Intercultural Relations: A Comparison of French and Indian Cultures

This article compares the French and Indian cultures in the context of developing a joint venture with a company in France. It explores intercultural communication barriers, business communication, and relationship orientation. The article discusses the differences and similarities between the two cultures and provides insights into the cultural dimensions of Hofstede's cultural tool.

Running head: INTERCULTURAL RELATIONS
Intercultural Relations
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1INTERCULTURAL RELATIONS
The theory of the Hofstede's cultural tool or dimension develops a framework encircling
the insight of the cross cultural communication as introduced by Geert Hofstede (Rodriguez &
Boyer, 2018). The cultural tool portrays the effect of the culture constituted in the society
regarding the values of the members of the community. The 6 dimension as constituted by the
toll of the national cultures are the Power Distance Index (PDI), Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI),
Long term orientation vs. Short Term orientation (LTO), Individualism vs. collectivism (IDV),
Masculinity vs. femininity (MAS), Indulgence vs. restraint (IND) (Cultural Atlas IES 2018).
This cultural tool put together the national scores and the six dimension model of Hofstede’s
allows the comparison among the culture and the communities in the international domain in the
form of the comparative research. The assignment focuses on the differences and the similarities
among the chosen culture or the French culture that of with the Indian culture on the context of
development of joint venture with a company in the France.
Consideration towards the aspects of the intercultural issues:
Cultural influence on the perceptions
India:
The diversity of the Indian culture is many fold and complex in relation to the picture.
The traditional Indian culture is generally defines a relatively strict social hierarchy that focuses
on the roles and the places of the children and the individuals (Hall, 2014). Several factors
includes such as the division of the religion, the bifurcation of the polluted occupation and strict
patter of the patriarchal practices in India (Kwok & Yu, 2016). The culture of the India is among
the world's most oldest civilizations, though considered as one of the colonize countries have
made some of the significant advances in diverse domains.

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France:
For more than thousands of years, the globe and the people in the globe has come in
contact with the culture of the France via the ideas of the export to the France, the cuisine, the
fashion, the literature, the film and the art (Cavusgil et al., 2014). As one of the largest western
European nation as one of the leading economies of the region, the French culture still continues
to be the powerhouse among the continent of the Europe. Some of the ideas that are integral to
the French culture as expressed in the national motto of Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité’ illustrates the
unified and undivided group of the French. In the light of the growth of the influx of the
immigrants and the EU, the government prohibits the authorities of the state towards the
avoidance of the ethnic and the religious markers towards the highlighting of the differences
within the France.
Barriers to intercultural communication
The language differences
India:
India is a diverse country. Hindi is the most highly spoken language in the country. Apart
from the national language some of the other different languages include tamil, telegu, marathi,
bengali, punjabi, urdu and bihari (Abhishek & Sahay, 2016). Being one of the oldest cultures,
India has been subjected to the plethora of the influences of the languages.
France:
The French language is the official language that is spoken through out the country of
France. In the previous scenario, French was an internationally accepted language towards the

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diplomacy of the four continents. The people of the France tend to feel a deeper sense of pride
for their languages as they feel that they are closely liked towards their identity.
Non Verbal Communications
India:
Non verbal communication in the Indian context is one of the most extremely important
factors towards the knowing of the correct things. Looking straight in the eyes of the people
while talking is something which is not seen in the Indian culture since people ted to show
respect by putting down their eyes (Hudson et al. , 2016). It is important to being very careful
while initiating communication in a non verbal tone with the Indian people since Indians are
being beckoned rudely.
France:
The non verbal communication in the scenario of the France includes the instance of
physical contact, personal space, eye contact and the gestures (Kessler, 2018). In the French
culture touching during conversation is considered as an affection or familiarity whereas the
direct eye contact is considered as a form of respect. The people of the France use thumbs up to
indicate okay.
Business Communications
France:
The Meeting:
 Necessary appointments in advance of the weeks

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 Appointments via telephone
 Appointment scheduling depending on the person meeting
 Instances of punctuality in the French business culture
 Printed business cards in either French or English (Karsaklian & LARGEPA–Sorbonne,
2017)
 Slow deliberation and the decision making procedure
 The style of the dress in the French business
Negotiations:
Tremendous dislike towards the confrontation behavior together with the high level of
sales pressure tactics. Low key together with logical presentation with the advantages of the
proposal is essential for the French business culture.
Relationship Oriented
Creation of the wide network of the business personal connections. The French business
culture is further interested in the long term relationships and the maintenance of the face to face
visits (Ramdhani, Ramdhani & Ainissyifa, 2017). The mutual trusts and the respect towards the
necessity for the establishment of the string relationship in essential for the formality in the
business culture in the France.
One of the most essential characteristics of the business culture in France is the emphasis over
the courtesy and the formality via he means of communication.
Indian:
Business communications

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The Indian business communication includes some of the major areas such as the
sequencing of the matters, the documentation of the e-mail, keeping humor out of the written
communication, keeping the highly sensitive data out of the written communication, keeping
emotion out of the written communication and finally paying attention to the hierarchy details.

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