Topic 6: Intercultural Business Communication 76 6.3 Barriers to Intercultural Business Communication Today’s increasingly diverse workforce encompasses a wide range of skills, traditions, backgrounds, experiences, outlooks and attitudes toward work – all of which can affect communication in the workplace. Supervisors face barrier of connecting with these diverse peoples, motivating them, and fostering cooperation and harmony among them. As for these reasons, there are certain points of barriers to intercultural business communication which are: - i. Stereotypes andPrejudice Stereotyping is assigning generalized attributes to an individual based on membership in a particular culture or social group. For instance, assuming that India people are outdated with another culture with can’t be one of stereotyping within cultural group. The more serious form of stereotype bias is intentional discrimination or prejudice, in which people hold unfounded negative attitudes toward people belonging to stereotypedgroup. Overt prejudice seems to be less common today than a few decades ago, but it still exists. For example, over each of the past four years, more than one-quarter of Americans say they overhead racial slurs in the workplace. On one recent case, there female advisor in California successfully sued their employer, on the grounds that their male co-workers were deliberately assigned more lucrative clients (and therefore received higher pay) and more administrative support. ii. Cultural Practices Cultural practices are shared perceptions of how people routinely behave in culture because of habit of every culture, cultural practices are one of the barriers to intercultural communication. Understanding and changing their habituality which people tend to do it every day will hard for the people to follow and sometimes they reluctant to change. For example, Malay women may not shake hands with men, and you shouldn’t be offended if when you put out your hand that it is refused. Malay women can of course shake hands with men and women, but at their discretion.
Topic 6: Intercultural Business Communication 77 iii. Social Institution A social institution is defined as a collection of individuals banded together in pursuit of a common purpose. Its common purposes include granting its members certain rights and privileges. Members of a social institution also possess certain delineated duties, responsibilities, and liabilities. As a group, the people making up a social institution share common objectives and goals. Those in a social institution also share social norms. There are many types of social institutions within society. While a general definition of social institutions includes churches and hospitals, the sociological definition revolves around five primary institutions. These include religion, education, and family. Also, government and economy are social institutions. Generally speaking, the term "institution" can have many different definitions, depending on the lens that one is understanding it from. It typically describes a collective of people or ideas. iv. Value System People arrange values into a hierarchy of preferences, called a value system. Some individuals value new challenge more than they value conformity. Others values generosity more than frugality. Each person’s unique value system is developed and reinforced through socialization from parents, religious institutions, friends, personal experiences and the society in which he or she lives. As such, a person’s hierarchy of values is stable and long lasting. For example, one studies found that values systems of a sample of adolescents were remarkably similar 20 years later when they were adult. Because of this reason, value systems can be one of the barriers of intercultural business communication. v. Ambiguity and Conflict Ambiguity, or fallacy of ambiguity, is a word, phrase, or statement which contains more than one meaning. Ambiguous words or statements lead to vagueness and confusion and shape the basis for instances of unclear situation. An example of ambiguity is when a person answers a question in a way that indicates he is not giving all of the details. Conflict is a process in which one party perceives that his or her interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another part. It may occur when one part obstructs or pans to obstruct another’s goals in some way. For example, a baby-boomer manager experiences conflict with Gen-X or Gen-Y employees who spend time text messaging because the manger believes that this
Topic 6: Intercultural Business Communication 78 practice interferes with her goal of completing departmental deadlines on time. Conflict is ultimately based on perceptions; it exists whenever one party believes that another might obstruct his or her efforts, whether or not the other party actually intends to do so. 6.4 Improving Intercultural Business Communication Skill Communicating successfully between cultures requires a variety of skill. People can improve their intercultural skills throughout their career by study other cultures and languages, respecting preferences for communication styles, learning to write and speak clearly listening carefully, knowing when to use interpreters and translators, and helping others adapt to their culture. i. Studying other cultures Effectively adapting people communication efforts to another culture requires not only knowledge about the culture but also the ability and motivation to change their personal habits as needed. ii. Studying other languages As commerce continues to become more globalized and many countries become more linguistically diverse, the demand for multilingual communicators continues to grow as well. The ability to communicate in more than one language can make people a more competitive job candidate and open up a wider variety of career opportunities. iii. Respecting preferences for communication style Communication style – including the level of directness, the degree of formality, media preferences, and other factors varies widely from culture to culture. Knowing their communication partners expect can help people to adapt to their particular style. Ince again, watching and learning are the best wat to improve people skills. However, people can infer some generalities by learning more about culture.
Topic 6: Intercultural Business Communication 79 iv. Writing clearly Writing clearly is always important, of course, but it is essential when their people are writing to people whose first language is not English. Some of these recommendations cam make the message be understood which are; choose words carefully; be brief; use plenty of transitions; address international correspondence properly; cite numbers and dates carefully; avoid slang; idiomatic phrases and business jargon; and avoid humor. v. Speaking and listening carefully To ensure successful conversations between parties who speak different native languages or even regional variations of the same language, speakers and listeners alike need to make accommodations. Speakers should adjust the content of their messages and the style of their delivery to accommodate the needs of their listeners and the circumstances of the conversation. vi. Using interpreters, translators, and translation software People may encounter business situations that require using an interpreter or a translator. Interpreters and translators can be expensive, but skilled professionals provide invaluable assistance for communicating in other cultural contexts. vii. Helping others adapt to your culture Everyone can contribute to successful intercultural communication. Whether a younger person is unaccustomed to the formalities of a large corporation or a colleague from another country is working on a team, look for opportunities to help people fit on and adapt their communication style.
Topic 6: Intercultural Business Communication 80 EXERCISES 1. Study any international culture in the world. From your research, provide the FUN FACTS about their culture. 2. Explain the three level of culture. 3. Discuss the barriers to intercultural business communication. 4. Ali is an entrepreneur. His ambition is to expand his business internationally. As a consultant to his company, you are required to give advises to him accordingly to make sure his desire achieve.
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82 REFERENCES Scott, S. (2019, February 5th). Gender Differences Within the Workplace. Chron. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/gender-differences-within-workplace-10512.html Siti Aisah Fadzillah, (2020). MAHTAS e-newsletter: CPG Launching: Embracing new norms. Ministry of Health, Vol. 27. Retrieved from: https://www.moh.gov.my/index.php/pages/view/1561?mid=579 Taylor, S. (2015). Model Business Letter, Emails and Other Business Documents. 7 th Edition. Pearson Education Limited. Turiano, A. A. (2018, April 26). Understanding Gender Differences to Reduce Unconscious Bias in the Workplace. American Bar Association. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/womanadvocate/practice/2018/gender-differences-unconsciousbias/#:~:text=The%20differing%20behavior%20and%20communication%20styles%20in%20the, of%20a%20question%2C%20e.g.%20...%20More%20items...%20
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