Cross-Cultural Communication in Business: Mary's India Expansion Essay

This essay examines the challenges and strategies for cross-cultural business communication, using the scenario of an Australian entrepreneur, Mary, aiming to expand her condiment business to India. The essay highlights the importance of understanding Indian business etiquette, including communication styles, workplace dynamics, and the significance of building relationships. It applies Hofstede's cultural dimensions framework to analyze the cultural differences between Australia and India, addressing dimensions such as power distance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, and indulgence. The paper explores the adjustments Mary needs to make to succeed, considering factors like customer communication, machine operations, and future uncertainties. The essay also provides recommendations for Mary, including leveraging social media, forming partnerships, training employees, and understanding local laws to enhance her business in the Indian market.

Running head: Communication in business
Communication in business

Communication in business
(Essay on “cross cultural communication in business)
The paper explains the Indian business etiquettes and steps that a business must follow to
flourish its business in the country like India. The essay talks about Mary, an Australian who
wants to set up her business in India and further it also explains various Indian business
etiquettes that need to be followed by Mary in the Indian market. The essay also discusses the
hofstede’s cultural framework which Mary should follow. It highlights the necessary adjustments
that Mary has to make to increase the success of the meeting. The paper largely focuses on the
communication skills which a business must possess. More detail of the task has been discussed
below.
Indian business etiquettes can be said as the way of doing and leading the business. It suggests
the basic etiquettes that must be applied while working for the business. One must have a step by
step approach in extending the business. To make the business grow one must know how to treat
people. They must be polite towards everyone. This is the basic etiquette of business. While
communicating with the public or within the organization one should be aware about what they
should share with them and what not. One must be presentable enough during the business as it
represents the reputation and financial position of the company. To do business smoothly the
organization must be polite towards its employees and must listen to the opinion of each and
every employee. These basic etiquettes help the company for a long run and expansion.
Culture plays a significant and vital role to expand and explore the business activities and
operations internationally. Hofstede’s cultural model can be used by Mary to reduce and
understand the cultural issues and barriers in Indian market. The hofstede’s theory focuses on six
dimensions and discusses about the dimension in the form of scores that is given to every
country. The scores are the parameters which help in comparing the culture of different countries
for instance, India and Australia. The six dimensions of hofstede’s cultural dimensions are
detailed below:
Power Distance
The power distance score of India is 77 whereas the score in this dimension for Australia is 36
(Incredible, 2018). This makes a huge difference between the two countries. Hence the power of
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Communication in business
the organization is distributed unequally more in India. With this establishing a business in India
will give no benefit to business owners like Mary (Venaik & Brewer, 2013).
Individual versus Collectivism
The collective score of India is 48 in this dimension and for Australia it is 90 which make
Australia a highly individualistic culture (Incredible, 2018). It is noted that Mary is setting up the
business as an individualist so it will become difficult for her to survive in the collective field of
India.
Masculinity versus Femininity
The dimension score measures 56 on this dimension (Incredible, 2018). Australia scores 61 in it
and considered as a “masculine” society same as India. This will benefit Mary in making
business due to same culture. Both the countries are regarded as masculine bodies and therefore
the business can be carried with the same strategy that Mary used in Australia (Migliore, 2011).
Uncertainty Avoidance
The score of India in uncertainty avoidance is 40 (Incredible, 2018) whereas, Australia’s
hofstede dimension scores 51 (Hofstede insights, 2018). Hence, India is very uncertain about the
future comings which can be troublesome for Mary to carry out her business. The uncertainty of
future can cause irrational attitude in business. The dimension of Australia is intermediate
whereas high in India.
Orientation
India makes a long term orientation with a score of 61 (Incredible, 2018). On the other hand
Australia scores 21 on this dimension (Hofstede insights, 2018) and it is considered as a
normative culture. Religion plays a very important role for Indians. Mary will have to face
difficulties in performing business activities in India among different religions. The culture of
Australia becomes very much different from the culture of India. This can become a hurdle for
