Essay on Intercultural Competence in International Business - UWS

This essay examines the importance of intercultural competence in international business, defining it as the ability to effectively communicate and thrive in multicultural environments. It argues that intercultural competence is crucial for building efficient communication lines, developing growth opportunities, creating a competitive advantage, and avoiding conflicts in international business. The essay highlights strategies for fostering intercultural competence, such as workforce training programs, celebrating diverse cultures, practicing good manners, and promoting cross-cultural communication among employees. It also addresses challenges associated with implementing these practices, such as increased employee turnover and communication barriers. Ultimately, the essay concludes that intercultural competence is essential for success in the globalized business world, enabling companies to boost revenues and achieve sustainable growth.

IS INTERCULTURAL
COMPETENCE IMPORTANT
IN INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS. YOU SHOULD
SUPPORT YOUR ANSWER
WITH RELEVANT
ARGUMENTS BASED ON THE
ACADEMIC LITERATURE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Importance of intercultural competence in the international businesses.....................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4

Importance of intercultural competence in the international businesses
Intercultural or cross-cultural competence in international business refers to the attributes
in an individual which helps them survive and build efficient communication in the multi cultural
environment around the globe. Intercultural competencies facilitates the understanding of various
cultures, traditions, languages, value sstems, norms and beliefs of diversified cultural
environment. The internal management and employees of the company must possess these skills
and abilities to develop cooperation and coordination while conducting the business with the
global companies (Pikhart, 2018). It is very important as shall be crucial for expanding the
business across various countries internationally to boost the profitability and growth prospects
of the company.
The revolution of globalization leading to the development of multinational companies is
one of the major drivers of need to build the intercultural competencies among the workforce of
the company. These capabilities have become the need of the hour and various training
programmes are conducted to train the staff regarding the same. These initiatives shall prove to
be effective in forming various growth opportunities that can be capitalized by the company to
fulfil their objectives (Ibrahimª, Abdullahb and Ismailc, 2016).
Intercultural competence is very essential in respect of international business because:- Building efficient lines of communication- The communication within the team of
culturally and linguistically different people can only be effectively facilitated if the staff
is well versed with the various languages and cultures. Apart from that if there is less
communication gap and misunderstandings then it shall be helpful in teamwork and
leadership. Develops growth opportunities- The intercultural competencies helps in planning various
expansion plans of capturing the target market across the world. This helps in smooth and
efficient functioning of the multinational companies and improves their sustainability and
operational efficiency in the business. Creates competitive advantage in the industry- The various attributes of the cross-
cultural competence like working with coordination, cooperation, harmony and mutual
respect shall be beneficial in generating competitive edge over others in the industry
(Szkudlarek and et.al., 2020).
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 Avoiding conflicts- This is also one of the most prominent benefits of developing
intercultural competent traits as this helps reduce chances of conflicts and
misunderstandings amongst the professionals.
Enrichment of the intercultural competence and various qualities associated with it has been
undertaken in many ways:-
 One of the ways to ascertain good knowledge of diversified cultures is through
developing the workforce training programmes. These monitoring sessions shall sharpen
the skills of the employees regarding how to carry business with culturally different
people (Adamczyk, 2017).
 Another major influence can be made by celebrating the varied festivals, occasions, foods
so that the staff stay enlightened with the diverse traditions and their practised norms.
 Practising good manners and etiquettes in the organization shall also play key role in
facilitating better relations across the borders.
 Permitting the communication of subordinates with the colleagues of different culture
shall boost their morale and can be used as expatriates and send to other countries for
operating the business.
 Generate awareness regarding the various time zones, languages, beliefs and encouraging
behavioural changes according to the cultural diversity.
 Self introspection and learning about own self is also an important part of inculcating the
competencies among the subordinates. It is ensured that once an individual is self aware
it is easy for them to understand the sentiments of other people.
Major influence of cross-cultural efficiency can be felt when the multinational companies send
their competent employees to other countries as expatriates. These expatriates operate in the
international markets and promote their business (Alon and et.al., 2018). This shall expand the
business, exploit the cheap resources of foreign countries, widen the target customers of the
company etc. This shall ultimately be profitable for the company as well as the economy.
There are various challenges also that are faced by the companies while they foster this
knowledge among their employees like increases the employee turnover ratio if the employees
are not able to adapt to changes. Sometimes it can demotivate them, generate barriers to efficient
communication and can build complexities in understanding of the diversities across the
international borders (Van Heugten and et.al., 2017).
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It can be summarised that the intercultural competencies is very essential to survive in the
international markets. To compete successfully in the diversified cultural and business
environment it is necessary for the employees to have cross-cultural knowledge. Majorly in the
era of globalization this practice becomes more essential for the smooth conduct of the business
across borders. This shall help in boosting the revenues of the company and the probability to
grow in the future.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Pikhart, M., 2018, September. Multilingual and intercultural competence for ICT: accessing and
assessing electronic information in the global world. In International Conference on
Multimedia and Network Information System (pp. 273-278). Springer, Cham.
Ibrahimª, Z., Abdullahb, F. and Ismailc, A., 2016. International business competence and small
and medium enterprises. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 224. pp.393-400.
Szkudlarek, B. and et.al. 2020. Communication and culture in international business–Moving the
field forward. Journal of World Business. 55(6). p.101126.
Adamczyk, M., 2017. The importance of cultural differences in international business. Central
European Review of Economics and Management. 1(2). pp.151-170.
Alon, I. and et.al. 2018. Business cultural intelligence quotient: A five‐country
study. Thunderbird International Business Review. 60(3). pp.237-250.
Van Heugten, P. and et.al. 2017. International perspectives on the profile of highly talented
international business professionals. Journal of education for business. 92(7). pp.323-
331.
Online:
The Importance of Communication in International Business. 2021. Online. Available through:
<https://bizfluent.com/facts-6933179-importance-intercultural-communication-
business.html>
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