Intercultural Business Communication

This assignment delves into the challenges and nuances of intercultural business communication, specifically examining the cultural differences between Saudi Arabia and Australia. It utilizes academic sources to analyze factors influencing business interactions in these two diverse contexts. The assignment requires students to understand cultural dimensions like Hofstede's model and apply them to real-world business scenarios.

Cross cultural management
Cultural critique report
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
The key factors which influence intercultural business...................................................................3
The relationship based and rule-based cultures...............................................................................7
Present Cultural situation.................................................................................................................8
Communication and etiquette..........................................................................................................9
Intercultural business communication...........................................................................................10
Doing business and Business meetings.........................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................11
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Introduction
The successful and efficient utilisation of cross-cultural teams can give a source of experience
and innovative thinking for enhancing the competitive situation of the business. But, the cultural
differences can act as hindrance with the effective accomplishment of projects in current
multicultural worldwide trade (Alatabani. et al., 2017). For achieving the business objectives
and avoiding cultural gaps, the project managers must be culturally sensitive and encourage
innovation and motivation by flexible leadership (Hoyne, 2010). This report covers the cross-
cultural management theory linked with Australia and Saudi Arabia. The cross-cultural theories
are based on relationship between individuals, motivation, attitude, timeliness, responses towards
the environment etc. For any business to be successful the leadership has to be culturally aware
and there has to be cross-cultural communication along with mutual understanding and mutual
respect (Hunter, 2010). Without this, the global businesses are destined to become failure. The
aim of this report is to advice an Australian business person who wants to communicate and
negotiate effectively in the Saudi Arabian culture.
The key factors which influence intercultural business
In the today’s multicultural worldwide trading, managers usually face cultural differences and
due to globalisation, the places of work are highly integrated. Therefore, the communication and
cross-cultural understanding have turned out to be key points for everybody. For developing the
capabilities of communicating, one must aspects which can make the cross-cultural
communication to be a success or a failure. As per Feher (2012), a few of these aspects include:
 Racial identity,
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 ethnic identity,
 cultural identity,
 social classes,
 age,
 gender roles,
 roles identity,
 Individual personalities.
The two leading researches of cross-cultural management have been carried out
by Geerd Hofstede and Fons Trompenaars. These two suggest a set of cultural factors by which
the prevailing value system can be laid. This value systems and cultures have impact on the way
people think, feel and act along with the behaviour of businesses in a predictable manner. These
two set of aspects show basic issues that any community has to deal with however the set of
solutions are different for every culture (Exciting and New Perspectives in Cross-Cultural and
Cross-National Research in Marketing, 2016).
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Source: Hofstede Insights, 2017
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Source: Hofstede Insights, 2017
As per above diagrams, there are few similarities and few differences however these factors can
be grouped into various categories:
 Relationships among individuals – the two major cultural differences have been seen for how
people greet each other and the level of communication among individuals. Saudi Arabia has
a male dominant society and there are many restrictions for women. Therefore it is suggested
to the individual who has to connect with people in Saudi Arabia must keep these things in
mind that collectivism is high in Saudi Arabia as the groups objectives are given preference
and mails are the business head because female store get equal rights in terms of workplace
or education (Ferraro, 2010).
 Uncertainty avoidance: Similarly looking at uncertainty avoidance Saudi Arabia still high
that is 80 which means they prefer to avoid uncertainty and this country has rich principles of
behavior and belief system, with intolerance for unorthodox conduct and perceptions. People
want to be busy and do hard work with timeliness and precision, however these people might
resist innovation and security seems to be a vital factor for motivating them. In Australia the
aspect of uncertainty avoidance has a score of 21 which means there is a normative culture in
Australia and people are strongly concerned about the absolute truth. They show high respect
for traditional values and save very less for the future. They focus on the present and want to
achieve fast results (Poortinga, 2015).
 Individualism and masculinity: the societies decide about the approach of managing inherent
uncertainty of living. There are three factors in this which have been identified by Hofstede
are femininity versus masculinity, power distance and extent of uncertainty avoidance. As
discussed above Saudi Arabia has a big score in dimension of masculinity and very low score
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for femininity. The feminine have to take care of other people and quality of life however
organizational life is undertaken by masculinity. It is a masculine society and therefore Saudi
Arabians score score 60 on this dimension. Australians have a high score of individualism
and motivation that is 90 because they are having a loosely knit culture wherein people are
expected to take care of themselves and their families. At the workplace, workers have to
be self dependent and they have to show initiative. The hiring and promotion do not happen
on the basis of gender, rather please take place on the basis of merit or work performance.
