Multicultural Business Meetings

This company has been contracted to build the world’s tallest skyscraper in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The company will have to engage with multiple different cultures for supplies, materials and other resources to complete the skyscraper. The meeting is not going well because of culture shock. Some of the groups here at the meeting are having trouble adjusting to this new way of conducting a meeting because it is outside of their norm. None of the groups are familiar with one another and they are all basically strangers at this point of the meeting. This is one of the reasons everyone is content staying within their respective group and not mingling. Another reason is the language/communication barrier that exists in this type of situation. For example, the Chinese do not speak the same language as the businessmen here from Germany, nor do they share the same ideals in regard to politics, their economy, education and social rank(Results of Poor Cross Cultural Awareness, 2012). Something has to be done to break the ice and at least make them feel comfortable in this setting.

There is a definite lack of intercultural communication in the meeting because there are so many different cultures at coming together. The purpose of intercultural communication is to examine individuals that are from different cultures, religions and beliefs and find out how they work together as a cohesive unit and communicate with each other(Baruch, 2012). These unseen barriers or limitations are always present when dealing with foreign territories, which is one reason there is such a lack of intercultural communication within this meeting. Another big reason is there is no interpreter to translate important detailed information. If the other parties do not have their own interpreter there will be little chance that a deal could be closed on this day. There are some theories that suggest there are universal communications