Challenges that Make Intercultural Communication Ineffective - Case Study Example

Intercultural Awareness for Business Affiliation: Introduction Holliday explains that intercultural communication refers to ways through which information is passed across people of diverse cultures. Communication of this type is effective to intercultural relationships since it teaches about other people’s culture and cultural backgrounds. There are numerous challenges that make intercultural communication ineffective. Some of the primary barriers/challenges include stereotyping and political contexts that lead to bias and, therefore, hinder objective communication (Holliday, 2010). As such, this paper will discuss various approaches/ imperatives used to study intercultural communication. Subsequently, it will discuss the need for intercultural communication skills in relation to business studies. Theories of intercultural communication will also be discussed. The paper seeks to assert that elements of deep culture can hinder intercultural communication if not well understood and affect business operations if left unmanaged. Imperatives for intercultural communication and the need for intercultural communication skills in business studies The technological imperative increases the need to interact with diverse cultures. Technological aspects that relate to culture include cultural identity and access to communication technology. Technology changes how people think about themselves and their identity management. It also increases ways in which people communicate such as use of telephones, internet, mobile phones, fax and teleconferencing. Technology increases mobility that places people with diverse cultural practices in physical contact. Mobility makes it easier for people to move to new areas and thus the need to develop intercultural communication skills (Lustig & Koester 2003). Mobility facilitates movement to new locations with different cultural practices. Therefore, there is a need for people to learn intercultural communication skills in order to embrace technology and use it to their advantage Technological advancement affects culture which in turn affects business relations and operations, and hence the need to establish the linkage between these aspects. Technology boosts businesses in terms of increasing efficiency and productivity. However interaction with people is critical in streamlining business operations (Holliday 2010). Technological advancements in communication break some cultural barriers that hinder business communication. For example, some cultures prohibit women to hold face to face conversations with men (Martin & Nakayama 2007). Through mobile phones or email services, the two parties can conduct business satisfactorily. Increased mobility due to technological advancement facilitates business opportunities in new areas and thus the need for interpersonal communication skills to facilitate intercultural business interactions The demographic imperative discusses how changes in the population can affect cross cultural communication and business relations. For example, there are two main sources of demographic changes i.e. changing domestic demography and changing immigration patterns. Therefore, population is increasingly becoming non-white and multiracial. This increases ethnic diversity and there is a need for intercultural communication to facilitate social interactions and business activities Chick (2006). There is a need to develop intercultural communication to facilitate business operations as necessitated by the increasing trend of multiracial population and the resulting cultural diversity. All barriers to communication such as racial prejudice and bias must be overcome to facilitate business interactions and thereby, business success. Chick (2006) argues that there is need to develop intercultural communication to deal with cultural diversity that emanates from changing immigration patterns of the demographic imperatives. Failure to manage cultural diversity that results from immigration patterns can lead to breakage of communication and the inability to conduct business interactions. Changing immigrants patterns result in the rigidity of economics class structures and income gap between the poor and the rich (Chick 2006). If intercultural communication is not developed, this gap will increase so much that the two sides will not manage any form of interactions. This will have adverse effects on business success and growth, leading to the slackening of the economy. Changing immigration patterns lead to demographic diversity and cultural differences that are positive in providing linguistic richness, culinary variety, new resources to solve social challenges and increase domestic and international business opportunities According to (Novinger 2001), the economic imperative increases the need for communication skills to facilitate interactions in the global markets and thus facilitate smooth business interactions and operations. Current trends toward globalization imply that a country’s economy is increasingly connected to economies in other countries. Furthermore, the economy is increasingly dominated by multinational corporations that have major resources to compete in global markets. As such, it is vital for businesses to learn how to do business in other countries. To achieve business success in new countries, it is mandatory to learn intercultural communication and cultural diversity of the people in new countries. This increases the need for developing intercultural communication to facilitate business operations in new lands According to (Novinger 2001). For example learning non-verbal cues that are appropriate and the culturally acceptable communication culture will ease business penetration into new markets. Apart from global market, domestic diversity is also a motivational factor for businesses to be attentive to cultural differences. Each country has its own cultural diversity that defines various communities. Businesses cannot succeed in isolation and must interact with communities to understand and address societal needs for a profit. Therefore, it is significant for businesses to come up with or develop effective skills for understanding cultural diversity to increase business survival and growth. For example, attitudes to work differ in different cultures. A business must understand ways of communicating work related issues in a sensitive way to accommodate cultural diversity at work place. Failure to manage this diversity will lead to ineffective management of human resource and the subsequent business failure (Novinger 2001). Chaney & Martin (2013) explain that the peace imperative recognizes the need to develop intercultural communication skills to deal with intercultural conflicts that hinder business operations. Contact among different people often leads to disharmony and conflicts. Conflicts result from misunderstanding of cultural diversity