Report on Intercultural Business Communication and Sustainability

This report reflects on two key topics: intercultural business communication and sustainability in Japan. It analyzes a case study involving an Australian businesswoman, Mary, and a Chinese businessman, Mr. Lau, highlighting the importance of intercultural competence and understanding cultural nuances in international business negotiations. The report emphasizes the impact of globalization, the internet, and increased travel on the need for effective intercultural communication. Additionally, it explores the concept of sustainability in Japan, examining its definitions, reporting practices, and the increasing pressure on Japanese companies to adapt to global stakeholder expectations, including issues of governance, supply chain management, and corporate social responsibility. The report stresses the importance of sustainability management in providing assurance on non-financial information and offering advisory services for enhanced risk management and opportunities arising from long-term sustainability trends.

Intercultural Business Communication 1
Intercultural Business Communication
Name of the Student:
Academic Affiliation:
Date:

Intercultural Business Communication 2
This reflection report is about the two major topics that were learnt in class namely the
intercultural business communication and the issue of sustainability in Japan. Based on the case
study in which Mary an Australian had to meet a 55 year old man a Mr. Lau for a business deal, I
learnt a lot from the topic. For instance, I was able to ascertain the numerous benefits that
emanated from the intercultural competence and also became fully aware of numerous theories
which can be anticipated in possible issues in the intercultural communications that are more
likely in influencing relationships in the cultural groups that are culturally diverse (Sharma et al,
2018). Through this topic, I was able to ascertain the numerous strategies which can be used in
enhancing intercultural communication on a personal level when dealing with the Chinese.
It is through the topic (Intercultural Business Communication) that I was able to ascertain
that culture was capable of affecting the human activities on not only a personal but also on
national, global, as well as organizational levels. Indeed, making a reflection on this topic makes
me become aware of the fact that culture was capable of affecting numerous contexts such as
international relations, foreign investments, and trade. It is therefore upon me to ensure that I
conduct more research regarding the intercultural communication that occurs between the
Australians and the Chinese when doing businesses (Abayadeera, Mihret & Dulige, 2018). The
topic on the intercultural business communication, the case study of Mary and Mr. Lau has
stressed the need for me to comprehend the importance or benefits of working with individuals
in the development of global management perspectives, intercultural communications
competencies, and even a deeper comprehension of the influence that culture has on both the
multicultural business as well as on the management environments between Australia and China
(Yang, 2018).

Intercultural Business Communication 3
Through the topic on the intercultural Business Communications, I have come to better
comprehend the numerous factors that have given rise towards an increased interest in becoming
well aware of intercultural communication and these include among others globalization, the use
of the internet, increased tourism and travel, and even the emergence of the global economies.
All these factors have brought forth the need for individuals to effectively understand and even
overcome any of the challenges which are associated with the intercultural communication
(Jiang, 2018). The topic has also made me better understand the fact that globalization has
ultimately led to large proportions of people and populations not only being born overseas but
also led to the multiplicity of the languages that are being spoken across the world. Such
circumstances have also subsequently led to individuals communicating intercultural nearly on a
daily basis as thus the dire need of people becoming good at it in both the workplace and
personal contexts.
The situation that Mary has found in requires effective communication in order to have a
viable business conversation with Mr. Lau. This is an indicator that intercultural communication
has become of utmost importance not only become important to managers but also to the
organizations which understand the fact that it is critical for individuals to become intercultural
competent especially when working on the multicultural teams (Fang, Schei & Selart, 2018). It
has made me to reflect on the fact that there is need for most managers across the world to
effectively communicate across the global or international boundaries or borders so that they can
get the relevant expertise to work with individuals who are known to perceive as well as interpret
behavior in totally different ways (Yu & Moskal, 2018).
As business people, it is prudent for us to ensure that we draw on a wide variety on
international relationships and networks since apart from the fact that it will help us in

Intercultural Business Communication 4
understanding that the managerial styles are quite different from one culture to the other, it will
also help us to understand that the cultural differences do greatly matter. Based on
communication research, the topic on the intercultural business communication is quite
beneficial because it helps us to effectively explore what occurs when individuals who have
diverse cultural backgrounds such as Mary and Mr. Lau converse in order to have shared goals
and objectives in complex settings or organizations (Liontas & Siegel, 2018). It is worth noting
that the lack of a cultural expertise on how the Chinese managers behave on the side of Mary
will imply that she will lack the cultural expertise that will be used in making judgments
regarding the varied behavior, emotions, and values which are most likely to play a significant
role.
Based on the case study of Mary and the 55 year old Chinese business man Mr. Lau, the
importance of having success in the initial meetings is highly stressed. That apart, it is also quite
apparent that negotiation with Chinese people is indeed a vital topic in not only global businesses
but also in the cross-cultural management (Wan, 2018). This is attributed to the fact that China as
a country is indeed playing a crucial role in doing business with numerous countries across the
world. As a result, the success that is achieved in the initial meetings with the Chinese is quite an
important aspect for any person wishing to conduct business with them. It was also based on this
topic and the case study that I was able to learn that the initial meetings with Chinese business
people is quite essential in negotiation since they tended to develop the relationships before
ultimately engaging in the actual or real negotiations.
Sustainability Reporting in Japan
The topic on sustainability has made me become aware of numerous definitions of this
term. For instance, sustainability is defined as being the ability of meting own needs without

