BCOM101 - Intercultural Communication: Alpaca Clothing in China

This report examines the intercultural communication challenges faced by Australian Alpaca Clothing Pty. Ltd. as they expand into the Chinese market. It highlights the cultural differences between Australia and China, focusing on business practices, values, and communication styles. The report identifies potential barriers such as language differences, varying business etiquettes, and differing values related to gift-giving and relationship-building versus contract-based agreements. To address these challenges, the report suggests a program for Jonathan Jones, the company's representative, which includes learning about Chinese culture and language, understanding business meeting protocols, avoiding gift-giving, and prioritizing relationship-building. The ultimate goal is to enable effective communication and foster successful business dealings with Chinese suppliers. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and study resources for students.

Business Communication

Business Communication 1
Executive Summary
In the era, inter-culture communication is done by each and every company in the competitive
market because they are willing to expand or grow the business. This report is based on the case
scenario in which the Australian Alpaca Clothing Pty. Ltd. is performing the dealing with the
Chinese supplier and willing to send their representative permanently china. The issue arises
because the representative is not aware of the Chinese culture as he was born in Australia and
never visited abroad. The report finds that the difference in the culture of Australia and China
affects the business. It also shows the challenges that might be faced by Jonathan while
communicating in China. In the end, one plan has been developed which is help them in making
the deal with the Chinese suppliers.

Business Communication 2
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Overview of company..................................................................................................................3
Objective and Methodologies..........................................................................................................4
Intercultural communication............................................................................................................4
The variances in the cultures of Australia and China......................................................................4
Barriers to effective intercultural communication...........................................................................7
Suggested program for Jonathan.....................................................................................................8
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

Business Communication 3
Introduction
The aim of the report is to present the concept of the intercultural communication and the
differences in the cultures of the China and Australia. The report is based on the case scenario in
which Australian Alpaca Clothing Pty. Ltd. has decided to post the representative of the
company in the china for the operations of the company in China market. The report presents the
cultural differences between China and Australia and how they affect business. The barriers to
effective intercultural communication that might be faced by Jonathan Jones in China are
discussed in the report. The report includes the programme that is required to develop the
cultural competence that will support Jonathan to work effectively with the Chinese suppliers.
Overview of company
Australian Alpaca clothing Pty. Ltd is one of the small processors of the Australian grown
Alpaca fleece in the market of the high fashion garments for the sales through the boutique retail
outlets in Australia. Jennifer Sng, a managing director of the company took the stop to
permanently send the representative of the company in China to liaise the processor during the
manufacture of the products of the company. Jonathan Jones is Australian born and educated
marketing professional in Australia due to which he will face the cultural issues in China due to
the cultural differences between the Australia and China. This intercultural difference leads to
the misunderstanding in the signing of the contract which will affect the dealing of the company.

Business Communication 4
Objective and Methodologies
The objective of the report is to identify the intercultural communication and its effect on the
business of Australian company. The details are based on the research which is conducted on
secondary sources which include internet, company website, and many others. Though, the
research is generally done with the help of the primary research and the secondary research.
Intercultural communication
It refers to the communication between the individual and the groups of the different cultural
origins and linguistics (Communication Majors, 2018). Issues in the cross-communication exist
on the two level in which one is inter-business communications and the other is business-to-
business communications. Jonathan Jones who is the representative of the business might face
the same issues while communicating in China for conducting the dealing. The culture difference
affects the business (Martin and Nakayama, 2013).
The variances in the cultures of Australia and China
The businesses that operate the business in different countries face issues because of the change
in the culture of the countries. Every country different culture and according to that their
business activities change. The culture of China affects the business of Alpaca Clothing because
it is different from the culture of Australia (Leung, et al 2011). The china has the model of the
centrally planned economy and the market economy with the socialist characteristics which are
not easy to understand the people who are living in Australia. The culture of China is trying to
make their systems transparent.

