Basics of Intercultural Business Communication

As Bill Davila knows, the first step in learning to communicate with people from other cultures is to become aware of what culture means. Our awareness of intercultural differences is both useful and necessary in today's world of business.

Understanding Culture

Person may not realize it, but he belongs to several cultures. The most obvious is the culture he shares with all other people who live in the same country. But this person also belongs to other cultural groups, such as an ethnic group, a religious group, a fraternity or sorority, or perhaps a profession that has its own special language and customs. So what exactly is culture? It is useful to define culture as a system of shared symbols, beliefs, attitudes, values, expectations, and norms for behavior. Thus all members of a culture have, and tend to act on, similar assumptions about how people should think, behave, and communicate. Distinct groups that exist within a major culture are more properly referred to as subcultures. Among groups that might be considered subcultures are Mexican Americans in East Los Angeles, Mormons in Salt Lake City, and longshoremen in Montreal. Subcultures without geographic boundaries can be found as well, such as wrestling fans, Russian immigrants, and Harvard M.B.A.s. Cultures and subcultures vary in several ways that affect intercultural communication:

• Stability. Conditions in the culture may be stable or may be changing slowly or rapidly. • Complexity. Cultures vary in the accessibility of information. In North America information is contained in explicit codes, including words, whereas in Japan a great deal of information is conveyed implicitly, through body language, physical context, and the like.• Composition. Some cultures are made up of many diverse and disparate subcultures; others tend to be more homogeneous. • Acceptance. Cultures vary in their attitudes toward outsiders. Some are openly hostile or maintain a detached aloofness. Others are friendly and co- operative toward strangers. As you can see, cultures vary widely. It's no wonder that most of us need special training before we can become comfortable with a culture other than our own.

Difficulties of Intercultural Business Communication

The more differences there are between the people who are communicating, the more difficult it is to communicate effectively. The major problems in inter-cultural business communication are language barriers, cultural differences, and ethnocentric reactions.

Тема заняття: Гроші. Державна та іноземна валюта.

Money is not the only measure of success in life. For most people in our modern-capitalism world, money is the first thing, and sometimes the only thing that measures success in their life. Money can buy power. Money can buy fame. Money can buy time. Sometimes money can even buy a life. So money has become the first common goal for everybody. However, there is something else that can be the measurement of success in life. One important thing that defines success in our lives is our careers. With different careers, we will have different goals and measurements of our success. If you are an athlete, your success can be measured by lots of things such as wining tournaments, breaking records, playing in the top league or competing in the Olympics. If you are a scientist, the success in your life will mostly depend on your researches. One line of formula that can prove your theory is true can be the great success in your life. If you are a writer, you will probably succeed if your book gets on the best-selling shelf in the bookstore or if your works get published in a magazine. If you are a musician, playing in the country’s orchestra or a number of your CDs that have been sold can be counted as the measurement of your success. So we can see that another measurement of success in your life besides money is how much you have succeeded in your career. Success in human life is often measured by numbers. Therefore, everything that can be counted can be used as a measurement. Again, these measurements vary with each career. If you are an athlete maybe it is the number of tournaments or the number of matches you have won. But if you are a writer, it is probably the number of your books that have been sold out or if you are a musician it might be the number of your CDs. Sometimes it could be even a silly thing like the number of girlfriends you have. In fact, it is human nature that we always want to compare ourselves to others. In almost every career there is money involved, and maybe that is the reason why people always look at money as primary measurement of their success - they can easily compare it with the others. The other measurement of success in our lives is awards. For the scientists one of the greatest accomplishments in their life is to win a Nobel Prize, for the writers there is the Pulitzer award, for actors and actresses there is an academy award, for musicians a Grammy’s and so on. These things are different from the other measurements in that it is judged by other people not ourselves. Besides those measurements we can compare them with other people or let other people measure our success, sometimes just accomplishing our wishes or dreams can be measures of success in our lives. So it does not matter that you have won the world championships or just the tournament in your school, working in the biggest company in the country or just set up your small company. If it is your dream, you have already succeeded in your life. The common goal in people’s life is to be peaceful and happy. Being the richest man in the world does not mean you are the happiest man in the world, although money can buy you happiness sometimes, but not always. So another measurement of success you are in your is how happy your life is. It might be having a warm family and children, having lots of friends or maybe just having someone who truly loves you. In addition, as times change, the measurement of success in life also changes. For examples, wealth, thing that many people use to judge success in one’s life, is changing when time has passed. Thousands of years ago when humans were still a cavemen, it might have been how big you cave was. Hundreds of years ago it might have been how big your land was. Today it is how much money is in your bank account, so maybe in the future it might be something else.