Wipro Limited: Cross-Cultural Communication in International Business

This report investigates the influence of cross-cultural communication on international business management, using Wipro Limited's operations in China as a central case study. The research addresses the challenges of navigating cultural differences, language barriers, and communication styles with...Read More

Running head: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
International Business
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Research problem...................................................................................................................3
Research question...................................................................................................................3
Key literature and theoretical background of the topic of investigation....................................3
Cross cultural communication................................................................................................3
Cultural Differences and Communication Problems..............................................................4
Impact of cross cultural communication in international business management...................5
Direction of research..................................................................................................................6
Structure of final report..............................................................................................................7
Reflective report.........................................................................................................................8

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Impact of cross-cultural communication on the management of business for Wipro
Limited, India from international or global perspectives, i.e., to operate globally in the
Chinese marketplace
Introduction
The research is conducted to determine the various aspects of international business
management considering the impact of cross cultural communication on the way business is
managed by the organisations in India during global or international business management.
The cross cultural communication enables communication between people from different
backgrounds and cultures to understand the differences and gain awareness about the norms,
rules, regulations and customs while managing business from the international perspective.
There are both verbal and non-verbal communications that considers the different cultural
values, beliefs, norms and perceptions to ensure managing good and effective communication
and to ensure smooth business functioning within the global business environment (Lu and
Fan 2015). The topic will prioritise on how the management of cross cultural communication
at Wipro Limited, India can influence the businesses to establish good relationships with the
foreign market in China by adopting the foreign culture and work according to the cultural
values and beliefs, furthermore, ensure understanding the needs and preferences of clients in
the global marketplace easily (Wipro.com 2019).
Research problem
The corporate culture is an important aspect in international business that allows for
developing a team’s skills and ability to move in the right direction and at the same time,
focus on the achievement of international business goals and objectives. This can ensure that
Wipro Limited focus on managing the values, beliefs and norms among the employees about
the different culture, i.e., Chinese culture and lift the spirit and morale of the company itself.

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For ensuring successful global business, communication among people belonging from
different cultures is integral and in case, it is not done properly, then there can be issues while
managing global business properly (Zhu and Bargiela-Chiappini 2013). The research problem
focused on the differences in language and values in respective cultures, which create barriers
to cross cultural communication required to facilitate international business management. It
can often cerate conflicts and misunderstandings, which may also hinder the communication
perspectives and prevent a business to understand the global culture and thus fail to
accomplish the business goals from the international perspective (Reiche et al. 2016). Due to
this, the cross cultural differences are needed to be resolved for smooth business functioning
and meet the criteria for the achievement of business goals and objectives with ease
(Wipro.com 2019).
Research question
What is the actual impact of cross-cultural communication on the management of business
for Wipro Limited from international or global perspectives, i.e., while operating in Chinese
foreign market?
Key literature and theoretical background of the topic of investigation
Cross cultural communication
It is evident that one of the most influential factors for gaining success in the
international marketplace has been to understand the various aspects associated with the
differences in cultures, values and beliefs and conditions of market too. According to Hurn
and Tomalin (2013) without designing a proper business strategy, it would be difficult for the
business organisations to adapt to the targeted new market culture, which should hamper the
brand image and even create complexities in managing business successfully within the
global business environment with ease and effectiveness (Hurn and Tomalin 2013).

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Considering the Hofstede model, decisions regarding the brand and advertising are made for
adapting to the foreign market culture and ensure management of cultural differences among
the nations, regions, ethnic groups and culture too. Okoro (2013), on the other hand, stated
that the international business communication is a cross cultural process that enables
acquiring information about the differences in cultures and at the same time manage business
ethically to become successful in during the emergence of competitors and global business
wars (Okoro 2013). The intercultural resolutions are responsible for dealing with the global
circumstances and devise effective methods and techniques to improve the level of
communication between the customers, business partners and employees too. The
multinational business communication enabled negotiating the various frontiers for deriving
individual benefits.
One of the most important factor that influences cross cultural communication is the
acquisition of knowledge and thus business needs to learn about the issues associated with the
cross cultural communication and determine the possibilities that might be caused due to the
cultural differences. The businesses have focused more on generating revenue in the foreign
market place to manage successful international business and they completely ignored the
fact that cultural differences should be overcome, which often became one of the major factor
that contributed to the poor business performance and lack of communication (Tietze 2013).
The management of cross cultural communication has helped in enhancing the level of
interaction between the staffs as well as managed great customers’ relations, which further
ensures proper management of customers and reaping the best of benefits from the
understanding of cross cultural differences.
The skills and competencies of cross cultural communication are important aspects
that have been gained with the help of training and developmental sessions focusing on the