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The model of both the countries is similar to both the company believes in forming the plans for
the 5 and 15 years. Though, the changes in the policy are one of the factors due to which the
companies from Australia face difficulty (Chung, 2011). The role of eating and drinking plays a
vital role in the business in China. Business dining is one of the ways through which the Chinese
decide that the other business from a different country is able to understand the culture of the
country. The identification of the culture of the country is very important for the business before
getting involved in the business deal (Samovar, et al 2014). Though, this culture is not available
in Australia. Therefore, the culture difference between Australia and China affects the working
of Alpaca clothing. The culture differences affect the business with China to the Australian
Company are discussed below with the help of the table.
Doing Business In China In Australia
Status and Hierarchy The management of business
operations in China is done
hierarchically. The information is
passed down to the other managers
on the basis of the needs of the
company. This shows that culture of
a country in which the importance of
Top level is reflected (Scollon,
Scollon and Jones, 2011).
The management of the
business in Australia is flat.
This means that the
information in the company
can be flow from the sideways
and upwards within an
organization. The culture of
Australia is totally different
from China.
Business style A culture of China is indirect due to
which the business people often
indirect and unwilling to provide the
The Culture of Australia is
very direct due to which the
business people in the country

Business Communication 6
details of their interest or the final
desires.
don't hesitate to discuss the
upfront with the employees or
other members (Hinze, 2015).
Relationships The culture of the china states that
there is very less number of
individuals who form the groups due
to lack of trust of the business on
other foreign businesses.
The culture of people is very
open due to which the
individuals of the people trust
the outsiders and easily form
the relationships.
Contracts In China, the culture believes in
forming the strong relationships
instead of the contracts. This means
that they give preference to the
relationship than contracts.
The culture of Australia states
that contracts of the business
matter a lot than forming the
relationship which means they
don't value the relationships.
This table reflects the culture that can impact the working of the Australian Alpaca Clothing Pty.
Ltd in the market of China. The representative of the company needs to ensure that they are
aware bof the culture of China because this will help them in forming the agreement. Along with
this, this culture will affect the stay of Jonathan because he is not aware of the culture and their
values which might make them ignore the same which is not accepted in China. This might
affect their trust relationship which is essential for the business meeting.

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Barriers to effective intercultural communication
The culture leads to the barriers for the company who are looking to expand their business in
different countries. Australian Alpaca Clothing Company will also face some of the issues which
will affect them and their business operations in the China market. These barriers which affect
the Jonathan Jones working and agreement of company with the china include: -
 Language barrier: - This is one of the most common and important barriers which leads
to the huddle for the company who is expanding their business in Chinese market. In
China, the people and businesses follow the Chinese language as this is their regional
language. This is different from Australia because over there the language which is
commonly used is English (Farnen, 2017). Along with this, the China business and
people address the people with their title and last name. Though, the businesses in China
are adopting the English language for performing the deals. In addition, there are
numerous businesses that make use of Chinese and this leads to the issues for the Alpaca
Clothing Company. The company should make their representative learn few words in
Chinese which will helps them in achieving the deal which is required by the company.
Few words in Chinese help them in starting the conversation which will make the
Chinese businessmen feel that we are aware of the culture and respect the culture (Fiza,
2015).
 Values: - Different cultures in different countries have some different values, business
ethics, and the accepted behavior. It is very essential for the companies to understand the
difference between the values. In China gift giving is forbidden because they believe that
this is considered as bribery (Shaw, 2015). This might affect the company while forming
the deal or agreement with them. Moreover, the Chinese people are more of the family or

Business Communication 8
relationship oriented due to which they believe in forming a relationship first then getting
involved in the contract. Therefore, the representative of the company needs to be
focused towards the forming the relationship by winning the trust of the other party to
come to the agreement of the business (Jackson, 2014).
 Business etiquettes: - Different countries have different business etiquettes which show
their way of dealing the business deals and meetings. Chinese business people are
punctual towards the business meetings and their first meeting appears to be unproductive
as they treat it as a formality (Liu, Volcic, and Gallois, 2014). In addition, China
businessman generally spends a lot of time in getting the goals to be achieved and also
they are very patient due to which their first meeting appears to be unproductive because
they consider it a formality. Therefore, the company representative should know about
business meeting etiquettes which will help the company.
The above given are the major barriers that might affect the company majorly while making the
decisions. The resolution has been provided which will help the company in making the deal
with China (Orazbayeva, Baaken, and Meerman, 2016). Along with this, it is recommended to
the company to develop a programme about the cultural competence so that they work
effectively with the Chinese suppliers.
Suggested program for Jonathan
It is suggested to the Jonathan, a representative of the company to form the plan that helps the
company while conducting the meeting. The below given are the steps which are required to be
followed by the company and their representatives: -

