and ask for help whenever needed. Open communication in an organization can help in removing misunderstandings and build unity between the members of an organization (Peng, 2016). 

Answer 5)

The term “diversity” is indicative of the manner in which individuals differ from each other. The management of people belonging to different cultural back ground is an important consideration for an organization. People belonging to different ethnic and cultural background have their own set of perception and values and this should be channelized in the proper direction for the growth of the organization (Weiss, 2014).  In the global business environment, people who have succeeded in suspending judgement brings a positive force to the organization.

An organization that can sensitize itself to that of cross-cultural issues can benefit to a great extent. An organization having employees of different cultural back grounds will be able to attract the most talented and deserving employee from people belonging to different cultural groups. An organization that is sensitive to the cross-cultural differences can create a diverse workforce that can reduce employee turnover on the basis of cross-cultural conflict (Albrecht et al., 2015).

Globalization and Cross Cultural Communication

Cultural adaptation is the process that enables an individual to assimilate in a new culture. A person who is introduced into that of a new culture undergoes different kind of sensations (Gurung & Prater, 2017).  Forcing an individual to adjust to a new culture can create mental disturbance in the mind of an individual. It does irreparable damage to his self-respect and he will undergo identity crisis. It will be found that slowly he will lose confidence and the courage to air his opinion.

This will be alike a liability for an organization. Individual differences should be nurtured in an appropriate manner in order to serve the organization. People belonging to all kinds of cultures should be allowed to voice their opinions and live freely in an organization. This can help in ensuring stability for the organization and help in the growth of the organization.

Answer 6)

In the global marketplace of the present age the ability of communicating effectively and in a multi-cultural manner is immense. It is found that if the top management cannot adapt to different culture, then it can seriously damage the business. It can have a bad impact on the ability of decision making in an organization. It is found that the organizations that are ego-centric cannot win the favour of the customers and cannot produce positive results in the long run (Katzenbach & Smith, 2015).

  Communication barriers generally arise on account of absence of leadership between that of different parties. Culture creates different attitudes in relation to problem solving. The approach of solving a problem can be different for the management and that of the staff. In the event of management and staff coming from different cultural background the understanding in relation to the issues can become different. In the event of absence of open communication, clashes and conflicts can occur in the organization that can hinder the performance of employees in the organization (Wagner III & Hollenbeck, 2014). 

The barriers in relation to cross cultural communication arise on account of absence of understanding between that of management and the staff. Language barrier and the worker expectation are other important dimensions that affect the performance of a worker. Understanding of the non-verbal code system of a person belonging to a different culture is of crucial importance in building sound relationship within the intercultural context (Merkin, Taras & Steel, 2014).   The forging of effective relation between employees coming from cross-culture is vital for the success of an organization.

Creating Organizational Culture that Values Differences

Answer 7)

The managers of my home country that is United Kingdom favour good working relationship with that of the subordinates. The boss adopts the role of a coach and creates an atmosphere of support within the organization. This helps in resolving differences between people coming from different kind of culture and helps people in voicing their opinions within the organization. The business meetings that are held in the United Kingdom are structured but they are not that formal.

The meetings end with social conversation that helps the employees to know about the distinct characteristics and cultural nuances of people belonging to a different culture (Ang & Van Dyne, 2015). The communication style of managers in Australia is similar as they also prefer social conversation that helps the employees in knowing about each other. Humour is pervasive in the communication style of managers in Australia and humour is acceptable in all kinds of situations. Humour is not practiced in the communication style of managers in United Kingdom and they prefer a more formalized discussion.

Answer 8)

Humour in communication can lead to conflict and disruption within the organization. An organization can have people from different kind of cultural back grounds and use of humour can be misconstrued within the organization. Misunderstandings can rise on account of this since an organization is composed of people coming from different kinds of cultures. A culture of openness should be encouraged within the organization as this can help in solving problems and resolving of disputes (Chen, 2017).

A person coming from a different culture will have a different kind of mental framework and he may not be able to understand the manner of using humour. This can have negative repercussions on business and can interfere in the performance of an individual. All facets of the mentality of an individual should be known before the usage of humour within the organization. In the modern era of globalization, the structure of an organization is multi-cultural (Kraidy, 2017). It is not possible to know about the cultural nuances of each group so humour should not be used to a great extent in the communication of an organisation.

