What is intercultural business communication?
Intercultural business communication concerns communication that arises during business relations with people from different cultures. Such interaction is increasingly inevitable with the growth of globalization and the assurance that any significant enterprise can expect to encounter some form of intercultural business communication during various transactions. This type of business interaction can be displayed from several aspects, including the influx of people from other cultures and exports of enterprises to other cultures.
One of the main reflections in intercultural business communication is the use of sensitivity during such communication that it does not offend people of other cultures. The desire to be sensitive can be limited by the ignorance of other people's cultures and the basic understanding of their standards and values. The reason is the fact that no culture can be described as the best or correct culture in the exclusion of other others. What makes sense in one culture may not make sense in another. In intercultural business communication, behavior as would normally happen in their own culture, can lead to the occurrence of unintentional crimes.
Example of this phenomenon can be seen in cultural practice of shaking hands. While most cultures accept this kind of greeting in their companies, some would actually consider it offensive under various circumstances, especially when very young people try to shake the hands of older entrepreneurs. In some African cultures, such behavior is often considered extremely disrespectful, especially when a younger person initiates a handshake. Understanding the cultural etiquette would lead to the understanding that the elders must start a handshake. Younger people would earn more business points if they behaved in a more default way, especially when they represent the company they represent some kind of benefits of the second company.
The influx of immigrants to different countries around the world means that a typical society has a culturally diverse representation of employees. In this type of networkUACE could introduce a corporate culture where these people are integrated into society, while still communicating with them in an informed and respectful way about some important aspects of their culture. The same is true during the intercultural business communication process with people from other countries during the marketing process. The slogan that could be admitted in one country could be perceived differently in another. Advertising that could work in one country can also be offensive in another, and therefore a comprehensive market research on a specific culture must be included in the highest priority list.