Effect of culture on perception
Intercultural relation can be defined as the interaction of people from different cultures including people from different religious groups of different nationality. In the global market of business intercultural communication has become a hot topic since the market turnover, the success of an organization in the business market and its global spreading solely depends on the intercultural communication and relationship. A study by Piller (2017), stated that the need for effective intercultural communication can be found in all aspect of the business ranging from marketing to advertisement (Neuliep, 2017). In the growing international market, the effective intercultural relationship allows workers from different cultures and perception to work as a group to be a successful business market (Martin, 2015). Furthermore, effective intercultural relationship and communication strategies aid in eliminating the language barriers and stereotypes, which hinders the international business. Therefore, the intercultural relationship in the growing international business can be developed through reflective listening (Collier, 2015). This paper will elaborate how culture affects perception, how non-verbal and verbal communication can be part of the intercultural communication, importance of the cultural identity and reflection of my perception through an academic journey in the following paragraph.
According Oetzel (2017), cultures play a massive role in moulding us into the people we are today. It creates the environment of shared belief, the way of thinking and method of interacting with people coming from diverse cultures. Therefore, culture is dynamic and constantly changing across the world and it has a huge role in influencing our behaviour and morals. for example, I have experienced that individual belong to Asian countries such as Indian, Vietnam, South Korea, the perception of showing respect to the individual who is older is diverse from western countries such as Colombia. Due to the different cultural background, the perception of greeting others differs from each other (Liu & Almor, 2016). In Asian countries, they avoid calling by name, they respect the hierarchical position of individuals, initially. Therefore, Asian cultures are influenced by the Confucian theory of human nature, which indicated that it is rude to call an elder person by name (Kastanakis & Voyer, 2014). On a different note, I have observed that Colombian are more generous and open-minded in terms of greeting people, since they greet others by Mrs or Mr and prefer to call an individual by names who are at same professional level (Chua, Roth, & Lemoine, 2015).
According to Hu et al. (2017), language is considered as the symbol of culture since it reflects the ethnic origin; a social and spiritual aspect of people belongs to diverse culture or origin. Since language is the way of expressing thoughts and reflecting the cultural background, it strengthens the relationship in the workplace in the international market (Ramdhani, Ramdhani, & Ainissyifa, 2017). For example, the countries of my group mates, Vietnam and Korean have a different language from the people live in Colombia, which reflects their culture. Non-verbal communications are also part of culture since it reflects the way a person greet others (Willoughby, Hall & Luczak, 2015). From my experience from the interaction with my group mate, I observed that Colombia people greet others by handshakes or hugs where they are more open-minded. On the other hand, my other group mates belong from as Korea and Vietnam wave hands during the interaction; they are not open to physical interaction.
Language and non-verbal communication part of the culture
Language can be the biggest barriers, especially in the growing international market (Gómez-Puerto, Munar & Nadal, 2016). Although, my different team members belong to different origin and countries, we mostly communicate through the English language (Reed, 2014). However, due to different language roots miscommunications often between us and during dealing with the business professionals (Gnyawali et al., 2016). The prime cause of miscommunication is that the professionals from business ground tend to talk to their native language for respecting their culture that in turn created miscommunications (Horrey et al., 2015). it can be reduced by intercultural communication skills.
Although cultural values and their effect on women differ due to different cultural beliefs and up bring, the gender roles are defined in even country. In rapid economic changes, Asian countries such as India, South Korea, and Vietnam, women rarely take part in the business ground (Parr et al., 2015). They represent the oppressed part of human nature, stringent due to cultural changes but recently inspired by Confucian theory women gained the empowerment to take initiatives to establish their identity in the global market (Hess, Blaison & Kafetsios, 2016). On the other hand, from my perception of my teammate, in Colombia, gender roles are less defined and women are more empowered, open-minded compared to the individual from the Asian countries.
A study by Díaz et al. (2015), suggested that culture is the potential barriers for the individual who are migrating from different country due to different religious beliefs and different personal habits. Due to stringent rules of government and ignorant cultural beliefs, the majority of the individuals struggled to establish their identity (Willoughby, Hall & Luczak, 2015). Being an Indian, when I migrated to New Zealand, it was difficult to fit into the cultures of New Zealand since Indian cultures differs from the New Zealand and behavioural habits also differs from each other. Therefore, I had undergone different internal processes in order to establish myself New Zealand.
The cultural identity is a crucial aspect of every individual since it gives a sense of belongings to a particular group (Gómez-Puerto, Munar, & Nadal, 2016). The cultural identity of individuals is defined by the traditions they are carrying while I pass through the family line. By owning the culture one, add values to the cultural identity (Gómez-Puerto, Munar, & Nadal, 2016). being an individual from India, I adopted traditions and embrace few norms which represent my cultures and it differs from the cultural values from my teammate who are belongs to Vietnam, South Korea, and Colombia due to different cultural adaptation and brought up. The different cultural identity also increases cultural conflict.