Business Communication 9
 Learning about the culture of China which will support them in learning about the values,
beliefs, attributes of the country which is essential for the conducting the meeting with
the Chinese companies.
 Learning about the language will help the executive in creating the trust which is the only
way through which they can form the relationship and convert it into a deal (Neuliep,
2017).
 Understanding their way of conducting business meetings as this is the only way through
which they can give respect to the culture of Chinese companies. This will help in
keeping in mind that they can’t make quick decisions so it is essential to give them
additional time.
 This is the fact that in the western gift giving is a good signal but in chins, this gift giving
system is considered as giving and taking the bribe. Therefore, they should not give any
gift and should expect that they will not get any gift in return (Jackson, 2014).
Learning about the culture
Learning about the language
Understanding their way of conducting business meeting
Avoid Gift Giving
Forming Relationship

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 The executive of the company should be focused towards forming a good relationship
with Chinese instead of contract because good relationship leads to the contract
automatically.

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Conclusion
In the end, it can be concluded that the Australian Alpaca Clothing Pty. Ltd will face the
intercultural communication challenges and issues while dealing with the other countries. This is
the fact that each and every country has their own culture which is reflected in their business.
Therefore, the Australian company will face the culture difference between both Australia and
China which might lead to miscommunication and can affect the working of the business.
Moreover, the cultural difference will lead to the difficulties in staying in China because it is
difficult to communicate and to understand the likes and dislikes of Chinese. Some of the
barriers are discussed which might affect the effective intercultural communication. Along with
this, the resolutions are discussed which will help them to overcome the challenges faced by
them for communicating. In the end, one program has been suggested to the Jonathan with the
help of which they can meet the business needs and will be able to achieve the deal in which they
are conducting.

Business Communication 12
References
Chung, M. (2011) Doing business with China is a necessity, not a choice [Online]. Available
from: https://theconversation.com/doing-business-with-china-is-a-necessity-not-a-choice-3930
[Accessed on 8th June 2018]
Communication Majors (2018) Intercultural Communications | Cross-Cultural Communication
[Online]. Available from: https://www.communications-major.com/intercultural-communication/
[Accessed on 8th June 2018]
Farnen, K. (2017) Six Barriers to Intercultural Communication [Online]. Available from:
https://oureverydaylife.com/six-barriers-to-intercultural-communication-12080535.html
[Accessed on 8th June 2018]
Fiza, L. (2015) Barriers to Cross-Cultural Business Communication [Online]. Available from:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/barriers-cross-cultural-business-communication-lydia-fiza
[Accessed on 8th June 2018]
Hinze, C. (2015) Australia: Worlds apart: The importance of understanding culture in doing
business successfully in and with China [Online]. Available from:
http://www.mondaq.com/australia/x/384760/international+trade+investment/
Worlds+apart+The+importance+of+understanding+culture+in+doing+business+successfully+in
+and+with+China [Accessed on 8th June 2018]
Jackson, J. (2014) Introducing language and intercultural communication. New York:
Routledge.

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Leung, K., Brew, F.P., Zhang, Z.X. and Zhang, Y. (2011) Harmony and conflict: A cross-
cultural investigation in China and Australia. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 42(5),
pp.795-816.
Liu, S., Volcic, Z. and Gallois, C. (2014) Introducing intercultural communication: Global
cultures and contexts. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Martin, J.N. and Nakayama, T.K. (2013) Intercultural communication in contexts. New York:
NY: McGraw-Hill.
Neuliep, J.W. (2017) Intercultural communication: A contextual approach. Thousand Oaks:
Sage Publications.
Orazbayeva, B., Baaken, T. and Meerman, A. (2016) Intercultural Knowledge Transfer in
Teams. Findings based on a Case Study. Callaos, N.; Hashimoto, S.; Horne, J, pp.190-195.
Samovar, L.A., Porter, R.E., McDaniel, E.R. and Roy, C.S. (2014) Intercultural communication:
A reader. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Scollon, R., Scollon, S.W., and Jones, R.H. (2011) Intercultural communication: A discourse
approach. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Shaw, K. (2015) The influence of culture and customs on international business
communications. Editorial Board Members, 14(9), pp.430-436.