International business and communication

How to overcome cultural differences in communication is beneficial to enterprises.

Today, the company provides goods and services to customers around the world. Many companies have facilities in different countries, and most companies, big or small, already have a highly diverse international workforce.

Communication is clearly the driver of any form of cooperation and business activities - domestic and international. Different cultures have a specific style of business communication and are widely accepted and adopted. Other cultures have different ways of doing business, using different methods to conduct, discuss, negotiate and close business transactions and maintain business relationships.

What is the best way to communicate for people of different cultural backgrounds? The style of the potential customer or the style associated with the language used during communication? Unfortunately, there is no clear answer to this question.

The specific way of communication is based on the long-term development of cultural values. Even if you want to "speak the language of your customers," these values ​​can't be put on hold just when you're writing or talking to someone with other cultural influences.

Two small anecdotes show the difficulty of international exchanges. A Japanese company hired a professional trainer to teach their employees how to communicate with Western customers. The Japanese style uses passive wording, and Western customers think "it seems like they don't want to do business with us". This is not the case; Japanese companies are of course very interested in Western business. When a colleague received an email from another European colleague, I witnessed another misunderstanding of the communication case. While reading, he suddenly whispered: "Why did he yell at me?" I asked him what he meant. He replied that using an exclamation point by a colleague would mean yelling at him. Looking at the email confirms my thoughts: the exclamation mark emphasizes the importance - don't yell at the reader. Using an exclamation point in this way is common practice in the writer's country. But the author wrote it in English - so is it natural to use English and American writing styles and rules?

We will have more interpersonal and business experience if:

1. Individuals write in their second or third language, avoiding the use of phrases, expressions and special punctuation that are common in their language, but may be unknown or sometimes offensive in other cultural areas. Keep it as simple as possible.


2. Email recipients who are not written in the author's native language should read them with additional tolerance. The author has spent a lot of effort to learn the language, but don't expect impeccable wording. Try to understand the author's thoughts.


3. Being open and willing to understand different cultures and how they express themselves in business communication has great potential and may have more possibilities. The way to learn other cultures is beneficial. Adapting to some of them may even make your company a step ahead.

Although we should abide by the minimum standards and etiquette in international business communication, it will never be perfect. Good ideas and intentions should not be obscured by ignorance and restrictions. With the global reach of the Internet, every company can present itself as an international player. Let us act in accordance with international rules - win the grand prize. Deiton

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Orignal From: International business and communication