Intercultural communication in foreign subsidiaries: The influence of expatriates’ language and cultural competencies (original) (raw)
Related papers
Foreign Language Skills a Must in Multinational Companies-An Intercultural Perspective
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2012
No matter in which language we communicate, we have to communicate, whether we like it or not. It is very important to make oneself understood, therefore we have often to communicate in the company's language. The larger meaning of communication is by looking at the communication from an intercultural perspective in a multinational company. The concept of corporate communication is in business administration and communication studies identified by the totality of all communicati on tools and communication activities of a company that will be used to represent the company and its services in all relevant target groups. For a company it is not only important to have a positive corporate culture and to voice it, but also, to check it regularly out. In this context it should be noted that a corporate culture is subject of changes, whether they are social changes or other kind of changes, like learning a foreign language.
The place of language and intercultural abilities : the experience of global business professionals
2014
Recent surveys of international business professionals indicate that foreign language abilities and cultural sensitivity are important competitive advantages in today's globalized economy. The current study interviewed 71 practicing global professionals currently working in cross border transactions in diverse fields. Biographic, demographic and second language data were collected, including information on experiences and opinions on the use and importance of foreign language and cultural awareness abilities in the professional world. Research questions include: (1) Who are the global professionals applying L2 abilities at work? (2) How do they apply these abilities? (3) What are the profiles of advanced and nonadvanced proficiency users? (4) How important are linguistic abilities and how much of a competitive advantage do they represent? (5) What language strategies and communication strategies are used? (6) What are the most common beliefs on the role of foreign languages and culture awareness in business? (7) How well do intercultural communication models xii 5.6 Non-verbal communication and paralanguage .
Multilingua, 2018
This study investigates Polish expatriates’ stories of encounters with local personnel in a Chinese subsidiary of a Western multinational company. A narrative analysis of the stories produced important insights into Polish-Chinese communication in an intra-subsidiary context. Low proficiency in the host language was a serious obstacle to expatriate socialization and a source of expatriates’ exclusion and social isolation in the workplace, which often led to stress, frustration, and negative attitudes toward collaboration with local personnel. Language-related issues prevented the expatriates from acquiring information from Chinese superiors, learning about problems within a team, and participating in decision-making. The findings of this case study relate to communication challenges in the Chinese subsidiary, expatriates’ accounts of how they overcame communication difficulties, and their reflections on what fostered and hampered intercultural communication.
Communication Practices in a Japanese Subsidiary in the US: Globalization in Process
lib.utexas.edu
attempt to make sense of their reality, their experiences, and other cultures. Using an interpretive approach, I analyzed communicative practices based on three different levels-macro, local, and micro-in a Japanese multinational company based in the United States. The triangulation of methods, including participant observation, interviews, analysis of documents, and discourse analysis is used to understand the complex phenomena of intercultural communication at work on a global, local, and individual scale. At the macro level of analysis, I present the global ideology that a parent company tries to exert in order to shape organizational actors' sense-making, and influence their work attitude and vi motivation. Their relationality with the external world and the power relationship between the parent company and its subsidiary are highlighted. At the local level of analysis, I demonstrate a bicultural workplace and its constituent members' learning and active negotiation by identifying mono-cultural, bicultural, negotiated, and shared cultural practices, which are likely to exist when two distinct national cultures come together in one organization. A macro level of analysis explores organizational members' face-to-face communication, including terms of address, language issues, stereotypical images toward one's own and other nationals, humor, and videoconferences. By looking at intercultural communication from the above three levels of analysis, this study shows that cultural factors, such as a shared ideology, goal, history, membership, or expectation, and habitualized practices influence successful interactions at work, regardless of members' different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. In contrast, members from different cultures still retain mental cultural images or possibly conflicting perceptions and must constantly negotiate which is right, which is better, and which is the American or the Japanese way. Intercultural communication in the workplace is not a one time interaction, but an ongoing activity involving habitualization, relationaility, and contextuality. This dissertation suggests both what should be emphasized in a practical sense when working with intercultural members of a working environment and attempting to find a middle ground, and what should be considered academically when studying intercultural communication in a multinational workplace in the future. vii
Baltic Journal of Managenemt, Volume 12, Issue 2, ISSN 1746-5265, ss. 214 - 239, Wydawnictwo Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2017
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how individuals perceive the quality of intercultural interactions at work in multinational subsidiaries and to address the question of what actually prevails in their accounts, i.e., “the dark side” or “the bright side.” Design/methodology/approach – The authors report the findings from five subsidiaries located in Poland and interviews with 68 employees of these companies. Findings – The “bright side” dominated the interviewees'accounts. The phenomenon of high social identity complexity or common in-group identity can help explain the findings. The results also shed some new light on the associations between the context of subsidiaries and the perception of the quality of intercultural interactions. Research limitations/implications - The paper contributes to the literature on cultural diversity and intercultural interactions in multinational subsidiaries. As the “bright side” of interactions was emphasized in the interviews, it particularly supports positive cross-cultural scholarship studies. Yet the explorative research does not allow for a broader generalization of the results. Practical implications – Managers of multinational corporations (MNCs) should do the