Cross-Cultural Business Communication: UK and South Africa Analysis

This report provides a cross-cultural analysis comparing the UK and South Africa, focusing on the challenges faced by businesses, specifically Barclays Plc, when expanding into the South African market. It utilizes Hofstede's cultural dimensions to highlight differences in power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, long-term orientation, and indulgence. The report explores how these cultural variances impact business practices, employee relations, and communication. Furthermore, it defines stereotyping and discusses its role as a barrier or aid to effective communication in a cross-cultural context, providing insights into managing a diverse workforce and navigating international business operations. The report also covers Charles Handy's cultural model and other factors such as language barriers and education to provide a comprehensive overview of the challenges and opportunities in cross-cultural business environments.

CROSS CULTURAL

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
PART A...........................................................................................................................................1
Contrast between UK and South Africa culture and issues related to cross culture interaction
in business ..................................................................................................................................1
PART B............................................................................................................................................6
What is meant by stereotyping, provide an example and discuss how this might act as a
barrier, or an aid, to effective communication............................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
.......................................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Culture can be defined as norms, beliefs and social behaviour that is possess by people. It
takes into consideration a number of factors comprising encompassing, phenomenon and
anthropology that can be transferred through social coordination and learning among various
human societies. Cross culture management is critically important in today's business as firms all
over world are conducting operations in various nations. Thus, developing understanding of
cross culture management and its different models and frameworks aids a company to improve
and enhance its functionality effectively with people and regions belonging to different cultures .
The assignment will focus on Barclays Plc which is one of the leading multi-national financial
institution in UK (How Barclays are leading the way in terms of Diversity and Inclusion, 2015).
Company is to enter into new market in South Africa which is having contrasting culture in
comparison to that of Britain. The report will discuss comparison between to nations having
divergent culture and various issues encountered by firms while conducting its activities in these
countries. Also it will explain how stereotyping can be barrier or aid for an effective
communication between cross culture workforce.
PART A
Contrast between UK and South Africa culture and issues related to cross culture interaction in
business
Culture is explained as behaviour, values and concepts that is inherited by an individual
from its family and its society. Today, world is becoming a global village, which has lead to
people from different regions, backgrounds and cultures to work together in a firm. Thus, it has
become top most priority for companies to provide a working environment of social cohesion to
its employees. Barclays Plc is a global investment bank and financial service provider which was
established in 1960 with its base in London, UK. It operates four core businesses including
personal banking, corporate banking, investment and wealth management in more than 40
nations across the world. Barclay Plc is well known for its management that supports firm in
successfully dealing with various issues related to moral values, ethical conduct, working
environment and multi culture (Velo, V., 2011) . Thus, company formulates various policies
and schemes related to its hiring function, training and development, performance management
etc. in order to manage a multi culture workforce diversity. Barclays Plc under its diversification
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policy and to capture new potential market have planned to expand their financial services in one
of the emerging economies South Africa. At initial stage it is easy to conduct the business
activities however with span of time various issues are to be encountered due to huge gap in
between the cultures of these nations. Therefore, for the sustainability and growth of the new
venture it is of utmost importance for Barclays Plc to conduct a cross culture analysis. This will
assist company to gain knowledge about the culture, background, work ethics and perceptions of
people of South Africa that will help firm to self-adapt it business. For culture analysis company
adopts mentioned below Hofstede's Culture Dimension theory to compare cultures of UK and
South Africa.
This model provides systematic structure for evaluating contrast between cross and multi
culture psychologies based on six different cultural dimensions.
Power-distance forms its first dimension that can be described to an extent to which less
powerful individuals expect and accept unequal power distribution (Friedman and et. al., 2012) .
UK in this dimension scores less as the British Society is a firm believer that a person in certain
way should be considered and treated equal. However, society of South Africa believes in
establishment of hierarchy level in an organisation and they accept that subordinates should
follow instructions given by their superiors. Thus, the likeable problem that Barclays Plc. is
expected to encounter is that firm will be requiring more staff for supervision. Also, firm will be
required to develop more hierarchy levels that implies more staff to be recruited and extra
expenditure to be incurred in providing them renumeration.
The second dimension i.e. individual-collectivism describes the extent to which a person
is accepted by a group. UK is one of the top rated nations that scores high in being an
individualist countries who follows theory of self-fulfilment. On other hand South African
society believes in collectivism i.e. an individual should support and take care of their dear ones
and immediate family members. The likeable problem that Barclays Plc is expected to encounter
in this context is that as Africa scores high on collectivism and increased concern regarding
group members there migh be chances of hostility or indifference by employees from African
origin towards out group members that ultimately is to affect firms efficiency and productivity.
