Intercultural Communication in Business: Adapting to Chinese Culture

This essay analyzes intercultural communication in business, focusing on the adaptation required to conduct business with Chinese culture. It discusses the differences between Australian and Chinese cultures and the adaptations required for effective communication. The essay also highlights the importance of intercultural communication in conducting business across different nations.

Running head: INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Intercultural Communication
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Intercultural communication can be defined as the kind of communication by means
of which the people or individuals from various diverse cultural backgrounds communicate
with each other (Carbaugh 2013). It is significant to note that during the conduct of business
the various business organizations often come a situation when they need to conduct with
people or business organizations belonging to various diverse cultural or ethical backgrounds
(Washington, Okoro and Thomas 2012). It is precisely here that the process of intercultural
communication becomes very significant. The advent of globalization and the growth of trade
and commerce across the frontiers of the different nations have made the process of
intercultural communication one of the primary tools which the various business
organizations often take the help of in order to effectively conduct their business across the
different nations (Neuliep 2012). It is significant to note that the various business
organizations when conducting business with the various individuals or business
organizations with people or business organizations from various other nations need to make
certain adaptations regarding the way they communicate and behave with others in a bid to
effectively conduct their business with the business organizations or people belonging to
other business organizations or people belonging to other nations (Washington, Okoro and
Thomas 2012). This essay intends to analyze the process of intercultural communication and
its various related precepts.
Mary is an Australian who hails from a family which has always in love with food
and the food industry. Her mother and other family members from the early phases of their
lives had been in love with food and the food industry and they even used to prepare foods
and present them as gifts to their relatives as well as friends. Therefore, it was quiet natural
for Mary to develop that love for food and food industry. Thus, when she grew up she opened
her own small business which specializes in the “manufacture a variety of condiments”. It is
significant to note that “‘The Aroma Shop’ and a small factory in Wagga Wagga” and the

2INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
specialty of which is that they do not take the use of artificial preservatives for the
preparation of the food item. In addition to that, the small business of Mary provides a range
of products to the customers like “chilli sauces, pastes, chutneys and jams”. The business of
Mary is doing reasonably good in the nation of Australia however following the path of
globalization she now wants to expand her business in the nation of China and for the
achievement of this particular purpose she has arranged for an official meeting with Mr. Lau,
a Chinese business around 55 years old. It is significant to note that Mary is confused as
regards the approach she should take regarding the meeting with Mr. Lau as she has never
conducted any business dealings with the Chinese people but knows that their culture as well
as way of conducting business is drastically different from the approach followed by the
Australian people.
The culture as well as the way of conducting the business of the Chinese people is
starkly different from the way of the other nations as well as the other cultures (House 2014).
A cultural graph of the nation of China as per the Hofstede’s “Models of Culture” would
reveal the following facts-
Figure 1: Hofstede’s “Models of Culture”
Source: Hofstede’s Cultural Insights

3INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
The above figure clearly indicates that the Chinese people like to indulge in group activities
instead of individual work which is clearly shown by the lower level of individualism on the
graph. Furthermore, the masculinity section of the graph is moderate which means that the
Chinese people are likely to more driven by the concepts of competition, success as well as
achievement which as a matter of fact forms the core values of all their business
organizations (Hofstede Insights 2018). Moreover, the high score on the power distance
section indicates that not all people in the nation of China are equal and there is a division of
power in the society of China as per the ranks and the position held by them (Hofstede
Insights 2018). The lower score on the uncertainty avoidance section is an indicative of the
fact that the Chinese people use ambiguous and that the words or the language used by them
have a different connotation than their surface meaning (Hofstede Insights 2018). The high
score on the “long-term orientation” is an indicative of the fact that the Chinese culture is a
very pragmatic one and the people in the society believe that “truth depends very much on
situation, context and time”(Hofstede Insights 2018). Lastly, the considerably low score on
the indulgence section is an indicative of the fact that the society of China is a very restrained
one and the people in the nation of China “have a tendency to cynicism and pessimism” and
display a controlled gratification of their desires (Hofstede Insights 2018).
Mary hails from the nation of Australia and the culture as well as the way of
transacting the business in the nation of Australia is slightly different from the other nations
of the world. A cultural analysis of the nation of Australia as per the Hofstede’s “Model of
Culture” is represented by the following figure-

4INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Figure 2: Hofstede’s “Model of Culture” for Australia
Source: Hofstede’s cultural insights
The above figure clearly that the power distance in the society of Australia is very low
whereas the individualism in the society is very high (Hofstede Insights 2018). Furthermore,
the masculinity of the Australian people is also high just like the indulgence section
(Hofstede Insights 2018). However, the uncertainty avoidance and the “long-term
orientation” in the society of Australia are comparatively low (Hofstede Insights 2018).
Therefore, from the above two graphs it becomes clear that the cultures of Australia
and China are different from each and thus to make her meeting with the Chinese business
Mr. Lau, Mary will have to make certain alterations in her approach as well as the way she
has been conducting her business in the nation of Australia. The first alteration which she
needs to make is the way she has been greeting her clients (Martin and Nakayama 2015). It is
significant to note that the Australian people use very casual language for the purposes of
greeting however the Chinese people on the other hand are very formal when it comes to
greetings when conducting a business deal (Martin and Nakayama 2015). Furthermore, the
individualism quotient of the people is high in comparison to the same in the nation of China.
Therefore, she will have to focus more on the concept group of group rather than on
individual work (Kankaanranta and Lu 2013). Furthermore, the power distance in the society
of Australia is very low whereas the power distance in the society of China is very high. This

5INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
implies that there is an unequal distribution of power in the society and therefore she will
have to address as well as treat the people as per their ranks and power (Kankaanranta and Lu
2013). This is something which is starkly different from the culture and the society of
Australia in which she is used to conducting her business (Kankaanranta and Lu 2013).
Furthermore, the masculinity index of the society of China is higher than the masculinity
index of Australia which means that she will to focus more on the various precepts of
competition, success and achievement (Kankaanranta and Lu 2013). Moreover, the
indulgence quotient of the society of China is very low in comparison to the same in the
society of Australia (Kankaanranta and Lu 2013). Thus, she will have to take into account the
restrained society and culture of China and approach Mr. Lau accordingly. The “long-term
orientation” of the society of China is higher than that of Australia and thus she will have to
adopt a pragmatic approach towards the meeting which she is intending to have with the
Chinese businessman Mr. Lau (Kankaanranta and Lu 2013). These in short are some of the
adaptations which Mary needs to take into consideration for her meeting with the Chinese
businessman Mr. Lau which will enable her to expand her business in the nation of China.
To conclude, it becomes evident that intercultural communication forms an important
part of the entire process of communication and also the business operations of the various
business organizations. It is significant to note that the various business organizations take the
help of this particular kind of communication method to communicate in a more effective
manner with the business organizations from different nations with diverse cultural
backgrounds. The concept of intercultural communication gained popularity with the advent
of the concept of globalization and is considered one of the most important precepts of the
concepts of globalization. Therefore, to conduct their business effectively in the different
nations of the world the various business organizations take the help of this particular kind of

6INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
communication to effectively negotiate with the other business organizations in the nations
with which they are trying to have business relationships.

7INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
References
Carbaugh, D. ed., 2013. Cultural communication and intercultural contact. Routledge.
Hofstede Insights. 2018. Australia - Hofstede Insights. [online] Available at:
https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country/australia/ [Accessed 10 Apr. 2018].
Hofstede Insights. 2018. China - Hofstede Insights. [online] Available at:
https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country/china/ [Accessed 10 Apr. 2018].
House, J., 2014. Moving across languages and cultures in translation as intercultural
communication. In Translational action and intercultural communication (pp. 14-46).
Routledge.
Kankaanranta, A. and Lu, W., 2013. The evolution of English as the business lingua franca:
Signs of convergence in Chinese and Finnish professional communication. Journal of
Business and Technical Communication, 27(3), pp.288-307.
Martin, J.N. and Nakayama, T.K., 2015. Reconsidering intercultural (communication)
competence in the workplace: A dialectical approach. Language and Intercultural
Communication, 15(1), pp.13-28.
Neuliep, J.W., 2012. The relationship among intercultural communication apprehension,
ethnocentrism, uncertainty reduction, and communication satisfaction during initial
intercultural interaction: An extension of anxiety and uncertainty management (AUM)
theory. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 41(1), pp.1-16.
Neuliep, J.W., 2017. Intercultural communication: A contextual approach. Sage Publications.

8INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Washington, M.C., Okoro, E.A. and Thomas, O., 2012. Intercultural communication in global
business: An analysis of benefits and challenges. The International Business & Economics
Research Journal, 11(2), p.217.