Cross cultural communication in business omanessay.com/cross-cultural-communication-in-business
Introduction In global companies, proper cross-cultural communication allows businesses to run very smoothly. By acknowledging the problems that take place and taking proactive steps to reduce conflict so that they can help their employees to work together. Adjustment of the behavior takes a lot of time so to be sure it is important that companies provide opportunities for the employees to learn about each other’s cultures and habits before problems take place. Setting up of expectations within the company is required so that there is an additional effort that is put in to understand each other (Adekola and Sergi 2016). It is important that there is fostering of engagement in a proper manner instead of jumping into hasty conclusion so that there are unproductive conflicts. Cultural barriers Language is a very complex thing and communication between two people who speak different languages can become a difficult situation. Language is a way of looking at the people around us and even skilled translators can find it tricky to convey very simple emotions and concepts. This can lead to misunderstandings. When we can understand how easily we misunderstand a person speaking our language then we may understand how difficult it is to misunderstand a person speaking some other language (Stahl and Tung 2015). Hostile stereotypes people from other places can be a barrier to communication in the workplace. Stereotypes are nothing but people who make assumptions about the habits and features of others. The danger is that these stereotypes have preconceived notions about other people which they do not wish to change with time. Likewise, behavioral differences within the workplace can also cause conflicts and other misunderstandings. How to overcome cross-cultural communication in business? It is important that companies hold meetings so that their employees get exposed to cultures of other employees. The employees will be working together and a non-threatening environment allows a good working relationship in the long run. Learning about each other’s language and culture helps in promoting acceptable behavior and prepares the employees to deal with situations as they crop up. Changing preconceptions can also lead to conducive work relationships.
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Organizations are advised to conduct activities and demonstrate how dependent one can be on language. For example, organizations should plan activities in which everyone should be silent and how to plan and cope a day without talking to one another. After going through a day with less communication, participants can relate to being a foreign environment in a very easy manner (Tjosvold 2017). Conducting workshops, techniques, and tips for the purpose of communication can effectively influence cross-cultural environments. People act according to the values they obtain from their culture and others from a different culture might interpret the behavior in a different manner. Practicing strategies such as active listening and using different forms of communication can improve the involvement of employees making sure that there are fewer conflicts because of cultural misunderstandings. Moreover, organizations should coach their employees to mediate conflicts that are related to cultural miscommunication. Provide opportunities for employees so that they respond to similar situations from different viewpoints than their own. Division of a group of people into pairs can conduct a role-playing exercise that allows participants to acknowledge differences in the culture. Encourage every pair to think about the dispute they have experienced recently because of the differences in culture. Every participant should think about what they considered offensive or unusual and based on their understanding they would suggest a proper remedy for the same. Language is a way of looking at the people around us and even skilled translators can find it tricky to convey very simple emotions and concepts. This can lead to misunderstandings. When we can understand how easily we misunderstand a person speaking our language then we may understand how difficult it is to misunderstand a person speaking some other language. Hostile stereotypes people from other places can be a barrier to communication in the workplace. Stereotypes are nothing but people who make assumptions about the habits and features of others. The danger is that these stereotypes have preconceived notions about other people, which they do not wish to change with time. Likewise, behavioral differences within the workplace can also cause conflicts and other misunderstandings (Guttormsen and Lauring 2018). Conclusion Based on the discussion above, it can be said that cross-cultural communication can become an important factor in restricting the growth of both the employee as well as the organization. The growth of the organization depends on happy employees. Thus, when employees are happy with each other an organization is bound to become successful. 2/3
References Adekola, A. and Sergi, B.S., 2016. Global business management: A crosscultural perspective. Routledge. Guttormsen, D.S. and Lauring, J., 2018. Fringe Voices in Cross-Cultural Management Research: Silenced and Neglected?. Stahl, G.K. and Tung, R.L., 2015. Towards a more balanced treatment of culture in international business studies: The need for the positive crosscultural scholarship. Journal of International Business Studies, 46(4), pp.391-414. Tjosvold, D., 2017. Cross-cultural management: foundations and future. Routledge.
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