Importance Of Intercultural Communication In International And Intercultural Business Context

Can actively listen, observe, describe, and explain the behaviours that relate to personal development, leadership, consultancy, and to effective intercultural communication, both for self and for others
Can articulate and communicate an understanding of the relevance of effective intercultural communication in international and intercultural business context

The Importance of Mindset and Skill Set

According to Bennett and Bennett (2004), training and development may be a diverse field and the people employed come from different corners of the world which makes them a diverse group full of different ideas and insights. There have been many types of research which have shed light on the different perspectives of diversity. Organizational diversity has always been existent due to the presence of employees from different corners of the world. They share diverse culture, ideas, insights, views which makes them different from one another. This leads to diversity in communication and organizational development. Diversity occurs in different aspects of life and this diversity affects life to a great extent. In this article, there have been explained different kinds of diverse aspects in the lives of people. Two of the main and important diverse aspects which were deemed as important by me were mindset/skill set and cultural stereotypes. These two aspects have been mentioned by me due to their importance and existence during intercultural interaction among people of different cultures, especially when they work together in one setting.

Mindset is the way that a person perceives a cultural scenario or diversity. The amount of knowledge that a person has towards their own culture and the culture of other people set up the mindset of a person which might be greatly useful in an intercultural communication since it is important that the sentiments of others are not hurt in any way by talking bad about the other person’s culture. The skill set is the way that a person behaves by adhering to the cultural norms and without ignoring the appropriate behavior for other cultures as well. Cultural stereotypes have also been existent in society for a long time. Stereotypes are labels that are given to the people of different cultures which many tend to avoid due to the influence that they have on the mindset of many people. The generalizations that are done on the basis of different cultures may or may not always tend to stand true and have been set due to the behavior of a selected few people which have occurred in the past. People are not treated individually if they belong to a culture and are generalized even if they do not possess certain behavior. This article helps in relating to the other two aspects that have been mentioned in my pre-course assignment text and shows that intercultural communication has several other cultural aspects.

Furthermore, as stated by Deardoff (2006) in the article “Identification and assessment of intercultural competence as a student outcome of internationalization”, there are different factors which were determined to measure the competency of a person in an intercultural setting and how they have succeeded in connecting with people of a diverse culture. There have been insights from different authors on the actual meaning of intercultural competence which have derived that in a basic sense the term means the people are able to successfully communicate with each other even though they have emerged from different cultural backgrounds. Intercultural competence is very important since people in current times are more engaged in intercultural communication due to the nature of work that is present in current times. Competency in communication ensures that people are able to freely communicate with each other without hurting the sentiments of the other person. The skills that are required of people to gain the competency in communication with people of diverse culture are derived from the different societal and political influences that are present in everyday life. The article focuses on four approaches of intercultural communication competence which would be able to completely define the actual concept and meaning of intercultural communication. These approaches are the trait approach, perceptual approach, culture-specific approach, and behavioral approach. These four approaches focus on the different aspects of human life which can be important for a good communication with people from other cultures. Other approaches have also been discussed in this article. The article helps me to understand the different ways that I can effectively communicate with intercultural people through the application of the mentioned approaches which are extensively described in the article. Getting a deeper knowledge of the approaches would also help me in the long ruin and to overcome the two main barriers which have been chosen by me in the pre-course assignment text which are language barriers and assumption of similarities.

Applying Approaches of Intercultural Communication Competence

Hammer, Bennett, and Wiseman (2003), in their article “The intercultural development inventory” describes the importance of intercultural incompetence in domestic and global contexts. Intercultural communication is a very important factor in today’s time since there are many opportunities where people could improve on their relations with the help of intercultural communication. This is why an effective communication is needed so that people understand each other and form strong bonds which would be helpful in the long run. In the article, a model is described to show intercultural sensitivity where the development model is used. The model helps to understand the sensitivity which is present in intercultural individuals and what can help overcome those. A thorough research has been done in this article which discussed the different aspects of intercultural sensitivity and how the cultural difference among the people can affect them and the factors which are responsible for such differences. This article would help me to understand in calculative detail the concept of intercultural communication and what factors affect it so that I may be able to overcome those in a more practical approach and with the help of several empirical evidence. The global need for intercultural communication is supported by the people who are trying to learn the different ways through which they can overcome the differences that are brought about by the diversity in culture and behavior. Even though cultural diversity will always remain, the extensive positivity of such diversity should be derived so that it is not taken in a negative light and can help people connect with each other without any barriers or set back on their part.        

The pre-course assignment text talks about the concept of intercultural communication and how it is different for every person in society and for people to belong to different cultures. The assignment states that if there is not a positive attitude which is incorporated in these intercultural communications then there can arise several issues and false perceptions which can hurt the sentiments of the individuals belonging to the other culture. The assignment is based on an article “Stumbling blocks in Intercultural Communication” which was written by LaRay M. Barna and included six different barriers which are present in a cultural dimension. The six barriers are language differences, the assumption of similarities, preconceptions, and stereotypes, tendency to evaluate, high anxiety and nonverbal misinterpretations. These six barriers are often found to be existent during any intercultural communication scenario. I have taken into consideration two barriers which are found to be important for me and very common when speaking to people of other cultures. Language is a barrier is the most common as is the assumption of similarities. I have understood from my everyday life experiences that the major problem faced by people while communicating in other language is the difference in the language and this creates a barrier for understanding each other. To avoid such complications or is necessary to overcome the barriers and make effective communication.

Based on the research that has been done by me in the past few days, I can say that a lot of insight has been gained by me on the concept of intercultural communication. There are certain ways which could ensure that the communication with individuals from other cultures are effective and is done without any barrier or hindrance. For this to occur a good understanding of different cultures needs to be present with the individual. In an organisational context as well, I would have to make sure that I have every basic and intricate detail about the client or the person that I would be communicating with so that I would not create any problems during my communication with them. I would also have to overcome the most common barrier that is present during such communications and that is the language barrier. For a smooth communication, I would either have to learn their language or would have to find a common language which both the parties will be able to understand. Finding a common language is much easier since learning a new language in cases where the communication is either sudden or urgent is not a possible matter. Furthermore, while working in an organization I have to keep in mind that I would have to shed all misconceptions and generalizations that I have come across till the current time and approach the cultural diversity with an open mind. Doing so would help me to connect with the individual better and in a much effective way since I would be away from any misconceptions that might be attacking the culture and blocking the way for an effective communication with the person. By following these certain strategies, I would be able to make effective intercultural communication in the long run and also gain knowledge about different cultures with time.

References:

Bennett, J. M., & Bennett, M. J. (2004). An integrative approach to global and domestic diversity. Handbook of intercultural training, 147-165.

Deardorff, D. K. (2006). Identification and assessment of intercultural competence as a student outcome of internationalization. Journal of studies in international education, 10(3), 241-266.

Hammer, M. R., Bennett, M. J., & Wiseman, R. (2003). Measuring intercultural sensitivity: The intercultural development inventory. International journal of intercultural relations, 27(4), 421-443.