Intercultural Communication: Challenges and Opportunities in Business

This essay delves into the multifaceted realm of intercultural communication, emphasizing its crucial role in today's interconnected global business landscape. It begins by defining intercultural communication and highlighting its significance in fostering clarity and preventing miscommunication across diverse cultures. The discussion then explores the nature of intercultural communication, emphasizing the interplay between culture and communication. The essay examines various factors influencing intercultural communication, including global interconnectivity, diverse cultural values, cultural shock, the role of language (verbal and non-verbal), the rise of multinational companies, and the dynamics of mixed cultures. It also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of intercultural communication, providing real-world examples to illustrate its impact on business relationships, productivity, and overall success. The essay concludes by underscoring the importance of understanding intercultural differences for effective global communication, fostering mutual understanding, and promoting productivity in an increasingly diverse world.

Running head : INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Intercultural communication
Name of the student
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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 2
Discussion................................................................................................................................... 2
Nature of Inter Cultural Communication...................................................................................2
Importance of Intercultural Communication..............................................................................2
Factors effecting Intercultural Communication.........................................................................3
Advantages and Disadvantages of Intercultural Communication..............................................3
Global Interconnectivity........................................................................................................3
Diverse Cultural Values........................................................................................................4
Cultural Shock...................................................................................................................... 4
Role of Language.................................................................................................................4
Verbal and Non Verbal Communication................................................................................5
Rise of Multinational Companies..........................................................................................5
Mixed Culture....................................................................................................................... 6
Conclusion................................................................................................................................... 6
References.................................................................................................................................. 7

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Introduction
Intercultural communication is the discipline which deals with studying communication across all
the different cultures in terms of the culture and the social group and how these communications
affect communication. It can be said that intercultural communication offers the ability to deal
across different cultures as the world is getting smaller. However, getting smaller does not mean
that people are becoming identical; it means that people have more important contact with other
people who are culturally different. This paper focuses on the importance of intercultural
communication in the global scenario. Intercultural understanding is very significant in the global
world to facilitate clarity and curbing miscommunication.
Discussion
Nature of Inter Cultural Communication
It is often said that one of the elements of the culture is communication, and it is often
said that communication and culture both are aligned. According to the authors, culture is a
code that is being learnt and shared. The learning and the sharing of information, therefore,
requires communication. However, intercultural communication is a very new concept which has
evolved more recently due to the evolution of the business. In terms of business
communication, it is known as involving people with more than one culture. Several countries
have become the hotspot of the cultural assimilation, and even so, the US has been named as
the melting pot of the culture (Martin & Chaney, 1992). However, there communication barrier
which exists which disrupt this intercultural communication.
Importance of Intercultural Communication
In the globalized scenario of the government, the companies, the organization are
getting interlinked more and more. It is because of this the globalization there is a fundamental

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change in the scenario, and this is why the business is constrained by neither border nor
distance. More and more people from remote locations especially in the overseas location come
together from the different cultural background and run the organization. Therefore in order to
be ahead, the globalized workplace needs to have clear and effective cultural communication.
The way people are communicating and managing they build relationships which are a
significant part of the globalized business therefore for achieving the business objective of the
organization and earn higher profitability it becomes necessary in order to understand the
intercultural communicational differences, protocol, etiquette and the communication style.
Therefore to attain a competitive edge, it becomes important to get accustomed to intercultural
communication.
Factors effecting Intercultural Communication
Some of the factor which the intercultural system has an impact on multicultural
communication. The cultural universe is formed due to the impact of multicultural
communication. The economic system, political system, hierarchical social interaction also
reflect on the system. For example, the United States of America differed from other cultures,
and this is different from other cultures which generally deal with other issues in a significantly
unique way(Martin & Chaney, 1992). While divulging with other states for communication, it is
important to have variability as well as similarities.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Intercultural Communication
Global Interconnectivity
Global interconnectivity has resulted in intercultural communication very crucial for any
organization. The business those who operate globally must be prepared for intercultural
communication. There is a benefit of the understanding the culture in terms of business
communication. It is said that it increases the level of productivity and proficiency in the
business and also result in effective leadership in the business

