business communication that is intercultural

The essence of today's corporate world calls for the introduction of appropriate intercultural approaches to day-to-day business communications. The mode of communication is crucial provided that it allows individuals to connect through societies as the environment increasingly shrinks. Today, people do not only do business with their families or nations; rather, entrepreneurship has expanded over the years and crossed both national and ethnic boundaries through new territories and new projects. Development also contributed to greater encounters with people of diverse ethnic backgrounds, with multiple views on the environment and how people communicate. By saying the world is getting smaller does not mean that the people are getting identical. Instead, it means that entrepreneurs are bound to interact with persons from different cultures. If an individual can effectively handle these differences not only peacefully, but also innovatively and creatively, he or she would be able to survive and thrive in the global village and become a global leader. Various aspects play a critical part in how firms adapt their intercultural communication strategies. The paper will focus on defining globalization, cultural intelligence, and enculturation and acculturation while explaining the roles they play in such communications strategies.
Globalization
As mentioned earlier, intercultural communication among the business community is a vital part of business progression and success as well as the development of the human society. There is no country, even those that are considered to be economically and politically powerful that can achieve the demanded aesthetic and cultural needs and requests of the contemporary society without adopting and applying the global cultural and spiritual heritage in other nations. The world today is arching towards globalization. As such, the issues regarding the place and role of intercultural communication gradually becomes an unavoidable element of an individual and the humankind as a whole. The term globalization can be understood from four key three perspectives including the increased international division of labor and the disappearing borders between countries, the unity of capital, similarities of different cultural values, and everybody and everything together.
According to Mathews and Thakkar (2012), companies that operate in the globalized business environment need to understand how to communicate with customers and employees from different cultural backgrounds if they are going to achieve the organization’s value and mission as well as to build this value to the relevant stakeholders. Despite the fact that advancements in business technology greatly assist these entities in performing their duties in the global scene, the technologies adopted must be in cognoscente with the cultural nuisances that can place obstacles in their effort to enhance profitability and market share (Mathews & Thakkar, 2012). Building an international enterprise requires the adoption of appropriate intercultural communication strategies that would enable it to create a customer-base and achieve competitive advantage over competitors.
Cultural Intelligence
Cultural intelligence refers to an individual’s ability to effectively manage cultural diversity (Yeke & Semercioz, 2016). People operating in culturally diverse environments need to be culturally intelligent in the management of the differences resulting from the variety of the persons involved. Cultural intelligence is based on four primary dimensions including cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and behavioral intelligence. The four aspects enable individuals to decipher the different intercultural approaches appropriate with members of cultures and sub-cultures (Yeke & Semercioz, 2016). Within the context of cross-cultural business communication, people need to have the competency. Meaning, they need to understand behaviors and attitudes of persons from unfamiliar cultural backgrounds. It focuses on the communication process, and the role played by perceptions in the process (Yeke & Semercioz, 2016). While sending and deciphering messages one has to have the ability to notice the cultural differences and implications of the words and symbols used. Without cultural intelligence, it is difficult to understand other people’s communication behavior thus fail to create meaning in their interactions.
Enculturation vs. Acculturation
With the increased intercultural interactions among persons from various ethnic backgrounds, races, and lifestyles, it is vital to building an understanding of the technical nature of the interactions as well as how people feel, think, and act primarily when dealing with international business transactions. According to Dwyer (2013), enculturation is the conscious and unconscious conditioning that happens when an individual either as a child or an adult realizes competency in their culture. Acculturation, on the other hand, is where persons adjust a host’s lifestyle by taking up its symbols, values, and behavior. The process is multidimensional and entails the adaptation of cultural belief, languages, and values of one culture to the structures and norms of the other (often a minority group) (Dwyer, 2013).
In the context of communication, it is essential that the parties involved to have a share a collective meaning. Communication is all about transferring meaning through words and symbols. Likewise, in intercultural business communication, the challenges of interacting are overcome by having shared values, beliefs, and symbols (Dwyer, 2013). Here, one applies the principles of acculturation to understand the ideals, symbols, and values of the different cultures involved and using this understanding in communicating the intended message.
In conclusion, the culturally diverse nature of the contemporary business environment calls for transformative and innovative communication strategies. Intercultural business communication involves adopting culturally acceptable mechanisms that would enable people effectively send and decipher messages in an increasingly diverse working environment. Globalization is the natural cause of the need for intercultural communication. With the world increasingly growing smaller, as a result, improved technologies companies now interact with people from varying cultural backgrounds requiring similarly diverse communication strategies. On their parts, cultural intelligence and cultural acculturation enable people to understand the different values, symbols, and beliefs held by foreign cultures. To effectively communicate with individuals from another cultural background, one has to understand these elements and be able to apply them in their interactions. The three factors play an essential role in both intercultural communication and interactions which help businesses build a customer base and develop a competitive advantage over their competitors while operating in the global business environment.
References
Dwyer, J. (2013). Communication for business and professions strategies and skills. New York, N.Y: Pearson.
Mathews. L. C., & Thakkar, B. S. (2012). The impact of globalization on cross-cultural communication. In Cuadra-Montiel, H. (Eds.), Globalization-Education and management agendas. Washington, D.C: InTech.
Yeke, S., & Smercioz, F. (2016). Relationship between personality traits, cultural intelligence, and intercultural communication competence. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Science, 235(2016), 313-319.