Cultural Differences in Business

Question: Discuss about theCultural Differences in Business. Answer: Introduction The business arena is the best place to study the different kinds of culture. Culture reveals themselves in the situations like the economy in business which is at stake. The business practices comprise of the cultural attitudes that reflects the work, wealth, power and even communication. The cultural diversity greatly affects the business process involving people from around the world and the way we communicate greatly reflects our culture. In business, communication is the most important factor that provides successful execution and productivity of the business. Due to language disparities, there is loss in business deals as the people involved do not take interest to communicate and interact. Therefore, this leads to the analysis of different styles of communication that varies differently among people and therefore it is a real issue that reflects a business communication. Culture Differences in Business The culture is the key element in business and has an impact on the strategic business plan. Business involves the people and communication plays a vital role in the smooth functioning of the business process. It consists of the etiquettes, behaviour and ethics related to business (Shenkar, 2012). The business culture also encompasses the organizations values, beliefs, vision and working style. The business culture defines the communication between the staffs of cultural disparities at different levels. The values, norms and behaviour of the people have an emphasis on the business productivity and success (Brown, 2014). The awareness in people regarding the cultural differences is effective in communicating to people and in carrying out a business process. A clear understanding of the cultural disparity would help to mitigate the cross cultural issues. In country like Australia, people give importance to the words and the way of speaking (Ferraro Brody, 2015). As the business involv es the countries from across the globe, it is important to note how people behave and communicate while doing business. The understanding of the customer needs and proper delivery of services to them requires intense communication and overcoming of cultural barriers. For this, it is required to understand the cultural background of the customers that would help to adopt and provide them with better products and services. The cultural background of the target audience, company or organization and other aspects are important for the effective business communication. Effects of Cross-Culture on Business Communication Verbal and non-verbal communication affects business communication greatly. The words and gestures during a conversation have great importance in a business process. The cross-cultural barriers during meetings in business influence the business deals to a great extent. The business process consists of diverse cross cultured people so overcoming of the cultural barriers that help in the proper execution of the business process (Guffey Loewy, 2012). A persons perspective is important regarding how they view business in a society. The communication gap greatly hampers the business standards and meeting the requirement of their consumers (Moran, Abramson Moran, 2014). This imprints a bad impression on the business and fail in meeting the requirements of the business. Cross-Cultural Issues On a daily basis, cross cultural issues are reflected in business communication. The business expectations are not understood due to cultural disparities leading to failure of meeting standards in business. The language is the most vital and challenging aspect in the business arena (Welzer, Jaakkola, DruÃ… ¾ovec Hlbl, 2013). People coming from different cultural backgrounds speak different languages and misunderstandings occur. The people act impatient or aggressive while approaching a business meet that greatly affects business deals. The miscommunication arising due to different cultures and countries greatly affects business consuming lot of time (Adekola Sergi, 2016). The cross cultural differences greatly affect the internal business meetings as it reduces its proficiency (Adler Graham, 2017). There are problems arising due to misinterpretation among the people from different cultures and society while addressing business on a global basis. People intend to view their beliefs right and objecting out the other persons that raise serious cross cultural issues. The behaviour and body language is also a cross cultural issue affecting the business communication on a large scale. The different cultures have different body languages including facial expressions that also create misunderstandings while communicating during business deals. The non verbal communication also creates a barrier hindering business communication (Asante, Mike Yin, 2013). The analysis of cross cultural issues is important in business communication and in meeting standards of business. Communication Models to Analyse the Cultural Differences The Lewis Model This model is proposed by Richard Lewis plotting the culture of the whole world on a chart. It is used to study the cross cultural differences that affect business communication. The model is helpful in studying the cross cultural disparities in the world. The Lewis model shows different aspects of cross cultural communication and its analysis (Katan, 2014). The model shows how people behave differently coming from different cultural backgrounds. The model states how people from different cultures differ in aspects of handling interpersonal space, eye contact and silence. The model also reflected the different communication styles of people and their language patterns. It explains the views and perspective of people regarding truth as negotiable or truth and also their adaptations in different situations. Lewis addressed that cultural behaviour is a reflection of what we normally learn and inherit in the form of beliefs and values. It is the collection of the programming of mind and the power to distinguish members of one group of human from another. Lewis plotted the countries into three categories of linear actives, multi-actives and reactive variants. The countries under the linear active group consist of English speaking people comprising of Australia, Britain, New Zealand and North America. This group is easy to identify. The reactive group consists of Asian and present in all major countries. The multi actives are present in scattered form comprising of cultures from South America, Arab, Mediterranean, South Europe and cultures from Middle East. This categorization by Lewis was done to group the countries according to their behaviour patterns, traits, talkativeness, emotions, body language, work ethics, sociability and other commonalties (Neuliep, 2014). It also shows the descriptions under the categories and the areas where there is a need for change in the attitude. This model clearly states and explains the behaviour and attitude of people country wise and makes easy to study the cultural differences for effective communication in every aspects. Conclusion Cultural barrier is a big hindrance in business communication hampering the business execution process. In a business process, people come from across the globe. The cultural differences play an important role in the business process involving individuals, states and countries working together. Overcoming the cultural barriers and disparities would help to achieve the standards of business. In order to study the cultural differences and to make efficient business communication, Richard Lewis designed the widely accepted model. The Lewis model explains the attitudes of the countries and their values helping to study and understand the values of cross culture that would help to establish cultural norms in an effective business world. References Adekola, A., Sergi, B. S. (2016).Global business management: A cross-cultural perspective. Routledge. Adler, N. J., Graham, J. L. (2017). Cross-cultural Interaction: The International Comparison Fallacy?. InLanguage in International Business(pp. 33-58). Springer International Publishing. Asante, M. K., Miike, Y., Yin, J. (2013).The global intercultural communication reader. Routledge. Brown, J. M. (2014). How Can Cultural Differences Affect Business Communication?.Small Business. Ferraro, G., Brody, E. K. 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