Cross-Cultural Communication in Business

This assignment delves into the complexities of cross-cultural communication within a global business context. It requires students to analyze various theoretical frameworks, such as Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory and Trompenaars' Cultural Models, to understand how cultural values and beliefs influence business interactions. Students will also explore nonverbal communication cues and language barriers in international settings. The assignment emphasizes the importance of intercultural competence and effective communication strategies for success in a globalized marketplace.

Running head: BUSINESS ETHICS
Business Ethics
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Answer to Question 1:
Communication and language play a vital role in every business. In workplaces,
comprehending cross-cultural communication is important because it has a varied workforce on
carrying out the global business. Cross-cultural communication constitutes an understanding as
to how people belonging to different cultures communicate, speak and recognize the world
around them (Chen, 2017). It becomes a business issue when language acts as a barrier among
the workers in a business. Employees have difficulty in speaking and understanding if the
language spoken varies from employee to employee. Every culture has a different set of business
ethics, values, facial expressions. Therefore, it is important to understand the various cultures for
showing respect to other cultural while communicating with professionals belonging to different
cultures. Cross-cultural communication plays a crucial role in performing the business with the
stakeholders and teams in all the parts of the globe. Cross-cultural communication creates a
business issue as it creates communication gaps between the employees that lead to delay in
work and results in loss of the company. The capability and possibilty to communicate
efficiently could be a challenge in a global environment (Ferraro & Briody, 2017). However,
business firms have to accustom to the various styles of work of the workers who come from
different cultural backgrounds. Every employee has to adjust and cooperate while working in an
organization with people having different culture and background. Therefore, these basic issues
in business are faced due to cross-cultural communication.

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Answer to Question 2:
Culture is considered as one of the major factors that affect business ethics. The rules of
conduct govern the ethical issues in a business organization. Therefore, different cultures have
different rules of conduct and hence it creates the ethical issues in the workplace. The employers
based on their cultural values cannot prefer employees. Every employee having different cultures
should be treated equally at a workplace (Bird, & Mendenhall, 2016). An understanding of ethics
must make the professional aware of all the components he or she needs to know while dealing
with people of other culture. A professional must know about the communication styles as it is
followed during communication. Linear, circular, direct, indirect, detached, attached, concrete,
abstract, relational and intellectual ways of communication must be adopted. However, it is not
possible for anyone to learn every existing culture in the world and obtain the skills and
knowledge of understanding each culture (Richards & Schmidt, 2014). Therefore, one must
develop cultural competence by obtaining an awareness and the basic knowledge of cultural
differences. The level of success and failure in administrating various cultural workforce that
majorly depends on the capability and quality of the managers. Professionals should know how
the process of communication system of a business organization is infused with rule, value,
practices and the position of a business. A professional must have the ability to remove the
ambiguity among the individuals that arises due to intercultural barriers. It should reflect on the
awareness, attitude and knowledge of the professionals.
Answer to Question 3:
In a global environment, communicating effectively is a challenge. There is a chance of
misunderstanding to occur between the parties even if they speak the same language. The recent

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economic challenges that are faced in an organization are negative low growth, raising
unemployment and raising inflation. Such challenges are faced due to intercultural
communication (Moran, Abramson & Moran, 2014). Therefore, it results in a bad goodwill of
the company. Many companies did not strike the favorable opportunities during the economic
crisis. Instead, the companies challenged with a duty trying to save the companies from sinking.
Although the challenges kept the employees motivated at the workplace. Hence, developments
should be made in the organization to reduce the level of threats and challenges. Internal
challenges in an organization can be reduced by decreasing the level of cross-cultural
communication. The management style and understanding the employees is important as the rifts
usually arises between the employees because of cross-cultural communication (French, 2015).
The non-verbal code system of a culture is different from one’s own is definitely helpful and in
forming a relationship of communication within intercultural context. If the communication does
not take place verbally, then a textual conversation can make the process of communication
easier. Therefore, if the barriers of cross-cultural communication are removed and the challenges
are met, there will not be any issues related to it. The barriers of communication usually arise
because of the lack of understanding between the parties. The system of communication in a
MNC will evidently have to tackle certain restraints because of the difference of the management
of the work. Therefore, it is essential to conquer the differences in a cross-cultural
communication since a theory can be formed through an efficient communication system in an
MNC.
Answer to Question 4:
Cultural proficiency does not mean remembering and having knowledge of every cultural
nuance of every market. It means when should one listen, when to ask for help and when is the