following: shape the context of MNCs to influence the dynamics of intercultural interactions and the way they are seen by their employees; emphasize common in-group identity to help their employees to adopt more favorable attitudes toward intercultural interactions; look for individuals with multicultural identity who display more positive approaches to intercultural contacts; place emphasis on recruiting individuals fluent in the MNC’s functional language; offer language training for the staff; and recruit employees with significant needs for development who will perceive more opportunities in intercultural contacts. Social implications – The research demonstrates that the multicultural workplace of MNCs may be recognized by employees as activating the positive potential of the individuals and organizations that make up a society. Originality/value – The accounts of intercultural interactions are analyzed to illuminate some significant foundations of how individuals perceive such interactions. The study provides a qualitative lens and highlights the positive approach to intercultural interactions. It may redress the imbalance in prior research and satisfy the need for positive cross-cultural scholarship. Keywords: Cross-cultural management, Qualitative research, Cultural barriers, Multinational subsidiaries, Positive cross-cultural scholarship research
Intercultural communication from managerial perspective : challenges and ways to overcome them
2015
This study deals with intercultural communication from a managerial perspective. The objective of the study was to examine the intercultural communication challenges managers face in their work in international organisations, as well as to examine possible ways to overcome the challenges. The theoretical part of the study is divided into two sections: culture and communication. The section titled Culture covers the definition of the concept, Hofstede’s dimensions of national cultures, and culture’s influence on perception. The section titled Communication discusses intercultural communication, the communication process, communication styles, language, and nonverbal communication. Data for the theoretical part was gained from published sources, as well as from electronic sources. The empirical section is based on a qualitative approach. Data was collected by semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted with three managers in international companies with extensive interna...
Some Sources of Misunderstandings in Intercultural Business Communication
International Journal of Engineering and Management Sciences
It is always a big challenge for all types of companies anywhere in the world to survive in the globalised and accelerated world. Their primary objective is to stay competitive, keep or even enlarge their market share while keeping their costs at a minimum level. These corporations often cross borders and operate on a multinational level. In order to do that successfully they need flexible workforce: people who have a high level of intercultural competencies and can help their corporations to achieve their aim of profit maximising. It is widely accepted that culture and languages are among the most significant impacts on intercultural communication. In this paper first I am going to interpret intercultural communication and the role of culture and then look at different intercultural skills and the role of languages in intercultural communication. Some areas that might cause problems in intercultural business communication will also be described.
Journal of Business & Economic Policy
The increasing scope of business organizations in the first decade of the twenty-first century is drawing much scholarly attention, and the trend has been described as a fact of life that defies the stretch of human imagination. The concept of global economy has expanded consumer awareness, defined new standards and rules of operations, and increased the need for national and corporate interdependence. Multinational organizations are exploring opportunities around the world, demonstrating sensitivity towards cultural differences in order to gain from the proliferation and growth of international enterprise. Recent studies indicate that while some corporations compete successfully in the global marketplace, others have failed to sustain their competitive advantage because of cultural imperialism or inadequate acculturation of their managers on international assignment. Corporate analysts argued that the key to global business success depends on effective cross-cultural etiquette and global workforce diversity management. Other significant studies emphasized that global managers should be trained in interpersonal relationship and group communication competence, and should be equipped with cross-cultural negotiation skills that can maintain global competitiveness. Increasingly, corporations recognize the value of preparing global managers, because business objectives of are not been achieved primarily because of deficiencies in cross-cultural etiquette. Against this background, this study provides a constructive evaluation and analysis of global etiquette and cross-cultural communication for managers in international assignments. The study then proposes a strategic role for organizations to achieve adequate return on investments and to succeed in international competitiveness through cultural awareness, sensitivity, and reciprocity.
The order and role allocation within the process of globalization is often shaped by economic influence which is habitually determined by the power of its players. Asia has already become one of the key-players in the international trade environment. Through the process of qualitative empiricism, we have discovered several potential consequences of this development for European management-culture. The current analysis employs the hypothesis that a mutual approach from both the occidental as well as the Asian management-culture is required for a healthy management philosophy. Although western companies have a rich history of economic parleying, today, Asian trading partners appear to be significantly more dominant in the realm of contract negotiations. The forthcoming analysis derives procedural recommendations for international management staff based on the findings of an empirical approach aimed at analyzing several different techniques. This paper aspires to make management more s...
Language Use and Communication in an International Management Setting: The Power to Misrecognize
Linguistic and cultural differences have often been conceived as the main obstacles when communicating in international business settings. While acknowledging that such differences are of great importance, this article goes one step further in investigating the role of intercultural communication in international management settings. Hence, it is our argument that more focus should be directed at group processes within the organization. Based on a short illustrative case of a Danish subsidiary in China, it is argued that the differences in language use and communication style can be strategically used in categorization to divide power between different groups. This is important for understanding the implications of intercultural communication in international settings and how to deal with it accordingly.