Essays on Cultural Differences

Management

Advertising in recent times
Because of the globalization, there is more tough competition. Advertising trends have also changed in the recent times. Advertising strategies are making these days after paying the detailed considerations to the minorities and diverse cultures because of the inclusion of the diverse customers in the country like ethnic customers comprise just 30% in the United States. Those newly changed trends also make the large influence in the advertising strategies and jargons involved in the advertising. .

Some of the examples of pure ethnic and the cultural differences advertising are as follows.

- In 2001, Toyota Company publish print ad by showing the close up of the black man’s smile with ...

TITTLE; Deep insights into how managers deal with cross cultural issues in a multinational company. DHL being the multinational company focused on.
- Introduction
- Importance of considweragtion of culture
- Issues in organizations due to cultural differences
- Cultural practices in other multinational organizations:
- Cultural discrimination in organizations:
- Measures taken by managers to solve cultural issues:
- Methods used for employees:
- DHL cultural strategy:
- Conclusion:
- References

Introduction:

Multinational organizations often employ people from various countries across the globe and are often in search of top talents regardless of which country the individual belongs to. ...

Introduction

With increasing globalization, there has evolved a keener interest in cross-cultural management. It is now common to have international managers who lead their businesses or organizations spanning various countries wand different cultures. As such it has become incumbent upon these business leaders to ensure that they are equipped with the right management skills so as to have an edge in the competitive environment. This phenomenon of globalization has led to the use of cross-cultural or multicultural teams so as to act as sources of experience and give their respective organizations a competitive edge. Nonetheless, cultural differences usually interfere with ...

Over the past few decades, the film industry has played a major role in bringing out cultural differences between different countries across the globe. By comparing the French movie "The Big Blue" and the American movie "The Guardian”, this paper will be able to bring out some of the cultural differences between the two countries. "The Big Blue" was released in 1988 by luc Besson, a French director while “The Guardian” was released in 2006 by Andrew Davis who is an American director. Some of the noticeable values portrayed by American films include: innovation, newness and creativity. In French ...

IHRM

Introduction
Firms that do not have the quality human resource face challenges in managing its operations globally and in attracting quality human resource (Farndale, Scullion, and Sparrow, 2010). Therefore it is critical for firms to manage their human resource. For this reason, the practices of human resource management are decisive in the success of the organization. As firms expand their operations to different countries, organizations have to consider a lot more factors than they have to when they are managing an organization that operates in only one country (Adler, 2002). Therefore, the role of international human resource management practices ...

Introduction and Literature Review

Globalization has changed the face of the business world. In the past, companies worked, by and large, within their own local sphere of influence; the largest companies worked on a national scale, and only a select few worked on a global scale. However, as technology advanced and times changed, so too did the nature of business: today, it is more important than ever for businesses to make alliances in the global marketplace. These alliances are particularly important insofar as technological companies are concerned, because it is so common to have a lack of infrastructure compatibility between nations (Mendenhall and ...

[Author’s name]

Intercultural Communication Challenges for an American Company that Moves Production to China

1. Introduction
In times of globalization companies are free to choose any location of their production, and those of them that are planning becoming international and enjoying economy of scale tend to locate production in cheap-labor countries disregarding how remote they are from headquarters, as labor cost savings are expected to exceed shipping costs. With high labor costs in the U.S., the American companies tend to move manufacturing to such destinations as China, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh etc.
Cultural differences are one of the issues that may undermine success of such moves, especially when the cultures are ...

Introduction

With increased globalization, businesses find opportunities to reach out to the global and international markets to enhance their performance. However, the need to serve several markets presents the challenge of having to deal with differences between the business orientation and the markets with cultural difference being among the most prevalent factors that requires critical consideration by marketers in order to enhance their operation’s success. In that consideration, this analysis seeks to demonstrate the challenges that cultural difference presents to businesses and the effective application of marketing strategies in addressing them. This has been done by analyzing Li-Ning’s ...

Introduction

In the past two decades more and more countries of the world have considerably reduced tariffs and quotas and liberalized their foreign policies to allow free imports. Businesses have established not only marketing offices but also production units in foreign countries. The employees of multinational corporations belong to different religions, cultures and ethnicities. The way people greet each other, the importance given for time, the value attached to personal relationships and the emphasis on mutual trust are different in different cultures. The market for goods and services in various countries is vastly different depending on the local culture and ...

Abstract

Currently, cross border mega mergers and acquisitions have become the order of the day. Firms are seeking to expand their operation through acquiring smaller firms or joining other firms in the same industry. The key question that has triggered a heated debate about the formation of mergers and acquisitions is whether the formation of cross border mergers and acquisitions form the best way to expand one’s business? Most critics have argued that mergers and acquisition cannot be termed as a smart route towards globalization and business expansion. They argue that such undertakings are carried out for the wrong ...

