Cross Cultural issues that may act as barriers to Communication in business settings
... Cross cultural issues include such things as language, customs, religion, a shared system of values, such as each man should have no more than one wife and social norms. These issues can act, as barriers to communication when two or more cultures interact. ... Multicultural awareness is an essential element of an individual’s education in order to communicate within the global business circuit. Cross-cultural issues are an important aspect of business communication. ... “The prosperity of modern business is contingent upon successful globalization. Reject the opportunities of foreign markets and you reject the very future of business” (Terri Morrison 1994). The argument being that “Awareness and self-education of business cultures globally will overcome barriers in communication in a foreign country.” Cross-cultural issues are only one aspect in barriers to communication within a business setting. There is still the need to be culturally aware of these issues when conducting business in another country in order to be successful, however the question being is how does culture influence business decisions. Is cross-cultural issues overrated? According to the journal of consumer behavior (Andrew D Pressey 2003), it has argued that cultural differences are overrated and insignificant and this will perform the basis of this paper. “The study’s findings identified little evidence to support the popular idea that culture exerts a significant influence on international business relationships. Instead the findings suggest that some managers perceived factors such as communication/language barriers, political barriers, geographic distance, economic factors, industry barriers, time differences, technology barriers, legal differences and infrastructure barriers as being more likely to have a greater impact on cross-national relationships” (Andrew D Pressey 2003) In spite of all the aspects, communication is a completely separate entity, without the correct training or skills in communication then how can it be possible to transfer information such as political issues and economic factors from one to another especially in another country.