Intercultural Competence in Business

This study explores the concept of intercultural competence in the business world, focusing on the challenges faced by a German manager working in China. It discusses the importance of understanding cross-cultural problems and offers advice on how to effectively communicate and work with subordinates from different cultures. The report also introduces intercultural theories, such as the Iceberg theory, to support the study.

Intercultural Competence in
Business MAR013-1

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Where did Anna go wrong...........................................................................................................3
Helping Anna to understand cross cultural problems..................................................................3
Inter culture theory ......................................................................................................................6
Advice to Anna............................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Intercultural or cross cultural competence means is the skill set in the workplaces where
workforces interact with each other like with managers, customers etc. who have different
culture because they belong from different countries. This study will discuss Anna who is a
German manager and working in China, discussing about her new job challenges. Further it will
explain the understanding of cross cultural problems and will use the intercultural theories like
Iceberg theory to support the study. This report will also give advice to Anna that how she can
understand her subordinates and work with them effectively.
MAIN BODY
Where did Anna go wrong
The mistake which is made by Anna is she is directly asking feedbacks about her in the
meeting and on the face of the supervisor none of the subordinate will say negative things about
her and Anna is expecting solution of the problem from their subordinate so subordinate will
always give suggestion to their superior they will not guarantee of what they said that is why
they say that its a suggestion. She also assumed that Chinese people are same as German people
but in every country people are different because they have different values and beliefs. She
should understand the culture of China maybe it is possible that Chinese people are like that
only, they are afraid speaking any negative feedbacks in front of their superior (Arasaratnam-
Smith, 2017). There are also chances that Anna is a strict supervisor so her subordinates are not
that much comfortable in front of her and if it is so than Anna should be lenient with her
subordinates and should always try to talk with them because lack of communication is very bad
for the organization as it creates conflicts among the workforce. Anna did not try to understand
the intercultural problems as her German culture is different from Chinese culture. Here Anna is
very curious to know her feedback, but she should have give time to her subordinate to think and
only they can give true feedback about her.
Helping Anna to understand cross cultural problems
Cross cultural problems:
When the culture clash occur within two people or group of people is the cross culture
issues.
It is very important to understand the cultural diversity, cross culture understanding helpful in
identifying the culture, in this there is comparison between the opinions of people (Top Ten Tips

for... Effective Cross-Cultural Communication., 2021). Cross cultural problems does not only
arise with the difference in language but also having different cultural values. Communication is
successful only if one had understood what other is saying. Firstly Anna should have understood
the culture of China and the beliefs of Chinese people. Understanding of this will be helpful for
her in doing effective communication. If she is unaware about the culture then that can cause
communication barrier which can cause intercultural conflicts. And which is very big problem
because that can cause delay in achieving the objectives of the organization.
Intercultural communication:
Intercultural communication means face to face conversations with the people who have
different cultures. It is said that this type of communication is very difficult when the sender and
receiver belongs from different culture. It does have pros only but also have cons if
communication is done through people who have different culture establish healthy
communities, helpful in increasing national and international trade, reducing conflicts and
facilitate personal growth.
Respect of foreign culture:
Anna should respect the Chinese culture, she should get knowledge about the culture of China so
that can eliminate cross cultural problems. When someone work in the country whose culture is
different from their culture then primary thing is to understand and respect that culture. If you
give respect then only in return you will get.
Understanding communication style of culture:
Different culture people have different communication style, Chinese people have high contexr
culture (Meleady, Seger and Vermue, 2020). They are subtle people, they communicate calmly
and are good listeners. So when Anna will communicate with the subordinates then she should
speak softly because through this only she able to gain the trust of the people.
Do not frustrate:
Anna is expecting from the subordinates to speak the truth, but they are not doing so but this
should not frustrate her because they will behave according to their cultural norms. As being a
manager she should not get irritated and show frustrated behaviour as they have different culture
values. To eliminate the frustration she should have understood the cultural differences and does
not act as prejudice rather she should learn from them by discussing about their values. Hence,
this will help in solving the differences in the cooperative manner.

Employ motivations:
Motivation techniques can be decided through organizational culture. To motivate the employees
company should come up with the incentive or reward scheme but the scheme should not dictate
any cultural differences and it can also consider that every person motivates differently. Some
people motivate through money while other does not care about money but motivate if they are
appraised for their performance.
Developing effective communication style:
After Anna has understood the cultural differences then she can develop the communication style
so that cross cultural misunderstanding can be avoided. Anna should become more tolerant,
flexible with different culture and do not judge people on the basis of their culture. Development
of open communication will help Anna in building respect for her as a manager (Wolff and
Borzikowsky, 2018). She can also request for the feedback which can enhance cross cultural
communication capabilities.
Understanding the different cultural values:
The value of every culture is different, the development of this can take time. To understand that
how the culture operates then the gap which is there in the cultural dimensions can be filled.
Inter culture theory
As per the case study, Anna faces intercultural issues at workplace. Intercultural refers to
the problem in communication between people who belong to different cultures. In the given
case study Anna is from German but working in China and therefore Anna is facing issues in
the views and opinions in its subordinates, lack of interest and attention is also a big issue which
Anna faced (Makhmudov, 2020). To reduce the inter-culture difference iceberg framework can
be implemented. This theory has introduced by Ernest Hemingway. Iceberg theory says that
only the one part of iceberg is visible above the water and the remaining largest portion of
iceberg is in the water. This theory is very much related to the issues of intercultural where
people of one culture feels that their values are superior then others.
This is the biggest issue which Anna is facing whenever Anna ask for feedback no one of
their subordinate give correct feedback and never help Anna in solving any problem because that
is the culture, which Chinese follows at the workplace they just give random suggestion because
they don't want to become rude with Anna and behave nicely with her. So it is just s intercultural
diffidence which Anna is facing while working with Chinese people. But this problem can be

