International Business Communication Assignment Instructions
Your fast-food franchise has been cleared for business in all 4 countries (United Arab Emirates, Israel, Mexico, and China). You now have to start construction on your restaurants. The financing is coming from the United Arab Emirates, the materials are coming from Mexico and China, the engineering and technology are coming from Israel , and the labor will be hired locally within these countries by your management team from the United States. You invite all of the players to the headquarters in the United States for a big meeting to explain the project and get to know one another. In preparation for the meeting, you want to avoid cultural silos, while ensuring all parties engage with each other. Answer the following questions in preparation:
- What do you know about these cultures—specifically their economic, political, educational, and social systems—that could help you in getting them together?
- What are some of the contrasting cultural values of these countries?
As you begin to plan, you are concerned about some of the language barriers, particularly the fact that the United States is a low-context country, and some of the countries present are high-context countries. Furthermore, you only speak English, and you do not have an interpreter planned at this time. What strategy would you use to begin to have everyone develop a relationship with each other that will help ease future negotiations, development, and implementation? Address the following questions in your response.
- How will this affect the presentation?
- What are some of the issues you should be concerned about regarding verbal and nonverbal language for this group?
International Business Communication – Fast-food Franchise Business in United Arab Emirates, Israel, Mexico, and China
My fast-food franchise has been cleared to start a business in Israel, United Arab Emirates, China and Mexico. I then have to embark on the construction of my restaurants in the United States of America. The source of finance for my business is supposed to come from the United Arab Emirates, the materials will then come from Mexico and China, engineering and technology will come from Israel, and the labor will be hired within the United States of America. The management team from the United States will take the responsibility of hiring employees for the restaurants(Ember, 2003). This will be a great meeting at the headquarters in the United States to discuss and explain the project and to help all stakeholders familiarize themselves with one another. I the event of the meeting the members are staying with their own culture and avoid communicating with anybody outside their group.
One of the most important factors to consider is that not all countries have similar believes and cultures. This would be the help in expanding business to the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Mexico and China. In order to whip crews in shape to efficiently function in these countries, they have to endure long hours, severe training, communication affliction and preparing for a life changing experience.
Due to these, different cultures are not mixing; the cultural experience in this circumstance is the language, beliefs, ethnocentricity etc. This is as a result of every group having their own core values and principles. Each of the cultures ethnocentricity is diverse and so they apply their own principles based on their culture to evaluate the beliefs and behavior of other persons of a different culture. Every culture its own values, behaviors and customs that are taught from one generation to another that is also referred to as enculturation.
Intercultural communication is very significant in the world of business and is necessary when expanding business to other countries. For one to have an entire perceptive of a diverse culture there has to be admiration of society, good manners and ethnicity. The lack of intercultural communication and relations among the groups are personal freedom, eye contact and ethnocentricity. This is missing because every group tends to speak their own language and hence do not have a clear understanding of another’s language.
To assist the groups to engage, I am compelled explore the economic, educational, political and social structures for each of the groups. To begin with, the United Arab Emirates income status is the highest in the entire world. The industry, transportation, construction, commerce, free trade zones, tourism, communications and farming, has grown as a result of reduced prices of oil and taxation on internally manufactured products(Ember, 2003). The political structure in the United Arab Emirates consists of a centralized government that is made up of the Supreme Council, Cabinet, and an independent judiciary with a federal supreme court. The social structure consists of off springs that get immense care and affection.
Israel economy is found on the communalist model, whereby the citizens vote during an election. Education is compulsory from the ages of six to fourteen and has seven public universities, with high standards and they have to pass a national exam so as to be admitted(Ember, 2003). The financial system in Mexico is free market with a combination of traditional and modern agriculture and industry and dominated by the private sector. They have a federal state and function under a centralized government. The economic situation in China applies to increase rather than retaining economic growth that fulfill the social conditions.(Ember, 2003). They have similar kind of political structure as Mexico.
