Online Custom «Business Communication» Essay Sample

In the process of business negotiations with the representatives of foreign countries and organizations, it is important to remember that the participants’ come from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. Every country has its traditions and style of business communication. The knowledge of these peculiarities may help to choose the necessary strategy of behavior. Often, the difficulties during the process of international negotiations are caused by the difference between the national and organizational cultures. The current paper discusses culture differences on business negotiation between Japanese and American negotiators, based on Hall’s high-context and low-context culture theory.

The international communication contains a notion of the context level. Those cultures that perceive a said word without taking into consideration the hidden sense of it are called high-context cultures. Such cultures are less homogenous, and the interpersonal contacts are strictly divided. The representatives of these cultures do not mix personal relations with a job and other aspects of everyday life. On the contrary, low-context culture is a communication style that relies heavily on direct and explicit language.

In our case, the American culture may be determined as the low-context one. When searching for the solution of a problem, Americans tend not only to discuss general questions but also all the details connected with the realization of agreements. They appreciate openness, fairness, and do not spend time on formality. The American partners always come in time for the appointed meeting and do not like pauses during negotiations. The American businesspeople have a direct and result-oriented style of work. It allows to speak about the pragmatic American style.

The American people perceive the world around them as a set of logical notions that are equal to the truth. The logic for them is the only way to reality. Due to this reason, the representatives of the American nation belong to the low-context culture that does not pay much attention to the nonverbal part of the communication. The American people think that only the clear data, taken apart from any context, may become a source of evidence. For example, one of the most frequent questions in the American court is “Yes or no?”. Very often, judges do not take into consideration the circumstances of the event but only the fact of the event itself.

The optimism is an integral component of the American way of life. The typical greeting is: “How are you?”, and the answer has to be: “Fine, thank you”. For the representatives of the American nation, there exist only black and white, right and wrong, truth and lie without any shadows. The style of the cooperation may be characterized by neglecting traditions and pragmatism. They highly evaluate individuality and a person’s rights. In any situation, it is important to look healthy and energetic.

Americans usually perceive all the messages as verbatim. Any irony or hidden sense will not be understood. They do not understand hints. If Americans organize a business meeting, it will be directed towards the solution of a particular problem, not towards just friendly conversation. It is better to prepare all the necessary information about the company in advance to avoid wasting time.

Americans prefer to have reliable information about the members of negotiations, such as the information about education or investigations. Any meeting is saturated and usually takes no longer than an hour. Americans start the discussion at once to find the common interests and to build the strategy of cooperation.

Every American, who takes part in negotiations, usually, has more influence on taking the decisions than the representatives of other nations. That is the main reason why from the very beginning of a meeting it is crucial to remember about three rules: to analyze, to share the duties and to check the result. Usually, negotiations are carried out face-to-face. They expect to succeed at once and to go on working to make a success again.

The topic of negotiations with the representatives of the Japanese nation requires a thorough investigation. In the middle of the twentieth century, Japan strengthened its positions in the global market. The high quality of production, comparatively low prices and the constant development of technology turned this country into an economic giant. Being one of the most developed countries in the world, Japan is an important business partner.

The topic of business communication, together with the ethical norms of behavior, is of vital importance for the Japanese nation. There is hardly any other country in the world that would treat the ancient traditions so scrupulously. The traditions of business communication in Japan have been formed for ages and may be traced back to the ancient epochs. Japanese are the typical representatives of the high-context cultures.

To establish the contact with the future partner, Japanese prefer to use the service of a “mediator.” This person has to be familiar with both sides of the communication process and to occupy a significant position in the society. The personal correspondence or calls should become the last way in the search for new customers.

The social and business status of the members of negotiations is also of great significance. It has to be more or less equal. If the status is lower, the negotiations may fail as it may spoil the reputation. If the status is higher, the representatives of Japan may think that they act like applicants that is undesirable for them.

When getting ready to the negotiations with Japanese, first of all, it is required to pay attention to the appearance. The suit should not have any extra elements. It is better to come a few minutes before the appointed time because the Japanese businesspeople highly evaluate punctuality and responsibility. Even if a partner is one minute late, it may have a negative influence on the negotiations in general.