Globalization has affected the business in varied ways. Business companies like multinational companies are adopting different working styles as they have workers from different background and culture. Now, it is important for the business companies to understand the cross cultural differences in the business activities. Based on the understandings, companies have to adopt proper communication methods in order to communicate with the people from different culture (Akam, 2011). The intercultural communication is important to deal with the cultural differences but at the same time, it is challenging for the companies to develop a synthesis in the diversity. This report provides answers of the given questions based on the reading of ‘The Rising Importance of Cross Cultural Communication in Global Business Scenario’. In order to make the business successful, it is important to focus on the cross cultural communication along with the associated culture, process of shaping a culture, issues and challenges involved in the cross cultural communication process etc (Cheney, 2011).
In the business, cross cultural communication is an issue as there are various cultural differences that may raise conflict and misunderstanding. Those conflicts or misunderstanding can different regions, nationalities and ethic group. Due to different communication patterns, cross-cultural communication is the business issue now. People have different communication styles, different attitude towards conflicts, different approaches for completing the task, diverse decision-making styles, diverse attitude towards disclosure, and different approaches to knowing. Effective communication with the people having different culture is very challenging. Communication problems sometimes drive some basic differences in values between cultures (Azziz, 2013).
In order to operate effectively in the global market, it is crucial for the companies to communicate effectively. By the effective communication, companies are able to build strong relationships with other partners. But it is observed that there are organizational programs do not reach to the results due to the lack of effective communication and feedback process in the organization. Poorly managed communication in the organization is the cause of rumors and resistance among the employees (Kokemuller, 2017).
There are many big companies who have faced challenges in terms of cross cultural communication. For instance, Nokia, the largest mobile company has faced problem due to its communication habits. Along with this, company had faced immense crisis along with its partners at the global level. There are various cultural factors i.e. workforce diversity, various religious groups, customs and superstitions, and discrimination and these all are challenging for the cross cultural communications at the global level (Tripathi & Reddy, 2012).
Cross cultural communication becomes an ethical issue when companies do business across the national borders. The perfectly acceptable rules or policies in one country for cultural reasons can be considered as unethical in another country. For instance, it is respectful for the business people to exchange the gifts and on the other hand, in some countries, giving the gifts is considered as bribery. Further, in the wealthy developed countries, very low wages is considered as unethical but in the developing countries, low wages is accepted if they are enhancing the living standards.
Culture of a country includes experiences and beliefs among the people in specific settings. The same individual can be the member of various cultures. It is understood that there may be ethical issue in cross cultural communication due to different culture and background. Learning ethical methods are helpful for professionals in understanding the conceptual framework that will guide them to become an ethical business communicator. The cross cultural communication is successful when both the parties understand the same information. In current business environments, effective communication skills are essential because of the highly informational and technological time. The understanding of ethics in the business is helpful in many ways which are discussed below:
In the global business environment, it is challenging for the professionals to communicate effectively. It is important to understand the impact of globalization on the cross-cultural communication in order to create competitive advantage in the market. According to the Padhi (2015), due to economic challenges, companies need to develop internal communication capacity in order to monitor and control various external challenges. Due to globalization, it is important to develop the ability of communicate across national boundaries in order to gain reputation. The internal communication is effective to ensure that all the members and employees in the company are working collaboratively towards a common objective. It basically develops a consistent culture and motivates the employees to take right decisions in order to achieve the business objective (Barrelas, 2010).
The internal communication is beneficial in many ways i.e. motivation of employees, control in business activities, coordinate among various departments, decision making process, and develop managerial efficiency. Along with this, there are various threats in the business environment like strong competition, low cost substitute products and services communication security threats, legal threats, network security threats, human threats, physical security threats and social and economic etc. In order to deal with these threats, internal communication is important by exchanging important ideas, developing employees’ morale, maintaining connection between branches and departments and enhancing communicative skills of employees (Iliff, 2016). Communication is the basic part for developing the structure of the organization. Communication is the key factor in the organization to maintain the coordination in the various activities at different level in the organization. Now, the communication in the organization can be upward, downward and horizontal. The process of communication is important for the organization to manage the basic functions of the business i.e. organizing, planning, controlling and leading (Vashurina, 2017).