Some of the distinct cultural morals of these countries are political, social and education systems. The language barrier is a concern due to low-context and high-context countries and there is no interpreter present. This will definitely affect the presentation because it can cause a problem with communication between the different groups and can make the groups to lack a clear understanding of the meeting and the information that they need to conduct the business effectively. Language barriers can also cause cognitive reactions and unconstructive emotional reactions. Some of the issues that should be well thought-out in regards to verbal communication for the group are not being able to get the meaning across effectively, finding the right words to provide effective information. The issue that should be considered in non-verbal communication are; body language, such as eye contact or posture, noninterest, and a low level of self-assurance.
There are numerous strategies that can be utilized to aid everyone build up a relationship with one another to assist in implementation, negotiation and development. Some of the strategies include distributing the group out, through combining the people and have someone from each culture in every group. Other strategies may also include establishing a friendship, pose queries about their customs, views and culture, and listen carefully to all individuals so as to gain a complete understanding and knowledge of their views and their culture(Victor, 1992).
When negotiating efficiently, it will help in resolving situations between you and someone else. Depending on the circumstances, there are a lot of different ways of negotiating effectively.
There are numerous mistakes that may tend to occur when negotiating contracts and deals. Negotiating while avoiding to ask open-ended questions is one of the mistakes that one can make during negotiation period. It is good most of the time to get to know what the other person expects or needs from you, instead of declining to what is being recommended, the reason being that it doesn’t mean that they will automatically be in agreement(Carté& Fox,2008). Self-defeating concession is another mistake that one should avoid at all costs. This is originates from the horror of losing the deal or fear that individuals you are negotiating with are taking advantage of you. Short term thought will help to bring to the end the negotiating progression fast and help gain instant benefits. Sending insensible messages is another mistake since it will prove whether a person is anxious or self-critical, hence it is better to put into practice managing complicated opinions(Victor, 1992). Talking a lot is another mistake, because it can make you to negotiate not in favor of yourself, rather than for oneself. During negotiation, you have to wait or pause and be comfortable with being silent. Wanting face to face meetings is a mistake because it is best to negotiate at a given distance. Distance negotiation will aid you come to a better terms and it also helps an individual to focus more on the high main concern matter by looking at the issues in an conceptual manner. Being too pasty is a mistake that is made by most individuals without noticing during negotiation because it creates a situation to look desperate when making an attempt to push an individual to accept. Rather than push the individual to say yes, you need to offer the individual what the chance to say not.
A disagreement can probably occur, if there is a conflict of interest or if one person feels one way and the other individual feels another way. The moment a conflict arises, it is very significant to know and accept the fact that there is a conflict and a solution is required immediately. The result of a disagreement can be either positive or negative. There are numerous ways that can be created to assist in managing a conflict. It is essential to know how vital it is to please your own desires and the desires of the other person needs. To conquer conflicts, there are many approaches that you can use. Being concerned of yourself and knowing you consist of understanding causes and making a better surrounding. The next strategy is to elucidate the personal desires that are endangered by the conflict.
Before establishing a negotiation, I comprehend that I have to build up a relationship with the persons concerned and make sure that I am negotiating with those making the decision. It is vital to build up a relationship since it will make you feel at ease during negotiation period. The eminence of a relationship between the individuals will assist in better communication and lead to a thriving negotiation. If the negotiation lacks a relationship, it may lead to poor communication. A relationship will aid in creating trust between the two and it has a sense of dependence and liable. The technique that I will utilize to build up a relationship are to be self-confident, always trade, by not giving without receiving, being courteous, think twice before making decisions, provide sensible offers, rather than trying to be selfish and ensure a mutually beneficial outcome and ensure that everyone else has a sense of well-being when the negotiating is done finally done(Jones et al., 1996).
Get Your Custom Paper From Professional Writers. 100% Plagiarism Free, No AI Generated Content and Good Grade Guarantee. We Have Experts In All Subjects.
Place Your Order Now