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right time to speak. As mentioned earlier, the capability to communicate effectively is one of the
challenges in a global environment (Neuliep, 2017). Cultural and ethnic differences occur even
when people speak the same language. People speaking different languages at places become a
hurdle in communication, as it is not possible for individuals to memorize every culture nuance
of every market. The kill to converse across cultural boundaries has obtained rising prominence
as people and organizations are connected globally. Comprehending the cultural differences is
essential if individuals are successful in communicating across different cultures. It is easy to
misunderstand the meanings of words in context that leads to broken relationships among peers,
customers and colleagues. It is necessary to think before communicating especially when
individuals deal with people from different cultures and backgrounds since the common
understanding is less than what people believe. Plenty of organizations believe in participating
with teams across different areas to facilitate wide range of ideas, skills, thoughts that leads to
successful outcomes (Betancourt et al., 2016). Other cultural nuances exist in gender roles, texts
and etiquette. Words in general barely have a one-to-one relationship, but there are existing
concepts that could be translated. While communicating or speaking when symbols, idioms and
metaphors are used it keeps the cross-cultural boundaries whole. Computer software that exists
today cannot compensate for cultural nuance.
Answer to Question 5:
Focus should be on using individual differences. If individual differences are resolved
then the level of misunderstanding in cross-cultural communication will also reduce. Cross-
cultural training can put a negotiator in a better position over their competitors. Placing focus on
differences of individuals will solve the issue of cross-cultural communication entirely.
Promoting cultural adaption is beneficial once the individual differences are solved. The process

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for communication for individuals to convey themselves and to fulfill their basic needs. Without
the skill or capability to communicate and comprehend each other, there would be a possibility
of confusion. A process of communication based on cultural understanding is more apt to
prevent misunderstandings caused by personal prejudices and biases. Therefore, this approach is
more effective than promoting cultural adaption. Individual differences create major issues and
rifts in the process of communication. The aim of communication is to deliver ideas and
knowledge from one person to another (Stewart & Shamdasani, 2014). The loop of
communication is successful when the receiver demonstrates that he or she understands what
element was being communicated. Technological medium of communication such as internet,
cell phones and messages helps to solve the individual differences and maintain peace and
harmony. Individual differences if not solved acts as a barrier in communication. Individual
differences create rifts in an organization, which hampers the regular flow of an organization.
This affects the growth and profit of the organization (Saucier, 2015). Productivity reduces when
the leaders of the organization are not being able to communicate with clarity. Individual
differences and conflict among the employees fails to comprehend as to how their personal
efforts donate to the overall success of the organization.
Answer to Question 6:
Companies that are successful in communicating cross-culturally have a competitive
advantage. There are certain factors that show how the companies that communicate cross-
culturally have a competitive advantage. When the process of cross-cultural communication is
successful in an organization, it leads to a better growth and development of the company. If the
cross-cultural communication is smooth, the employees gets better deals and can negotiate as
well easily. The impact of globalization on cross-cultural communication is to form a

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competitive benefit in the global market (Cavusgil et al., 2014). The employees help each other
to avoid complexity and maximize economy of effort. People belonging from different
backgrounds, working together on projects and reviewing each other’s work helps to reduce the
bias. Therefore, it has a competitive advantage in the organizational market. Cross-cultural
communication promotes continuous improvement. Organizations that used to trade in a single
cultural society are now expanding internationally due to the smooth process of cross-cultural
communication. Successful intercultural communication gives an organization a global business
edge. When the cross-cultural communication becomes an easier process, it fosters efficient
leadership in an organization. The present organizations are comprised of assorted individuals
and managers are expected to lead their terms by forming an understanding of the company.
Therefore, such companies have a competitive advantage. An organization that comprehends the
significance of cross-cultural communication has advantages in widening its business globally
over the companies that has not invested in it. Cross-cultural communication also leads to
successful teamwork as the colleagues respect each other’s cultural background (Krishna, Ojha
& Barrett, 2017). It also help employees from variant ethnic backgrounds to communicate
effectively with one another. It also leads the management competencies to design policies that
incorporate the diversity in the team. Hence, the employees who are satisfied are able to focus on
their duties, which results in increase in productivity.
Answer to Question 7:
The home country mentioned is India and the other country mentioned is Australia. The
cultural communication and affect is different in India from that in Australia. In India, messages
sent are very subtle and have heavy implications. The decoder has to sieve through the context
and comprehend the underlying meaning of it (Gupta & Bhaskar, 2016). Whereas, Australians

