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The Importance of Intercultural Communication

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The Importance of Intercultural Communication
Western International University

The Importance of Intercultural Communication Doing business globally is not just about dollars and cents anymore, sure money matters most but in order to get a deal done internationally there is a ton of preparation that has to be done. Communication between global business parties requires extensive research and time in order for both parties to grasp each other’s cultures. Learning and understanding the culture of a potential business partner comes way before the dotted line and depending on who grasps cultures better will be the difference between a company or its competitors making a deal. The world is a much smaller place than it once was, and one would think that given that fact it would be easier to grasp intercultural communication; however, learning and understanding other cultures brings with it an array of challenges such as onstage and backstage behaviors, how people learn and want to be communicated with, how certain cultures view and respond to other cultures, these and other barriers present enormous challenges to intercultural communication and to doing business globally. Getting a deal done internationally is enough of a reason to learn about other cultures as stated above if it makes dollars it makes sense, but learning another culture is very intricate process. “The failure of companies that go international usually occurs because someone didn’t understand the why of culture. Companies need to know the reasons why people think as they do and value what they do. Then the way companies and people act will be comprehensible and even predictable, and companies will avoid heavy business losses and failure.”(Beamer & Vamer, 2008, p. 28) The first step in intercultural communication “involves self-analysis, self awareness, and understanding.” (Beamer

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