‘Cultural proficiency doesn’t mean memorizing every cultural nuance of every market; it’s knowing when to listen, when to ask for help, and when—finally—to speak’
Cultural proficiency means availability of skills, attitude, knowledge and beliefs that enables people to work effectively that support people in the cross-cultural situations. Cultural proficiency is not all about acceptance of all the cultural differences. It is about allowing individuals to align with a group and accept interdependence. Culturally proficient business sector make use of other’s language and culture as the tool in order to enhance the results for that individuals (McLean & Lewis, 2010). Cultural proficiency in the business is the level of skill based knowledge and understanding which is required to successfully interact in the business and to work effectively with the other parties from variety of cultures including all the form of cultural differences. There are five important elements contributing to the ability of the company to become culturally proficient including valuing diversity, capacity of cultural self-assessment, managing dynamics of differences, having cultural knowledge and understanding of cultural diversity (Tourish, 2010).
‘Focus should be placed on using individual differences’
In order to deal with the cultural issues and challenges, it is important for the companies to focus on the individual differences in terms of background, religions, cultures and many more differences of the employees within the organization. It is crucial for the companies to understand various cultural differences and respect the culture of the individuals. Companies must not bother the employees to adapt the organizational culture. Culture fit is beneficial not only for employees but also for the company. If the companies are taking individual differences approach including the specific personalities and values of the employees, everyone will get benefits in the business. Giving more personal freedom is crucial in order to build a happier and more productive environment in the business (Carté & Fox, 2008).
It is observed that communication is the most beneficial process for the companies in the global market as it enhances the competitive advantage and profit in the operating market. Effective communication makes a company diverse from the other companies in the industry. With the communication process, professionals in the businesses are able to establish strong relationships with the other parties. In the companies, professionals are also able to enhance the business operations by skills and knowledge. So, it is important to understand the communication process in the business. It is observed that communication has crucial role in order to gain competitive advantage in the operating market. In order to enhance the competitive advantage, every company must focus on the effective communication process. For the successful business, it is vital to determine the internal communication practices so that company can operate successfully in the global market (Peter, 2015).
For instance, the famous beverage company Coca-Cola has introduced an employee brand advocate program named Coca-Cola Ambassador. This program is helpful in preparing the employees to communicate in a better way with the internal and external stakeholders so that the issues affecting the business can be addressed effectively. By this practice of the company, it is able to achieve competitive advantage over its competitors.
For the comparison, Singapore is selected. In terms of communication styles of Singapore and Australia, there are lots of differences. Due to ethnic mix in Singapore, there are four languages i.e. Malay, Tamil, Mandarin Chinese and English used by people. English is common language as it is used for the international business purpose. For the good communication, they use English in the business deals. In terms of communication practices, Australians do not have any official language and it is observed that Asian language is spoken by 2.1 million people and European language is spoken by 1.3 million people. On the other hand, people in Singapore prefer English for communication. People have got formal education in Singapore. Along with this, in Singapore, communication is indirect and open conflicts are avoided. On the other hand, people have direct communication in Australia (Vidal-Suarez and Lopez-Duarte, 2013).
In terms of similarities, there is culture of openness in Australia and Singapore. In both the countries, people are allowed to share their view points and ideas in order to operate business. Along with this, both the countries have high valued culture. There is the highly valued culture in both the countries. In the countries people are direct and straight forward in the business communications.
Cross cultural differences are one of the major reasons that sometimes lead to misunderstanding. One of the primary examples of this can be in this regard is that due to cross culture there will be difference in the tone of language barriers often leads to misunderstanding between two individuals. For example consider the fact that there are two people who are from different kinds of culture and they have a very different style of interacting with other people. This may lead to one understanding others point of view in a different way. This can be illustrated in the ways that if any employee cracks a joke on someone else which may be beyond his cultural ethics than it may hurt the other and hence can lead to long term differences between the two. One of the best ways of resolving this problem is to use social code of conduct or other non-verbal communication. This is a major problem when the two individuals are from two different nations (Lingeb?rzi?š, 2011).
This has very severe negative impacts that are caused by the cross cultural differences between the people when it leads to misunderstanding. There are several examples where it can be seen that there are larger number of people that comes in the position of taking some negative decisions like fights. Misunderstanding increases tensions and distrust in the minds of employee which lower down the productivity of the people. This enhances negativity in the environment which further reduces the growth of the team building within an organization. Misunderstanding can also be understood with illustration that two same set of words carries vary distinct kind of meanings in two different cultures which may lead to misunderstanding between the two. This may cause a long term differences between the two as from the next time they will generate a negative notion about the people.
