Intercultural communication is crucial in the development and maintenance of the international business. People must travel to overseas countries and effectively communicate with foreign clients, coworkers, and clients to benefit from different markets in today’s competitive economy. Culture strongly influences values, world views, perceptions, behaviour, language, and how managers interact with others. Managers should learn about the culture of the individuals with whom they interact and personal traits to better understand how others may view conflicts. This is typically referred to as intercultural communication competence, and it can enhance understanding of the various expectations. Identity, motivations, and representations are three significant conceptual aspects of communication. By integrating the various intercultural theories, managers have effective ways of solving problems in international business.
Intercultural management attempts to investigate explicitly the interactions of staff members who are defined by their cultural distance and various organizational cultures. Theoreticians aim to minimize misunderstandings by describing and comparing the qualities of culture to contribute to greater collaboration and growing business efficiency. In this context, intercultural management can be viewed as a management form way of comprehending the diversity of various cultures, incorporating the values on which these crops are premised in the performance of the various business functions, and incorporating ethnically high sensitivity with overall strategic implications (Szkudlarek et al., 2020). For instance, when an institution becomes too set in its aspects, it can curtail progress because it is reluctant to consider better ways of doing business. The manager’s role is by no means easy, but it does add a new dimension and a unique challenge to the art of administration that should be met for human elements of institutions to prosper. Getting feedback and risk taking to open up communication channels, whilst being accountable for feelings and actions, would go a long way toward reducing misunderstanding.
Intercultural theories aid facilitating negotiations in the business realm. Cultural conflict in negotiations occurs for two major reasons. Foremost, it is normal for people to depend on stereotypes when challenged with cultural differences. Stereotypes are regularly derogatory. For example, Italians are infamous for being late, resulting in distorted preconceptions about a counterpart’s behaviour and costly misinterpretations. It is important not to make assumptions depending on ethnic preconceptions (Koester & Lustig, 2015). It is crucial to remain aware of their cultural context and how yours might be interpreted (Hussain, 2018). Cross-cultural conflict negotiations may be particularly rich in prospects for counterparts to exploit differences in attitudes, initiatives, perceptions, and principles. Another common cause of cross-cultural misunderstandings is that managers may interpret others’ behavioural patterns, principles, and perceptions through the lens of their culture (Chitakornkijsil, 2010). To overcome this predisposition, it is essential to know as much as possible about the cultural context of the other party (Ilie, 2019). This involves different result cultures’ customs and behaviour patterns and comprehension of why people would follow these traditions and exemplify these behavioural patterns.
While there is no way to assure that a given international assignment will be productive, business owners can proactively increase the probability of a fruitful cross-border venture. Managers on assignment will learn the practices and basic principles that are accepted as the norm in their new location through incorporating the intercultural theory of representation (Froese Peltokorpi & Ko, 2012). Managers can better adjust to a different nation by following this theory, which leads to better business outcomes. For instance, managers on assignment in Asian countries can integrate intercultural theories to effectively understand the nation’s ethnic workforce. Intercultural theory can also educate managers on interacting with people in their new destination in both personal and professional settings. Managers will find it easier to form strong working relationships if they receive ongoing culture awareness and training, increasing their productivity.
Despite the existing benefits offered to managers to solving business issues, there are numerous impediments to intercultural communication in solving issues in the business realm, such as ethnocentrism. Ethnocentric variables contribute to a more narrow-minded perspective of how things should work, even though there are innumerable ways to accomplish the same objective. The Japanese desire to believe that they are distinctive and may try to figure out outsiders while believing that foreigners will not comprehend them. This hinders intercultural communication because it inhibits people from knowing and accepting the customs and standards of other cultures (Bennet, 2013). Chinese, for instance, are accustomed to following instructions and not voicing their concerns and may feel anxious when American managers and executives do so. In this instance, the Chinese Individual reflects an ethnocentric outlook. A person’s intuitive sense of right and wrong is not adverse as long as it satisfies seeing things from somebody else’s point of view to confront their own.
Conclusion
Interactions are an inevitable part of life, and communication is used to create and maintain institutions. Messages are encoded and decoded differently by individuals from different cultures. Communication is a key topic in international business because a company’s performance is dependent on the proper interpersonal communication among the members, making effective communication a practical skill. It is an important quality in general, and managers increasingly recognize intercultural competence as vital to success due to the difficulty of the company’s business, which requires efficient communication. Research is required to assess the additional benefits and implications of integrating intercultural management. As workforces become more culturally diverse, managers will have to know what happens when individuals from diverse ethnic backgrounds interact.
Bibliography
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