Companies having a cross-cultural communication program will allow management to make better decisions based on cultural differences when dealing with other cultures. To understand what cross-cultural communication is companies should create a program to educate and assist employees with their business decisions. For individuals to truly grasp cross-cultural communication they must first understand what defines a culture. Culture is the system of beliefs on the values created by a group of individuals based on their views on a variety of topics. These views become the norm for the community members since that is what the individuals are, where they come from, and who they want to be (Barker). These items are based on behavior, beliefs, aesthetic stands, patterns of thinking, and style of communication that are all developed over time passed on from generation to generation. Beliefs and values are never inherited they are learned over time. Businesses should take time to realize that understanding cultures are complex and take the time where employees to be expected to work with individuals in other cultures overnight. Cross-cultural communication is the way individuals from cultures around the world communicate when dealing with other individuals at a distance or in person (Hurn, 2). …show more content…
To be successful through cross-cultural communication, individuals must understand the interest, concern, and perspectives of that particular culture group (Scudder). To achieve this degree of communication one must be familiar with the different types of communication used between cultures, which are spoken and written language, body language, and language etiquette (Hurn, 2). This involves researching and asking questions about the culture in which one plans to create a future alliance with through skills acquired from cross-cultural communication (Scudder).
To become knowledgeable about cultures businesses should employ diverse works and implement a diversity program. This will allow their management team to implement and sustain interactions with cultures in various regions. Which will give the leaders of the company the understanding and respect towards different cultures and how incorporate ways for their employees to create positive relationships through a variety of communicational tools through this cross-cultural training program (Barker). Management can start the cross-cultural training by doing a cultural profiling assessment to identify the different type of cultural styles and regions they are planning to expand to into those markets in the near future. This will help the management team place employees in cultures based on several observations from different working conditions, which are potential problems relocating employees, differences between employees, and lastly having a true on going understanding of the particular culture the company looking is looking to locate their employees or to have a long distance relationship. Cultural profiling enables the company to focus on areas of issues with cross-cultural differences in how to provide a better foundation between two different cultures. Companies should focus on understanding and providing a common ground on the issues that may arise when dealing with cultures that differ significantly. This frequent communicational conflict between individuals from different cultures are usually based on the following topics but are limited not limited to the values and attitudes, communication styles, leadership decisions, social and professional behavior, lifestyle influences, organizational characteristics, religious influences, relationships with other countries, and factual data on that particular culture. Having a cross-cultural program that focuses on these areas can assist employees in not only adapting to a new environment but also being able to respond to issues and conflicts that come up after being a part of a new culture. Once understanding the potential roadblocks in cross-cultural communication the company