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Business Communication Between People with Different Cultural Backgrounds

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Conference of the International Journal of Arts and Sciences 1(19): 121 – 129 (2009) CD-ROM. ISSN: 1943-6114 © InternationalJournal.org

Business Communication between People with Different Cultural Backgrounds
Livia Ablonczy-Mihályka, Széchenyi István University, Hungary

Abstract At present every aspect of our social, scientific and mental life is subdued to accelerated development. In our globalised world, the amount of cross-national communication increases drastically and in recent years many researchers have emphasised the importance of awareness of different cultural norms as globalisation has brought about a growing trend to communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds. This paper argues for a revaluation of how we approach the topic of business communication and for greater emphasis on successful business communication as the goal of better understanding in global business setting. The ideas which are presented in this paper have been derived over a period of two years of our own research and through the reading of research literature. The research to be discussed in the paper is connected to one of the major research lines at Széchenyi István University, titled The dialogue of professional, organisational and national cultures. The purpose of the present paper is to present the results of a survey conducted with professionals who communicate with foreign business partners. The data were gathered by means of a questionnaire. At the root of the argument is the hypothesis that communication rules and norms between people with different cultural background have altered and different cultures have differing values, perceptions and philosophies. The paper will conclude that individuals working in international business setting are affected by more than one culture at a time − even if by varying amounts – and special attention should be devoted

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