INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Intercultural Communication

Intercultural Communication

Task A: Critique of Article

Introduction

This paper has two sections, each meant for a task. The first section provides a critical analysis of an article “Intercultural Awareness is the key to international business success”. The author of this article is John Saee. In the era, of internationalisation and globalisation, the communication between different cultures is becoming increasingly important: it presents a local level with increasingly multicultural, regional, multinational institutions and cooperation in international organisations with transcontinental -world, as well as in cyberspace. One can use the term intercultural communication in many different areas, and fields, in many cases, however, remains rather vague and rarely well defined and suffering, especially since the mid-eighties, the use of inflation (Wild, 2008, 55). The communication highlights the distinct phenomena of culture according to the form, meaning and distribution of their components.

Critical Analysis of Article

The author of the article holds the point of view that culture is an additive with respect to the conception of language. The analysis of a culture according to which communicative interaction accompanies suggestive indicators (e.g. tone of voice, facial expression, clothing, posture) that are not only carriers of information in formal or technical, but information also veiled, informal attitudes that incorrectly or incompletely interpreted, can lead to serious misunderstandings (Rugman, 2006, 33). The concept of culture "denotes a historically transmitted pattern of meanings, meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means which men communicate, perpetuate and develop their knowledge and their attitudes toward life (Lane, 2006, 95). The increase in contacts between companies and social groups belonging to different languages often produces conflicting situations or problems that have to be overcome by means of intercultural communication (Fatehi, 2008, 77).

High-context cultures -- such as those in China draw meaning from their environment. Cross-cultural research points out vital differences. Chinese firms, for instance, tend to be sensitive to imagery, mood and symbolism. Blatant product comparisons outlawed in China. Global companies are responding with their own breed of niche marketing (Dubois, 2008, 36). High-context communication culture is more common in China. It has a strong sense of tradition and history and change little over time. In contrast, low-context cultures change drastically from one generation to another. Furthermore, social behaviour in high-context cultures based more on social rules and codes than on explicit laws, whereas low-context cultures tend to be binding (Deresky, 2003, 52). Low-context cultures prefer fast messages, which are easily, decoded and interpreted (headlines, television ads, and prose), whereas high-context cultures prefer slow messages (Czinkota, 2007, 64).

Regional partners maintain flexibility to rework content within a cultural context. This strategy has saved FedEx from committing blunders. Thus, one could expect advertising communication styles in television to differ in China and the Britain. In particular, Chinese depend more than Britons on the context established in the advertisement as a basis for understanding the claims or information in the message (Parboteeah, 2008, 41). In high-context cultures, these include nonverbal features (logo and symbol), traditions and ...