According to Kathawala, Zhang, and Shao (2005), the term outsourcing has its roots in the mid-1980s, yet the idea of hiring employees to carry out specific jobs in firms has been in existence for the past hundreds of years. Outsourcing is everywhere in business in large and small firms, complex and simple businesses alike. In the 1900s, the practice was only specific for labor intensive and productive tasks in firms and other activities that fell outside the core competitiveness of a firm. In the recent years, the outsourcing market has changed dramatically with the emerging phenomenon now becoming a ...

Discussion on Ethical and Cultural Aspects of Global Companies

<Lecturer's Name and Course Number>

Introduction

As the world is getting globalized, businesses face more challenges in handling cultural variations. Handling customers, employees, and partners from different backgrounds needs a balancing and an essential understanding of various cultures and beliefs. Additionally, ethical dilemmas are also on the increase for organizations as the focus is more on working conditions, customers' satisfaction, business social responsibility, environmental regard, and the like.
This essay discusses challenges of cultural and ethical issues that global organizations face in their regular commercial activities. The author has referred to examples of global companies including Wal-Mart, and Mc ...

An ‘English as a Second Language’ Collection for

Brisbane City Council Library Services
Collection Development for Library Services and Course Number
3. Initial ESL Collection Development
The “Success in Reading English: An ‘English as a Second Language’ Collection for Brisbane City Council Library Services (BCCLS)” is our group proposed library collection project. As part of the detailed overview and discussion of the library and information services, the context in which we anchor our initial ESL collection development is at the city of Brisbane Queensland, primarily; and secondarily, the online community. Brisbane, as Australia’s largest local government, has to serve its more than two million multi-cultural population ( ...

Introduction

According to Kreiser, Marino, Dickson, & Weaver (2010, p.959), international businesses have existed for centuries and the world is entering into an era of unprecedented global economic activity. Economists predict growing prosperity of economically developing countries. The current business era is about worldwide production and distribution, as well as multinational mergers, acquisitions, and global strategic alliances. Globalization in the business environment is contributed by technological and economic factors, and has led to increase in the number of cross cultural interactions in the workplace (Kalliny, Cruthirds, & Minor 2006, p.123). Culture creates relational patterns. Relational patterns affect international cross cultural management through ...

Introduction

With the advent of globalization, the workplace has become more and more diverse in context of different cultural teams, workforce and demographic characteristics. The global minds of multinational corporations have been confronted with the cultural difference and its related issues at one or the other point. There is heavy relaxation of international borders in business due to globalization thus enabling large and profitable domestic firms from one nation to pursue their business interests in other markets and nations without compromising the domestic business. It has become normality in the today’s world to for various large multinational companies to ...

A. Pricing for International Markets 5

B. International Marketing Channels 6
C. Products and Services for Customers 8
D. Cultural Dynamics in Assessing Global Markets 10
4.0 Summary and Opinions of Influential Cultural Factors 11
5.0 Conclusion 13 Work Sited 15

Highlighted Points

The purposes of practicing and aiming for international marketing are to understand how and why:
- cultural diversity has been known to influence international marketing in pricing and contractual agreements
- analyzing the roots of culture to integrate it into a global marketing plan enhances coherent business strategies for successful worldwide marketing
- the references listed at the end of the this report have ...

Introduction

Michelin China is a world leading tire-manufacturing company originally started in France and moved to explore the huge market in China in the 1980s and 1990. The company started doing business with China in the late 1980s where they began supplying tires to the Chinese market. However, its decision to start business ventures in China began in 1996 when it established a joint venture in Shenyang. Opportunities became better with the beginning of the new millennium as the market widened and the China market proved to one where growth was a guarantee. The first opportunity came up in 2001 ...

Cultural Factors and Marketing Approach in China

China has become attractive market for foreign investors as a result of globalization characterized by open policies and economic reforms. Multinational firms have been experiencing better success in China as a result of a better relationship with the Chinese as well as china openness to western ideas. This country has of late experienced rapid economic growth, but for western investors it remains a difficult country to navigate (Boontanapibul, 2010). There are many obstacles that should be overcome success of a business venture in China. This company operation in China will face cross cultural management problems due to cultural differences ...

Abstract

A number of research findings revealed that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a universal phenomenon . The person undergoes the reliving of events through recurrent dreams, nightmares or other threatening situations. An individual with PTSD has excessive feelings of a distressing event triggered by an external factor. In order for the person to shut off traumatic events, he / she resorts to amnesia, psychic numbing, emotional anesthesia, to mention a few. The history of the disorder dates as far as human existence and caused by a number of factors such as serious illness, accidents, natural disasters, terrorism, robbery, sexual abuse, ...

