The differences between Multicultural vs. Cross-cultural vs. Intercultural
You may have also come across the terms multicultural communication and cross-cultural communication. How do these differ from intercultural communication? Let’s take a look!
Multicultural communication
Multicultural refers to how a group or team is composed, in particular a group that is made up of people with different nationalities. In fact, communication in multicultural settings has become commonplace today.
Cross-cultural communication Cross-cultural means comparing two or more different cultures; so cross-cultural communication examines the varying communication styles of different cultural groups.
What makes intercultural communication so important?
There are many reasons reasons why intercultural communication is important. First of all, effective intercultural communication is an essential skill for anyone working across different countries or regions in order to establish harmonious relationships and avoid conflict. It is essential to accurately and appropriately transfer information across countries and cultures. Executives in multinational companies, working either in their home country or as expats abroad, especially benefit from great intercultural communication skills to engage with international clients and employees.
Similarly, intercultural communication is also crucial for anyone working with people from other cultures to avoid misunderstandings and even offense. It’s fair to say that intercultural communication is the foundation for successful international business in today’s globalized world.
Practical examples of intercultural communication
Intercultural competence covers a large field ranging from linguistic aspects all the way to social and cultural conventions.
Linguistic differences can make it challenging for global companies to identify suitable product names for their target markets that don’t cause offense. Coca-Cola, for example, once tried to find a phonetic equivalent of their brand for the Chinese market and came up with KeKou-KeLa. But they failed to consider that this pleasantly sounding name translates to “bite the wax tadpole” in Chinese. Needless to say, the brand name had to be changed.
It’s important to be aware that each culture may have different social conventions. American business partners, for example, prefer small talk to build a relationship first, whereas Brits may try humor, and Germans tend to get straight to the point without beating around the bush. Thais, on the other hand, think nothing of asking what are considered rather personal questions in the western world, for example about your marital status or job. Similarly, Americans like to use first names when addressing others, while in Austria, titles should be used to avoid sounding disrespectful. Germans will want to shake hands, while people in Thailand place their palms together at chest level and bow instead.
