Impact of Intercultural Business Communication

Discuss about the Intercultural Business Communication for Challenges of Urbanisation.

This reflection report is about the two major topics that were learnt in class namely the intercultural business communication and the issue of sustainability in Japan. Based on the case study in which Mary an Australian had to meet a 55 year old man a Mr. Lau for a business deal, I learnt a lot from the topic. For instance, I was able to ascertain the numerous benefits that emanated from the intercultural competence and also became fully aware of numerous theories which can be anticipated in possible issues in the intercultural communications that are more likely in influencing relationships in the cultural groups that are culturally diverse (Sharma et al, 2018). Through this topic, I was able to ascertain the numerous strategies which can be used in enhancing intercultural communication on a personal level when dealing with the Chinese.

It is through the topic (Intercultural Business Communication) that I was able to ascertain that culture was capable of affecting the human activities on not only a personal but also on national, global, as well as organizational levels. Indeed, making a reflection on this topic makes me become aware of the fact that culture was capable of affecting numerous contexts such as international relations, foreign investments, and trade. It is therefore upon me to ensure that I conduct more research regarding the intercultural communication that occurs between the Australians and the Chinese when doing businesses (Abayadeera,  Mihret & Dulige,  2018). The topic on the intercultural business communication, the case study of Mary and Mr. Lau has stressed the need for me to comprehend the importance or benefits of working with individuals in the development of global management perspectives, intercultural communications competencies, and even a deeper comprehension of the influence that culture has on both the multicultural business as well as on the management environments between Australia and China (Yang, 2018).  

Through the topic on the intercultural Business Communications, I have come to better comprehend the numerous factors that have given rise towards an increased interest in becoming well aware of intercultural communication and these include among others globalization, the use of the internet, increased tourism and travel, and even the emergence of the global economies. All these factors have brought forth the need for individuals to effectively understand and even overcome any of the challenges which are associated with the intercultural communication (Jiang, 2018). The topic has also made me better understand the fact that globalization has ultimately led to large proportions of people and populations not only being born overseas but also led to the multiplicity of the languages that are being spoken across the world. Such circumstances have also subsequently led to individuals communicating intercultural nearly on a daily basis as thus the dire need of people becoming good at it in both the workplace and personal contexts.

Strategies for Enhancing Intercultural Communication

The situation that Mary has found in requires effective communication in order to have a viable business conversation with Mr. Lau. This is an indicator that intercultural communication has become of utmost importance not only become important to managers but also to the organizations which understand the fact that it is critical for individuals to become intercultural competent especially when working on the multicultural teams (Fang, Schei & Selart, 2018). It has made me to reflect on the fact that there is need for most managers across the world to effectively communicate across the global or international boundaries or borders so that they can get the relevant expertise to work with individuals who are known to perceive as well as interpret behavior in totally different ways (Yu & Moskal, 2018).

 As business people, it is prudent for us to ensure that we draw on a wide variety on international relationships and networks since apart from the fact that it will help us in understanding that the managerial styles are quite different from one culture to the other, it will also help us to understand that the cultural differences do greatly matter. Based on communication research, the topic on the intercultural business communication is quite beneficial because it helps us to effectively explore what occurs when individuals who have diverse cultural backgrounds such as Mary and Mr. Lau converse in order to have shared goals and objectives in complex settings or organizations (Liontas & Siegel, 2018). It is worth noting that the lack of a cultural expertise on how the Chinese managers behave on the side of Mary will imply that she will lack the cultural expertise that will be used in making judgments regarding the varied behavior, emotions, and values which are most likely to play a significant role.

Based on the case study of Mary and the 55 year old Chinese business man Mr. Lau, the importance of having success in the initial meetings is highly stressed. That apart, it is also quite apparent that negotiation with Chinese people is indeed a vital topic in not only global businesses but also in the cross-cultural management (Wan, 2018). This is attributed to the fact that China as a country is indeed playing a crucial role in doing business with numerous countries across the world. As a result, the success that is achieved in the initial meetings with the Chinese is quite an important aspect for any person wishing to conduct business with them. It was also based on this topic and the case study that I was able to learn that the initial meetings with Chinese business people is quite essential in negotiation since they tended to develop the relationships before ultimately engaging in the actual or real negotiations.  

