Introduction
Intercultural communication is the communication that exists between two or more parties that hold different social, religious or ethnic background. In this kind of communication the parties involved bring with them their experiences and values acquired from the culture they adopt as they grew up. Therefore, for a business to excel well in the international market, it needs to establish an efficient intercultural communication among the parties involved. Language is the main source of conflict in intercultural communication. Hence, business firms should train their workers to uphold people from all ethnicity with respect. They should not undermine people who might have difficulties in expressing themselves in their languages, but instead they should assist them (Johnson, 2003)
Case Study: Francesca’s Kitchen Business in Netherlands and China
The expansion of Francesca’s kitchen business from Australia to Netherlands and China is a positive move for the business to enter into a global market. This expansion will boost the performance of the business in its production and marketability of its products due to the high population in China and Netherlands. However, the process will face the challenge on how to overcome the intercultural communication among these states. This is because of the different languages and cultural orientation present in these countries. There is a need for the company to recruit more staff to work on the new branches that are anticipated starting in China and Netherlands. The employees likely for recruitment are mostly Netherlanders, the Chinese and the Australian executives to oversee the new ventures. The presence of a workforce from different background is likely to bring a conflict in the intercultural communication. This will result due to the differences of the cultures and languages of Australian people and people from China and Netherlands (Walker, 2002)
The Chinese use the Chinese language as the means of communication while the Australian use English as their language of communication. This difference of the languages of the two groups of workforce in the same organization can lower the business performance, as the two groups might not coordinate effectively. Therefore, the company needs to establish an efficient communication in the business.
Different cultural background will further hinder efficient communication between the two groups of people from these different countries. People from different cultural background have diverse nonverbal communication such as body movements. Similarly, they have differing meanings for colors. Thus, these differences are likely to affect proper integration of the employees from different countries. Similarly, The Chinese have a strong respect for their elderly people. Thus, when one is addressing the elderly, one should demonstrate a lot of respect for them. This is not common with the Australians who have been alienated by the western lifestyle that does not value age so much as the Chinese do. Hence, there is likelihood for a conflict between the Chinese and the Netherlands locals in their day-to-day business activities (Johnson, 2003).
Conclusion
For the Francesca’s kitchen business be successful in its operations in China and Netherlands, it must establish very efficient human resource department that will ensure there exists an effective communication in the various groups that will be interacting in the business process. This will guarantee that the workers will work in harmony in the production and marketability of the business’s products that will enable it to realize high profits
References
Johnson, M. (2003). Cross-Cultural Communication: The Essential Guide to International Business. London: Kogan Page.
Walker. (2002). Doing Business Internationally: The Guide to Cross Cultural Success. New York: McGraw-Hill.