Globalization…Let’s Talk Business Communication

Today’s e-generation is a growing community of grumpy consumers demanding higher quality, personalized information, and special treatment 24/7. To stay connected to the e-generation and meet their high expectations, businesses must be prepared. Here where we need communication, while taking advantage of all the multimedia communication devices like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, blog, smartphones and current technologies to create a productive work environment and reach the customer’s satisfaction. To some extent, it is up to the customer to self-select what, when, where, and how messages are sent and received; he/she has the ability to choose the convenient circumstances for viewing, responding, or listening.

But supposedly in the globalized world we live in, the customer may not be truly free while facing these recent trends of globalization that reveal some ethical and legal issues. Is it always bloomy when it comes to business communication impact? Are these problematic trends affecting the way business is conducted in an international context?

Globalization is defined as “a process of interaction and integration among people, companies and governments of different nations; a process driven by international trade and investment aided by information technology” Therefore, just like this phenomenon has affected the environment, political systems, economic development and prosperity, it has also affected culture and communication. Globalization changed how individuals learn and communicate. Through technologies like Internet, one can communicate with another person in another country, which can be miles away. This simple example shows how this exchange, allowed by globalization, can improve our understanding of other groups and make discovering new cultures easier by making people more open.

Now when it comes to business communication, this same openness characterizes businesses as well. Globalization is driven by many factors, like technology that offered businesses many tools to view the world from different perspectives. This is how these tools help to transform information into opportunities and make access to global markets and customers all over the world equitable.

To be more specific, let’s take the example of a company that makes some products. If it doesn’t make use of tools like internet and communication devices, it’s only going to be able to sell this product within the country where it’s located. However, if a business wanted to set foot in a new market and reach new customers, it would use these technologies to show these customers the product and its benefits from their perspective to be able to sell it in their country; but also to innovate and develop new products that are more suitable to this new category of customer’s needs. An effective business communication will help the company to work with its partners from other countries, like employees and suppliers, to set common goals and work together to achieve them while using the differences in cultures to move forward.

And this is where the concept of cross-cultural communication was born. Also known as intercultural communication, researchers discovered that when an individual acts towards another one, they don’t act in terms of uniqueness of the person, but in terms of their background, culture and their group membership. In fact, the importance of cross-cultural communication should never be declined in a workplace, since the key of success of any organization, is an effective communication. Actually, it can lead the work to a better deliverance, and to even expand the workplace productivity. An ineffective one usually leads to conflicts and decreases the productivity of employees. In today’s workplaces, it is increasingly important to meet the workers’ satisfaction, by clearing the miscommunications, and by opening a healthy communication, despite the differences, and most importantly, to reach the globalization requirements.

However, globalization has many flaws. Today despite a five-fold increase in economic growth and a twelve-fold increase in global trade since the Second World War, a massive economic inequality exists, an ‘economic apartheid’, both within and between nations. The globalized world economy faces catastrophic series of socio-economic, political, cultural, spiritual and environmental crises, as well as a crisis of security, and they are all threatening the fabric of society and life itself. That is why business ethics are a very welcome trend: Business ethics (also corporate ethics) “are a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of individuals and entire organizations.” More and more interest and importance is being given by companies to the application of the ethical values in business. Business ethics are a form of applied ethics. This aims at inculcating a sense of value orientation within company’s employee as to how to conduct business responsibly. Because the term ‘ethics’ can cause problems in the international context, the term does not translate well into action and it is difficult to find a common understanding. Some organizations choose to recast the concept of business ethics through other terms like integrity, social responsibility, customer welfare, employee welfare, social value added, transparency and disclosure in accounting and environmental protection.

In today’s changing business scenario, an increasing number of firms extend their business abroad. Effective communication with people of different cultures is especially challenging. Cultural awareness shapes how business firms behave in cross-culturally reflected international markets. It is broadly recognized that cultural factors act as invisible barriers in international business communications. Understanding cultural differences is one of the most significant skills for firms to develop in order to have a competitive advantage in international business. Organizations should focus on eliminating the cross-cultural communication barriers. Understanding of cultural diversity is the key to effective cross-cultural communications. Firms which fail to understand the cross-cultural communication barriers face several issues in many aspects of international business communication. It impacts free trade and standardization strategy decisions, advertising, brand effectiveness, business relationships, international business management, international marketing, and consumer behavior, staffing, industrial relations, interpersonal relationships. Cross-cultural communication presents a fine opportunity to foster globalization impact on business.

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