 Power distance: For power distance also Saudi Arabia has a high School which is 95,
denoting that people approve hierarchy where they are placed and there is no other
justification needed to it. Similarly in Australia the power distance has a loss for that is 36
because the hierarchy is made for convenience and the superior are generally easily
accessible. The management is dependent on individual worker and teams for their skills.
There is a mutual understanding between the management and workers and there has to be
consultation and exchange of information among them. The communication among the
Australian employees and their managers is usually informal in nature, direct and
participating.
The relationship based and rule-based cultures
For examining the cultural approaches with respect to communication styles, the categorisation
can be done on the basis of rule-based on relationship- based culture. Both of these are linked
with a set of practices that control interpersonal relationships and manage uncertainty and stress
of people. With this business communication styles can be understood to be high or low context
Styles. The behaviour in Australia is relationship based therefore there is close supervision seen
by the authority figures. There is a need for respecting the Authority and so this respect has to be
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given to elders, key relations, parents, bosses or departed souls i.e. ancestors too. In Australia the
wrong behaviour is deterred by loss of face, ostracism, shame or punishment. Since these
authority figures are very near and are integral part of society therefore the typical conduct is
generally implied in the cultural circumstances and should not be explained overtly. Thus
Relationship-based cultures have a tendency to depend on high-context communication
(Conference Report: Business Perspectives on Intercultural Communication, 2002).
Saudi Arabia has a rule-based culture, which is based on respect for rules. This doesn’t mean
that Saudi Arabia has set of rules and since Saudi Arabia‘s relationship based therefore there are
no rules. The major distinction is that since Saudi Arabia has rule-based cultures therefore people
respect regulations for their own sake whereas in Australia the rules are driven by the authority
of people who make those rules (Tuleja and O'Rourke, 2015). Similarly in Saudi Arabia the rules
have to be complied Due to fear of punishment on any feeling of guilt however in case of
Australia in case people want others to follow The rules Then they will keep them under constant
supervision. In Saudi Arabia personal relations are important but the rules are spelt out clearly
and people have to pay attention to them. This means there is low-context communication seen
in the behavior of people.
One more aspect where Saudi Arabia differs from Australia is in terms of commitment and
propensity to save for future. Saudi Arabia has long-term commitment and they want to get quick
results rather than looking forward to saving for the future. The Saudi Arabians have father is the
head of the family and father holds the custody of kids. He is the decision maker for the family.
Present Cultural situation
The bilateral relationship between Saudi Arabia and Australia have grown with significance in
past years and there have been better understanding among them with regards to mutual trust and
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partnerships in different areas (Varner, Beamer and Beamer, 2011). The Australian government
has laid stress on the significance of attainment of financial and investment Association among
these two different areas. They work together to conquer terrorism and extremism for stable and
peaceful world. Also there have been great commercial relations between two relations since
2014. There are many students who study in Australia and he’ll from Saudi Arabia therefore
great educational relations are also seen among them. There has been expanding educational
relation shown in memorandum of higher education Corporation among these two nations. The
same can be utilized for the benefit of communication with the person and the mutual
understanding interest can be built among these two countries. (Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission |
SACM, 2017)
Communication and etiquette
For Saudi Arabia warm personal greetings and unstoppable courtesy are very important while
trading. The main objective for doing so is protection of the male ego. Power distance is highly
significant here and Honorific words and titles need to be given. Such flattery or terminology is
not expected in case of dealing with Australian individual. The phrases like “your Excellency
“might be useful when the person interacts with any government official or any associate of
Royal family (Conference Report: Business Perspectives on Intercultural Communication, 2016).
Courtesy is very important all over Middle East and therefore politeness in speeches necessary.
Moreover, it is significant to communicate that one is enjoying the company of The Saudi
Arabian business partners. This is totally different professional life from what has been there in
Australia. The communication style has to encourage mutual understanding and harmony.
