Intercultural Communication & Negotiation: Adapting Skills in a Global Setting - Essay Sample

Introduction

Intercultural communication refers to the ability of people from different cultures and groups to communicate. Also understanding the different cultures, customs, and languages of people from other countries and seeing how culture affects communication (Holliday, Kullman, & Hyde, 2016). Intercultural negotiations, on the other hand, involve companies adapting their skills in negotiations to accommodate people from different cultures all over the world. Negotiation style mostly in business is relevant when doing international business since it equips the company with cultural competency. When dealing with international business one has to pay attention to cultures of colleagues, partners, co-workers, and customers. However, foreign superiors address any barriers that hinder effective communication. Intercultural communication is important mostly in the business world since companies and other business entities need to adopt necessary intercultural negotiations. The negotiations help to build the relations of prospect business people, customers and co-workers, thus making the business grow and become productive.

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Problems Identification

Language Barrier

There are diverse dialects in different languages. Dialectal changes affect intercultural communication and negotiations. Dialect differences cause changes in the pronunciation of words, vocabularies and grammatical structure which can cause misunderstanding in communication. Language differences also limit communication and negotiations since there exists a language barrier. People who do not understand the language being used mostly in business settings may have unsuccessful business relations (Fatehi & Choi, 2019). This translates to turning down prospect customers, investors or partners in business. Jason, the CEO of the coffee beans for Tokyo firm, lacks the understanding of the Japanese language hence request his sales representative to represent him in the meeting with Dr Yuto since he had some basics in the Japanese dialect. Being the CEO of the company, Jason needs to possess skills that are relevant in conducting international businesses as well as negotiation skills with partners from other countries. The skills will help boost the company's relations and ensure it is at per with the international business standards.

Cultural Diversity

Cultural diversity makes communication and negotiations difficult because of the different languages, symbols, and signs. Cultures also have different word meanings, gestures and behaviours. Cultural differences have impacts on the way people communicate, manners and beliefs. Cultural diversity affects communication and negotiations since without relevant basics, the culture of an individual who seeks to engage in business with, it might difficult to get the business deal than a person from the same culture (Holliday et al., 2016). This has led to many international businesses being unsuccessful since the prospect partners do not subscribe to the same culture. Issues such as religion and beliefs affect the practices of a company since it has to be careful to accommodate everyone. Some companies tend to forego religious practices to ensure all workers and colleagues prioritize the main focus in business since there are many religions represented in the company.

Ethnocentrism

It refers to people regarding their culture, beliefs, and customs as superior to those of others. This creates an attitude that makes people from other cultures feel unvalued hence hindering effective communication and negotiation. Ethnocentrism is also common when conducting international business. People from the cultures considered small tend to have problems establishing themselves in the international business world (Fatehi & Choi, 2019). It is difficult to make business negotiations since most people have set stereotypes about the culture. Business partners may fail to invest in the company due to some stereotyped fears.

Customers may also fail to trust the company's products; workers may reject work offers hence difficult for the company to prevail in the international business. Also, people with high ethnocentricity may have problems communicating with others since they regard them as low and unvalued, thus hard to build business relations. Business requires people to regard others as equal to enable the realization of the company's goals. Failure to regard all as equal may cause the business to be unfruitful.

Verbal Communication Issues

Physical Disabilities

People with speech difficulties and hearing may be disadvantaged by the use of verbal communication since it hinders them from having a successful interaction. In business, people with such problems should be considered, and measures such as sign language interpreters are enacted (Fatehi & Choi, 2019). This enables them to participate in business communications and give their opinions regarding the growth of the business. The people with speech and hearing difficulties may find the customers, workers or even partners who initiate their input to the company is considered a great value. In the international field of business, companies should include all people and their opinions to fit in the competitive world and address the needs of all persons.

Difference in Perception

The people may possess a stand that is different from the person making their presentation; hence the audience may not pay attention. This discourages the person from making the presentation since the prospect partner or customer is not paying the desired attention. In the case study, as Michael was making his presentation, he realized Dr Yuto was not showing engagement (Fatehi & Choi, 2019). Dr Yuto seemed to seek reassurance from other representatives of the company which shows he did not agree with Michael thus not paying much attention.