Uncertainty avoidance forms the third dimension of the theory. It explains the philosophy
of a society on taking risks and manner in which it handles uncertainties and unexpected
situations and changes. UK in this aspect scores low as they are clear and confident about their
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objectives but are not sure or well planned about manner for achieving them. British people are
quiet creative and innovative and are turncoats as soon as they encounters something new that
needs to be add on in their present plan of action. In this aspect even the people of South Africa
share similarities with UK as they too have same attitude of flexible schedules and believes that
only necessary and most important rules should be formulated and applied in an organisation.
The expected problem that firm might encounter in this reference is that difference in opinions
and behaviours of its employees from different nations backgrounds. (Okpara and Kabongo,
2011) .
The fourth dimension is based on Masculinity-femininity which describes whether
society is having high masculine values such as ambition, money, assertiveness etc. or more of
femininity traits like love, care , human relationship etc. or vice versa. In this aspect both nations
scores high on masculinity traits thereby emphasising more on attaining success and growth and
believes in working hard for their passion and ambition. Although both firm scores high in this
attribute however UK still scores a little higher which might lead to issues related job roles and
responsibilities. It means that Barclays Plc has to carefully formulated and take n decision related
to promotions and transfers so that employee from African origin might not feel discriminated.
(Berry, 2015) ).
Long term and short term orientation approach is the fifth dimension of this theory that is
concerned with society's tendency to welcome and adopt emerging changes and its opportunities
while remaining grounded to their traditional roots. UK in this aspect shares an intermediate
score which make it hard to ascertain its preference for pragmatic or normative society approach.
South Africa on other hand scores low which is the indicator that society respects and is quiet
concerned about their culture and follow normative approach of thinking. As Africa scores low
in this aspect company might face problems in introducing changes in technology, policies or
procedures. It is because people with short term orientation pays special attention to their
traditions and believes in steadiness and stability.
The sixth and final dimension describes capability of individuals to handle and control
their desires and impulsive. UK society is having tendency to fulfil their impulses and desires by
enjoying their leisure time and spending their income to have fun. However, in this respect South
African society is much more restraint in comparison to Britain. The probable issue that could
arise in this context is that it might take a little longer for management to understand the personal
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needs and desires of its employees from African origin making its difficult to align their interest
with that of company objectives.
Illustration 1: COUNTRY COMPARISON, 2018
(Source: COUNTRY COMPARISON, 2018)
Thus, from above mentioned cross culture analysis that shows diversity between UK and
South African cultures it is evident that Barclays Plc UK has to face several problems while
conducting its business. Thus, for better performance of its activities it is requisite to outline
different problems in business organisation (Matsumoto and Hwang, 2013) . For which company
can adopt Charles Handy model of culture which is based on four major attributes i.e. power
culture, role culture, task culture and person culture. For Barclays Plc to attain success in its
global ventures is requisite to critically considers power culture. Role culture describes roles and
responsibilities of every individual society. Task culture analysis proficiency, skills and qualities
that are essential for conducting business. People culture determines goals for workforce to
attain. Both nations has varied contrast in living standards, mode of income, economic, social
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and environmental cultures. With presence of several tribes who are still stick to their traditional
lifestyle South Africa have diverse culture with different ones being dominated in different
regions having amalgamation of both westernised as well as traditional. Also its mode of
conducting business activities and trading practices applied are quite different from UK. Being a
normative society South Africa people seize their norms and traditions and are restrictive
towards experimenting with new products. People of South Africa only tries something new if it
is distinctive or unique which is just the opposite case with UK which scores high on
introducing and adopting new innovations and creative thinking in its products as well as in
lifestyle. With presence of various ethnic groups like Zulu, Pedi, Dinka, Xhosa etc. all with their
own costumes, values , cultures, laws and geographical boundaries there is little chances to
control functioning of these. Therefore, to unite and coordinate them to work as a team it
becomes quiet a challenging task for Barclays Plc UK to deal with (Stahl and Tung, 2015).
Another major challenge face by Barclays Plc UK is the language barrier as there are about 11
different dominant languages that people converse in South Africa which is just opposite to UK
where English is the main language. Other key challenges that are likeable to be encountered by
company while commencing their business operations in SA includes education backwardness
due to lack of finance and budgets with government for providing good infrastructure and quality
education for its education. Also, problem of illegal immigration and competition for limited
employment opportunities raises tension and violence among local people and refugees. In
addition, South Africa is one of the prominent nation with unequal income distribution leading
to huge poverty and food crisis. Further even with availability of cheap labour there are certain
critical issues that a Barclays Plc UK is to encounter because of lack of skilled labour due to poor
education system, restrained workers etc. Therefore, it is of utmost importance for firm to
consider all these issues and obstacles related to cross culture diversity. By analysing these
factors, it is Barclays Plc is to modify their existing or to formulate new policies, procedures and
strategies that collaborates with the working style and culture of its employees belonging to
South Africa. It is of critically important for company to have in depth understanding of
country's culture, individuals and their behaviour etc. Also company is to adopt ethical policy
that resonate with both cultures in firm.
