Introduction
Culture can be termed as a people’s way of life, their values, symbols, language, religion as well as beliefs, while communication refers to the act that involves conveying the intended meanings thus, from one entity or rather a group of individuals to another. In the modern business world, communication is paramount for the successful execution of the organization’s daily operations, which, in turn, is significantly impacted by differences in culture.
Impacts
There are numerous and diverse cultures across the globe. People from the different cultures have different languages. Difficulty arises when people from different cultures come together, especially in businesses and organizations. People from different cultures find it hard to communicate and interact due to language barrier (Chaney, Lillian and Jeanette 139). When people in a business or organization fail to understand each other as a result of language barrier, there will be lack of coordination and activities around the organization will not be done with efficiency as expected leading to losses. Also, there might be difficulty when it comes to negotiation as a result of language barrier, which is crucial when conducting business. When people or organization fail to negotiate effectively important details may be omitted or parties may not understand what is being communicated causing business loopholes that lead to financial losses. Marketing and advertisement may be highly affected by the language barrier as a result of the customers not understanding the language being used to advertise the products.
Different cultures have different customs and beliefs. The nature or culture of the business may conflict with the target audience. This difference may bring about difficulty in communication between people and the organization. Most Arabic countries are very conservative and advertisements pertaining intoxicants and explicit sexual material is forbidden (Thompson). Therefore companies aiming to advertise alcohol may find difficulty conducting business in such regions leading to few markets for the organization and losses. Advertisement or products of such caliber may be regarded as an insult to the people and culture leading to bad relations of the people and the organization making the people not buy the intended products. Some countries demean women viewing them as inferior (Thompson). When an organization uses women to advertise or conduct other business activities, people from such regions may not take seriously what the business is putting across or even worse they may disregard the whole aspect causing financial losses to the organization.
One of the areas impacted by cultural differences in business communication is the target audience. When business organizations are launching their various marketing campaigns or advertising their products to individuals of a different culture it is quite crucial for the businesses to research more on their target audience before proceeding. This is for the reason that cultural diversity brings about differences in conservatism levels, ideologies as well as gender views (Chaney, Lillian and Jeanette 140). Presenting advertisements or marketing campaigns that do not align with specific cultural norms may be perceived as an insult to the audience being targeted; hence, miscommunication may occur hindering the business organization’s marketing campaigns. Further, miscommunication in marketing may also damage a business organization’s reputation
Cultural differences in political issues especially between different countries not only affect how an organization conducts its operations but also hinder business communications. When a organization is conducting business activities with other organizations of differing cultures, this may greatly impact the process of negotiations when there exists an on-going political disputes thus, between the parties’ origin countries (Chaney, Lillian and Jeanette 140).
Conclusion
Cultural differences significantly impact communications in business organizations due to language barrier, differences in customs and norms thereby affecting organization’s marketing strategies such as in advertising.
Works Cited
Chaney, Lillian H., and Jeanette S. Martin. “Intercultural business communication”. Pearson Prentice Hall, pp. 277. 2000. Print
Thompson V.The Differences in Culture and the Effects of Global Business.Small Business Chron.Web. 15th January 2017. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/differences-culture- effects-global-business-72781.html