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cross cultural awareness and acqusitions of knowledge about differences in language too.
There are various rules, laws, regulations are guidelines needed to be followed for improving
the cross cultural communication skills (Kinloch and Metge 2014). The listening and
speaking skills are important, because with the adoption of new culture, the language of
people in the different nation is understood, which has facilitated the cross cultural
communication with the help of encouragement, motivation and recognition based on the
views, ideas and opinions shared or exchanged between people belonging from different
backgrounds and cultures. The body language of people and the way the people from
different cultures have interacted with each other are also critical to the observations of cross
cultural information, which has also enhanced the scopes for acquisition of cross cultural
knowledge and information effectively. Carbaugh (2013) stated that maintaining adaptability,
flexibility and open-mindedness has also helped in addressing the cross-cultural differences
and overcame the cultural barriers that hindered successful communication within the
international business context (Carbaugh 2013).
Cultural Differences and Communication Problems
The communication among the individuals belonging from the same culture seems
much easier when compared with communication between people from different
backgrounds and cultures. Martin and Nakayama (2013) argued the fact that while managing
communication between people belonging from different cultural backgrounds, there have
been differences in values, beliefs, behaviours of individuals, way of thinking, customers as
well as language differences, which has been more complex and often has become
challenging due to which miscommunication and conflicts tend to appear in multiple contexts
(Martin and Nakayama 2013). Often the businesses when aiming to manage global business
fail to prioritise on the advertising and promotions due to failure in agreement between two
the countries regarding the content of advertising and promotions.

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While moving towards a global business management, every businesses are likely to
make multiple changes, which often creates major challenges, thereby, creating barriers to
cross cultural communication. To manage international business, speaking in the same
languages is important and thus language differences have been major issues associated with
the cross cultural communication based on the international business context. The business
organisations often fail to consider these things that contribute to the downfall of business
and thus involving people from different backgrounds and cultures has posed certain threats
while communicating with each other (Kramsch 2014). Lack of understanding about the
culture has also created major challenges and issues for management of communication and
thus the businesses experienced poor sharing and exchange of information needed to manage
global business efficiently.
As stated by Goodrich and De Mooij (2014), these cross cultural communication
issues often affect businesses and people are not able to communicate properly due to the
lack of education and knowledge about various aspects that the different culture might be
consisting of. The personal styles can be either formal or informal and culture has always
played a vital part in influencing the personal styles of negotiations. The different culture
where the business might want to set up or expand globally, could consist of various values,
beliefs and formalities with special features, which can facilitate communication among
people and at the same time, combine them together as a community (Goodrich and De Mooij
2014). The negotiations should be done in foreign cultures by respecting the formalities,
values and beliefs of the foreign nation, which could assist in understanding the market
conditions well and also the preferences and expectations of clients in the global marketplace.
The cross cultural teams are formed while managing cross cultural communication and this
often becomes the root cause of conflicts and misunderstandings due to lack of trust (Thomas
and Peterson 2017). For example, while a business in India wants to expand its business

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globally in China, the Chinese manager of the workplace may think about why the Indians
are using Hindi language within the workplace while the other team mates might argue that
why they cannot speak in English. The communication styles are reflected by the nation’s
culture and thus cultural considerations are important to ensure proper communication
process (Canto, Jauregi and van den Bergh 2013).
Impact of cross cultural communication in international business management
The cross cultural communication is facilitated with the understanding and resolving
of language and cross cultural communication differences, which has allowed adopting the
culture of the foreign marketplace and ensured tackling the cultural barriers that might pose
serious threats to the international business management. The cultural differences affect the
way strategic decisions are made to make selection of the right target markets and choice of
products and services and its adaptation to the foreign market conditions. The choice of entry
modes and development of global marketing programs are essential for managing global
business, which have been facilitated with the management of cross cultural communication
too (Bird and Mendenhall 2016). The successful cross cultural communication is based on the
various aspects such as the greetings, styles of negotiations, importance of gestures and
positive attitudes and behaviours. To improve the cross cultural communication, cross
cultural negotiations are important that have allowed the two parties to manage transactional
negotiations and at the same time, focus on resolution of conflicts.
The four major aspects of managing successful cross cultural communication are to be
proactive, utilise the cultural rapport organise productive interactions and develop strategies
to form relationships according to the hierarchy of business and timing. Tjosvold (2017)
believed that the businesses while expanding in global market, have identified the ways and
approaches by which, people communicate with each other and whether formal or informal