Use of Jargons

The person making the business presentation may use difficult terms for the audience. This hinders effective communication since the people being addressed do not understand the terms. It gives the person a hard time trying to figure out the meaning of the words (Fatehi & Choi, 2019). Eventually, communication and negotiations will not be successful. In the business world, people need to have a good choice of words that are relevant in the business world. It is because people have different education levels and this must be addressed to meet successful and comprehensive communication as well as negotiations.

Nonverbal Communication Issues

Gestures and Body Language

Effective communication should be accompanied by nonverbal elements such as gestures and body language. The nonverbal cues also apply in business communication and negotiation since they speak pleasure or displeasure of the audience (Bunglowala & Bunglowala, 2015). Individuals also communicate approval or contempt. Dr Yuto hesitantly accepts the gift from Michael which shows he was not pleased and he also does not open it. It leaves Michael disappointed since Dr Yuto's body language and the gesture communicates displeasure. In business, it is therefore important to collect the communications from body language and gestures since they aid in making business moves.

Facial Expressions

Facial expressions in business are as well important mostly when addressing people. They help catch people's emotions such as sadness, surprise or happiness. People nodding and smiling may convey agreement while a surprised face shows displeasure. When making a presentation about a business idea, it is good to focus on the facial expressions of the audience and get their facial feedback (Fatehi & Choi, 2019). Facial expressions are also necessary for making negotiations since lack of approval may make negotiations fruitless.

Eye Contact

It is important to ensure eye contact with the audience since it is a sign of respect and confidence. It also helps one to identify the mood of the people and find ways of involving them. Michael tries to maintain eye contact with Dr Yuto while making his presentation and he was able to note that he was not paying much attention (Bunglowala & Bunglowala, 2015). The presentation did not involve the audience since he spent hours describing his business and trade offers thus made the presentation dull. Dr Yuto does not maintain the eye contact showing that he was bored by the long presentation. This adversely affected the communication process as well as the negotiations on the proposed business.

Literature Review

Fig1: Showing the model of the communication channel

This intercultural communication and negotiation skills model provides the process of communication from the sender of the message to the receiver. Eloquent interactions have advantages since communicator A, sends the message by use of language through the relevant channels and it reaches the receiver fast such that they also give the feedback. The disadvantage of the model is that it does not cater to people with hearing and speech problems since it involves the use of language for communication and negotiations.

Case Analysis

Body Language

The model does not show the use of body language as the people are communicating. It shows emphasis on the use of verbal language (Bunglowala & Bunglowala, 2015). The feelings of the receiver are not well captured. In case of misunderstanding, the receiver can ask the sender to clarify the message.

Language Barrier

The model shows that the sender and the receiver must have a similar language to enable the correct interpretation of the message. The model of communication and negotiation is therefore not suitable where people have a different language (Bunglowala & Bunglowala, 2015).

Cultural Diversity

Different cultures have different perceptions of things. Therefore, this model is only suitable, where there are unanimous cultures, beliefs, and customs (Holliday et al., 2016). This will enable people to use the language they are conversant with thus making communication easy and fast.

Physical Disability

The model is not suitable for conversations between people who have a hearing impairment. This is because the use of language will disadvantage them from hearing, encoding and interpreting the message making communication unsuccessful.

Eye Contact

The sender needs to maintain eye contact with the receiver to know whether they understand the message (Holliday et al., 2016). The perception of the message by the receiver is as well identified, thus enabling the sender to adjust their way of delivering the message to meet the needs of the receiver.

Recommendations

To address the cultural diversity problems in communication and negotiations, mostly in the business world is to ensure the people are trained on embracing each other's culture. The training will ensure people have pride in their culture and they use it to spread peace and cohesion in the company. The Company can set up activities for people to showcase their cultures which can help people appreciate the diverse cultures. People should be made to understand that diversity is beautiful and it should bring people together. Therefore, they should accommodate all people from all c...