Topic > How Ethnic Differences Affect Global Business

IndexCommunicationWorkplace ProtocolOrganizational HierarchyLanguageMediaCultural DomainsConflictMultinational and cosmopolitan groups are becoming increasingly common, meaning creations can arise from progressively varied knowledge, wicked and original, innate methods to business problems. However, beyond the well-being of insight and knowledge, global organizations also face potential obstacles when it comes to culture and international business. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayAlthough there are different ways to define culture, simply put it is a set of common and accepted norms shared by a society. But in an international business context, what is common and accepted for a professional from one country, could be very different for a foreign colleague. Recognizing and understanding how culture influences international business in three main areas: communication, etiquette and organizational hierarchy can help you avoid misunderstandings with colleagues and customers from abroad and excel in a globalized business environment. CommunicationFor the success of any company, a communication efficient is very important, but when there is a real risk that our message is "lost during the transition", somewhere it becomes particularly serious. English is the real language of business and in many countries many people are not fluent in that particular language. The method of conveying the message is more important than a particular language. Furthermore, mastery of English can provide practical improvement on a universal level. It can be equally crucial in international business to understand the importance of refined nonverbal communication between cultures. Some actions may be unusual or even offensive to the foreign colleague or client: whether it is a firm handshake, direct eye contact, or a kiss on the cheek. So doing research on different cultures is the best way to interact with individuals. We should take care of body language and when in doubt we should ask. Navigation. Sensitivity, openness, and curiosity can help put everyone at ease when navigating intercultural communication. Workplace Protocol From around the world, different tactics for specialized communication are just one of the immeasurable differences in workplace habits. In dealing with colleagues from different countries the formality of address is an important consideration. We need to worry: do they prefer titles and surnames or is it acceptable to be first name based? While several countries tend to use the terms "Mr./Ms." officials. Surname", in most Asian countries such as South Korea, China and Singapore. Americans and Canadians tend to use the name in places other than Asian countries. Formal errors are usually the safest thing whenever someone has doubts. In an international business environment, the idea of ​​punctuality can also differ from one culture to another. There are many different ideas, for example if someone is not punctual, this can often lead to negative cultural perceptions and can also lead to misunderstandings , if a Canadian arrives at the meeting a few minutes early, but on the other hand an American or Mexican colleague can arrive several minutes or more after the scheduled start time and will still be considered on time in the workplace. rules and regulations and expected working hours lead to differences in attitudes along with differences in etiquette. There are different ways of thinking about thingsdifferent, for example working long hours is considered a sign of commitment and success, while another thought is that working extra hours is a sign of lack of efficiency or reprioritization of essential family or personal time. Organizational HierarchyOrganizational order and attitudes regarding administrative functions can also vary widely between different cultures. In meetings, when you question senior decisions or express a different opinion that may be dictated by cultural norms, junior and middle management positions most likely feel comfortable speaking up. Furthermore, these values ​​and attitudes are considered to be the reflection of the country's social values. or level of social equity. For example, Japan is the country that traditionally values ​​social hierarchy, relative status, and respect for seniority brings this approach to the workplace. Within the organization, they help define the rules and responsibilities are best defined by the hierarchy. This also means that those in senior management positions demand respect and expect a certain level of formality and deference from junior team members. However, in some countries such as Norway, which emphasize community uniformity, they tend to have a moderately fluid organization. classification. In turn, this may mean relatively informal communication and an emphasis on cooperation within the organization. One can easily understand why these cultural differences can pose a challenge when defining parts in multinational teams with distinctive hubris and structural pyramid belief. As part of our mission to become the most relevant business school in the world. Much of this preparation recognizes the role culture plays in world affairs. In many ways, today's business environment, with students from 130 nationalities collaborating and studying together. And not only are our students multicultural, so is our faculty. Many have lived, worked and taught in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and beyond. Outside the classroom, students have the opportunity to experience life, culture and commerce in today's most dynamic business centers through our global campus rotation program. This international learning environment offers a truly global perspective and unique insight into culture and business practices from around the world. LanguageLanguage, our main communication tool, is perhaps one of the most important barriers and a fundamental cause of problems in intercultural communication. It is important because through language one acquires culture, including the norms and code of social interactions within the community, along with the structure of meanings and social relationships that are fundamental to future social interactions. In addition to language, space, time, body gestures and writing styles have different meanings in each culture. Some cultures like to maintain a distance or more personal space during face-to-face communication, while for others physical contact is a very important part of the interaction. Different cultures define time differently and place different values ​​on the past, present and future. Furthermore, vocabulary, grammar, and the meaning of tense vary widely around the world. Cultural differences in language influence the interaction of personal skills and supporting technologies, which results in differentiation of behavioral skills and leads to differences in the ease with which one speaks. which participation in communication can take place” (p. 297). Likewise, theLanguage is an important factor influencing high-performance teamwork within such multicultural VTs, especially in corporate environments. For example, irrelevant messages (phrases, idioms, sayings) can easily be interpreted as offensive statements by non-native speakers. Media To work collaboratively for multicultural teams, the communication medium itself is an issue. The way media is used in different cultures may differ. There is reason to believe that there are links between cultures and the use of certain ICTs. low individualism (collectivistic culture) probably predisposes a culture against CMC, because these media deactivate the group effect. Information systems “have built-in value biases that reflect the value priorities of the culture in which they are developed.” Therefore, there may be slow acceptance rates or different user preferences for certain types of technology across different cultures, and the consequence could be as fatal as project failure. For example, some cultures may process information differently (e.g. verbal/analytical or visual/holistic, linear or simultaneous), give a higher or lower priority to different types of information, and have different degrees of satisfaction with various information systems. Communicators might invent ways to solve problems such as using a distinctive writing style. Domains of Culture In several studies, researchers have explored the relationship between CMC and the influence of three dimensions of Hofstadter's model, including uncertainty avoidance, individualism-collectivism, and power distance. The uncertainty dimension and found that countries that are in the zone of high uncertainty (i.e. fear of ambiguous situations or risk avoidance) use electronic media less often since these media are not as good at reducing uncertainty as those face-to-face and other media-rich channels. The effect of majority influence in CMC between individualistic and collectivistic cultures; where they found that there is a relationship between the impact of CMC on majority influence and national culture. As CMC replaces face-to-face and verbal communication, it diminishes the influence of the majority in an individualistic culture, but researchers have not observed the same change in a collectivistic culture. They recommended a way to overcome this problem in a collectivistic culture, which is to allow people to use CMC with content anonymity. They also noted that anonymity of content allows people to contribute ideas more freely, although it is unclear how this might affect majority influence in a collectivistic culture. Regarding power distance in cultures where managers and workers are separated by a large power distance, the leveling effect of CMC-based group support systems is significant. However, no smoothing effect of CMC on power distance; furthermore, such a leveling effect of CMC was not seen as desirable in high power distance cultures. Conflict People who work together, whether in the same location or in distributed environments, can expect to experience differences in perceptions, opinions, communication, interpersonal style, and values. The reason for these differences is that the values, norms, and code for social interactions in our culture are programmed in our minds to process the behavior of others according to the beliefs and knowledge structures of our own culture. When two people with different perceptions and value systems meet, it is almost inevitable that each party will misunderstand.