Evaluating international business communications situations Essay - 8

Evaluating international business communications situations - Essay Example Since culture is a social construct, communication patterns differ from culture to culture and so does the way in which business is conducted (Bannon and Mattock 2003, p. 5). Communication across cultures plays a pivotal role when considering dealing with individuals outside of one’s home country (Hooker 2012). In business, particularly when going through the negotiation process and endeavoring to establish successful international operations, businesses carefully consider the cultural differences and try to adopt a communication strategy that will not hurt their chances of doing business (Gibson 2002, p. 1; Hendon, Hendon and Herbig 1996). Multi-national corporations, international joint ventures, and cross-country acquisitions are some business partnerships that involve cross-cultural interactions and hence an understanding of the different cultural communication patterns and discourses. What is acceptable in one culture may not be acceptable or appropriate in another. Succe ssful interactions are those that involve a good knowledge of the cultural differences and global etiquette (Martin and Chaney 2012, p. ix). Geert Hofstede has conducted a large number of researches based on cultural aspects of communication. His theory on cultural dimensions explains the various bipolar variables or aspects of a particular culture that impacts cross-cultural communication, including power distance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, uncertainty avoidance, pragmatism versus normativeness, and indulgence versus restraint (The Hofstede Centre 2014; Hofstede 1993, p. 89-90). Asian cultures, and particularly the South Asian and Chinese cultures are essentially collectivist, which means that they possess a sense of group affiliation and association rather than their individualist counterparts who have a greater sense of being an autonomous entity. Also, the differentiation between low-context