Cultural Factors and Marketing Approach in China

China has become attractive market for foreign investors as a result of globalization characterized by open policies and economic reforms. Multinational firms have been experiencing better success in China as a result of a better relationship with the Chinese as well as China’s openness to western ideas. This country has of late experienced rapid economic growth, but for western investors it remains a difficult country to navigate (Boontanapibul, 2010). There are many obstacles that should be overcome success of a business venture in China. This Company’s operation in China will face cross cultural management problems due to ...

Executive summary

This report takes on a personal, critical incident to illustrate various approaches in understanding cross cultural communications. It aims to explore the communication problems which arise from cultural differences. By way of a narrative inquiry and analysis, the critical incident is related to general workplace miscommunications which happen when verbal and non verbal communications do not cross the same level of understanding between the sender and the receiver. This report applies three specific theories: theory of verbal communications by Mellor (1990), theory of non verbal communications by Ekman & Friesen (1969), and theory of individualism and ...

Abstract

Communication plays a central role in any relationship whether personal or professional and effective communication strategies become more so important in a culturally diverse setup. Every culture is unique and people from different cultural backgrounds bring their own belief systems, work ethics, attitudes, values and biases to the workplace. An effective communication strategy would ensure that all these conflicting ideas and value systems are merged for the good of the employees as well as the company. Effective communication strategy in a culturally diverse group becomes more so important in an era of globalization and integration where interacting with different ...

MNCs are more likely to pursue global uniformity or differentiation

Introduction
The Multinational Corporations (MNCs) are an essential part of the world in terms of an economy that is directly associated with the employment and trading. The performance of the multinational corporations is based on its employment structure and the human resource capability. The employees are the primary factor to achieve competitive advantage based on their knowledge and skills. The realization of the importance of the human resource management is directly resulting in the best practice of the human resource policies.
As the multinational corporations are operating in a number of countries, therefore, such organizations face several kinds of ...

International Students Financial Issues in the US

Introduction
The issue of foreign students or international students is increasing within U.S, especially at the level of university. According to Burdett and Crossman (2010), in the year 2007, there were approximately 35,433 international students registered in an educational institution within New York. As an initiative, CREPUQ commits in supporting efforts of government to locate NY as destination of high quality university studies. Their supports are devoted to creating support measures or strategies as Para academic components for success of students. Nonetheless, there are many challenges facing foreign students, which include, but not limited to language problems, funds ...

Introduction

Today, interracial marriage is one of the most commonly debated topics in the field of sociology and anthropology today. Not a lot of people get to understand what interracial marriage really is or what it really is all about, or what it even means. Basically, interracial marriage is a process or a phenomenon that occurs when two people, who came from two differing ethnic or racial groups, become bound by law, culture, and religion. In the simplest terms, interracial marriage occurs when two people who both came from a different culture marry and converge to form a single unit ...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

With constant changes in the environment, organizations are forced to expand their market. In order to do so, organizations have relied upon the use of entry strategy. Nokia is one of the organizations that have focused on using only joint venture as an entry strategy. Using joint venture does have many benefits and advantages associated with it but the limitations and challenges are far more advanced. Due to such reasons, only focusing on joint ventures could enhance the risks for the organizations in the market.

INTRODUCTION

Joint venture is one of the most prominent market-entry strategy that both national and ...

Psychology

Abstract
Men are a social group, and every other person should expect to be treated as they treat others. However, how one relates to others can be attributed to their upbringing as well as factors such as religion. For people to understand one another and co-exist in harmony, factors of culture, religion and race have to be appreciated in a positive manner, and should not be reasons for a group of people to be judged in a certain manner. Disregarding this brings forth vices in the society, as people fright to be regarded in respect that they feel they ...

Child growth and mental health development in a multi-cultural world has many sides. There are numerous factors contributing to the development of a child. One of them is Culture. Ethnicity and culture play a pivotal role in the child-rearing methods adopted by families throughout the globe. Variations like techniques of discipline, expectations related to acceptance of responsibilities, and delivery of religious knowledge differ amongst families. Although parents’ child-upbringing decisions and approaches may be impacted by their individual personalities and family situations, the family’s cultural backdrop as well, will play the central role in how the family rears its ...