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PART B
What is meant by stereotyping, provide an example and discuss how this might act as a barrier,
or an aid, to effective communication
Stereotyping could be defined as preconceived and fixed idea, perception or thought that
people holds about someone or something. They are distorted ideas, superficial thoughts and
disguised myths that obstructs a person’s mind and thus determines to make judgement of others
opinion rather than opting for rational thinking. Stereotyping forms one of the most prominent
factor in cross culture communication as it makes people to categorize and to make assumptions
about others based on attributes like religion, culture, ethnicity, nationality, socio-economic
status etc. There are two types of stereotyping i.e. positive stereotyping and negative
stereotyping. Positive stereotyping can be described as a subjectively favourable belief about a
social group. It uselessly occurs when an individual is judged on the basis of group to which it is
perceived to be belonged. Specifically in case of workplace in order to interact effectively and
efficiently a manger is to make assumption about what an employee thinks and what are
probable behaviour that they can accept (Jackson, 2011). Negative Stereotyping on other hand is
the one which are seldom correct and true to what it is supposed to represent. It is generally
based on the assumptions, experience and thinking of some other person which is based on
myths, personal prejudice, biasness etc. related to particular culture, region or group of people.
In case of Barclays Plc UK manger need to employ new candidate from South Africa i.e.
from another culture (Fischer and Schwartz, 2011). In this case, it is advisable for firm to opt for
positive stereotyping. It includes mangers to gather and analysis information about the culture of
South Africa, the general perception, working style, organizational culture that are being
followed in there. On basis of that firm is to develop its company's cultural profile that is often to
be highly generalized. From this profile, a firm then make assumptions related to the individual's
characteristic, beliefs, expectation etc. that is probable to be employed by the firm.
Stereotyping have both negative as well positive effect on the communication process of a firm:
Negative impact of stereotyping on communication
Stereotype for particular community, culture, nation etc. is evident to negatively impact both
Barclays and its employees in the following manner:
Effects on opportunities: Due to presence of racial and gender based stereotype at
workplace employees get negatively impacted (Engelen and Brettel, 2011) . For instance, in case
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of South Africa organization may tailor communication to female or minority or on grounds of
race. This lack in communication may result in lack of motivation, education and awareness of
opportunities which collectively is likeable to negatively impact career growth of these groups.
Also, stereotype affects how Barclay Plc receives feedback from these groups.
Stereotype also impacts way in which managers respond to their employees: In one on
one communication mangers may feel uncomfortable to honestly put forward their opinion in
front of those employees or members who they perceive some preoccupied notion or
uncooperative based on stereotype. In same manner an employee may respond differently to
manger with positive stereotype rather than a colleague or subordinate with negative stereotype
((Peterson and Deal, 2011) . Therefore these behaviour may cause a mange to perceive certain
staff or individuals as less cooperative during meetings in comparison to others. This directly
impacts his behaviour to assign challenging tasks and providing opportunities for career growth
to certain employees.
Also stereotyping is likeable to effect the productivity of Barclays. It is because when
native employees feel that they are been discriminated or are treated differently on basis of their
caste, race or region than they are likeable to get demotivated or agitated. This can lead to either
these employees giving less efforts, been discouraged to work leading to poor performance and
less productivity (Ghazinoory, Bitaab and Lohrasbi, 2014). Or another situation could be that
these employees out of aggression and frustration of being discriminated mi8ght go on strike to
get their rights or to fulfil their demands. Thus leading to stoppage of work. Therefore both these
situations are likeable to cause disruption in smooth functioning of the firm leading to hamper of
its production and profitability levels.
Positive impact of stereotype of firm:
Helpful one avoid giving offense: Having a stereotype or pre conceived notion about
someone, any culture or group helps in being aware not to be offensive. For instance, in case of
Barclays Plc when manger is already have an idea or knowledge about the values, beliefs,
perceptions, norms and culture of South Africa he will be careful to avoid saying anything, any
word, gesture or para linguistic sigh that might make their employee feel offensive or
uncomfortable. Also they are to develop policies, strategies , programs related to training and
development , compensation and benefits etc in accordance with requirements of their
employees.
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Illuminate intent : Stereotype helps a manger to categorize its workforce into groups in
accordance to their capabilities, strengths and areas of expertise as well as lacking. Thus, it
allows mangers to form expectations about people, conditions and situations, to assign them
duties and responsibilities etc. thereby making business situation more predictable and easy to
understand (King, R.B., McInerney, D.M. and Nasser, R., 2017).
