Intercultural Communication between Russia and Brazil - Term Paper Example

Intercultural Communication; Russia & Brazil Introduction Intercultural communication between different people of diverse cultures has always been an important trend, which is persisting over the years in business context. In the process of international trade, intercultural communication is most commonly observed. Notably, intercultural businesses focus more on developing communication systems than that of modifying the pattern of business. The reason is that it is the communication aspect, which supports the business organisations to conduct international trade effectively (Palmer et al., 2006). The notion of intercultural communication states sharing messages, ideas or opinions and understanding those across two of the different cultures. With regards to the intercultural communication system prevailing in the context of business, it can be stated that it binds the people of various nations to express their respective ideas towards the attainment of predetermined targets (Allwood, n.d.). It would be vital to mention that intercultural communication is one of the most fascinating areas within the business communication system and requires numerous interesting areas to be covered within it. In understanding the dimensions of intercultural communication within the business context, it is necessary to understand various attributes such as values, rituals and culture of the organisations involved while conducting business. With this concern, the term paper intends to compare the intercultural communication system between Russia and Brazil. For the completion of the term paper, a comparative study will be conducted through thorough analysis of business along with cultural issues and multidimensional aspects prevailing within Russia and Brazil. Multi-Dimensional Analysis The multi-dimensional analysis framework of intercultural communication can be determined based on two major determinants i.e. communication and conflict styles in business and use of media in communication. Thus, the comparison of intercultural communication between Russia and Brazil will be analysed based on the aforementioned elements of multi-dimensional frameworks. These have been described in detail hereunder. Communication and Conflict Styles in Business Personal relationships are viewed as the base for the development of business culture in Russia. The Russian executives believes that trust and mutual relationship is the path for the advancement of effective business culture and structure. Observably, various departments of the Russian business corporations tend to develop proper relationship with each other so that effective communication can take place between them. It has been apparently observed that the people of Russia make use of culturally loaded words in their conversation. In addition, they believe that maintaining social politeness in their conversation will assist them to gain personal relationship. It means while they speak with anyone, they avoid offences and support the views of their customers, portraying their social politeness (Russian Communication Association, 2013). On the other hand, Brazilians believe that what they feel, they must express it. They strongly believe that friendly relation is adequate towards forming profound social and professional relationships. The people of Brazil communicate using emotional words to express their respective ideas, opinions or messages with others (World Business Culture, 2013). It can be apparently observed that the communication style is quite different in Russian and Brazilian business culture. In this context, people belonging to Russia usually speak cultural words portraying empathy to develop social relation, whereas Brazilians express what they feel. In this situation, it is likely that conflicts may arise if both the countries are unaware of the communication styles of each other. Use of Media in Communication It is often observed that the people of Russia make proper use of media in their communication process, as they believe in supporting the views of the listeners. Internet is the most commonly used media in the process of international trade. With the adoption along with the execution of pioneering technologies in modern business, it can be viewed that Russia largely uses internet medium for conducting efficient international trade with other regions of the world (Chaykovskaya, 2012). On the other hand, Brazil uses social along with digital media for both entertainment and commercial purpose. This signifies that Brazilians are much open in communicating with the people or their customers. In relation to the business context of Brazil, social media is used as one of the effective communication tools for marketing the products or services to the targeted customers. The people of Brazil do not hesitate to express their opinions or statements in open air with social media (Josephi, 2010). The above discussion signifies a contradictory relation existing between the communication media, which use by Brazil and Russia in the business context. It can be concluded in this regard that people of Russia makes positive use of media, whereas Brazilians makes both positive as well as negative use of media while performing their respective business activities and forming effective communication with the foreign countries in the international trade system. Cultural Issues The people of Russia are quite demonstrative in nature. They do not portray a friendly nature at the initial meeting. In the corporate culture of Russia, it can be apparently observed that people often shake their hands at their first meeting. In the business meetings, people belonging to Russia generally prefer wearing formal attire. According to the Russian culture, wearing of very light and bright colours depict sign of laziness and unreliability. In relation to cultural aspect of business, the male and female executives of Russia often wear suit, tie, and pantsuits along with formal dresses respectively in the workplace and official meetings. It has also been observed that the people of Russia are quite punctual while starting their work at the workplace. This ritual, which follows by Russian people eventually, creates a favourable advantage to the organisations along with the customers. The other inherent quality of the Russian culture is that while attending and conversing any business meeting, it is necessary that the person must use proper language and also look after the correct use of body language (eDiplomat, 2014). In order to compare the cultural aspects between Russia and Brazil, the theoretical framework of “Hofstede’s cultural dimensions model” can be taken into concern. Relating to one of the elements of this model i.e. ‘individualistic v collectivistic’, it can be apparently observed that Russian culture fall under the category of collectivistic aspect. This might be owing to the reason that a majority of the people of Russia believe in conducting collaborative work or making shared efforts. On the contrary, Brazilian culture fall under the category of individualistic approach as the people belonging to Brazil are much inclined towards making individualistic efforts rather than collaborative one (Hofstede, 1993). On the contrary, the cultural along with the ritual norms of Brazil are of informal type as compared to that of Russia. This represents that the Brazilians are much influenced towards Western culture, wherein they