International Business and Communication

This report explores the challenges and strategies of international business and communication. It discusses the cultural differences between countries, communication barriers, and provides recommendations for successful communication in a global market. The focus is on Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd's expansion into Bangladesh and the importance of cultural sensitivity in cross-cultural interactions.

International Business and
Communication

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Introduction to Bangladesh.....................................................................................................2
Cultural Differences...............................................................................................................3
Cultural Sensitivity.................................................................................................................5
Communication barriers along with challenges.....................................................................5
Communication strategies as well as recommendations........................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
International business comprises of commercial activities which occur for promoting
transfer of services, goods, resources, ideas, technologies and people across national or
international boundaries (Gong, 2015). This takes place in distinct formats they are specified
beneath:
 Good movement from one to other country i.e. trade, exporting and importing
 Contractual agreements that will aid foreign firms for making use of services, processes
and products manufactured from different nations by making use of franchising and
licensing
 The formation along with operations of manufacturing, sales, distribution and research &
development facilitates within international markets
Successful business is liable for recognising diversity of world within market as well as deal with
different uncertainties as well as risks within altering global market. This is also known as
globalisation. For conducting their operations overseas, firms have to formulate certain strategies
through which they can accomplish the goal behind expanding their operations. International
business and communication refers to ability that is possessed by firm for carrying out their
activities in other nations (Yeung and Coe, 2015). The act associated with transmission of
message from one entity to other is referred to as communication. This is one of the major
barriers which occur while delivering the services in a new country. Thus, it has to be taken into
consideration for making sure that firm can deliver their services as per desired standards. There
are certain trade barriers which are being imposed by countries for generation of revenue.
The major challenges related with international business are communication, trade,
ethnicity, government policies and cultural differences. This report is based on Rowlinson
Knitwear Ltd who deals within manufacturing of apparels. The company is liable for furnishing
school wear dresses for students and knitwear. They deliver their services across UK and are
looking forward to expand their manufacturing in Bangladesh to increase their reach. This report
will provide an insight into country in which firm is expanding their operations, intercultural
theory and cultural sensitivity. Furthermore, different communication barriers will be provided
along with strategies for dealing with the same.
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Introduction to Bangladesh
Bangladesh is present in South Asia and is one of the eighth populous countries across
the world with more than 162 million people. The country shares their border with India,
Myanmar and Bay of Bengal. The economic, cultural and political hub is Dhaka and the largest
seaport is in Chittagong. Bangladesh is only country which was created on basis of ethnicity and
language. 98% population of the country comprises of Bengalis and makes them ethnically
homogenous state across the world. In world politics, there is a middle power which makes them
constitutional republic as well as unitary parliamentary democracy exist. They have emerging
economies and are also one of the next eleven countries with fastest Gross Domestic Product
growth rates (Cavusgil and Knight, 2015). They are 29th largest in terms of PPP and 39th largest
in context of nominal Goss Domestic Product across the world. Bangladesh is de jure
representative democracy with Westminster style that has universal suffrage. The head of
government is Prime Minister who is liable to form government for five years. There are
different interests groups that comprises of human rights organisation, chambers of commerce,
chamber of commerce, professional associations, non-governmental organisations, trade unions
and employers associations.
Bangladesh is known to have the 39th largest economy within the world when measured
in terms of market exchange rate. In addition to this, it is ranked at the 29th position when seen
from the perspective of purchasing power parity. Furthermore, it is analysed that Bangladesh is
one amongst the most rapidly evolving economies of the globe. Together with this, it also
appears in one amongst the most rapidly developing middle income nations. This nation has
mixed economy which is largely based upon the market place. The respective country has been
identified to be a part of the Next 11 Emerging countries. Apart from this, according to the
reports stipulated by IMF, the per capita income of this nation was approximated to US$ 1906
during the year 2019 while the Gross Domestic Product for the same year accounted to around
$317 billion. This market is rich of foreign exchange reserves ranking at the second position
within the bounds of South Asia backing up the position after India.
The trading partners of Bangladesh are largely inclusive of the United States, China,
Australia, India, China, the European Union and ASEAN. The expat workers within the bounds
of the Middle East as well as Southeast Asia are known to send back a huge base of remittances.
