Cross-Cultural Communication

Running head: CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Cross-Cultural Communication
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
As opined by Harrell (2016), one of the most important factors which affect the
business operations of the different business firms operational in the international business
arena is the factor of cross-cultural communication because of the inherent differences
between the national cultures of the diverse nations. Bird and Mendenhall (2016) are of the
viewpoint that the factor of intercultural or cross-cultural communication comes into play
when the business firms are conducting cross border business or for that matter when
individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds are involved in the process of communication.
The aim of this essay is to shed light on the process of cross-cultural communication through
the usage of the case of Mary’s firm’s intended expansion into the nation of Japan. The
objective of this essay is to gain a thorough understanding of the process of cross-
communication and also to gain an insight into the factors that the firms are required to take
into account while conducting business into the business markets of the nations which are
culturally different one another.
Mary, an Australian is the owner of “The Aroma Shop”, which specialises in the
manufacture of different kinds of condiments like chili sauces, jams, chutneys, pastes and
others. More importantly, her parents since an early age had ingrained within her a love for
different kinds of food products and this is one of the major reasons why she had established
the business under discussion. Presently, it is seen that she is trying to enhance the scope of
her firm and is thereby considering expanding her business in the nation of Japan as well
apart from Australia and for this she had taken an appointment with Mr. Muro, a Japanese
popular store owner.
Lu and Fan (2015) have articulated the viewpoint that the entity of culture had a
profound impact on the business style or etiquette which is being followed within the
different nations of the world and this is perhaps one of the major reasons why the different
firms which are operating on an international basis need to take into account the element of

2CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
national culture. Mary in order to make the appointment that she had with Mr. Muro would
have to take into account the differences between the national cultures of the two nations,
namely, Australia and Japan and thereby modify her approach on the basis of the same. An
analysis of the national cultures of the two nations under discussion here on the basis of
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory clearly reveals the fact that the national cultures of
these two nations are drastically different from each other (Refer to Appendix 1). For
example, it is seen that the nation of Japan scores higher than that of Australia on the index of
power distance which means that the people of Japan not only respect seniority as well as
authority but at the same time like to follow them in an ardent manner (Hofstede Insights
2019). This is important since within the nation of Japan it is seen that the senior employees
or the managers are not always accessible by the employees who are lower in designation to
them (Gökmen 2018). On the other hand, in the nation of Australia this is not the case since it
is seen that the seniors or the individuals holding the important designations of the firm are
easily accessible by all the employees of the firm.
Another important difference between the national cultures of the nations of Australia
and Japan becomes apparent when the index of individualism is taken into account. In this
regard, it needs to be said that the nation of Japan unlike the nation of Australia scores very
low on the index of individualism which means that the Japanese people like to indulge in
group or collective kind of work (Hofstede Insights 2019). The net result of this is that the
different business firms of the nation of Japan try to foster the kind of organisational culture
with their firms which will support collective or group work (Caligiuri and Lundby 2015). On
the other hand, within the nation of Australia it is seen that the individualistic kind of work
culture is more predominant and the Australian rather than indulging in collective or group
work generally like to work in an individualistic manner.