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rely on language that has a direct meaning of what is being spoken. A logical conclusion can be
derived from their speech patterns. In an Indian society, high power distances are strongly
complied. For conveying any news or information, Indians always follow the proper channels
rather than approaching the head directly. In contrast to this, the culture of Australians is to
believe in one person as being as good as the other and is done away with the differences in
work, education and groups. They prefer to be called and addresses directly. Traditional culture
plays a great role in India and so is the process of communication. On the other hand, Australians
embrace change in their lives (Bosman, 2015). They do not believe in traditional reforms and
maintaining it. Australians tend to deal head on with conflict and clear the air immediately
whereas, Indians ignore and avoid any kind of conflict. According to the Indian culture, Indians
works diligently, treats their work as god, and is occupied deeply in carting it out. In contrast,
Australians keep their work life separated from their personal life. It is a part of their lifecycle to
not bring office work home.
Answer to Question 8:
While different cultures are communicating, there are possibilities of misunderstanding,
which can occur. The two main cultural differences that have been identified is individualism
and collectivism. The concept of individualism is maintained in Australia whereas; the concept
of collectivism is famous in India. The cultural patterns at workplace also reflect the cultural
patterns in the wider society. Both the countries follow different work culture. As observed from
the differences and contrast, it can be concluded that Australia clearly follows the western
cultural values and on the other hand, the Indians follow non-western cultural values. Culture is
generally the pattern of human behavior that consists of communication, actions, thoughts,
beliefs, values and customs (Burgoon, Guerrero & Floyd, 2016). Communicating across cultures

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gets difficult and leads to misunderstanding when either the speaker or the listener misinterprets
the context of a statement. Misunderstanding also occurs when they acknowledge cultural
differences without being persistent and bias. The other cultural differences that were identified
are ethnic, acculturation and race. People belonging from different cultures who are working in
an organization fail to adapt the process of a different culture. It is a time taking process. For
example, an Australian will take time to adapt the Indian norms and culture. Adapting physical
characteristics also takes time as it is difficult to adjust with the new culture (Knapp, 2015). As
observed, maximum population of the world live in societies that is collectivist in nature. The
ones living in the Western societies that are claimed to be individualist in nature. Therefore, this
is considered as a basic fundamental difference that can form continuous misunderstanding that
will lead to miscommunication.
Answer to Question 9:
The obsession to exaggerate the dissimilarities between the distinguished cultures may
result in stereotypes being conceived and such recognized notions may prove to be an obstacle in
communicating with people. The word stereotype refers to the notion that all the people form
given groups are same. Generally, the highly common cultural differences relate to the use of
names. Especially how people are addressed in definite situations. For example, a family’s name
is placed first when addressing an individual in many collectivist cultures. Another example is
greetings (Daud, 2017). Greeting refers to communication between individuals, handshake, signs
of respect, body language plays the most basic roles in cultures which leads to
misunderstandings. When cultural issues are raised, the behavior and expectations of individuals
having different cultural values will differ in relation to acceptable results (Arasaratnam,
L.2015). Presently, the issue of intercultural communication is important in the global scenario

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of global business. People belonging to the same cultural background form a common group to
make the process of communication easier. The business firms have to used to the different
patterns of working of the workers who are from different cultural background.
Answer to Question 10:
Australians stereotype Indians on the basis of their culture, economy, dirt and chaos and
uneducated. They believe that Indians should develop the policy of individualism, which will
help them to organize and manage miscommunication. Language reflects difference in social
status between genders. Australians considers Indian culture to be complex as it has a series of
history and geography. Therefore, it gets difficult for them to under the nature and cope up with
the languages they speak (Shohat & Stam, 2014). According to the Australians, the issues faced
by contemporary Indian society as it raises itself economically and are viewed socially with
sympathy. On the other hand, Indians interpret the silence of Australians as shyness. They
believe that Australians lack dynamism. Indians think that Australians believe in racism and it is
wrong socially. They tend to stereotype the culture and tend to be too modern. As per the
Indians, the Australian’s perspective towards people belonging from other culture is very rude.
Each society has its own values and culture. Stereotyping is regarded as an extension of
ethnocentrism (Samovar et al., 2014). Therefore, these stereotypes are not always accurate since
individuals don’t really research on it. It is the view of different individuals of different countries
having different cultural background.

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