Intercultural Business Communication 5
necessarily compromised the ability or capability of future generations to be able in meeting their
own needs. Based on the sustainability report on Japan, it is quite evident that this topic is quite
crucial because it provides assurance on the issue of sustainability reporting based on the
evidence from the country (Ogata et al, 2018). The topic depicts how the last “two decades” have
led to significant improvement in the sustainability reporting or SR across the world. It points out
the fact that even though the issue of accountability towards the external stakeholders ought to be
based on the main premise of sustainability reporting, some of the individuals have criticized
both the credibility as well as the completeness of reporting in ensuring accountability and
transparency. The sustainability report is regarded as being an essential tool that can be used in
the management of powerful stakeholders and also ensuring that there is corporate legitimacy in
the business world.
The provision of the Sustainability Report is also capable of enhancing the credibility that
is associated with reporting and can therefore be used in ensuring the transparency and
accountability of the stakeholders. Indeed, the issue of sustainability has now become a common
language for most of the business entities across the world (Hossain et al, 2018). This is
attributed to the fact that sustainability is a significant criterion that is used in the business
conduct across the global or international economy. For instance, as most of the Japanese
markets continue stagnating, it was noted that the Japanese companies were looking for ways of
investing in the overseas markets. This was an indication that sustainability has become
increasingly important.
Based on the topic, it was evident for me to learn that “environmental sustainability
issues” in Japan have indeed been core to most of the Japanese businesses and the country has
since time immemorial been highly concerned with the issue of scarcity of resources. Indeed, the

Intercultural Business Communication 6
topic has made me become aware that the issues to do with environmental sustainability like
efficiency in the energy sector have indeed been quite crucial towards the agenda of
sustainability. Due to the tremendous changes in the global business environment, it was noted
that most of the Japanese companies are actually under great pressure in ensuring that they
effectively adjust their respective business practices so that they can be capable of meeting the
expectations from the diverse stakeholders (Kaur & Lodhia, 2018). One of the significant areas is
the one to do with governance and more so transparency. That apart, it was also noted that issues
dealing with the supply chain management as well as human rights have significant room or
space for improvement in most of the Japanese companies or firms. On the other hand, it is also
quite apparent that the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issue is Japan is also undergoing
tremendous changes thus making the companies in the country to integrate the sustainability
practices in the business models (Gorse et al, 2018).
Conclusion
The issue of sustainability management in Japan should be capable of providing
assurance on numerous forms of non-financial information that has been disclosed by
organizations. There is need for provision of advisory services to organizations which seek
enhanced risk management and opportunities that emanate from the long term trends of
sustainability. I can genuinely assert that the issue of sustainability and the intercultural business
communication are essential in the contemporary world and thus it is prudent to comprehend all
of them and understand how they are applied in the business world.

Intercultural Business Communication 7
Reference List
Abayadeera, N., Mihret, D.G. and Hewa Dulige, J., 2018. Teaching effectiveness of non-native
English-speaking teachers in business disciplines: intercultural communication apprehension and
ethnocentrism. Accounting Education, pp.1-25.
Fang, F., Schei, V. and Selart, M., 2018. Hype or hope? A new look at the research on cultural
intelligence. International Journal of Intercultural Relations.
Gorse, C., Sturges, J., Duwebi, N. and Bates, M., 2018. Reporting Corporate Sustainability: The
Challenges of Organisational and Political Rhetoric. In Smart Futures, Challenges of
Urbanisation, and Social Sustainability (pp. 89-114). Springer, Cham.
Hossain, M., Islam, M.T., Momin, M.A., Nahar, S. and Alam, M.S., 2018. Understanding
Communication of Sustainability Reporting: Application of Symbolic Convergence Theory
(SCT). Journal of Business Ethics, pp.1-24.
Jiang, X., 2018. Intercultural Management in Culturally Diverse Classrooms. Asian Education
Studies, 3(2), p.69.
Kaur, A. and Lodhia, S., 2018. Stakeholder engagement in sustainability accounting and
reporting: A study of Australian local councils. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal,
31(1), pp.338-368.
Liontas, J.I. and Siegel, M., 2018. Speaking and the Development of Intercultural
Communication Skills. The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, pp.1-9.
Ogata, K., Inoue, S., Ueda, A. and Yagi, H., 2018. The Functional Differentiation Between the
International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in
the Sphere of Sustainability Reporting. In Accounting for Sustainability: Asia Pacific
Perspectives (pp. 261-279). Springer, Cham.

Intercultural Business Communication 8
Sharma, P., Tam, J.L., Kim, N., Zhan, W. and Su, Y., 2018. Intercultural Service Encounters
(ICSEs): Challenges and Opportunities for International Services Marketers. In Advances in
Global Marketing (pp. 449-469). Springer, Cham.
Wan, J.Y.N., 2018. Functions of Frequently Used Back Channels in a Corpus of Intercultural
Conversations between Hong Kong Chinese (HKC) and native English Speakers (NES). Journal
of Intercultural Communication, (46).
Yang, P., 2018. Addressing translation issues as intercultural communication barriers in tourism:
language, culture, and communication at play. In Innovative Perspectives on Tourism Discourse
(pp. 292-311). IGI Global.
Yu, Y. and Moskal, M., 2018. Missing intercultural engagements in the university experiences of
Chinese international students in the UK. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International
Education, pp.1-18.