National Cultures and Subcultures - Essay Example

Cross Cultural Communication Name Institution Date Introduction According to Bovee and Thill (2000), individuals belong to a variety of cultures that incorporates national cultures and subcultures which are based on regions and tribes, corporate or organization cultures, professional or functional cultures. People from various cultures perceive situations differently. A person can find it hard to communicate with another person from different culture due to their different interpretation of situations. Cross cultural communication therefore need to be developed to streamline interpersonal communication, particularly in business industry. Cultural awareness model is the best practice that can be used to deliver effective cross cultural communication. This paper therefore describes cultural awareness as the best practice model. It analysis personal experience against the model, evaluate the model as an effective indicator and further suggests improved best practice that can be feasibly implemented within the context. Cross-cultural communication According to Dodd (2007), the best practice to apply in cross cultural communication is cultural awareness. Cultural awareness is the capability of individuals to view past themselves and to be aware of cultural values of other people. What may be obvious and acceptable to individuals, may be unusual or unacceptable in another culture. Cultural awareness therefore entails continuous development of an individual’s awareness of his or her own culture and cultures of other people, so as to assist in development of an individual professional duty. Cultural awareness may include learning about traditional beliefs, words’ meanings, remedies, customs, gestures, important days or holidays, activities and rituals. It can also be looked at as a foundation of communication that entails the ability of a person to stand back and become aware of cultural values, beliefs and perceptions of not only his or her culture but also of other people. Being knowledgeable about other people’s culture is a key to effective cross-cultural communication. Cultural awareness is usually very important in interpersonal communication. It is of great help when interacting with individuals or staffs from other cultures. With cultural awareness, individuals are able to view, interpret and assess stuffs in different ways. In most cases what is usually considered as a good behavior in a given culture is usually bad behavior in another culture. By understanding this, individuals are able to relate well globally. Cultural awareness is a vital skill in provision of services that are culturally appropriate. Businesses through understanding of particular culture’s norm are able to deliver services that are in line with the values, norms and beliefs of that culture. Cultural awareness recognizes that individuals are shaped by cultural background that influences how the world is interpreted, how people perceive themselves and how they relate with other people. By having this knowledge, individuals in an organization are able to work effectively in the global market thus promoting international business. As far as interpersonal communication is concerned, cultural awareness has some limitations. It usually results into misunderstandings. As a way of demonstrating cultural awareness, a person can use his or her own understandings to make sense of another person’s reality, thus resulting into misinterpretation of another person’s culture. In Italy, for instance, Americans are usually viewed as individuals who often work and converse about business over lunch and take their coffee as they run in the street instead of doing it in a bar. Italians therefore normally view themselves as lazy and Americans as hyperactive. This however is not the case. The meaning the individuals attach to particular activities such as having lunch or dinner varies among these two groups of individuals. In Italy, lunch, dinner or simple pauses for coffee have social connotation since relationships in this nation are highly valued. People usually get together to converse, relax and get to know each other better. In the United States of America, people value time very much, lunch times can be utilized for closing deals where people discuss the results and sign contract as they take coffee. Italians therefore, by applying cultural awareness model, they usually find themselves misinterpreting Americans culture since they usually use their own meaning to make sense of Americans reality. The best way of overcoming problems that are associated with cultural awareness are through understanding how to interpret scenarios within the diverse culture in the world. Many people around the world come from culturally diverse backgrounds where various styles of communication and various value systems operate differently. The way these individuals perceive situations are also very different. Phatak (1997) observes that the differences in culture are marked by clearly observable national and ethnic characteristics. The differences can be strongly identified by various languages, dress and festive. Some differences are very strong and distinct to identify particular family groups or individuals’ place of origin, for instance, the tartan cloths of Scotland and click language of bush people in Kalahari. Management of cultural difference is very essential in businesses performance, thus calling for strong cross cultural skills among company’s employees (Dodd, 2007). Cultural awareness greatly assists in developing these skills. The need for strong cross cultural skill in current business environment is very important than ever before. Ardener (2007) argues that globalization and change in demographic patterns in many parts of the world has resulted to significant increase in multicultural businesses. Many people are currently turning towards international business due to economic recession and opportunities that are provided by web. Cross cultural skills that are required in multicultural businesses that are based in a given country is not similar to cross cultural skills needed in international business. The cultural differences of doing business with various nations greatly influences cross cultural skills in international business. The stronger the cross cultural skills, the simpler will be to obtain strong global business skills and get more customers internationally