Mary to promote her business for long term.
Indulgence
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Communication in business
In this dimension, India has received a low score of 26 (Incredible, 2018) that means it is a
culture of restraint. Restrained communities do not put much emphasis on leisure time and
control the gratification of their desires and wants. Thus, Mary can take ample of benefits in the
new market (Hofstede, 2011).
Suitable adjustments Mary can make to increase the business
The cost of beginning a business in India is enormous, and the techniques included can be
overwhelming without nearby information. In Australia, Mary was able to gather customers as
these customers knew about her business. But in India, Mary has to first develop her image in the
society only then she can attract the customers. Mary also might have to suffer in finding the
suitable business owners that can help her to set up business (Kinloch & Metge, 2014). Mary is
not aware about the economy of India therefore various problems and issues would be faced by
Mary. Mary does not have the local knowledge so it will make her suffer in the business. Mary
being an Australian will have to suffer with the problem of communicating with the customers.
Here Mary will have to make adjustment to understand the customer’s wants and requirements.
Most of the Indians are unable to communicate with the tourists properly. Hence it becomes
difficult to make them understand about their wants and desires (Martin & Nakayama, 2013).
Mary therefore will have to be sure about what her customers will need and require. Any
business today requires machines and equipments for work. Understanding how the Indian
machines work will be a bit difficult for Mary. She has to learn the working system of the
machines so that Mary is able to meet the requirements of its customers. To know the working
of machines Mary will require trainers and ultimately this will increase costs in the competitive
market. Another reason of adjustment is that one is not sure about the future profits. Setting of
business requires a lot of investment and the business makers are uncertain about the future
aspects. Therefore establishing business in another country such as India will not ensure the
profit making for Mary in her business (Minkov & Hofstede, 2011).
There are various recommendations to address and reduce various issues and challenges in the
Indian market. It is very important for the business to listen these recommendations and
effectively work on it (Bochner, 2013). In order to grow business the organization must keep a
daily update of the business over social media or other internet sources so that it can reach out to
large number of people. In this case, Mary can contact to the advertising agencies of India where
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Communication in business
she can promote business by giving ads or distributing pamphlets all over. Mary can also tie up
with other business agencies doing the same work (Carbaugh, 2013). This will give Mary a
platform to promote her business in an effective manner. It is recommended that Mary must hire
employees, train them as professionals and give them opportunities so that Mary can concentrate
on the promotion of business efficiently. She must plan strategies with the help of professionals
by listening to the opinion of each and every employee. Mary should make effective and unique
strategies, policies and plans to run the business functions in Indian market. It is also
recommended that Mary must open her business in the locality where she can easily attract the
customers and that too in large numbers. She must know the laws and policies to carry business
in India and must follow them in an effective manner (Tomalin & Stempleski, 2013). Mary
should be polite and humble towards her customers and should greet them with a positive
attitude. This will help her to attract more customers and will ultimately increase the profits of
the business. Mary must regularly be in touch with other business associates. This will make her
aware about the changing trends of business and what changes must be brought in the business
parallel to the society. These recommendations will be beneficial for Mary to enhance her
business in India (XiaoYan & Umemoto, 2013). It is also recommended that Mary should focus
on the skills, talents and capabilities of new workers to uplift the profit in Indian market. It will
also help to stand out against the competitors globally.
It is concluded from the above mentioned analysis that Mary will have to focus on Indian
culture, rules and norms to conduct business functions in India. It is necessary for her to follow
the above suggested Indian business etiquettes effectively and efficiently. The use of Hofstede’s
model in the paper is to highlight the steps that business has to follow in order to run the
business. The recommendations above highlight the view of how one can set up her business in a
comfortable manner. The hofstede’s theory makes an individual understand about the ethics and
norms of the business.
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Communication in business
References
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XiaoYan, L. I., & Umemoto, K. (2013). Knowledge Creation through Inter-Cultural
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