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communication is being carried out. The economic issues, social factors and cultural factors
are considered by businesses which not only improved the communication between
individuals from different cultures, but also has improved the ability of businesses to adopt
the local culture of that place to cater the needs and expectations of people conveniently
(Tjosvold 2017). The products and services need to adapt to the local conditions of the new
market and thus development of communication strategies has been of utmost importance to
facilitate cross cultural communication within the global marketplace with ease and
effectiveness.
The cross cultural communication, when managed successfully between businesses,
has helped in gaining a sting sense of what to do and how to behave in the new foreign
marketplace, furthermore, provide the individuals working in the global environment to learn
the values, codes, symbols, beliefs of that place. From his study, Gupta and Bhaskar (2016)
proposed the fact that the impact has been mostly positive, which has also created mergers
and acqusitions, thus created more scopes and opportunities for the business to sustain
globally and attain competitive advantage within the business environment too (Gupta and
Bhaskar 2016). With the resolving of cultural differences and language barriers, the business
would learn to assess the needs of clients in the foreign marketplace and ensure providing
them with the products and services, which should satisfy them and facilitate the value
proposition for businesses to generate higher revenue and competitive advantage too.
Considering the research question that was about the impact of cross cultural
communication on international business management the literature section provided relevant
explanation about the cross cultural communication, issues associated with it and how it
could be overcome to improve the international business management experience. The
literature gaps could though be the link between cross cultural communication and flexibility

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of global business operations, as most of the focus had been on the way cross cultural
communication enabled businesses to adapt the local conditions of a different place and
deliver products according to the demand and expectations of clients in the foreign
marketplace (Hassan, Marimuthu and Johl 2015).
Direction of research
The qualitative research approach should be used for finding out solutions to the
research questions depicted in the research. This kind of qualitative approach measure has
enabled the researcher to gather enough information and data about the impact of cross
cultural communication on the management of global business. The qualitative research
underpins the acquisition of relevant data and information about the cross cultural
communications, its most important aspects related to the issues such as cultural and
language differences along with the poor adaptability to the new foreign culture. The
secondary sources of data were included as well such as the information derived from the
journals, articles, documents and websites consisting of valid and reliable information about
the research topic (Surijah 2016). The quality of data and information has been considered as
good because of the unbiasness while responding to the various questions asked to the
managers of the organisation named Wipro Limited in India, which has aimed at managing
business globally in the Chinese marketplace (Wipro.com 2019). The research question
focused on the impact of cross cultural communication on international business
management, which had been properly answered and this further, helped in the addressing of
issues and challenges and at the same time, proper qualitative research methods were
implemented to conduct the research ethically and reliably.
Date collection

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The qualitative research measures constitute the collection of qualitative data and
information, which were basically the responses and opinions of the managers of Wipro
Limited. The researcher arranged a suitable time for the managers to engage during the
interview session and provided responses to the various questions asked by the researcher.
The non-probability convenient sampling had thus been the most suitable sampling method,
which facilitated the collection of qualitative data and information in the form of responses
provided by the managers during the interview session (Okoro 2013). The secondary data and
information acquired from the journals, articles, newspapers and internet websites consisting
of the information about cross cultural communication and its impacts have further allowed
the researcher to draw effective conclusions and ensured that proper answers were provided
to the research question stated in the above section.
Structure of final report
Introduction
Research problem
Research question
Literature review
Cross cultural communication
Cultural differences and communication issues
Impact of cross cultural communications on international business management
Direction of research
Data collection

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Reflective report
From the research, I have come up with different ideas and information about the
management of cross cultural communication and how it has played a vital role in enriching
the experience of global business management for the business organisations. I have obtained
relevant information and knowledge about the international business management and also
about the language barriers, communication issues and other challenges that might be
associated with it due to lack of adaptability to the foreign market conditions. All these
knowledge and understanding has helped me to improve the skills to communicate and
understand about managing business globally, which could be important for assisting me to
grow and develop in the future professional career.

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References
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Evolution and adaptation. Journal of World Business, 51(1), pp.115-126.
Canto, S., Jauregi, K. and van den Bergh, H., 2013. Integrating cross-cultural interaction
through video-communication and virtual worlds in foreign language teaching programs: is
there an added value?. ReCALL, 25(1), pp.105-121.
Carbaugh, D. ed., 2013. Cultural communication and intercultural contact. Routledge.
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comparison of online and offline purchase decision influences. Journal of Marketing
Communications, 20(1-2), pp.103-116.
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managing human resources. Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, 23(1), pp.184-204.
Hassan, R., Marimuthu, M. and Johl, S.K., 2015. Diversity, corporate governance and
implication on firm financial performance. Global Business and Management Research, 7(2),
p.28.

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