Culture has several different meanings, its definition is not limited to ones appreciation of food, music, art, language and literature. For some, culture refers to heritage or ethnic origin. One may also identify another's culture based on physical features. However, culture is more than just what meets the eye. There is a deeper context of culture that people need to understand in order to see the world in a wider and meaningful perspective. Culture is something that human use as a tool to survive and survival is determined by how people of different cultures adapt to the changes. This is because culture moves constantly with the changes in its environment. The lack of deeper knowledge of culture's context and diversity would make it easily lost because culture exists only in human minds (O'Neil, 2006). Therefore, culture is part of human nature and its diversity is a variation of human nature, which is distinguished by common habits and belief. Habitat for example can distinguish cultural differences owed from environmental variation. ...

Cultural differences exist in every society in the world. These cultures manifest in various institutions such as industrial work places, business areas, and most important school institutions. Notable cultural differences included; the language difference the Americans and British speak English, the South Americans speak Spanish with those international students from Spain. There were French speaking students from native France as well as African countries e.g. Gambians and Cameroonians. Some cultures establish bureaucratic systems that are highly respected such that bypassing your superior is insubordination mostly in Latin American societies and African cultures. However, in the United States of America ...

Communication

Strategies for Facilitating Multicultural Groups
Intercultural Leadership
This style of leadership is among the strategies of the enhancement of the multicultural interrelation and groups through communication. Intercultural leadership focuses on the inclusive leadership, where the leaders adopting the strategy promote the aspects of the cultural diversity. Intercultural leadership is of great significance in the enhancement of the multicultural groups because the principles of this style of leadership focus on the need for the culturally diverse teams or groups in the radiation of the center or the focus of the organizations rather than the conventional top down style of authoritarianism. ...

Impact of High Context and Low Context Cultures on Communication

Dear Mr. Alfred, here is the report you asked for about the effect of high context cultures and low context cultures on the communication and interaction among the individuals. Undoubtedly, there is a huge impact of cultural differences on the communication process and in this regard, it is important for the people to know about the cultural behavior of the members of the society. The information about the low and high context cultures gives important information about the type of people and their cultural practices, which makes it easier for others to interact with them. The cultural differences are ...

Understanding of Goals and Objectives

Goal means the purpose toward that an effort is directed. It is not necessarily strictly tangible or measurable. Goals mean statements the one makes regarding his or her future business. They form an aspiration for it. Goal may sound like, “Our company is going to become the best beverages producer in the region”. This expression demonstrates that the business person possesses such a plan for the business; however, it does not show exactly how to achieve this goal (Norman, n.d.).
Goals certainly play a very important role. Goals’ setting assists in defining the direction for the business. Goals should ...

Abstract

Many of the US companies are trying to enter international markets, outsource the manufacturing processes, and become international. Such activity needs certain knowledge from the company’s managers and all those colleagues that will participate in communications with the foreign partners. Spain has a very rich history and culture and therefore there are many aspects that US business people should learn before starting to work with Spanish partners, suppliers or customers. The economic situation, business etiquette and traditions in Spain are different from the US ones. This is mostly caused by the relaxed rhyme of life in this country ...

Business Relations between the United States and Japan

The globalizing economy is a constantly growing worry in the minds of today’s businesspersons. How we relate and communicate with other countries can dictate whether we are able to do business together, or whether we have to look for other resources. In order to be successful when building business relations with businesspeople of other cultures, it is important that we understand the customs of that culture. Japan, for example, is a very different country than the United States. When the U.S. attempts to do business with Japan, we need to consider many different aspects of the country. We ...

Abstract

Cultural differences have a great bearing on the way managers perform their work. This paper outlines the need for managers to acquire intercultural training because how they behave in their roles has great implications on the organization as a whole. Electronic technology has changed the way people communicate and work. This introduces cultural dynamics that have to be incorporated into intercultural training. The paper also discusses culture and identity as factors which influence each other. Personal identity and organizational identity are discussed as two interrelated factors which depend on each other. overall, the paper underlines the importance of proper ...

Introduction

When it comes to organizations, then there are certain things and provisions always be convicted accordingly. Organizations always strive hard for the economic prosperity and no organization wants them to distract from their core mantra. Organization is termed as a place where-in people belong to different demographics and mindset works together merely for the achievement of a single and pre-specified goal.
There are certain issues that may interfere in the operations of the company, or it could be said that these issues may pamper them not to expand positively and effectively. The main perspective of this assignment is to ...

[Institution Title]
The nursing profession is one of the few professions that allows for a culturally diverse interaction on a daily basis. Given this facet of the profession, it has become wholly necessary that nurse gain competency in responding to their call of duty with utmost level of cultural competence. Aside from catering to a culturally diverse clientele, it should be taken into consideration that the profession also offers a delicate and highly customized care plan unique to every patient noting differences in the patient’s condition, culture, religious beliefs and capacities. In lieu with this, this paper would ...