reduced by having a conversation with its subordinates and as per this theory Anna should make
some efforts to know more about the Chinese culture and their values sop that Anna can easily
get solution of all problem.
Another theory which can implement in this situation is knowledge gap theory, this
theory speaks about those problems which arises by the communication gap between the people
of different locations, as Anna is from German so the Chinese people may feel the Anna will not
understand their issues and both of them facing the problem of social conflict (Alkahlan and
et.al, 2020). The way of Anna towards solving the problem id different to its subordinates and
that can be a reason through which the subordinates are not giving proper feedback to Anna.
Besides this, culture convergence theory can be applicable on this situation. This theory
believes that people of two different cultures can understand each other and work together when
they interact more. When the interaction and communication among the people of different
cultural and region increases the problem among them decreases. If Anna discuss the problem to
its subordinates about their behaviour, they will definitely try to change that and by doing so
Anna will get rid of such issues and both can work together to achieve the goal of the company.
But in the absence of communication Anna will never understand the view and perspective of
Chinese people and the way they work, on the other hand the subordinates of Anna will also not
co-operate and it will become difficult of Anna to survive in China, because in the absence of
corporation the objective of company will not get accomplished.
Advice to Anna
It is advised to Anna that firstly she should understand culture, values or beliefs of
Chinese people. She should not have assumed any wrong about her subordinates because they
have cultural difference and to bridge this difference Anna can communicate with them. She can
ask that what problems are faced by them very politely. Anna is directly asking about feedbacks
in the meeting that is why no one is giving negative feedbacks she can say to their subordinates
that they can write what they think of her on paper and then sub,it to her without writing names
through this method Anna will get true feedback and subordinates can also write without
hesitating. She is judging Chinese people very quickly without knowing their culture which is
wrong. Anna should start observing her subordinates because observation can also help her in
knowing them (Guntersdorfer and Golubeva, 2018). Speaking slowly and clearly can help her
and provide smooth conversation as her subordinate will understand her she must give time to

them to listen carefully and does not speak in one go as Anna is from Germany, so she is having
different accent and it is possible that her subordinate can be confused first time.
Communication should be simple and not using complex words, if usage of those words which
are not normal then can create confusion and confusion can give birth to conflicts which will
delay the task which is given to the subordinates. Anna should ask open-ended questions to her
workers because in closed ended questions whose answer is in yes or no then majority of people
ended up in saying yes but if there are open-ended questions then one can give justification of
their no. be supportive with the staff as in many companies they believe in following protocols
all the time and avoid the usage of humour but little jokes are very important in making the
moment light. But make sure that while cracking jokes do not hurt anybody's feeling. If in the
team there is a person who does not understand English then do not make fun of them rather give
respect to them and make them feel comfortable, communicate clearly with them and ask their
feedback so that you can come to know that they understood what you had said (Khukhlaev and
et.al., 2020). Do not make cultural assumptions, Anna should ask their subordinates that what
they prefer and how they will feel comfortable.
CONCLUSION
Through this report it can be concluded that understanding of cross culture is very
important when working under different culture. Anna should understand her subordinates and
should calmly speak so that her subordinates can feel comfortable with her, if they are
conformable then only they will give true feedback. In this report suggestions are provided to her
to deal with cross cultural issues and also used iceberg framework to proper understand the
concept of cross culture communication. This report has also covered the advice which are given
to Anna to deal with the problems.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Alkahlan and et.al, 2020. The Iceberg Theory: A Critical Reading of AA Milne’s Tale Winnie
The Pooh (1926). International Journal of Language and Literary Studies. 2(2).pp.242-
256.
Arasaratnam-Smith, L.A., 2017. Intercultural competence. Intercultural competence in higher
education: International approaches, assessment and application.
Guntersdorfer, I. and Golubeva, I., 2018. Emotional intelligence and intercultural competence:
Theoretical questions and pedagogical possibilities. UMBC Faculty Collection.
Khukhlaev, O.E. and et.al., 2020. Comprehensive model of intercultural competence: theoretical
substantiation. RUDN Journal of Psychology and Pedagogics. 17(1). pp.13-28.
Makhmudov, K., 2020. Ways of Forming Intercultural Communication in Foreign Language
Teaching. Science and Education. 1(4).
Meleady, R., Seger, C. and Vermue, M., 2020. Evidence of a dynamic association between
intergroup contact and intercultural competence. Group Processes & Intergroup
Relations, p.1368430220940400.
Wolff, F. and Borzikowsky, C., 2018. Intercultural competence by international experiences? An
investigation of the impact of educational stays abroad on intercultural competence and
its facets. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 49(3). pp.488-514.
Online
Top Ten Tips for... Effective Cross-Cultural Communication., 2021. [Online]. Available
through: <https://www.chrysos.org.uk/blog/top-ten-tips-for-effective-cross-cultural-
communi>
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