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In this relation, it is known that the respective economy is largely driven by an extensive
domestic demand.
The predominant language found within the bounds of Bangladesh is known to be
Bengali. This country has a literacy rate of 72.9% as per the reports of the year 2018 out of
which, 70.09% is for the females while 75.7% is for the males. The education system prevailing
within this nation is 3-tired as well as extensively subsidised. The government of this market is
running several schools at different levels. At the tertiary stage, the Bangladeshi Government is
known to give its funds for a total of 45 universities.
Cultural Differences
Hofstede cultural dimensions theory is identified as a framework which is utilised by the
businesses for the purpose of gaining knowledge of the wide differences underlying between the
cultures of two countries. The culture of the domestic nation is obviated to vary from the culture
of the host market owing to the differences within the traditions, customs and values of the
people of the countries (Keegan, 2017). Now, Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd is considering gaining
entry into Bangladeshi market by comprehending the differences in both the cultures and thus
deciding the course of action. The differences within the cultures of UK and Bangladesh are
discussed with the help of Hofstede cultural dimensions theory as follows:-
(Source: https://www.hofstede-insights.com/product/compare-countries/)
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Component UK Bangladesh
Score Interpretation Score Interpretation
Power Distance
Index
35 The people of this country
believe that the inequalities
within the nation should be
reduced to achieve congruency.
80 The people of this country tend to
have acceptance for a hierarchical
order whereby everyone has a
place and there is no requirement
of any justification.
Individualism 89 The people of this market prefer
to work in an individual manner
to achieve success (Coe and
Yeung, 2015).
20 The people of Bangladesh like to
work in a collaborative manner to
achieve growth and success.
Masculinity 66 This tends to demonstrate that
people of this nation have a drive
to be strong and powerful while
taking any decision or carrying
out any activity.
55 The people of this country are
relatively lesser stronger and
powerful at the time of activity
execution and decision making.
Uncertainty
Avoidance
35 The people of this nation are open
to changes or uncertain situations
as they consider that they even
hold an opportunity.
60 This country maintains rigid code
of values and beliefs that are
intolerant to changes.
Long-Term
Orientation
51 This country also has an
intermediate score with regards to
this dimension showing neutral
behaviour of the people.
47 Having an intermediate score, the
people of this nation are neutral in
respect to this dimension.
Indulgence 69 The people of this nation exhibit
a willingness to realise their
impulses and desires with regard
to enjoying life and having fun.
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Cultural Sensitivity
Cultural sensitivity can be said to be the process whereby an individual demonstrates
cooperation and coordination towards the individuals belonging to distinct national and cultural
backgrounds (Rittberger and et. al., 2019). In this relation, it can be stated that it is important for
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an individual employed within a firm operating at international level, to exhibit cultural
sensitivity. This is considered to be important as it lays down the foundation to development of
stronger relations between the employees who belong to diverse national and cultural
backgrounds. With respect to this, it is already known that Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd is expanding
its production facilities within the geographical boundaries of Bangladesh. This makes it all the
more important for the firm to impart awareness to the employees about the significance of
showing cultural sensitivity to diverse individuals. Along with this, it has also been assessed that
there are political, moral, economic and technological trends that tend to impact upon the process
of development of a strategy for the global organisations. While functioning in the cross border
scenario, it is required that the management of Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd think from an overall
perspective. Thus, the entity should develop organisational policies and strategies in a manner
which is aligned with the market situations of Bangladesh whereby the company is seeking to
operate in the future context of time.
Communication barriers along with challenges
Communication allows the firm to build strong relations with its variety of stakeholder
groups. Besides this, it is inferred that intercultural communication in itself is a complex
procedure which involves the interaction between individuals belonging to diverse national and
cultural backgrounds (Hall, 2016). In this relation, it can be stated that there are several barriers
to communication that need to be countered by the business to ensure timely and smooth
exchange of important business information. Concerning this, some of the barriers to the process
of communication that needs to be considered by the management of Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd
while carrying out expansion in the bounds of Bangladesh are discussed as follows:-
Psychological Barriers:
This is mainly concerned with the barriers associated to psychology of the mind of a
human. Hereby, the main factors that influence the occurrence of the process of communication
are employees' consciousness, emotion, status, attitude, opinion and so forth. These affect the
psyche of an employee and place a negative impact over their working and communication
process.