Stereotyping also assists mangers of Barclays to make an effective, accurate and quick
decision on a specific or new situation. For instance,people of South Africa are intended to be
low on accepting changes and are much more grounded towards using traditional ways to do a
particular task. Thus, in case of adopting a new technology or to implement any other change
mangers will have systematically plan out its activities by properly communicating about
benefits and needs of that particular change for firm as well as for employees so that firm does
not encounter ant resistance from them.
PESTLE Analysis for Barclays Plc for South Africa and UK
Political Factors: South Africa is always under the stereotype to be have corrupt
politicians that is probable to cause inconvenience for Barclays to open new business ventures
there.
Economical Factor: Economically the value of Rand the currency of South Africa is low
as compare to dollar. Thus, it is to effect the profitability of Barclays Plc as firm has to pay high
interest rate as rand continues to be weaken. Also it makes it difficult for company to further
expand its business in South Africa.
Social Factor: Despite having depleted currency rate and issues related to high
unemployment, people of South Africa are creative and positive towards opening new start ups
and to work hard. This reaps benefit for Barclays Plc to get hard-working and dedicated team of
employees
Technological Factors: South African government are low on employment rates, having
devalued currency, high unemployment, corrupt politicians which decreases the budget and
opportunities to introduce new technology in nation. This is to be a critical factor for Barclays
Plc to consider as it is to greatly impacts its growth.
Legal Factor: In this aspect, South Africa shares similarities with UK as all labour laws
particularly those related to exports are same. Barclays Plc is thus need not to face major
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problem in this aspect as taxes related to stamp duty, custom duty, transfer duty etc. are same
that are been followed in UK.
Environmental Factor: South Africa is low risk for Barclays Plc to breakthrough. It is
one of the emerging economies having high potential markets.
CONCLUSION
From the above given project report, it can be summarized that it is very important for a
business organization, especially for the one who operate at a global level to identify and
understand significance of cross cultural management as this largely affect the success and
growth of company's operations. Enterprise that understand the concept of cross cultural
management can formulate better and effective policies and can get all benefits related with
operating in other nations. Stereotype is one of the major element related with the component of
cross cultural management. This serve as both barrier and aid in communication process.
Language is one of the factor that affect the activities carry out by entity beyond domestic
boundaries, it is very important that right language should be use so manager can give clear
instruction to the employees and can make them aware about their job roles at workplace.
Further, proper communication channels should be use by firms so cooperation can be achieved
between various organizational functions and company can achieve its set business objective.
Overall process of communication should be effective so every employees can achieve its
performance objectives and can contribute more in success of business enterprise.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Peterson, K. D. and Deal, T. E., 2011. The shaping school culture fieldbook. John Wiley & Sons.
Velo, V., 2011. Cross-cultural management. Business Expert Press.
French, R., 2015. Cross-cultural management in work organisations. Kogan Page Publishers.
Friedman, R. and et. al., 2012. Cross-cultural management and bicultural identity integration:
When does experience abroad lead to appropriate cultural switching?. International
Journal of Intercultural Relations. 36(1), pp.130-139.
Okpara, J. O. and Kabongo, J. D., 2011. Cross-cultural training and expatriate adjustment: A
study of western expatriates in Nigeria. Journal of world business. 46(1), pp.22-30.
Berry, J.W., 2015. Global psychology: implications for cross-cultural research and management.
Cross Cultural Management. 22(3), pp.342-355.
Matsumoto, D. and Hwang, H.C., 2013. Assessing cross-cultural competence: A review of
available tests. Journal of cross-cultural psychology. 44(6), pp.849-873.
Stahl, G. K. and Tung, R. L., 2015. Towards a more balanced treatment of culture in
international business studies: The need for positive cross-cultural scholarship. Journal
of International Business Studies. 46(4), pp.391-414.
Jackson, T., 2011. From cultural values to cross-cultural interfaces: Hofstede goes to Africa.
Journal of Organizational Change Management. 24(4), pp.532-558.
Fischer, R. and Schwartz, S., 2011. Whence differences in value priorities? Individual, cultural,
or artifactual sources. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 42(7), pp.1127-1144.
Engelen, A. and Brettel, M., 2011. Assessing cross-cultural marketing theory and research.
Journal of Business Research. 64(5), pp.516-523.
Ghazinoory, S., Bitaab, A. and Lohrasbi, A., 2014. Social capital and national innovation
system: a cross-country analysis. Cross Cultural Management. 21(4), pp.453-475.
King, R.B., McInerney, D.M. and Nasser, R., 2017. Different goals for different folks: a cross-
cultural study of achievement goals across nine cultures. Social Psychology of
Education. 20(3). pp.619-642.
Online
How Barclays are leading the way in terms of Diversity and Inclusion. 2015. [Online]. Available
through:<https://jobs.barclays.co.uk/connect-with-us/how-barclays-are-leading-the-
way-in-terms-of-diversity-and-inclusion/>.
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