and thus improving the performance of an organization (Bovee & Thill, 2000). To achieve cross cultural skills it is important to effectively make use of cultural awareness model. Application of cultural awareness model for effective cross-cultural communication is more than just knowing cultural differences among individuals. It is about accommodating the perspectives of other people on certain practice, even if the perspectives are not similar. By doing this, a person will be reducing ethnocentrism that can obstruct complete understanding of communications that an individual is involving in and thus reducing the range of skills of communication and available business strategies. For instance, in Australia, individuals may find themselves unaware of the cultural stereotypes they have been enculturated to accommodate. Nodding the head in Australia is a confirming sign of agreement. This may not be the case in some Asian nations. In these nations nodding the head may be assign of respect that affirms personal status as the speaker. It is important for an individual to be culturally informed so as to ensure effective communication among cultures. As explained in social exchange theory, certain information, regarding individual culture needs to be disclosed to other interested persons. Individuals need to be satisfied with other people’s self interest. As argued in the social exchange theory, the major force in interpersonal communication is satisfaction of self interest of every one. According to this theory, interaction among individuals is similar to economic transaction, that is, an individual can opt to maximize rewards and minimize costs. This therefore implies that a person will be ready to reveal his or her information if he or she accept the cost-benefit ratio. The ability to implement high level cultural awareness can be promoted by learning the language and other meaning systems that operate in a particular culture. The capability can be improved well by uncertainty minimization strategies aimed at minimizing the complexity of the abstract of messages content, a lot of active listening and looking for quick and more regular feedback. Competence in cross-cultural communication can be improved in similar way as interpersonal communication. Cultural awareness assists in exploring cultural issues that are sensitive to other people. Understanding of sensitive issues in a particular culture greatly promote cross cultural communication within an organization since business leaders easily knows how to handle situation that incorporate such issues. Information concerning a particular cultural practice assists in increasing cultural understanding by giving an overview of cultural characteristics and issues. It is however, important to a person needs and preferences and recall that no person can be minimized to a set of cultural norms. Discrimination due to cultural background is thus reduced (Rosenhauer, 2009). Cultural awareness is really helpful in cross cultural awareness. It assists in maintaining positive communication among individuals from different cultures. When an individual, who knows a lot about cultures, realizes that something is not going on well in the conversation, he or she may decide to stop or slow down and think. Being a person well versed with culture, he or she will be able to identify where the misinterpretation arises. This is possible since an individual who is well versed with cultures, normally knows how different cultures interpret a particular scenario. Cultural awareness is of great help in business profession. Having right individuals with high level of cultural awareness and intercultural competence is currently very important when working across borders and cultures. Taking cultural awareness as an alternative can be very costly for a company working internationally. Cultural awareness is very important for every employee working across different cultures (Rosenhauer, 2009). Lack of cultural awareness on the other hand can result to major miscommunication and ultimate denial by host-culture colleagues, clients, neighbours and acquaintances. As an asset for many international employees, cultural awareness is very important to them, since by being culturally aware, they can be sent to live and work abroad. Cultural awareness is also important for organizations that are planning to integrate with or obtain another company or people who are employed with counterparts and clients across the world (Ardener, 2007). Programs for cross cultural training ensure that workers are equipped with a set of skills and tactics that can enable them to be successful when working across cultures. Global assignees moving to another nation can benefit from living and working in cross-cultural relocation program. On the other hand, a person undertaking business in another culture can benefit from a nation’s specific cross cultural training program for business and management. When employees are provided with chances to participate in cross cultural training program, their cultural awareness will be developed and thus assisting them to avoid the risk of major miscommunication or global failure (Dodd, 2007). Culture is a vital factor in international business. Though several business transactions make economic sense, the capability to fulfill profitable relationships successfully always depends on being capable to reconcile global differences that arises from different cultures. Managers therefore need to participate in the processes of learning so as to develop global cultural competence. Cross-cultural training enables managers to obtain both knowledge and skills to fulfill cultural agents’ role. Developing cultural intelligence and global cultural competence is important to the upcoming success of managers and leaders operating in an international context. Cultural awareness training is a simple, cost effective and long term solution for several organizations. As part of part of international business that is well prepared the provision of intercultural training to employees usually make organizations to reap excellent rewards. Equipping main employees such as managers and sales workers with the knowledge of dealing with other cultures guarantees both higher success rate when working globally and immediately provides an organization with a competitive edge (Adekola & Sergi 2007). Cultural awareness training provides participants with two types of training. One