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International Business: Cultural and communication barriers

“When conducting international business it is key to the success of your organization that the members of your workforce that will be responsible for handling international matters are able to identify and adapt to any language and/or cultural barriers that they may encounter”.

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Some important aspects to keep in mind when doing business with people from other cultures are:

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    • Roles and status
    • Personal space
    • Language and body language
    • Religion
    • Personal appearance

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Types of cultural barriers

  1. Cognitive constraints: personal background.
  2. Behavior constraints: acceptable behaviour; verbal and non verbal communication.
  3. Emotional constraints: display of emotions.

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Hi- and low- context cultures

Low- context cultures

  • Australian
  • Dutch
  • English Canadian
  • English
  • Finnish
  • German
  • Hebrews/Jews
  • New Zealand
  • Scandinavia
  • Switzerland
  • United States (excluding the Southern United States)

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High- context cultures

  • African
  • Arab
  • Brazilian
  • Chinese
  • Filipinos
  • French Canadian
  • French
  • Greek
  • Italian
  • Irish
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Latin Americans
  • Etc.

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Verbal and non verbal communication: body language

Your body language is a key element of the non verbal communication and can say more than words.

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There are some vital aspects you need to control in order to be noticed and to be considered as a good candidate for a job or to doing business with:

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  1. Posture.
  2. Handshakes.
  3. Eye contact.
  4. Smiles.

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Posture

  • Stomach in
  • Chest out
  • Shoulders back
  • Head up
  • Feet pointed outward

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Handshakes

  • Controller
  • Sandwich
  • Dead fish
  • Limp fingers

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  • Hold the person's hand firmly.
  • Shake web-to-web, three times maximum.
  • Maintain constant eye contact.
  • Radiate positive aura.

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Eye contact

  • When to look
  • Where to look
  • How long to look

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Smiles

  • To gain and increase respect, first establish your presence in a room, then smile. Giggling or “all smiles” are not very professional, and can show some insecurity.
  • “Often, men smile when they are pleased; women smile to please”

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International Business: Cultural Barriers. http://internationalbusiness-project3.blogspot.mx/2011/04/cultural-barriers.html

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Business Body Language: Handshakes, Eye Contact, Posture, and Smiles. Lillian D. Bjorseth. http://www.sideroad.com/Business_Etiquette/business-body-language.html

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Hi- and low-context cultures. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-_and_low-context_cultures

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Sources