Intercultural communication is discussed within the context of is application in the conduct of international business activities. In this discussion, intercultural communication is defined, the globalization of business is described, the need for and problems inherent in intercultural management are considered, societal and managerial perceptions of intercultural relations are reviewed, and the implications for the future of the development of intercultural business relations are stated.
Intercultural Communication Defined
Communication within an organization or between an organization and its external environment is not simply a matter of people and groups learning to speak to one another or to convey ideas to one another. On a more important level, such communication is the building of trust between the communicating parties. It is only when such trust is established that meaningful progress may occur.
In an intercultural environment, the greatest barriers to the development of trust, and, therefore, the development of effective communications are ethnocentric attitudes and attempts to impose a cultural imperialism. Ethnocentrism is a tendency to judge other people or groups by the standards and practices of one's own culture or ethnic group, and, as a consequence, to view people from outside one's own culture with disfavor, and to regard one's own culture, race, or ethnic group as inherently superior to all others.
Historically, in the United States, ethnocentrism on the part of the population majority has been manifested in racial and ethnic discrimination, and in an economic discrimination against members of lower socioeconomic groups, whether or not those people were also members of racial and ethnic minorities. In the conduct of international activities, particularly multinational business activities and military operations, American organizations have more often than not been insensitive to host culture...