Effective Communication with People from Other Cultures

INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT

Major Assignment

Effective Communication with People from Other Cultures

Introduction

Today managers face the challenge of communicating more effectively with people from different cultures, both at home and when travelling abroad, in the international arena. More emphasis is placed on effective intercultural communication by firms today when facing the reality of increasing workforce diversity where managers have deal with people from different cultures. “Today's businesses are complex entities.” Humes (2011, April 7). “However, one fundamental principle of success remains constant - the need for communication.” Thus, effective communication is skill is of utmost importance for manager, especially when dealing with people from different cultures.

Corresponding with people from different cultural background with different values and believes cannot be easy for managers as communicating with people from their own culture. With different believes systems, values and attitudes and customs there is no common ground for understanding between mangers and subordinates, thus making communication more tortuous. “It won’t be accepted by the people in Washington, government people, Congressmen, and certainly not by the average citizen.” ‘Issues in Cross-Cultural Communication’ (2011, March 31). “So the message got through, but not the humour and the Japanese didn’t understand why the Americans were laughing. This happens all the time”.

Effective communication is one that brings about mutual understanding and builds trust among counterparts. Thus, listening attentively and conveying message, data, ideas and meanings in a way that is more understandable and gives the receiver intended meaning by the sender and allowing feedbacks, defines effective communication. ‘The term communication is derived from the Latin word communis, which means “common.” Flippo (1980, 419) “If we effect a communication of ideas, we have established a common meeting ground for understanding. Thus having effective communication in any organisation, particularly those with multicultural workforce is very vital for maintaining human relations for the better of the company. Therefore, this essay aims to outline ways in which organisations could train managers to communicate more effectively with people from different cultures.

Training Managers

Firms are increasingly recognising that in order to grow, diversify and retain a competitive advantage, intercultural management skills are critical. Therefore, in order for an organisation to have unproblematic human relations between managers and subordinates of different cultural background, managers need to be trained and skilled in several