believe to be an open communicator with others. In this similar context, it is often observed that the people of Brazil use the first name for calling a person. Even if the person is elder to him/her, the first name is commonly used for calling others. According to the Brazilian culture, offering a gift at the first meeting is not mandatory, rather it is preferable that the person provides lunch or dinner at the meeting to express the gratitude. It is desirable that a person shakes his/her hand with everyone present in a meeting, so that etiquettes are expressed to the utmost level. In this case, it can be ascertained that the cultural aspects of both the countries are quite similar to each other. In contrary, it can be termed that the people of Russia are more cultured focussed as compared to that of the Brazilian, as they believe in behaving socially and politely with the people to construct a healthy and personal relationship. In this regard, the people of Brazil believe in developing formal relationship not with social politeness but with clear expression of thoughts and opinions while communicating with the other parties (International Business Centre, 2012). Business Issues With regards to compare the business related aspects between Russia and Brazil, autocracy and centralised decision-making are the inherent styles of management that are often observed in huge business organisations of Russia (World Business Culture, 2013). Evidently, the companies of Russia are usually run by a single authority, which is solely responsible for making effective decisions and solving any sort of problem. Alongside, the most common styles of management prevalent in Russian business are centralised and directive (KPMG, 2012). The top management always issue direct instruction to their subordinates and the subordinates are obliged to follow those instructions. For this reason, several Western based companies operating in Russia face ample challenges due to lack of initiative as well as support from the Russian staff members while there lays the requirement of performing collaborative work. However, it is also observed that the top- level managers appraise their employees for performing better job. In relation to the business meetings that are conducted amid Russian organisations, it is often observed that people tend to involve very little in verbal feedback, rather believing in visual feedback during the conduct of meetings along with the proper display of body language. The Russian business executives strongly believe that having face-to-face meeting is more effective as compared to the sending of messages in written format. All the above mentioned facts portray that Russian business environment follows cultural values along with ethical terms in daily business activities for creating along with developing a strong and healthy relationship with the business partners (Ayios, 2004). On the other hand, the business culture of Brazil is identified to be quite different from that of the Russian culture. The business culture of Brazil can be better understood with the help of two significant elements of “Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory” i.e. ‘uncertainty avoidance’ and ‘individualism v collectivism’. This can be explained with reference to the fact that the executives of Brazil tend to show low level of tolerance towards uncertainties that occur in the business organisations. The business people of Brazil have the ultimate goal of controlling all the operational departments so that any kind of unexpected risks or problems are avoided or prevented. Apart from these, it is often observed that all the decisions of the business are made by the top-level managers and the information is passed on from this group level to the low-level in accordance with the hierarchical position. The business houses, which engage in conducting business with the international partners, try to develop the knowledge of corporate structure in order to give proper shape to their respective businesses. In the business meetings of Brazil, it is highly required that the people must involve in verbal communication, which constitute theatrical and over emotional attributes (World Business Culture, 2013). One of the vital aspects based on which comparison of these two countries can be made is that the businesswomen of Brazil are less conservative in their dress code as compared to that of the Russian women. Hence, from the above analysis, it can be affirmed that the business culture of Russia is quite different from that of Brazil. However, the management style prevalent in both the countries can be found quite similar in nature. Conclusion Based on the above analysis and discussion, it can be affirmed from a broader understanding that the Russian and Brazilian culture is quite different from each other. The people belonging to Russia are inclined towards the following of cultural beliefs and traditions, whereas Brazilians are the open communicator i.e. they always believe in expressing what they feel. It is worth mentioning in this similar concern that the Russian people follows proper formal dress code during the conduct of business meetings, whereas Brazilians follow formal as well as casual attire for attending the business meetings. One of the similarities, which can be apparently observed between these cultures, is that the top-level officials of the business corporations belonging to both the countries are often involved in making effective decisions and their respective subordinates are directed towards following instructions provided by them without any discussion or debate. Hence, according to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory, it can be concluded that both the cultures differ from one other in terms of various constituents of the aforementioned model such as ‘uncertainty avoidance’ and ‘individualism v collectivism.’ References Allwood, J. (N.d.). Intercultural communication. The Danger of Stereotypical Descriptions, 1-25. Ayios, A. (2004). Trust and western-Russian business relationships. United States: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Chaykovskaya, E. (2012). Russia’s Internet use surges. Retrieved from http://themoscownews.com/business/20120418/189642926.html eDiplomat. (2014). Russia. Retrieved from http://www.ediplomat.com/np/cultural_etiquette/ce_ru.htm Hofstede, G. (1993). Cultural constraints in management theories. Academy of Management Executives, 7 (1), 81-94. Josephi, B. U. (2010). Journalism education in countries with limited media freedom. United States: Peter Lang. KPMG. (2012). Doing business in Russia: your tax and legal lighthouse. KPMG in Russian and the CIS, 1-45. Palmer, J. C., Ruiz-Garrido, M. F., Fortanet-Gómez, I., & Fortanet, I. (2006). Intercultural and international business communications: theory, research and teaching. United States: Peter Lang. Russian Communication Association. (2013). Russian cultural values and workplace communication styles. Retrieved from http://russcomm.ru/eng/rca_biblio/b/bergelson03_eng.shtml World Business Culture. (2013). Brazilian communication styles. Retrieved from http://www.worldbusinessculture.com/Brazilian-Business-Communication-Style.html World Business Culture. (2013). Brazilian dress code. Retrieved from http://www.worldbusinessculture.com/Brazilian-Business-Dress-Style.html World Business Culture. (2013). Russian management style. Retrieved from http://www.worldbusinessculture.com/Russian-Management-Style.html Read More