Advantages of Communication in Today’s Life

Ted Childs, IBMs vice president of global take a crapforce diversity, knows from social classs of give that communicating successfully across finales is no simple task, however accompanimently in a company that employs much than 325,000 pot and sells to customers in roughly clxxv countries around the world. Language alone presents a formidable barrier to communicating when you consider that IBMs workforce addresss much than 165 styles, but nomenclature is just one of umteen elements that play a role in communication between cultures.Differences in age, ethnic background, sexual practice, sexual orientation, physical ability, and economical status flush toilet all affect the communication process. Childs recognizes that these differences represent some(prenominal) a argufy and an oopportunity, and a key part of his job is dowry IBM executives and employees work together in a way that transforms their cultural differences into a critical pedigree strength. As he Ted Childs over square offs IBMs efforts to build warlike advantage by capitalizing on the benefits of a several(a) workforce. 64WORLD IBMs experience (profiled in the chapter-opening conference Close-Up) expatiates both the challenges and the opportunities for contrast professionals who know how to communicate with assorted audiences. Although the concept is often framed in terms of ethnic background, a broader and more useful definition of diversity includes all the characteristics and experiences that define individually of us as individuals. 2 As youll learn in this chapter, these characteristics and experiences can have a profound effect on the way business spate communicate.To a monstrous degree, these effects on communication are the closure of fundamental differences between cultures. Intercultural communication is the process of sending and receiving messages between people whose cultural background could lead them to interpret verbal and signed signs differently. any attempt to send and receive messages is influenced by culture, so to communicate successfully, youll imply a basic grasp of the cultural differences you may encounter and how you should grip them.Your efforts to recognize and surmount cultural differences will open up business opportunities tthroughout the world and maximize the contribution of all the employees in a diverse workforce. The Opportunities in a Global Marketplace You will communicate with people from other cultures tthroughout your career. You might be a business manager sounding for new customers or new sources of labor. Or you might be an employee feel for new work opportunities. Either way, chances are good that youll be flavor across international borders sometime in your career.Thousands of U. S. businesses depend on exports for profound portions of their revenues. Every year, these companies export roughly $700 billion in materials and merchandise, along with billions more in personal and professional services. If you work in one of these companies, you may well be called on to visit or at least(prenominal) communicate with a wide vvariety of people who speak languages other than face and who live in cultures quite different from what youre used to (see radiation diagram 3. 1).Of the top ten export markets for U. S. products, only three (Canada, Great Britain, and Singapore) speak English as an official language, and two of those three (Canada and Singapore) have more than one official language. 3 In the global marketplace, most raw(a) boundaries and national borders are no longer the impassable barriers they once were. interior(prenominal) markets are opening to worldwide competition as businesses of all sizes pure tone for new growth opportunities outside their own countries.For example, automotive giant cover markets to customers in some 130 countries, providing websites that offer local information, usually in the local language. 4 The diversity of todays workforce br ings translucent advantages to businesses A broader range of views and ideas A better understanding of diverse, fragmented markets A broader pool of talent from which to recruit The Advantages of a Diverse Workforce regular if you never visit another country or transact business on a global scale, you will interact with colleagues from a vvariety of cultures with a wide range of characteristics and life experiences.Over the past few decades, many innovational companies have changed the way they approach diversity, from seeing it as a efficacious requirement to provide equal opportunities to seeing it as a strategic oopportunity to connect with customers and take advantage of the broadest possible pool of talent. 5 hopeful business leaders such as IBMs Ted CHAPTER 3 communication in a World of Diversity 65 FIGURE 3. 1 Languages of the World This map illustrates the incredible array of languages used around the world.Each gunpoint represents the geographic center of the more than 6,900 languages tracked by the linguistic search firm SIL International. regular if all of your business communication takes place in English, you will interact with audiences who speak a vvariety of other native languages. Childs recognize the competitive advantages of a diverse workforce that offers a broader spectrum of viewpoints and ideas, helps companies understand and list with diverse markets, and enables companies to benefit from a wider range of employee talents.As Renee Wingo of Virgin Mobile USA, a cell phone operator based in Warren, New Jersey, puts it, Youre not going to bring in any magic as a manager unless you bring together people with diverse perspectives who arent miniversions of you. 6 Diversity is simply a fact of life for all companies. The unite States has been a nation of immigrants from the beginning, and that trend continues today. The Western and Northern europiumarns who made up the bulk of immigrants during the nations early years now grap ple quadruplet with people from across Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and other parts of the world.By 2010 new immigrants will account for half of all new U. S. workers. 7 Even the term minority, as it applies to nonwhite residents, makes less and less sense every year In two states (California and New Mexico) and several dozen large Communication among people of diverse cultural backgrounds cities, Caucasian Americans no longer compel a clear ma- and life experiences is not always easy, but doing it successfully jority. 8 Nor is this pattern of immigration unique to the United can create tremendous strategic advantages.States Workers from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East are moving to Europe in search of new opportunities, while workers from India, the Philippines, and Southeast Asia contribute to the use base of the Middle East. 9 However, you and your colleagues dont need to be recent immigrants to constitute a diverse workforce. Differences in everything from age and gender to religion and ethnic heritage to geography and military experience amend the workplace. Both immigration and workforce diversity create advantagesand challengesfor business communicators tthroughout the world. 6 PART 1 Understanding the Foundations of Business Communication The Challenges of Intercultural Communication A companys cultural diversity affects how its business messages are conceived, composed, delivered, received, and interpreted. purification influences everything about communication, including Language Nonverbal signals Word meaning Time and space issues Rules of human relationships Diversity affects how business messages are conceived, planned, sent, received, and interpreted in the workplace.Todays increasingly diverse workforce encompasses a wide range of skills, traditions, backgrounds, experiences, outlooks, and attitudes toward workall of which can affect employee behavior on the job. Supervisors face the challenge of communicating with these diverse em ployees, motivating them, and fostering cooperation and harmony among them. Teams face the challenge of working together closely, and companies are challenged to coexist peacefully with business partners and with the federation as a whole. The interaction of culture and communication is so permeant that separating the two is virtually impossible.The way you communicatefrom the language you speak and the nonverbal signals you send to the way you perceive other peopleis influenced by the culture in which you were raised. The meaning of words, the significance of gestures, the importance of time and space, the rules of human relationshipsthese and many other aspects of communication are defined by culture. To a large degree, your culture influences the way you think, which naturally affects the way you communicate as both a sender and a receiver. 0 So you can see how intercultural communication is much more complicated than simply matching language between sender and receiver. It goe s beyond mere words to beliefs, values, and emotions. Tthroughout this chapter, youll see many examples of how communication styles and habits vary from one culture to another. These examples are intended to illustrate the major themes of intercultural communication, not to give an exhaustive list of styles and habits of any particular culture.