Cultural Diversity In Global Business

Cultural diversity in global business is a common scenario in multi-national corporations. Managing the differences of languages, cultures, religions and traditions under one business are some of the challenges of MNCs and are more complex than they seems to be on the surface.

How critical has it for elements such as etiquette, manners, and cross cultural, or intercultural communication become in global business? …

Cultural Diversity In Global Business

The word culture is from the Latin “cultura” stemming from “colere”, meaning “to cultivate”. It has three basic senses:

1. Excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture

2. An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning

3. The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group

Cultural diversity is the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole.

As well as the more obvious cultural differences that exist between people, such as language, dress and traditions, there are also significant variations in the way societies organize themselves, in their shared conception of morality, and in the ways they interact with their environment.

For example, the social and cultural values and norms in United States, Europe and Asia are completely different with one another, so are the perspectives of the people.

In this article, the cultural diversity is to be disscussed in global business point of view.

Cultural Diversity In Global Business

As a result of increased globalisation, cultural awareness has become more and more important. There exists links between cultural awareness, corporate strategy and performance.

From political, economical and technological point of view we are encouraged to discover cultures we have only little knowledge about in the olden days.

The more frequent collaborations among nations of the world through world organizations (such as world banks, WTO etc), the more affordable air travel or international transits network system, and the advanced of internet made it possible for people with different cultures to connect to each other more often.

In business, having insight into the cultural dynamics of a country can be very helpful to understand why people act the way they do, and the appropriate way you should act while in that country. To assist with this understanding, Geert Hofstede Analysis is one of the way to go.

Gerard Hendrik Hofstede was born in 3 October 1928, Haarlem. He is an influential Dutch psychologist, who studied the interactions between national cultures and organizational cultures. Hofstede’s study demonstrated that there are national and regional cultural groupings that affect the behaviour of societies and organizations, and that are very persistent across time.

Since etiquette, manners, and cross cultural, or intercultural communication have become critical elements required for all International and Global Business executives, managers, and employees, the appreciation and respect for regional, country, and cultural differences could be done by knowing and practicing about:

* Appearance
do’s and don’ts involving Dress, Clothing, Body Language, and Gestures

* Behavior
do’s and don’ts involving Dining, Gifts, Meetings, and General behavioral guidelines

* Communication
do’s and don’ts involving Greetings, Introductions, and Conversational guidelines

Learning the skills of proper etiquette, manners, and intercultural communication during your international business travels and overseas assignments will leave a good impression and increase your business image to the local people.

Below is a recommended readings for additional info:

As global business continues to expand and bring everyone closer, the critical element of a successful business outcome may be the appreciation and respect for regional, country, and cultural differences - known as cultural diversity and requiring good intercultural communication. The awareness of cultural diversity in global business and to act upon it with the appropriate manners shall give your business great advantages internationally.

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