that leads to barriers in communication. For example racial discrimination and prejudice often result in disharmony where the victims remain angry and may use violence as a defence mechanism. This creates a hostile environment for business and other economic activities. Failure to understand aspects of deep culture such as religious beliefs and approaches to relationships may result in conflicts. The personal conflicts that result is dangerous for businesses because the victims may refuse to do business with the perpetrators of cultural discrimination. Conflicts may be escalated to other social areas resulting in permanent enmity in a community/country (Chaney & Martin 2013). Therefore, developing intercultural community communication skills is critical in managing cultural conflicts to provide a stable environment for businesses to thrive. Intercultural communication skills are critical in solving economic disparities that are coupled with the influence of advancement in technology and media. Poorly developed forms of intercultural communication hinder economic development. For example, some cultures prohibit women from social involvement and all forms of communication must be made through male intermediaries (Lustig & Koester 2003). Women form a big population and preventing them from participating in economic activities hinder economic development. In addition, women are main consumers of a variety of products ranging from cosmetics and clothes that form important sectors of any thriving economy. Blocking any form of communication to identify women’s tastes and preferences hinder product innovation. It is thus critical to develop communication skills that will break cultural rigidity and allow women more freedom to determine their own course and increase business opportunities. The self-awareness imperative appreciated the fact that knowing who we are is a critical step in appreciating our culture and the need to develop intercultural communication skills to understand cultural diversity and interactions. Intercultural communication raises awareness of own cultural identity and background. According to Hall (2005), studying intercultural communication begins a journey towards self-discovery and cultural indent of a person’s culture. For example, intercultural awareness makes us own up to ethnocentrism (tendency to think own culture is superior to others). For example an American may dismiss cultural foods such as snails and horsemeat eaten in France and consider them weird. If he openly expresses his disgust among the French, he may hinder all forms of interactions with the people because they feel offended by his ethnocentrism. Therefore, studying intercultural communication help a person appreciate his cultural identity and develop communication skills to manage cultural diversity with other cultures. This increases tolerance of diversity, reduction of cultural disharmony and consequently, a friendly business environment (Hall 2007). Johannesen (2002) argues that the ethical imperative explains how different cultures have different views of what is morally right or wrong. Ethical values differ and what is ethical in one culture may be unethical in another culture. Therefore, there is a need to develop intercultural communication skills to explain the differences in moral values. Well defined communication on ethical views will eradicate ethnocentrism that causes a standoff between different communities and hinder thrive of business. Ethical principles arise from the community consensus of what’s right or wrong. Ethical decisions are based on whether behaviour is acceptable or unacceptable (Johannesen 2002). Although a person may want to do the right thing to better the society, it is sometimes difficult or confusing to grasp what the right thing is in particular situations. Ethical principles are bound to cultures and intercultural conflicts often result from different Notions of the definition of ethical behaviour. Developing intercultural communication skills will help solve the cross-cultural ethical dilemmas that involve standards of conducting business in multicultural corporations. Analysing Cultural Conflicts from the Critical Incident Reading There is an intercultural conflict that results from Raj lateness and failure to apologise for the same. Alice gets annoyed when Raj, who is her junior, arrives 15 minutes late and doesn’t seem to see this behaviour as a problem. According To the American culture, timeliness is a value that is highly esteemed and Americans strictly keep time. They arrive at meetings on time and apologise for any incidences of lateness. The Indian culture is less concerned with time management and more with social well-being (William 2005). Therefore, the conflict results since Alice is keen on keeping time while Raj is more oriented on social aspects such as ensuring that his son gets to school and asking if Alice had settled down well in India. The conflict can be settled by the two people trying to understand the cultural diversity and differences that exist. Understanding the cultural differences will give them a common ground to think from and consider each other’s culture to avoid disappointments and frustrations. According to Wiseman & Koester (2003), structural-functional theory is used to analyse the conflict and support recommended solutions. The theory views society as a complex interconnected system. Just like the human body has different parts that function to form a whole system, culture functions as the structure that exists in the society to meet human needs. For example, culture helps people to connect and work together, find resources to enable human survival and make connections with people who provide care and comfort. Alice Is more inclined to the theory’s aspect of making connection with people and working together to achieve set goals. To minimise the intercultural conflict, she should be more tolerant to Raj and kindly let him know that timeliness is a critical factor in hitting the 20% sales target. Raj is more inclined in the theory’s social aspect of connecting with people who provide comfort and care. He should make efforts to deal with his social errands early so that he doesn’t get ate for business meetings. He should understand that Americans are strict with time and that all delays must be eliminated if the 20% sales target is to be achieved within the given period (Wiseman & Koester 2003). There is an intercultural conflict that results when Raj goes into pleasantries and Alice chit-chat concerning Alice’s new environment. According To Raj’s culture, it would be rude to get into business without knowing how the other person is doing. Therefore, he results to social conversation, asking her hoe she finds Indian food and neighbourhood. He is genuinely surprised when Alice suggests that they get down to business. According to the American culture, a business meeting is strictly business and social pleasantries