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Diverse Cultural Values
People from different culture have diverse values. The values are the social principles
which establish to be abnormal or normal behaviour. The environment the people is surrounded
in influences the value of the people, and this have an important influence on the culture. There
is a semantic difference as well as attribution, which have an impact on the cultural values as
well as religious influences. Therefore the managers who understand the workplace is
increasingly becoming culturally diverse, and the managers who understand the situation most
importantly is able to motivate the people and deal effectively with their team in all the
situations.
Cultural Shock
Another aspect which is associated with the benefit of understanding intercultural
communication is a cultural shock. A cultural shock is generally termed as an experience when
a person of the diverse cultural environment which differ from their own. It can be termed as the
personal disorientation a person experienced when they become familiar with another country
because of the immigration or visit to other countries. The cultural shock adversely affects the
business and also results in miscommunication among the groups. There are several examples
which state that in many areas of the work it has resulted in idealizing their own country and
unduly criticizing the other countries without understanding the nature of another country.
Therefore it can be said that this is one of the most common disadvantages of not
understanding the culture of another country.
Role of Language
Language is one of the most important aspects of intercultural communication. In the
world, Chinese is the most spoken language and English coming to second; however, English is
globally used for communication. It is being observed that though English is most widely

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spoken, it has variations. In order to understand the variation, therefore, it is important to
understand the culture. It can be said that there is sociolinguistics in the context (Martin &
Chaney, 1992). Therefore if one does not understand the situation, it becomes problematic for
the people to communicate. The first problem that comes into play is the misinterpretation
where the other party does not understand the subject at all and in some cases, it may result in
the termination of a deal. The second problem is the translation problem. When language is
translated, it seems that overall meaning is lost both in terms of verbal and written cues. The
term black translation is relevant in this context. However, when people understand language,
there is no need of interpreter use or translation, and it results in effective communication.
Verbal and Non Verbal Communication
The successful multicultural communication in the business depends on both oral as well
as non-verbal communication. Though most of the communication in the global areas are oral
the nonverbal aspect contributes to the understanding as well as interpretation of the oral as
well as non-verbal communication. It is therefore very important to understand intercultural
communication because the expensive business blunders often result in intercultural
communication which is an essential aspect for understanding as well as conducting the
business in the marketplace. For example, in the United States, most of the people follow the
deductive approach of methods while particularly in the Asian countries it is important to
understand the different cultural aspect to gauge the movement of the other person more
accurately. It is often seen that in the western country it is very common to hug or physical
proximity, but back in the Asian countries it is often considered as rude therefore intercultural
understanding becomes extremely crucial in such stage.
Rise of Multinational Companies
The world has become full of different companies, and therefore, it becomes extremely
important to understand the differences in terms of the format, tone, style in terms of written

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communication. Research has resulted in 97% of the outgoing correspondence is in English,
with only 1% in English(Martin & Chaney, 1992). Ass English is most widely used for
communication; it is important for understanding this. It must be mentioned that there are
different global etiquettes and it is advantageous for the country to learn this global etiquette as
it helps in showing respect as well as consideration to the other people and making things clear
with them. With proper manners as well as etiquette the customs in the society becomes
disappear, and one would be not be considered humans.
Mixed Culture
There should also be a certain customary understanding among the people. Therefore in
order to understand effective business communication, it is necessary to respect those customs
and value customs of a different culture. For instance, among the Indians, the festival of light is
very important; however, the Australian may not know about it and schedule a business meeting
on the same day. This will result in conflict in the business partnership. It is also important to
understand the different culture of negotiation, as there is a pattern of different negotiation. It is
observed that in a heterogenous country which generally has a mixed culture, there is a diverse
negotiation culture. However, one must remember that it is not good to stereotype a culture
which may result in an adverse turn of events.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that it is important to understand to
learn about the intercultural difference as it promotes a lot of understanding among the parties.
Lots of problems are said to take place if people do not understand. It is more important to
understand the culture of the different country as the world has turned into a global village with
the concept of multiculturalism cropping in. By leaning and showing interest on the other culture
it will become easy to understand the purpose or the motive behind the opposite party culture,
This will not only facilitates more clarity and understanding and will smooth out the process if the

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business communication but will also prevent understanding and will result in global
productivity.

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References
Martin, J. S., & Chaney, L. H. (1992). Determination of content for a collegiate course in
intercultural business communication by three Delphi panels. The Journal of Business
Communication (1973), 29(3), 267-283.