Answer 9)

Ethnocentrism is indicative of the superior feeling that the members of a particular culture possess. Overemphasizing on the differences between that of different culture can result in stereotyping. Stereotyping creates a picture of the entire culture and over generalises people who belong to the same culture having similar kind of characteristics. Stereotyping is mostly negative and by taking recourse to stereotyping an individual forms an opinion about the other group.

It is instrumental in creating prejudices and provokes judgemental attitude. Stereotyping compels an individual to view another individual on the basis of their previously formed attitudes. Stereotyping can lead to abuse and mistreatment in a company (Moran, Abramson & Moran, 2014). Employees who have preconceived notions test the water by their basic comments. The people in the top management in an organization should come forward to address any kind of behaviour that is tinged with discriminatory practice (Peng, 2016). They should be discouraged in the organization as the open display of any kind of discrimination can be detrimental for the future of the organization.

Stereotyping can pave the path for low morale of the workers of an organization. It can make the atmosphere at the workplace toxic. The employees who have to face constant criticism due to stereotyping can lose their motivation that can have an impact on their job performance. Low morale affects the workers and the organisational culture becomes toxic. Production is lessened on account of stereotyping in an organization.

Answer 10)

The Australians stereotype people from the United Kingdom and conceive of them to be emotionally stunted. It is thought that the Britons are not that great in showing their emotions and cannot clearly convey what they want to say. They are thought of to be emotionally dead but the real fact is that they are only reserved (Stahl & Tung, 2015). The Australians have a notion that people of United Kingdom are tight-lipped and they keep calm under all kinds of circumstances.

An assumption prevails regarding the Australians among the British people that they are racist in nature. Racism along with racist violence pervades the Australian society. Race discrimination continues to affect people of the migrant along with refugee communities within Australia. It cannot however be said with certainty that all the people of Australia are racist and hurl insult on people belonging to migrant community (Ang & Van Dyne, 2015). The people of the United Kingdom have this misconception that all the Australians are racists. I do not think that these kind of stereotypes are accurate as they are borne out of the mentality of an individual. These stereotypes spread owing to word-of-mouth and they do not hold true in most of the cases. 

References:

Adekola, A., & Sergi, B. S. (2016). Global business management: A cross-cultural perspective. Routledge.

Albrecht, S. L., Bakker, A. B., Gruman, J. A., Macey, W. H., & Saks, A. M. (2015). Employee engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An integrated approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 2(1), 7-35.

Ang, S., & Van Dyne, L. (2015). Handbook of cultural intelligence. Routledge.

Chen, L. (Ed.). (2017). Intercultural communication (Vol. 9). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.

Crane, A., & Matten, D. (2016). Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.

Ferraro, G. P., & Briody, E. K. (2017). The cultural dimension of global business. Taylor & Francis.

Gurung, A., & Prater, E. (2017). A research framework for the impact of cultural differences on IT outsourcing. In Global Sourcing of Services: Strategies, Issues and Challenges (pp. 49-82).

Islam, T. (2017). Practices of Cross-Cultural Etiquette and Communication in Global Business-A Conceptual Analysis on Managing Corporate Expansion: A Review Study. J Bus Fin Aff, 6(280), 2167-0234.

Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (2015). The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance organization. Harvard Business Review Press.

Kraidy, M. (2017). Hybridity, or the cultural logic of globalization. Temple University Press.

Merkin, R., Taras, V., & Steel, P. (2014). State of the art themes in cross-cultural communication research: A systematic and meta-analytic review. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 38, 1-23.

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing cultural differences. Routledge.

Peng, M. W. (2016). Global business. Cengage learning.

Stahl, G. K., & Tung, R. L. (2015). Towards a more balanced treatment of culture in international business studies: The need for positive cross-cultural scholarship. Journal of International Business Studies, 46(4), 391-414.

Trevino, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2016). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right. John Wiley & Sons.

Wagner III, J. A., & Hollenbeck, J. R. (2014). Organizational behavior: Securing competitive advantage. Routledge.

Weiss, J. W. (2014). Business ethics: A stakeholder and issues management approach. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.