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Intercultural business communication
The major idea of cross-cultural business knows the other business partner in such a manner so
that the cultural amendments can be done. This leads to the problem of culture amendments
which need to be addressed. The best rule of thumb is that all the business dealings must be in
support of cultural practices of social infrastructure on which they basically depend. The culture
of the other party which provides resources to the business has to be respected and appreciated.
So the language is an important aspect in communication (Sweeney, 2010). The cross-cultural
business generally happens in trading language, regardless of the fact of rich cultural practices
are prevalent in the business. This trading language can be of the buyer or the supplier however
nowadays English is the leading language which prevails in almost all over the globe. This
decision of trading language is usually dependent on the convenience which shows the
competences of the parties who are communicating. In case everybody is not conversant in
single language then it is wise to utilise interpreters since the either party might be embarrassed
Doing business and Business meetings
Performing business with Saudi Arabian parties includes understanding that as the kingdom has
replied lots of Methodologies and approaches which are same as in Australia still its own cultural
traditions exist. The basic of these is the significance given to the trust in trading. The Saudi
Arabian people look forward to carry out business with individuals home they already know and
they have pressed upon. So it is important that anybody who wants to be partner with them or
wants to have business with them dedicates effort, time and is patient for making relation with
them (Chaney and Martin, 2014). It is expected that one will have to make many personal visits
for this procedure. It is significant that the person understands the basic concepts of Islam so that
rest can be created. The initial business meetings will generally be of knowing each other so
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there would be detailed talks however business stocks should not be expected in initial meetings.
It is important that while having a social conversation, health and family or hometowns are
discussed however one must not talk about their female relatives. Although, like any other
country, exchange of gifts is not accepted still one can buy some small token only if one is
paying visit to the Saudi Arabian counterpart at his home.
Conclusion
Looking at the above report, it is suggested that one has to be very careful that total
Generalisation should not be there. Australia might have a few digit management leadership in a
few businesses where is Saudi Arabia may to possess skilled and enlightened leaders. The
practicalities of worldwide trading have highly impacted nations with huge power distance in
dices. However one should keep in mind that Saudi Arabian top managers also carry out tasks as
per Hofstede’s culture. The person who is interacting with people in Saudi Arabia or
management in Saudi Arabia must look for a smart way to convince by appealing to their
Conservative and authoritarian principles.
References
Alatabani., A., Mashi., A., Mahdi., N., Alkhelaif., M., Alhwsawi., E. and Madkhaly., S. (2017).
Mothers knowledge about the otitis media risk factors among children: Multi-centric
Saudi study. International Journal of Advanced Research, 5(1), pp.980-985.
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Chaney, L. and Martin, J. (2014). Intercultural business communication. Upper Saddle River,
NJ.: Pearson.
Conference Report: Business Perspectives on Intercultural Communication. (2002). Language
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Exciting and New Perspectives in Cross-Cultural and Cross-National Research in Marketing.
(2016). Journal of Global Marketing, 29(2), pp.55-56.
Feher, M. (2012). The Saudi Mirror. Public Culture, 18(2), pp.271-279.
Ferraro, G. (2010). The cultural dimension of international business. Boston [u.a.]: Prentice Hall.
Hofstede Insights. (2017). Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights. [online] Available at:
https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/australia/ [Accessed 12 Oct.
2017].
Hofstede Insights. (2017 b). Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights. [online] Available at:
https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/saudi-arabia/ [Accessed 12 Oct.
2017].
Hoyne, A. (2010). Review: Friday on Our Minds: Popular Culture in Australia since
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1945ArrowMichelle, Friday on Our Minds: Popular Culture in Australia Since 1945,
UNSW Press, Sydney, 2009, ISBN 0 8684 0662 7, 288 pp, $39.95. Media International
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Hunter, I. (2010). Governing Culture. Media Information Australia, 59(1), pp.40-42.
Poortinga, Y. (2015). Is “Culture” a Workable Concept for (Cross-)Cultural Psychology?. Online
Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1).
Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission | SACM. (2017). Saudi-Australian Relationships - Saudi
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australian-relationships/ [Accessed 12 Oct. 2017].
Sweeney, E. (2010). The handbook of business discourse. Language and Intercultural
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