Intercultural Communication Barriers: A Case Study Analysis

This case study report delves into the intricate relationship between language and culture, emphasizing their profound impact on business communication. It begins by outlining the three levels of culture: artifacts and behaviors, espoused values, and underlying assumptions, highlighting how these elements shape organizational dynamics and influence resistance to change. The report then explores the entwined nature of language and culture, demonstrating how language acts as a key indicator of cultural identity and how interacting with a new language exposes one to its associated culture. A significant portion of the case study focuses on intercultural communication barriers, such as language differences, slangs, body language variations, and differing values of time, providing examples and insights into how these factors can lead to misunderstandings. The report also examines the role of negative stereotypes and prejudices in hindering communication. Finally, the case study proposes practical solutions for overcoming these barriers, including learning key phrases, promoting cultural diversity in the workplace, and fostering an open-minded approach to new cultures. The report concludes by highlighting the benefits of cultural diversity in the workplace and its positive impact on business outcomes, such as innovation, marketing, and employee qualifications.

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE 1
Language and Culture
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Levels of culture
Culture surrounds everyone in the world and must be considered as the main source of
resistance to changes in society. According to Edgar Schein, for individuals to understand
planned changes, societal developments, and organized learning, they must consider culture as
the main contributor to resistance behaviors. Culture is deep installed, universal and
multifaceted. It is divided into three different levels which include artifacts behaviors, norms and
values, and underlying assumptions.
Artifacts and behaviors are the peripheral elements of an organization. The rudiments are
visible in nature and include architecture, logos, clothing, processes and structures that surround
an organization. The basics are not only visible to the employees of an organization but are also
recognized by the external parties in society. These artifacts can be discerned easily and they are
very hard to be understood in the contemporary world (Schobel & Klostermann, 2017).
Espoused values are concerned with morals, principles and conduct rules of an
organization in a societal setting. It emphasizes on how organizations express their stratagems,
objectives, and philosophies. They also clear out on how organizations make their strategies and
objectives public to society. There arise issues that have adverse effects on the organization if
the executive’s ideas are not in line with the basic assumptions of the organization. The values
and objectives are responsive enough to shape the entire needs of the organization.
Underlying assumptions are deeply entrenched in the culture of the organization. They
are known as being undisputable and unconscious comportment. It becomes tough to recognize
these assumptions from within the organization and they cannot be discerned in the entire
society. They provide explanations on why things happen the way they do in the organization.

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They form deeper scopes of human existence such as human nature, affairs and activities,
veracity and reality.
Language and culture relationship
Both culture and language are entwined where specific language points to a definite
group of people. Interacting with a new language indicates a vibrant contact with a certain
culture that speaks the new language. One cannot understand another culture without accessing
its language. When discussing the two, one must mention that culture is language and language
is culture. They have a homologous relation which tends to be intricate in nature. Both developed
together and continue to influence each other as they advance (Pennycook, 2017).
Culture is a consequence of human connections where communication is the cultural
indicator that revolves a specific community. Young children develop their cognitive abilities
through the process of learning the language of the community they are born in. Use of symbols
that signifies feelings, beliefs and identities are the methods that contribute to the culture and
language context.
Intercultural communication barriers
Communication is hard to even within the same culture. There are misunderstandings in
families, workplaces and in the entire community that is necessitated by communication. In such
a case, the addition of cultural differences in the mix would multiply the problems associated
with the communication. To overcome these problems, one must know the intercultural
communication barriers.
Language difference is the major barrier in communication. For example, in a business, a
client speaking English won’t be able to communicate with a shopkeeper who speaks Japanese.

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Slangs and accents would also cause problems in the midst of an interpreter. Differences in the
meaning of words would also be a problem in these languages.
Body languages in different cultures cause hazards in communication. For example, Latin
Americans may do their businesses closer to the clients than the way north Americans would do
because they don’t like being surrounded by crowds. Different levels of contexts also cause
problems in communication. Some cultures like Asians say “Maybe” or “yes” when they mean
no. Others say no when they mean it with honesty (Jandt, 2017).
Value of time is another barrier to communication. North Americans view deadlines as
things that must be adhered to while the Asians and South American view the same as
unimportant. Some cultures won’t finish a conversation because they do not value deadlines
while others will do. Such time values cause hazards in the communication between individuals
from these cultures. Negative stereotypes, prejudices, and feelings have acted as barriers in
communication between different cultures. In such cases, some cultures think they are better than
others because of the stereotypes surrounding other communities (Jandt, 2017).
To solve intercultural communication problems in an organization, the employees should
make sure they learn the key phrases that are used by the customers. These phrases would help
them get to know what their clients need. The entire organization should purpose to learn the
culture of the clients whom they serve un their business. The organization should also ensure it
promotes cultural differences in their service delivery such as by employing employees who are
diverse. They should also be open in learning and trying new things and accommodating them in
their business.
Cultural diversity in workplaces

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE 5
Cultural diversity happens when different populations and cultures are represented in an
organization or a community. Diversity can be of the following aspects, race, tribes, gender,
ages, economic status, and religion. It benefits a workplace because problems in the businesses
are dealt with considerations of all perspectives. It contributes to innovation in business which
has economic benefits to the organization. According to research conducted in the US, out of 50
companies, 43 were more profitable because of cultural diversity.
Diversity improves the marketing sector of organizations it creates confidence and trust
to the clients using goods and services provided by the organization. Diversity ensures that the
organization has hired the most qualified employees irrespective of their ethnic groups. There are
more benefits associated with a diversified team compared to the ones that are not. The
relationship between language and culture has contributed to embracement of cultural diversity
which has helped them with market advantages.

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References
Lambert, J., 2016. Cultural diversity as a mechanism for innovation. Workplace diversity and the
absorptive capacity framework. Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and
Conflict,, p. 68.
Pennycook, 2017. The cultural politics of English as a international language. s.l.:s.n.
Jandt, 2017. Identities in a global community. An introduction to intercultural communication.
Martinez & Elizabeth, G. W., 2015. American Economic review. Organizational culture and
performance, pp. 331-335
Schobel & Klostermann, L. R., 2017. Safe science. Insights from a multi method assessment of
safety culture in nuclear power plants based on Schein's culture model, pp. 38-49.