Considering the establishment of business with the international group, intercultural communication and relationship plays a crucial role in providing innovation in the business market and ensures the sustainability of the business (Gnyawali et al., 2016). For example, in order to establish a successful business it is crucial to wear proper attire, developed skills to communicate with the client from other culture and express yourself. Consequently, it will strengthen the relationship between business partners and aid in closing the contract with the foreign client(Hess, Blaison & Kafetsios, 2016). From my personal experience, I have observed that the business dress code of India, South Korea are different compared to Colombia. Colombian is more stringent about business dress code where they prefer to wear dark colored pant and jacket. Indians and South Koreans mostly prefer to wear a shirt and long sleeves. Therefore, during any business meeting, wearing business attire according to the culture of the business client along with respecting own culture help in establishing a successful business. Moreover, intercultural relationship communication aid in sharing the idea between businesses collaborates coming from a different culture. Although sharing of ideas gives rise to conflict, it also provides an opportunity to open to other business ideas for innovation and sustainability (Liu & Almor, 2016).
Language and nonverbal communication as barriers of culture
In a world of globalization, people can use any kinds of technology in order to connect with the different corners around the globe. Interestingly, the communication is not limited to the purpose of interactions rather it has a huge influence on making a business successful. In my academic journey, I have observed a few cultural differences within my group mate who belong to countries such as Vietnam, South Korea, and Colombia (Hofstede Insights, 2018). Based on a theory of Hofstede, it has a 6 dimension such Power Distance Index, Individualism-Collectivism, Masculinity-Femininity, Uncertainty/ Avoidance, Short-term, and Long-term orientation (Hofstede Insights, 2018).
in the business communication team, we are four members belong to four different culture and the theory explained to me that there certain difference and similarities that amongst us that helped me to understand the intercultural relationship and our business partner France.
According to Hofstede, the first dimension is power distance where I and my two group mate from South Korea and Vietnam scored in between 67 to 78 out of 100. My experience during the journey showed that the Asian countries are affected by a structure in the society and organization. On the other hand, Colombians are more prone to believe inequity power observed in higher authority. Considering Individualism and Collectivism factor, by all team members are more collectivist in nature, it helped me as a team member to resolve specific problems with collaboration with other team members. On the other hand, while dealing with the client from France, they believe in individualism, which gives rise to conflict (Liu & Almor, 2016). Considering Masculinity and Feminine, Vietnam and South Korea believe in feminism where they prefer work flexibilities and holidays (Gnyawali et al., 2016). However, on the other hand, my other teammate from Colombia and me, we are a strong believer of the masculinity and work-life success, highly competitive in nature. Considering the uncertainty of avoidance, from my experience with the support of Hofstede, I have observed that me and my other teammate from Vietnam we are more open to unexpected things but my other teammates from South Korea and Colombia, they are more structural and avoid any uncertainties. Considering long-term terms orientation, I have observed that people belong to Vietnam are very much situation orientated, we are more open to other ideas coming from the different individuals and encourage modern changes. On the other hand, Colombians, Korean are more dependent on respecting their traditions. Therefore, while dealing with the business the openness of us reduce the conflict with the business client. Indulgence, according to my perceptions Colombians is countries that are more indulgent in nature compared to the India, Vietnam and South Korea. Colombians possess optimistic attitudes and priorities their leisure times. Thus, in order to establish successful business few factors need to compromise with each other.
In my academic journey of business communication, I have realized that in order to establish the business and successfully dealing with the client I need to consider their cultures which involves their unique ways to greet initially, their business attire, their unique way of expressing themselves and their way of describing others. Before becoming members of the international business, I was unaware of the intercultural communications and how to greet others for establishing successful business with clients belongs to cultural background. after acquiring knowledge about the intercultural communication and how to apply it in my business, I developed my skills of intercultural communications, I respect client s and their cultural believes. I gather information before dealing with any client from a different culture. I become more open to unconventional ideas and share thoughts with others in order to come up with a better business strategy. Moreover, I developed skills to manage conflict in the business ground and it will further help me to work with my teammates and establish my identity in international business.
Cultural values and their effect on women
Conclusion:
Thus, it can be concluded that in the global market of business intercultural communication is crucial for dealing with a client coming from different cultures. Effective intercultural relationship and communication strategies aid in eliminating language barriers and stereotypes, which hinders the international business. Culture is dynamic and constantly changing across the world and it has a huge role in influencing our behavior and morals. Non-verbal communications are barriers to the culture since they give rise to conflicts and miscommunication between individuals. Therefore, after learning business communications I developed skills for communicating with the business client and respecting their cultures.
References:
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