The understanding of the cross-cultural differences is a crucial factor in developing a long-term business relationship with the foreign partners (Wellein, 2008, p. 81). The culture, business practices, and ethical perspectives of the U.S. are quite different from China. The business environment of China has a distinct culture that makes it difficult for the foreign companies to apply their standard business practices and ideas, similar to their local business markets. In the perspective of a truly global economy, the U.S. firms planning to expand their business operations into the Chinese business market need to understand and appreciate the cross-cultural ...

Article Review

a better teacher/student? Focus on the question/issues addressed and the findings as you relate these issues to practical use.

Chuansheng’s and Stevenson’s (1989) research paper titled “Homework: A Cross-Cultural Examination” explored the cross-cultural differences in homework among grade-schoolers, especially those in the first and fifth grades. The researchers investigated how cultural differences, beliefs and attitudes among Chinese, Americans and Japanese influenced academic success. The research methods used in the research included reading and math questionnaires, as well as, interviews of parents, teachers, and children. Even when Chinese learners were given extra homework over time, as compared to ...

Business Policy/Strategic Planning # 2

Business policy and strategic planning

There are several cultural differences in the business that an international manager has to address for easy penetration in the market. The diversification in cultural knowledge plays a major part in the business integration. An international manager is supposed to have a full knowledge of the product that the company is producing and its market. This helps in increasing the market share as well as the quality of the product in regard to the culture of the consumers. In the marketing, for the product to enjoy large market share has to be in line ...

Business organizations need effective communication to efficiently operate in cultural diversities and attain their objectives. This is possible through effective use of intercultural communication, which is the communication process where individuals from different cultural backgrounds attempt to communicate and understand the meaning of the message conveyed by others from another culture (Dong and Ying 2010). Intercultural communication has two key components which include the verbal and nonverbal communication. Consequently, to ensure efficient cross cultural communication, businesses should address problems and issues with regard to nonverbal and verbal communication. Failure of organizations to address these issues and problems will result ...

INTRODUCTION

Globalization has impacted the world economy positively; this has in turn increased the multinational corporations in a large way. Consequently, this has increased the migration of human resources across the globe. Therefore, in order for Europe to continue in business competitiveness with other world business organizations, there is a need for them to fetch the right human capital for their business ventures. Effective cross cultural management is important and communication within countries is critical for one to work efficiently to form a strong global union. We face cross cultural practices in our day to day life. However, in this ...

Abstract

Human Resource is an important component of an organization. Culture plays a big part in influencing the operation of human resource management. It is important for a human resource manager to be aware of different cultural nuances existing in the world to manage diversity in the work place. Before determining the effect of cultural influence on human resource management it is very important to view cultures on the basis of certain criterions such as power distance, individualism, collectivism, masculinity, femininity and uncertainty avoidance. This paper has highlighted how the predominance of these criterions has shaped the HRM practices in ...

Abstract

The role of communication in the global economy cannot be overlooked. This is because communication plays a facilitative role in ensuring that parties to a project are able to understand each other despite the differences in culture and traditions. The main challenge perhaps has not been the fact that communicators have different languages. Rather, the challenge has emanated from the individual cultural biases and conceptions. Global communication management planning aims to ensure that communicators are comfortable with each other and in the long run communicate effectively. Some of the necessities for effective communication include listening genuinely and emphatically, having ...

Effective communication occurs when all of the basic communication elements, including the sender, channel, receiver, and the message, are unambiguous. In other words, the sender needs to transfer a clear message through an appropriate channel, so the receiver can understand the message without misinterpreting it. Every communication process is an interaction between the sender and receiver. To send messages effectively, the sender needs to avoid communication gaps, such as cultural differences and aggressive confrontation, and focus on giving an unambiguous message to the receiver through different communication channels. Because non-verbal communication is a significant part of daily communication, both ...

Report on a Research Article

- What is the name of your journal?
The journal I have analyzed in the preparation of this report is Journal of Experimental Psychology: General edited by Gauthier Isabel.
- For whom does it seem to have been written? For example, is it directed towards a special kind of psychologists? Does it include articles that would be of interest to educators or others outside the field of academic psychology? If so, list several titles.
Empirical research is a crucial aspect in the lives of all kinds of psychologists. With this in mind, the journal contains articles that seem directed ...

Executive Summary

Aalborg Industry Vietnam has been marred by the problem of cultural adaptation for a long time. Conflicting cultures of the Danish workers and management and that of the Vietnamese workers and management often clashed, and to some extent, these clashes can be blamed for the poor performance of the company in the country in the initial years. Cultural perspectives of functionalist and constructivism have been used to explain the cultural problems and those of HRM that were experienced in the company. The functionalist perspective views dysfunctions in the operations of an organization emanating from any part of the company ...

