Course Paper

LINGUISTIC AND SOCIO-CULTURAL PECULIARITIES OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

CONTENTS

Introduction

Characteristics of business communication

Socio-cultural issues of business communication

Business communication as a cross-cultural issue

Peculiarities of unofficial business communication

Specific patterns of problematic interaction

Linguistic features of business communication

Content and Structure

Language

Peculiarities of delivery

Conclusion

List of References

Introduction

"Effective communication needs to be built around this simple foundation and realization: communication is a dialogue, not a monologue. In fact, communication is more concerned with a dual listening process." — Dr. Heinz Goldmann, Chair, Heinz Goldmann International Foundation for Executive Communications, Geneva.

Business communication has a long history, stretching back to the origins of rhetoric as a scholarly endeavour and, even further, back to the origins of business practice. Today, business communication exists as an academic field that emphasizes research in this sphere, aiming at raising its effectiveness. Different domains of business communication have been researched by F.Briggs, R.D. Clarke, S.R. Covey, L.Ekroth, L.Ferrer, E.Shriberg, T.K.Gamble, M.Gamble, N.Gerber, R.I.Gesher, M.D.Winer, C.B.Gussenhoven, G.Harper, D.House, B.Lampton, A.Lieb, N.Payne, N.Qubein, L.Ramsey, A.Taylor, T.Rosegrant, A.Meyer, B.T.Samples, A.Thompson, A.J.Vasile, H.K.Mintz and many others. In the focus of their attention are such issues as studying the peculiarities of official and unofficial business communication, dealing with specific problems in business interaction, examining the content and structure of business presentations, and developing general guidelines of effective delivery.

Grounding on the results of previous researches, this paper presents an attempt to give an overview of contemporary achievements in the theory and practice of raising the effectiveness of business communication from the linguistic and socio-cultural viewpoint. The work consists of the introduction, two sections of the main part, conclusion and the list of references.

Characteristics of business communication

Communication is important in the work situation, which for most people is within an organization, a complex system that intentionally coordinates the behaviours of its members to meet certain goals. Communication channels follow both the formal and informal organization structures.

Organizational communication can take different forms. Some messages are written down, although certainly not all of them. Also, informal channels can be used.

A problem for many people at work is the need to communicate in an assertive manner. Assertive communication involves internalizing positive attitudes regarding one's rights and specific communication behaviours, including, persistence, a workable compromise, use of feedback, appropriate self-disclosure, fogging, negative assertion, and negative inquiry.[1]

Socio-cultural issues of business communication   Business communication as a cross-cultural issue

On the one hand, "every communication is a cross-cultural communication" (i.e., coloured and influenced by each person's unique life experience.), as Larry Axelrod and Roy Johnson state in their book, Turning Conflict Into Profit.[2]

On the other hand, advances in transport and communications technology combined with the development of a world economy have resulted in people from different nations, cultures, languages and backgrounds now communicating, meeting and doing business with one another more than ever. As we come together our cultural differences become accentuated as we start to realise that the rest of the world is not reading from the same book. One area where this is now being felt is in business.[3]

Today some of the world's largest economies include Japan, China, Mexico, Brazil, India and Korea. As a result, doing business across borders (whether political, religious, cultural or linguistic) requires cultural sensitivity, meaning a sense of empathy, flexibility and creativity informed by cultural knowledge. Western organisations are feeling the impact that a lack of cultural sensitivity can and does have upon business performance. Many organisations are now investing heavily in cultural sensitivity training to address issues such as etiquette, protocol, communication styles and negotiation approaches. In a competitive world such businesses appreciate that greater cultural sensitivity will assist them in forging longer and more prosperous relationships.

A lack of cultural sensitivity can lead a company, individual or product to failure. This is reflected in two simple categories: culture and language.

Culture comes in many shapes and sizes, including areas such as politics, history, faith, mentality, behaviour and lifestyle. The lack of cultural awareness may harm a business. For example, a golf ball manufacturing company used to package golf balls in packs of four for convenient purchase. However, a failure of their sales in Japan made the company repackage the product because in the Japanese culture the number 4 is considered unlucky (equivalent to the number 13 in western cultures) due to its sounding like the word "death".

Business communication can also be damaged by poor translation due to the lack of cultural sensitivity. ............