Emotional Barriers:
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Emotional barriers to communication usually take place owing to the deficiency of
emotional awareness or control, most commonly and collaboratively referred to as emotional
intelligence. Through the attainment of effective comprehension of an individual’s inner
emotions, one can communicate in a more productive way with the other individuals at the
workplace and also in the daily lives.
Physical barriers:
This is the barrier to communication which mainly arises because of destruction or
disturbance within the natural or environmental factors. These factors tend to place impact over
the manner in which the information flows from one person to another in the chain of
communication. Some of the barriers falling in this category include technological issues,
designing of the workplace, noise, and many other such factors.
It is important for Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd to take into account all of the above
discussion barriers to the process of communication and thereby
Communication strategies as well as recommendations
Communication is one of the most important components of an organisation (Adekola and
Sergi, 2016). It becomes important for the management of Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd to execute
innovative solutions with the help of which relationships can be enhanced between the different
partners or stakeholder of the entity and communication can be fostered in an effectual manner.
Thus, some of the solutions that can be executed by the top management of Rowlinson Knitwear
Ltd are given beneath:-
 The entity should ensure that trust is built by increasing the extent of transparency with
the stakeholders. Apart from this, the company should encourage the stakeholders also to
maintain complete transparency with the entity and with each other. When transparent
operations are carried out, this helps in instilling a sense of trust, thereby laying down the
foundation to development of strong and healthy relations.
 In addition to this, the respective clothing organisation should constantly hold formal
meetings whereby the partners or stakeholder groups should agree in order to know each
other in a better way. This will allow the different stakeholder groups to develop healthy
relations and thereby help in giving their contribution towards providing coherent output
to Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd.
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 Further, it is also important for the management of Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd to organize
some informal meets. Such events allow the partners or stakeholders to know about each
other in a better manner. This helps them in developing understanding with one another
and place trust in each other. For this purpose, it is not just important to hold physical
meets but there can also be informal or unofficial Zoom or Skype Calls. Such video
conference applications allow all the partners to be present, even if not physically then
remotely.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above discussion done in the report, it can be comprehensively stated that
a business operating in the international landscape or considering to, needs to take into account
certain aspects. First of all, the country chosen for the purpose of carrying out expansion should
have the potential to serve the goals and objectives of the organisation in the long run. In
addition to this, the second consideration is that the workforce of the company should be told the
important of demonstrating cultural sensitivity. This is important because operating at an
international level; the company would be composed of individuals from different national and
cultural backgrounds. This will hinder the firm from achieving its goals and objectives as the
diverse workforce would result into the emergence of conflicts between the employees. The third
consideration is that the cultures of the domestic and the host nation are different. This makes it
all the more important for the enterprise to study the cultural differences and thereby takes due
course of measures to acquaint the employees with the same. Apart from these considerations, it
has been acknowledged that communication is one of the most important facets for each and
every organisation operating within the bounds of an economy. Overall, the basic conclusion that
can be drawn on the basis of above discussion is that international businesses face immense
competition and thus have to adopt strategies and measures which can yield positive outcomes
for it in the long run.
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References
Books and Journals
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Gaur, A. S., Ma, H., and Ge, B., 2019. MNC strategy, knowledge transfer context, and
knowledge flow in MNEs. Journal of Knowledge Management.
Gong, Y., 2015. Global operations strategy. Springer.
Hall, N., 2016. Displacement, development, and climate change: International organizations
moving beyond their mandates. Routledge.
Hurd, I., 2020. International organizations: politics, law, practice. Cambridge University Press.
Keegan, W.J., 2017. Global marketing management. Pearson India.
Lasserre, P., 2017. Global strategic management. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Meyer, K.E. and Xin, K.R., 2018. Managing talent in emerging economy multinationals:
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Randerson, C., 2019. International organisations in higher education policymaking. Influencing
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