More than often, culture is learned, shared and patterned in the society through aspects of enhancing unified cultural institutional change throughout interactions among individuals. Nonetheless, diverse cultures exist in a social environment allows for increased constant interactions between internal and external cultural values that articulates in the concepts of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism (Spade & Ballantine, 2012). Even though, it is not easier to accept the beliefs, values and practices of other cultures it is essential not to become judgmental and harsher towards any specific cultural value and norms. More noticeably, ethnocentrism and cultural relativism remains ...

Abstract

Anxiety in modern day has become an issue that seems apparently common among individuals. It has also been noted that there is an increasing tendency of some individuals and groups being / or feeling more prone to anxiety than others. While the topic has raised heated debate among psychiatrists and psychologists alike, there seems to be an inclination from various professionals towards specific areas of anxiety. Dealing with anxiety ...

Abstract

“Cultural neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field of research that investigates interrelations among culture, mind and the brain.”. It postulates in part that culturally based daily routines yield culturally patterned neural brain patterns and lay the pattern for the embodied construction of the self and identity. Other studies have found evidence for the prevalence of the diagnosis of disorders like AD/HD in some cultures and not in others. Implications for research on a possible link between culture, cultural neuroscience, OC/HD, diagnosis methods, illness perceptions and help seeking behavior are discussed.

Introduction

The DSM-IV-TR criteria for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and international ...

Communication principles and misconceptions

As a newly married couple, it is important for each of you to understand the basic principles of interpersonal communication. Peter and Rose, communication is irreversible. Once one of you says something to his or her partner, it is not possible to take it back. The impact of what is initially said remains in the mind of the partner in an inventible way. This is why it is important for a married couple to think before saying hurting words out of anger. Abuses and arrogance should get no place in marriage context since the partner may forgive you, but the initial hurt will be hard to forget. This principle calls for patience between the couple such that they should always ensure that they do not act of anger, and they do not say something hurtful out of impatience (Rotella, 2001).

Peter and Rose, another vital principle of communication is one that states that communication is contextual. Interpersonal communication takes place in various contexts such as psychological context, relational context, situational context, environmental context and cultural context (Saito, 1989). Psychological context refers to ones’ needs, personality and values that may arise during a conversation. Relational context refers to your reaction in relation to your partner while situational context is the psychosocial location of the persons involved in the conversation. Environmental context is the location and time of the people who are communicating, and cultural context refers to the rules, beliefs and values that have been learned by the people communicating. These contexts of communication must be considered in order for people to understand each other during conversations.
It is absolutely vital for you, Peter and Rose, to understand that communication is inescapable. This principle states that it is not possible for two people not to communicate, either through words or otherwise (Rotella, 2001). It is possible for Peter to keep quiet and assume that he is not communicating to Rose; however, he may be passing a lot of communication through facial expressions, gestures and other forms of body languages. This is why a husband should be cautious of which body-language message he passes to his wife and vice versa.

As much as communication seems simple to many people, it is crucial for you, Peter and Rose, to understand that communication is complex. According to Saito, (1989), in every form of communication, there are six hidden persons involved. For example, whenever your are conversing, there are always six people involved; who Peter perceives he is, who Rose perceives she is, who Peter perceives Rose is, who Peter thinks Rose perceives he is, who Rose perceives Peter is and who the other person perceives you think he or she is. This shows that every communication process is complicated, and every partner must understand that people have different thoughts about any issue that they could be discussing, depending on their perceptions.

There exists a misconception about interpersonal communication, whereby people assume that interpersonal communication is a matter of common sense (Rotella, 2001). This is not true because if it were, people would not be having many problems associated with communication. Peter and Rose, please note that interpersonal communication is more than just a matter of common sense, and both of you must use significant repertoire of skills in order to make the right choices in the relationship. Make sure that you do not assume that you or your partner can communicate intuitively, since the assumption that all people intuitively know how to communicate with the others is a big misconception.
The other misconception about interpersonal communication is that it solves all problems. People can communicate effectively and show exemplary interpersonal communication-skills, but this does not guarantee that all their problems will be solved. Some people assume that the more someone communicates well, the more he or she can solve more relationship problems.

Barriers to Interpersonal Communication

Peter and Rose, it is important for couples to understand all barriers that may affect interpersonal communication. In all instances communication barriers usually affect the bridge between the sender and receiver during communication.

