Intercultural Communication

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how the workplace in the U.S. is a great example of multi-cultural workforces because of it being the land of opportunity for people from around the world who come there to better themselves. The paper contends that when dealing with multi-cultures, intercultural communication in workplace issues becomes the norm and that good intercultural communication skills play a strong roll in a successful business. The paper tests this hypothesis by using an example of automotive giant, Toyota, whose headquarters are located in Japan, but also has a plant in Indiana and who has a staff made up of native-speaking English employees and some non-native English speaking employees. The paper concludes that a multi-ethnic background leads most workplaces to deal with problems that cause intercultural communication that mostly fall under verbal and non-verbal issues.

From the Paper:

"While language is a clear problem, the deeper problem among these co-workers is nonverbal issues which influence each of them because of their cultural background. For example, when an American employee is being direct and aggressive while communicating with others which might seem usual in American culture, this could be considered rude by an Asian employee since in their culture this kind of force is considered disrespectful. On the other way hand, when Asian co-workers indirectly approach an American employee combined with a lack of knowledge in language may cause a misunderstanding to the American co-worker. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Gao, Fengping (December 2005). Japanese: A Heavily Culture-Laden Language. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 10.
• Xiao, Hong & Petraki, Eleni (March 2007). An Investigation of Chinese Studens'difficulties in Intercultural Communication and Its Role in Elt. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 13.

More papers on Intercultural Communication:

• Term Paper # 111458 : "Intercultural Communication and Business"
• Essay # 73117 : "Barriers to Intercultural Communication"
• Analytical Essay # 27735 : "Effective Intercultural Communication at Work"
• Term Paper # 121083 : "Intercultural Communication"

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