don’t matter. Americans are very direct and will always go straight to the agenda at hand. Pleasantries take place after completion of business (Wiseman & Koester 2003). The conflict can be resolved using the social conflict theoretical approach. The theory Proposes that cultural traits often poses that cultural traits often benefits some community members more than others. The theory addresses the inequalities that result from culture benefiting some community members more than others. For example, Alice being superior to Raj may have a better say over his performance despite the cultural conflicts that affect the outcome of the meeting. This intercultural conflict can be satisfactorily solved by the two people understanding the cultural differences that make them behave in opposite directions. For example, Raj should have researched on the American culture particularly their preference of direct business conduct to social pleasantries. After all, the employer is an American company, it is only prudent that how to conduct business in the American way. According to the social conflict theory, the American culture seems to be superior to the Indian culture in this context because the company is of American origin. Therefore, Raj must study in depth, hoe to conduct business in accordance with the American culture so as to facilitate business interactions Therefore, Raj must study in depth, how to conduct business in accordance with the American culture so as to facilitate business interactions with Alice. Alice should also study the Indian culture especially how they conduct business and their preference to social interactions (William 2003). This will help her to remain tolerant to Raj as he asks her social questions before commencing business agenda. If she hopes to work well with the Indians to achieve the sales target, she must understand their way of life! Another intercultural conflict arises when Raj goes into lengthy discourse instead of giving specific details when asked to present his unit’s sales strategy. He goes about the history of the subsidiary, past strategies and revenue estimates based on past trends observed in his service line. Alice gets impatient and wonders when he would get to the current business plan. She asks Raj to get into specific details, which completely flusters him. Raj is really frustrated with Alice for thinking that he hadn’t prepared for the meeting and didn’t have specific details. According to him, he was well prepared and only needed time to give all the details (William 2005). According to his culture, Alice should have asked for specific details before the meeting and again, it is her job to get specifics since she is the superior person. Alice is annoyed that Raj was giving unnecessary details rather than what she asked For. According to her, this meeting was a waste of time and she was disappointed at him for being so unprepared. According to Martin & Nakayama (2007), social biology theory will be sued to analyse the conflict. The theory stated s that culture is not only socially constructed but is affected by human biology. According to the theory, cultural behaviours have persisted and evolved over time because of biological impulses that give priority to survival. Elements of culture such as behavioural norms and values are created based on human biological impulses. Raj didn’t have specific details because he expected Alice to have told her in advance that she needed specific details. Consequently, he resulted to an analysis of the Indian subsidiary success history to prove his competence, which was greatly in jeopardy (Martin & Nakayama 2007). This is a biological impulse to survive the scrutiny that he fell into due to lack of specific strategic details. To minimise the intercultural conflict, Raj should understand that it is his job to be always prepared as the manager of his unit. Since he knew that Alice was coming to discuss strategies to use to achieve the sales target, he should apologise for his failure to provide specific details. Alice should ensure that she sends a memo containing the agenda for meetings and ask for specific details needed. She also needs to remain patient with Raj because he didn’t know if she needed specific details since she didn’t ask for them prior to the meeting. There was an intercultural conflict when Alice kept abruptly interrupting Raj and dismissing his explanations. The conflict resulted because Alice wanted specific details that were direct and to the point. Her culture is more inclined to specific details that saves time. However, Raj comes from a culture that values details and is less strict o time. According to his culture, it is rude to cut someone short in his conversation. Alice’s constant interruptions not his conversation leaves him feeling incompetent and embarrassed that he didn’t make a good impression on her (Kim & Gudykunst 2008). The Indian culture finds it disrespectful to dismiss others and Alice came out as aloof and unnecessarily impatient. The conflict can be resolved using the Structural-functional theory that suggests that people work together and form connections that ensure their survival and completion of tasks. Therefore the two need to work together in identifying their cultural differences and using them to create synergy that will help them achieve the sales target. Alice should cultivate patience and allow Raj to make his points without interruptions (Kim & Gudykunst 2008). She should help him structure his presentations in a brief manner rather than annoy him with constant interruption. Raj should practice giving specific details when dealing with Alice. He should ask her preferred methods of presentations that give accurate but brief details to avoid getting her impatient and wasting her time with unnecessary details. Conclusion Intercultural communication is critical in facilitating intercultural interactions that facilitate business performance. There are six Intercultural communication imperatives that explain the need for developing Intercultural communication skills. These imperatives include technology, self-awareness, economic, peace, ethical, and demographic. Understanding these aspects help appreciate cultural diversity and develop skills to facilitate cross cultural interactions that influence and affect business operations. A close study of the critical incidence reveals time consciousness, attention to details and brevity as intercultural conflicts between Indians and American. The conflicts are analysed using the theoretical approaches of social biological, structural–functional and social conflict theories. References Chaney, L., & Martin, J.2013. ‘Intercultural business communication’. Pearson Higher Ed. Chick, J. K.2006. ‘Intercultural communication. Sociolinguistics and language teaching’. 329-348. Hall, B. J. 2007. ‘Culture, ethics and communication’. (Vol. 9). Sage Publications. 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