Challenges in Cross-Cultural Communication

The topic on sustainability has made me become aware of numerous definitions of this term. For instance, sustainability is defined as being the ability of meting own needs without necessarily compromised the ability or capability of future generations to be able in meeting their own needs.  Based on the sustainability report on Japan, it is quite evident that this topic is quite crucial because it provides assurance on the issue of sustainability reporting based on the evidence from the country (Ogata et al, 2018). The topic depicts how the last “two decades” have led to significant improvement in the sustainability reporting or SR across the world. It points out the fact that even though the issue of accountability towards the external stakeholders ought to be based on the main premise of sustainability reporting, some of the individuals have criticized both the credibility as well as the completeness of reporting in ensuring accountability and transparency. The sustainability report is regarded as being an essential tool that can be used in the management of powerful stakeholders and also ensuring that there is corporate legitimacy in the business world.

The provision of the Sustainability Report is also capable of enhancing the credibility that is associated with reporting and can therefore be used in ensuring the transparency and accountability of the stakeholders. Indeed, the issue of sustainability has now become a common language for most of the business entities across the world (Hossain et al, 2018). This is attributed to the fact that sustainability is a significant criterion that is used in the business conduct across the global or international economy. For instance, as most of the Japanese markets continue stagnating, it was noted that the Japanese companies were looking for ways of investing in the overseas markets. This was an indication that sustainability has become increasingly important.

Based on the topic, it was evident for me to learn that “environmental sustainability issues” in Japan have indeed been core to most of the Japanese businesses and the country has since time immemorial been highly concerned with the issue of scarcity of resources. Indeed, the topic has made me become aware that the issues to do with environmental sustainability like efficiency in the energy sector have indeed been quite crucial towards the agenda of sustainability. Due to the tremendous changes in the global business environment, it was noted that most of the Japanese companies are actually under great pressure in ensuring that they effectively adjust their respective business practices so that they can be capable of meeting the expectations from the diverse stakeholders (Kaur & Lodhia, 2018). One of the significant areas is the one to do with governance and more so transparency. That apart, it was also noted that issues dealing with the supply chain management as well as human rights have significant room or space for improvement in most of the Japanese companies or firms. On the other hand, it is also quite apparent that the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issue is Japan is also undergoing tremendous changes thus making the companies in the country to integrate the sustainability practices in the business models (Gorse et al, 2018).

Importance of Intercultural Competence

Conclusion

The issue of sustainability management in Japan should be capable of providing assurance on numerous forms of non-financial information that has been disclosed by organizations. There is need for provision of advisory services to organizations which seek enhanced risk management and opportunities that emanate from the long term trends of sustainability. I can genuinely assert that the issue of sustainability and the intercultural business communication are essential in the contemporary world and thus it is prudent to comprehend all of them and understand how they are applied in the business world.

Reference List

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Hossain, M., Islam, M.T., Momin, M.A., Nahar, S. and Alam, M.S., 2018. Understanding Communication of Sustainability Reporting: Application of Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT). Journal of Business Ethics, pp.1-24.

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Liontas, J.I. and Siegel, M., 2018. Speaking and the Development of Intercultural Communication Skills. The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, pp.1-9.

Ogata, K., Inoue, S., Ueda, A. and Yagi, H., 2018. The Functional Differentiation Between the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in the Sphere of Sustainability Reporting. In Accounting for Sustainability: Asia Pacific Perspectives (pp. 261-279). Springer, Cham.

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Wan, J.Y.N., 2018. Functions of Frequently Used Back Channels in a Corpus of Intercultural Conversations between Hong Kong Chinese (HKC) and native English Speakers (NES). Journal of Intercultural Communication, (46).

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