There are external barriers that can significantly affect interpersonal communication. These barriers include physical and environmental obstacles that interfere with effective communication by acting like distractions between two partners (Saito, 1989). In your case, you may want to want to discuss some issues but there could be external barriers such as children making noise. It is possible to avoid some forms of external barriers that you may feel are a nuisance to your conversations. For example, you can look for a quiet place where you can communicate comfortably away from external barriers.

Peter and Rose, internal barriers also cause ineffectiveness of interpersonal communication between couples. In such a case, internal barriers originate from within the communicator. In some cases, one partner may be trying to pass a message but the other one could be too involved in his or her own thoughts such that he may not understand what the partner is saying. In other cases, one partner may not be listening while the other one is talking, leading to a breakdown of communication. Boredom, stress, lack of interest may all lead to internal barriers that can make communication extremely ineffective (Saito, 1989).

Cultural differences and language differences can lead to another type of barrier known as semantic barrier. One of the partners may speak in a language or dialect that the other one may not understand, leading to a barrier in communication between the two persons. In most cases, pronunciation, vocabulary and dialect, can easily lead to lack of effective interpersonal communication between people. Cultural differences may lead to ineffectiveness of communication since one partner may not be conversant with certain things. In some cultures, there exist some taboo topics that cannot be discussed in public. If one partner starts such a topic, the other one may feel uncomfortable to participate due to cultural differences (Saito, 1989).

Assessing Personal Communication and Improving Competencies

As you settle down in marriage it will be crucial for each of you to take regular individual assessments about how you are fairing in the communication areas. According to Belmore, (2009), in communication, it is important to ensure equality such that none of you should dominate his or her participation in conversations. During conversations, a couple should allow bi-directional communication and before embarking on serious issues, it is advisable to start with less serious talk that can effectively warm up the oncoming discussion. As a newly married couple, it is good to refer to each other by names whenever you are conversing since it creates a good rapport between partners. For example, during a phone conversation, it is important to keep on using your partner’s name so as to make him or her feel appreciated and valued. Another way of increasing rapport with your partner is to ensure that you use words and statements that are courteous when you are communicating. When one starts to use courteous words in conversations, it becomes a norm that reflects well on the overall relationship.

This is why it is important for both of you; Peter and Rose, to ensure that you make a personal assessment of how often you call your partner by name and how many times you use courteous words for conversations. Also, it is good to adopt the habit of smiling when you are making conversations with your partner so that your partner can know that you are genuinely interested. Also, maintaining eye contact can help your partner to communicate without fear. Maintaining eye contact and smiling when talking with your partner can enhance levels of attentiveness and increase your partner’s self-confidence (Belmore, 2009).

In order to improve on interpersonal skills, a newly wedded couple can join a course that can ensure that you can effectively understand each other in conversations. Apart from learning through a short course, it is important for each individual to evaluate his or her communication links and come up with any problems that can be rectified for future purposes. Evaluations can ensure that both individuals continue to improve their perceptions of each other, thus making it very effective to be understood and to understand your partner. Improving your communication competencies will impact positive on your overall relationship.

Active, Critical and Empathic Listening Strategies

Peter and Rose, active listening refers to giving your partner full attention whenever he or she is communicating. In active listening, one listens with a purpose at the back of his or her mind since there has to be receiver feedback during active listening (Bodie, 2011). When one partner is talking, it is vital for the one who is listening to do so carefully and attentively so that he or she can assess the accuracy of the message. In active listening, the communicator always expects either positive or negative feedback.

In empathetic listening, partners must put themselves in their partners’ shoes. The listener must listen carefully and understand the feelings of the person who is talking. Peter and Rose, please ensure that when the need arises, you can empathize with your partner so that both of you can feel appreciated and cared for. Through empathic listening, both of you can ensure a deep ability to perceive each other’s point of view as if it were your own (Badie, 2011).

Critical listening follows the steps of active listening, but in this case, the listener must critique the message received and challenge it first before offering a response. In such a case, the listener evaluates the accuracy, utility or meaningfulness of the message received, in a critical manner. In all cases, critical listening goes hand in hand with critical thinking since whenever your partner listens critically, he must think and evaluate the message critically too before responding. According to Badie, (2011) critical listening does not imply that one partner should keep on challenging the other partner every now and then. It should be done whenever it is necessary, and the partner who is challenging the message must give his opinions and explain why he thinks his opinions are right.

How perceptions, emotions, and nonverbal expression affect interpersonal relationships.

