Intercultural Communication

Essay

Intercultural communication is of the utmost factors to facilitate business growth and success in today’s global marketplace. The benefits of it are inclusive of three aspects: improve the efficiency of intracompany, deduct costs in the company operations, and enhance the chance of success when negotiation.

Firstly, the efficiency of intracompany communication will be promoted because of the cross-cultural communication. Initially, by conducting it, conflicts and misunderstandings between employees can be avoided. For example, an American businessman felt offended when his colleague, a Chinese, deal with several tasks during the conversation. It is different attitudes to time that arouse contradictions. Americans, for example, view time a unilinear which means they prefer to handle one individual at a time. However, Chinese, as an oriental nation, are in the favor of doing multiple tasks simultaneously (Metwalli 2003, p. 51). The gap between them will exist on account of the dissatisfaction. If they comprehend the two philosophies, the conflicts will not occur. It is their unawareness of the cultural differences and the disrespect to the other’s cultural background that pose a threat to effective communication and the smooth running of business. If they do, it will help staff to eliminate stereotyping, strengthen unity and raise efficiency.

What’s more, understanding the theory of high-context and low-context cultures will also play a part in diminishing misunderstandings. In high-context cultures, people tend to express the emotions implicitly. Conversely, one person who is in low-context cultures inclines to pass on a message directly and explicitly. (Mitchell 2009, pp. 19-21) Therefore, sometimes we should read between the lines to find his true meaning. At times, the word “yes” is just for rite’s sake rather than the acceptance of the proposals you put forward or the terms you offered. On the work, you should notice that point and find the turn down for diplomacy.

 Not only conflicts and misunderstandings can be cut down but also effective leadership in an organization will be fostered. Those who have carried out training programs for intercultural communication skills have the capacity to foresee many cultural sensitivity issues and preemptively put procedures to avoid unnecessary stress and workplace tension (Become a better leader with cross cultural awareness 2013). It enhances the efficiency and productivity to some extent. The employees’ needs will be put into consideration by managers while developing policies, planning for meetings, and designing incentive schemes. Such kind of management allows every member to be productive and proficient in their tasks

Secondly, intercultural communication is also instrumental in cutting the operation costs of the company who applies it. Take EuroDisney for example. Because of cultural insensitivities, Disney miscalculated the capacity of hotel dining rooms and lunchtimes causing irritation from visitors. The overcrowded rooms served upwards of 2,500 visitors, but it only can seat a maximum of 400 guests. Besides, Disney instituted strict dress code which was perceived as the attack on French fashion, prohibited the serving of alcohol for whom drinking is a birthright and overestimated the consumer patterns which were different from Americans (Mitchell 2009, pp. 2-4). As a result, they failed to achieve the expected revenues. So, the last resort for them was to redesign the structure giving rise to further operation and time costs. Such costs can be saved if they notice diverse cultural details and make cultural adjustments in advance. Disney has already had a lesson for overlooking the leading role of the intercultural communication. Moreover, the following statistics show us how hefty the cost of poor awareness of it can be. According to the research from Holmes, 400 investigated corporations in the U.S. and U.K. have to pay added cost up to $62.4 million in average (Holmes 2011). It is a sign of alarm to all the administrators that they ought to recognize the great value of intercultural communication.

Lastly, the notion of cross-cultural communication will contribute to the possibility of success when doing business. First of all, it will be helpful to the negotiation. The fierce battles of wits and tactics are the hard nut to crack. One has to learn about diverse cultures so as to launch its business successfully. The theory of uncertainty avoidance can explain it. In high uncertainty avoidance culture, such as china, people have the tendency to resist changes and will feel threatened by new ideas and processes. On the contrary, the United States, a typical low uncertainty avoidance culture, where high risk options will be preferable. (Mitchell 2009, pp. 17-19) If, for instance, an America company wants to be in business relationship with a Chinese company, they should consider their means of negotiation. The topics such as innovation, aggressive marketing and investment should be avoided so as to reassure the executors from China. So, the representatives from America can talk about the long-term strategy, continuity of management and the blueprint of the company. Second, cross-cultural communication can create competitive advantages. For example, the company named good year have the successful business relationship with Africa (Kazuo 2000). The company has a receptive welcome in Africa because they understand that the cultural factors are curial to the business transactions. They learn about some cultural traits such as time, religion, handshakes, communication tactics and respect towards seniors. Therefore, they have advantages in launching its business globally over a company that do not understand the valuable impact of cross-cultural communication. Based on the notion, they have established trading association with the company in Africa and extended the scope of the business.