The influence of culture on communication is so strong that anthropologist Edward Hall says, "Culture is communication and communication is culture". Differences in cultural values and perceptions can be a quiet and invisible source of great misunderstanding between people. In today's gloablized market, where there is a free flow of human resources across geographical boundaries, across various cultures, it has become imperative to understand the importance of intercultural communication process. Against this backdrop, this paper discusses the various issues and challenges in cross-cultural communication.
Culture'
has often been defined in simplistic terms as life-style
of people of a community. But culture means much more; it
encompasses various attitudinal and behavioral dimensions
such as values, beliefs, expectations, norms, etc. All these
make culture a complex thing to understand and has drawn
the attention of researchers to study the various dimensions
of culture and its impact on the people living within that
culture. Within a culture there may be various sub-cultures
on the basis of ethnic groups, religious groups, professions,
etc., and differences exist among them. Many studies by
behavioral scientists prove that all the people who belong
to a particular culture have similarity in their thinking
and behavior. Culture differs from one group to another
and these differences can affect the level of trust and
openness in communication that one can achieve with people
of other cultures. Hence, understanding cross-cultural communication
is very important.
Cross-cultural
communication is becoming increasingly relevant in today's
borderless world. People are moving freely from one country
to another on business assignments, and for leisure and
entertainment. Therefore, there is a necessity of understanding
other cultures. Primarily, cross-cultural communication
focuses on how people from different cultures can communicate
and understand each other well. |