Peter and Rose, even when you are not talking verbally, it is vital to note that non verbal expressions can speak a million words! This is why it is vital to use non verbal language in diligent manner to ensure that you do not pass on the wrong messages. Non verbal expressions involve eye contact or positioning of the body, hands and legs. For example, to gauge if your partner is attentive to what you are saying, you can easily check the eye contact. Also, the body positioning can communicate to your partner if you are nervous or relaxed during communication. Happiness, thankfulness, frustrations, anger, politeness and genuineness can be traced using non verbal expressions even when a couple is not talking verbally. Misinterpreted gestures can be rectified by ensuring that each partner is open enough to practice positive gestures as a way of developing the relationship.

Emotions play a vital role in any type of interpersonal relationship, and marriage is no exception (Wider, 2007). During conversations, a partner may use emotions either positively (happiness) or negatively (anger). When a partner speaks angrily out of anger, the other partner may feel unable to continue with a good conversation. In other cases, a partner may portray emotional outbursts that can lead to distrust, fights and fear between the couple. It is clear that emotions can make or break a relationship, and therefore, Peter and Rose, you must strive to contain your emotions as much as you can.

Perceptions, just like emotions, can easily affect your interpersonal communication negatively. Peter and Rose, different people have different perceptions about the world and the environment, and therefore, you need to understand that your partner does not necessarily share in your perceptions. For example, when Peter is talking to Rose, he must understand that Rose has different perceptions of external environment since you both share different contexts of recall, memory, stimulation and evaluation. Psychologists have always cited perceptions as one of the causes of misunderstandings among couples (Wider, 2007), since most couples do not understand that people cannot have similar perceptions.

Conclusion

I believe this letter has come at the right time, just as both of you are settling down in marriage. Unlike dating, marriage is much more serious since you will be confined in the same house; doing every activity together till death do you part. That is why interpersonal communication skills will be very effective in ensuring that your marriage heads in the right direction. Peter and Rose, ensure you are conversant with the five principles of interpersonal communication. It is also to keep away from assumptions and various misconceptions that mislead people about interpersonal communication. This letter will help you to overcome communication barriers and understand your partner in a much clearer way than before. Also, you can now understand active, empathic and critical listening and their effective applications.

References

Belmore, J. (2009). Interpersonal Communication: The Self and Perception in Communication. Online Submission.

Bodie, G. D. (2011). The Active-Empathic Listening Scale (AELS): Conceptualization and Evidence of Validity Within the Interpersonal Domain. Communication Quarterly, 59(3), 277-295.

Rotella, M., Gold, S. F., & Andriani, L. (2001). When anger hurts your relationship: 10 simple solutions for couples who fight. Publishers Weekly, 248(44), 46-46. http://search.proquest.com/docview/197058087?accountid=45049

Saito-Fukunaga, M. (1999). GENERAL SEMANTICS AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION. ETC: A Review Of General Semantics, 46(4), 295-298.

Wider, K. (2007). Emotional Communication and the Development of Self. Sartre Studies International, 13(2), 1-26.

Introduction

The Global Virtual Work Teams have now evolved into everyday practices for businesses working internationally. The significance of these work teams are attributed partly to its advantages and partly to the mere necessity of doing so. The main aim of this paper is to find a suitable Eastern European country as well as creating an appropriate plan for a multinational business organization to implement the virtual work team in that country. We have selected Poland for the successful completion of this paper. We also aim to focus on the cultural differences that may halt or fuel the work process ...

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Societal culture has an influence on all human activities (Boeing, 2012). Throughout the life, family, workplace school, community, and mass media people continually acquire and modify values, beliefs, and behaviors when they are interact with a new ...

Abstract

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International Marketing

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Introduction

International Human Resource Management (IHRM) is concerned with the management of labor of a company that is international in operations. This implies that the company in question has several branches extensions of its parent company in its home country in other nations around the world (Harzing & Pinnington, 2011, p. 13). Multinational corporations are increasingly finding it necessary to conduct strategic international human resource management (SIHRM) due to the global dynamics in the manner in which businesses are conducted. The objectives of SIHRM are built to ensure that the managers are cognizant of the differences in world’s market segments ...

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION, FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

5. Findings and Analysis

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Graph 2: Piazza Restaurant

Pizza restaurant has 6 nationals namely Italian, Albanian, Romanian, Egyptian, Spanish and Bosnians. ...

Abstract 3

Introduction 3
Ethical Issues in Information Technology 4
Ethical Case Study in IT 5
IT Laws 6
Cultural Differences in the Use of IT 7
Conclusion 8

Abstract

People continuously thrive in making their lives easier; thereby inventing different kinds of technology to suffice what is needed for different kinds of human work. The Internet emerges as the greatest invention yet in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as it transcends the barriers of communication. However, ethical issues arise in its use, one of which is seen in the rampant inequality in the access of cyberspace as not everyone is privileged ...

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