Introduction: Nowadays, intercultural communication is a vital and very important topic when we talk about businesses due to the fact that diversity within the US and companies is increasingly growing. According to William Frey (2015, pg. 1), “a just-released Census Bureau report shows that by 2044, whites will no longer comprise a racial majority in the United States. By then, the nation – like today’s Los Angeles – will be made up of a kaleidoscope of racial groups, including Latinos, Blacks, Asians, Native Americans and multiracial Americans.” As we can see, diversity is playing an important role in the US, and will play a more important one in the future since it is predicted to grow. A research performed by Sheen Levine
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Language, as the medium of culture, constitutes a key part of culture since it possesses a unique cultural connotation because the differences between languages is a principal characteristic of intercultural communication. Companies from Japan and Korea are most likely to have a linguistic advantage when entering Chinese markets, compared with American counterparts due to the fact that they although they speak a different language, they share the same writing system (Yuan, 2006, pg. 5). As another example, according to Priti Ramjee, “the Western cultures of America, New Zealand and Australia are informal when addressing a business associate and will usually use her first name. More formal cultures such as those found in parts of Europe use titles such as "Mr.," "Mrs." or "Dr.," along with a family …show more content…
Problems of communication and poor dialogue typically arise when persons from different social and cultural contexts fail to understand each other properly. Even if a speaker is genuinely interested in communicating with another person, it is difficult to secure successful communication if the other person’s customs, beliefs, values about the world are very different from the speaker’s beliefs and values, and if the speaker knows little about the other’s beliefs. For instance, according to Julia Basu-Zharku (2011), American organizational culture values individualism, which emphasizes individual productivity, independence, competence, and achievement. Individual autonomy and task-oriented mentality is what is expected, and individual goals are sanctioned in relation to group interests. In contrast, in Chinese organizational culture, collectivism takes precedence over individualism. Personal matters can never take priority over the group objectives; communal and collective harmony outweighs the specific need of individuals. As a result, according to Yue Li (2012, pg. 5), “Chinese employees may think that the American corporate culture is cold, indifferent and not caring. Similarly, the confident and self-reliant American coworker may have a hard time adapting to Chinese workplace where a people-oriented work atmosphere is
Language, as the medium of culture, constitutes a key part of culture since it possesses a unique cultural connotation because the differences between languages is a principal characteristic of intercultural communication. Companies from Japan and Korea are most likely to have a linguistic advantage when entering Chinese markets, compared with American counterparts due to the fact that they although they speak a different language, they share the same writing system (Yuan, 2006, pg. 5). As another example, according to Priti Ramjee, “the Western cultures of America, New Zealand and Australia are informal when addressing a business associate and will usually use her first name. More formal cultures such as those found in parts of Europe use titles such as "Mr.," "Mrs." or "Dr.," along with a family …show more content…
Problems of communication and poor dialogue typically arise when persons from different social and cultural contexts fail to understand each other properly. Even if a speaker is genuinely interested in communicating with another person, it is difficult to secure successful communication if the other person’s customs, beliefs, values about the world are very different from the speaker’s beliefs and values, and if the speaker knows little about the other’s beliefs. For instance, according to Julia Basu-Zharku (2011), American organizational culture values individualism, which emphasizes individual productivity, independence, competence, and achievement. Individual autonomy and task-oriented mentality is what is expected, and individual goals are sanctioned in relation to group interests. In contrast, in Chinese organizational culture, collectivism takes precedence over individualism. Personal matters can never take priority over the group objectives; communal and collective harmony outweighs the specific need of individuals. As a result, according to Yue Li (2012, pg. 5), “Chinese employees may think that the American corporate culture is cold, indifferent and not caring. Similarly, the confident and self-reliant American coworker may have a hard time adapting to Chinese workplace where a people-oriented work atmosphere is