Lee High School

How can cultural differences and diversity affect international business?

International Business

Kristy Medina

Senior Capstone

Jody Snyder

April 13, 2018

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Kristy Medina

Jody Snyder

Snyder’s Capstone

April 13, 2017

Around the World

Business is what makes the world go round. There's so much more to business

than just marketing. Business is all over the world including many countries. Not only

does business bring people together, it allows them to interact with others aspects of

business, leaving them with the opportunity to learn and examine others business.

While learning from others people also learn about their culture and the diversity when

working together. Learning one another's background can lead to ideas for business.

Culture is unique it can sometimes be odd to others. The way people see, think, hear,

even learn is distinctive from one another. Different leads to opinions, which begin

affecting business because one is not accustomed to the way a business is run.

Communication, language, and religion can affect international businesses due to

cultural differences and enormous diversity.

A successful business comes with many responsibilities, but the primary

responsibility is to make sure people have communication. Having to understand non-

verbal and verbal communication between cultures can be hard for entrepreneurs,

leaving peers influence on how well the message is shown to others. In a country,

whether trying a handshake, making direct eye contact or even giving a thumbs up,

seems to be offensive towards others country. For example, in Australia, Greece or the
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Middle East it does not mean “good job” but something displeasing like “up yours.”

Morgan Rush states in article, Culture Effects on Business Communication, “Culture

directly affects business communication, both verbal and nonverbal. Some cultures,

including Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany, place high significance to the

words actually spoken. Other cultures, including Japan and Arab cultures, still place

significance on the spoken word, but also place great significance on the context of the

conversation....” (Rush) Rush states this to say that all culture communicators have their

own way of communicating and their own meaning of certain words, gestures or

symbols.

Language influences the thought process of others. According to this article,

“During the first 20th century, language was viewed by America linguist and

anthropologist as being more important than it actually is in shaping our precipitation of

reality” (O’Neil). Socially constructed, language is embedded in the culture of the world.

Interprets help businesses know the cultural differences, like language, or other

business so they can be prepared and be able to represent themselves well. Interprets

communicate within language, in order to communicate with others they have to interact

with the culture of that certain language. In certain countries, language can send

powerful messages when speaking in a certain language like English. Some business

cultures speak very straightforward, they mean what they say. When some business

speaks straight forward other cultures business take it an unpleasant way they view it

as being rude. Being straightforward can give the wrong message to others, they may

understand the way they are speaking to them as a sign of weakness, lack of

confidence and it might even a trigger some competition. The language style can also
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trigger the negotiation style of the businesses. Some culture businesses can be very

competitive or some can be easy to deal with, very cooperative. For example, how

iPhone and Samsung compete in a race for advancements of the telephone. Therefore

language is imperative for connecting with clients to all races and cultures.

Religion is how international teams work together, it is one of the key factors in

cultural diversity. When a business fails to recognize certain religion or respect their

needs it can lead to conflict. Religion can cause businesses to include or exclude

businesses due to their beliefs. According to the article Business and Religion: old

couple or bosom buddies,? Christian makeup 43% of the U.S businessmen. Christians

relationships with God is what brings their success together because success and

dishonesty do not always work. Stated in this article “Hermain Cain, chairman of

Godfather’s Pizza referred to the importance of prayer which brought him to the

corporate world” (Economist ). Other business religions see they are being successful

different. According to Daniel Lapin in the article, Speak Low, money and godliness are

equivalent. Lapin is a rabbi and he is the president of Cascadia Business Institute, and

the institute draws on insights of religious traditions to improve the business

performance (Economist). Furthermore, these resources show religious traditions make

a big impact on international businesses.

Overall culture differences impact international business by the way they

communicate, the proper use language, and the understanding of religion. Even though

it is sometimes hard to understand the role of these differences, learning from others

and experiencing new cultures from around the world can be very unique.
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Works Cited

News, Hult. How cultural differences impact international business in 2017, Hult News,

2017, www.hult.edu/blog/cultural-differences-impact-international-business/.
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Accessed 11 Apr. 2018.

O'Neil, Dennis. Language and Thought Processes, 26 Oct. 2006,

https://www2.palomar.edu/anthro/language/language_5.htm. Accessed 11 Apr. 2018.

"Speak low if you speak God; Business and religion." The Economist, 4 Aug.

2012, p. 59(US). Academic OneFile,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A298390829/AONE?u=lom_accessmich&sid=AONE

&xid=96975fdf. Accessed 9 Apr. 2018.

Van den berg, Hendrik, and Jousha J. Lewer. , Oct. 2007,

https://cba.unl.edu/research/articles/450/. Accessed 11 Apr. 2018.

Wagner, Christopher L. Cultural Effects on Business Communication, 9 Feb.

2015, sites.psu.edu/global/2015/02/09/cultural-effects-on-business-communication/.

Accessed 11 Apr. 2018.