focuses at a particular nation or culture and how business can be done in the specified nation or culture. For instance, in case an organization is planning to commence a relationship with china, the training program for china cultural awareness will the organization to such areas as applying intermediaries, developing relationships, gift giving etiquette and ways of entertainment. The second type of training can be more general overview of significance of cultural skills, that is, developing what is referred as cultural competence. Cultural competence is about broadening horizons and establishing skills such as flexibility, self-awareness, open mindedness and cultural understanding that can be used across cultures. Cultural awareness training can cause a significant impact on any business or company that needs to maximize their ability internationally. With employees that can work sensitively and effectively with customers, clients and colleagues from different cultures, an organization becomes more competitive and profitable (Adekola & Sergi, 2007). In the context of global business, culture entails multiple levels that span from wide to narrow and various dimensions. On a wide level, supranational cultural variations span many nations and incorporate regional, ethnic, linguistic dimensions and religious. On national level, governments develop sovereign borders to differentiate various nations with political and lawful regulatory systems. In business context, many researches on culture utilize the nation-state as an alternative for culture. Magala (2005) notes that cultural awareness is an important aspect in development of a business. Managers need to participate in processes of learning in cross-cultural training so as to advance not only cultural intelligence but also international cultural competence. Cross cultural training for global assignments comprises a wide range of methods that can incorporate area briefings, lectures or discussions, language lessons, self-assessment exercises, films, role plays, field trips, readings, sensitivity training and cross cultural simulations. Cross cultural training should be coordinated in many phases so as to maximize the learning effectiveness of managers and the performance of an organization. The three phases are pre-departure direction, in socialization and exit debriefing of a nation. The exit debriefing is essential for organizational learning (Rosenhauer, 2009). Adekola & Sergi (2007) argue that though cultural awareness is a better model for effective cross cultural communication, several arguments have been raised for its effectiveness in cross cultural communication. There has been always a need for improved best practice in cultural awareness. The best practice therefore that can be used to provide effective cross cultural communication is through integrating multiple methods. The four major methods that are used in delivering cross cultural training can be combined to provide effective cross cultural communication. The four major methods include intellectual model, the area simulation model, self-awareness model and cultural awareness model. The intellectual model entails traditional classroom approach of general readings and lectures. The area simulation model includes specific activities in a given culture. The self-awareness training method concentrates on identification of strengths and weakness of participants when dealing with various cultures. The cultural awareness model concentrates on theoretical basis for behavioral variations across cultures. Therefore, the solution to effective cross-cultural communication is the combination of cultural methods that enables participants to move from simple to complex learning’s levels (Magala, 2005). Bovee & Thill (2000) note that it is important to use multiple methods in cross-cultural communication since by using the integrated methods the learning process will be developed through development of cultural intelligence and global cultural competence. Cultural intelligence combines the three interconnected elements of understanding, mindfulness and behavioral skills. Global cultural competence moves a step a head with a more complicated skill set that combines cognitive, effective and behavioral learning to efficiently participate in successful cross cultural associations. Global cultural competence is very similar to intercultural communication competence that combines three components. Enhancing person’s ability to operate effectively across cultures, gives positive support in addressing a range of adjustment issues for expatriates who always face culture shock in acculturation (Phatak, 1997). Conclusion From the discussion, it is evident that cultural awareness model can be used to provide effective cross cultural communication. Cultural awareness is very important in business profession. Understanding of individual’s cultures in an organization promotes good relationship among management and employees thus promoting the organization’s development. Application of cultural awareness model for effective cross-cultural communication is more than just knowing cultural differences among individuals. It is about accepting and practicing the way other people perceive a situation. Though cultural awareness can provide effective cross cultural communication, there are other ways of developing improved best practice. Cross cultural communication skills can be best acquired through integrating the four major models, which are intellectual model, the area simulation model, self-awareness model and cultural awareness model. References Bovee, C., & Thill, J 2000, Business Communication Today. (6th Edition). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Ch 3, pp. 60-87. Adekola A. & Sergi S.B 2007, Global business management: a cross-cultural perspective. New York: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Dodd H. C 2007, Managing business and professional communication. New York: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson. Phatak, A 1997, International management: concepts and cases. South-Western College Publishing. Ch 6, pp. 140-170. Ardener S 2007, Professional identities: policy and practice in business and bureaucracy. New York: Berghahn Books. Magala S 2005, Cross-cultural competence. London: Routledge. Rosenhauer S 2009, Cross-Cultural Business Communication: Intercultural Competence as a Universal Interculture. Berlin: GRIN Verlag. Read More