It can be seen at many times that there is obsession that develops within the firm to overemphasize on the difference between distinct cultures. This often convinces stereotypes which often lead to making of such perceived notions about others. If the difference between different cultures is highly focused on then there is hindrance between two individual in terms of interactions as they will always understand the other ones as aliens in some of the fields. It restricts people from communicating with each other and hence the culture of working as a team mate diminishes. This reduces productivity of the overall organization (Pym, 2003). It must be ensure that cultural differences must be welcomed at various levels of organization and there must not be any kind overemphasis on the cultural practices that they have in their operations. It is also necessary to ensure that people learn the culture of others so that within a business a mixed kind of culture comes into existence which will increase the productivity of the firm. It can be seen that perceived notions about other colleagues always act as barrier in communication as stereotypes do not want to get attached with each other.
It can be understood in the ways that there are many Australian people who are working various firms in different industries within Singapore. It results in many kinds of cross cultural differences which ultimately leads to stereotyping of particular kind of people. This can be understood in the ways that in Singapore people generally stereotypes Australian people as a hardworking people that are focused towards work. Employees from Singapore understand that Australians are bit arrogant and restrict themselves from easily opening to others. They also understand Australian to be party lovers and someone who are more professionally sound. On the other hand Australian employee stereotypes Singapore employees as people who sticks to their culture and want a lot of leaves. They also understand Singapore people as individuals who love extrinsic motivation in terms of some kinds of rewards (Wittmer, 2005).
I think that there stereotyping is more made than what it actually is. This is due to the fact that every employee has distinct kind of nature and hence perceiving anything can never be accurate. In this regards stereotypes are almost accurate. This is due to the fact that most of Australians have seen to be hard worker and self-centered individuals as well as they interact less with people of other culture. While on the other hand Singapore’s employee loves vacations and gets motivated when some monetary rewards are given to them.
References
Akam, V., (2011). Business Communication Today: Englewood Cliffs. NY: Prentice-Hall Randon House Inc. 97-101.
Azziz, E. R., (2013). Meeting the Challenges of Communicating in a Large, Complex, Heterogenous Enterprise. Retrieved on 23rd January 2018 from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-ricardo-azziz/meeting-the-challenges-of_b_2759662.html
Barrelas, A., (2010). An Experimental Approach to Organization Communication. UK: Heinemann publishers. 28-35
Carté, P., & Fox, C., (2008). Bridging the culture gap: A practical guide to international business communication. (2nd). London ;Philadelphia: Kogan Page
Cheney, G., (2011). Organizational communication in an age of globalization: Issues, reflections, practices. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.
Iliff, R., (2016). Best Practices for Effective Internal Communications. Retrieved on 23rd January 2018 from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2016/08/12/best-practices-for-effective-internal-communications/#68a28ecf7292
Kokemuller, N., (2017). What Are the Causes of Communication Breakdown in Business. Retrieved on 23rd January 2018 from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/causes-communication-breakdown-business-78230.html
Lingeb?rzi?š, E., (2011). Cross-cultural Communication Challenges of International Tourism Business Environment. Retrieved on 23rd January 2018 from https://eltalpykla.vdu.lt/bitstream/handle/1/1065/ISSN1392-1142_2011_N_59.PG_69-79.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
McLean, J., & Lewis, R. D. (2010). Communicating across cultures: Manager: British Journal of Administrative Management. (71). 30-31
Peter, L., (2015). Effective Business Communication. McGraw Hill Inc. NY: Publishing Nigerian Limited. 18-24
Pym, A., (2003). A Theory of Cross-Cultural Communication. Retrieved on 23rd January 2018 from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242584197_A_Theory_of_Cross-Cultural_Communication
Tourish, D., (2010). Auditing organizational communication: A handbook of research, theory, and practice. NY: Routledge.
Tripathi, P. C., & Reddy, P. N., (2012). Principles of Management. IND: The McGram-Hill Company
Vashurina, A., (2017). How To Overcome Communication Challenges Within A Global Company. Retrieved on 23rd January 2018 from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2017/07/03/how-to-overcome-communication-challenges-within-a-global-company/#3b5d05145a0d
Vidal-Suarez, M. and Lopez-Duarte, C. (2013). Language distance and international acquisitions: A transaction cost approach: International Journal of Cross Cultural Management. 13(1). pp.47-63.
Wittmer, A., (2005). Internal Service Systems and Cultural Differences: An Exploratory Study of Switzerland, Australia, and Singapore. Retrieved on 23rd January 2018 from https://www1.unisg.ch/www/edis.nsf/SysLkpByIdentifier/3064/$FILE/dis3064.pdf
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