Role of Cultural Awareness in A Multicultural Business Environment

Business Administration Faculty, University of The People

BUS 5211: Managing in the Global Economy

Dr. Zizo Aku

Wednesday October 11, 2023

In the case study titled "Investigating the Role of Cultural Awareness in A

Multicultural Business Environment: A Case Study Based on Turkish and British

Markets," the significance of cultural awareness is examined in relation to a

multicultural work environment. The study examines the cultural distinctions between

the Turkish and British markets, focusing on how they affect business practices and

communication. The study is based on interviews with managers from Turkish and

British businesses doing business in Turkey. The managers were questioned regarding

their challenges and experiences working in a multicultural setting. The study aims to

pinpoint the crucial markers of cultural awareness that support the success of

companies doing business across cultural boundaries. According to the study, cultural

sensitivity is essential to the success of companies doing business in diverse settings

(Adekola, 2007). The study identified a number of indicators of cultural awareness,

such as attitudes, productivity, commitment, ethics, individualism, time, materialism,

work, change, values, norms, beliefs, religion, education, language, economy, legal

system, politics, infrastructure, and technology. Language barriers, different work

styles, and cultural misunderstandings are just a few of the difficulties managers

encounter when working in a diverse environment, according to the study (Adekola,

2007). To overcome these obstacles and forge fruitful cross-cultural connections, the

study advises managers to increase their cultural sensitivity and awareness (Ball,

2004).

The role of cultural sensitivity in a multiethnic business environment, particularly in

the Turkish and British markets, is the main topic covered in this case study. The

study looks into how the cultural differences between these two markets affect

business practices and communication. The goal of the study is to identify the most
important cultural awareness indicators that influence how successfully cross-cultural

businesses can operate. The study also looks at the difficulties managers face in these

markets and how they can get past them by being sensitive and aware of other

cultures.

The conflicts of cross culture:

The case highlights a number of cross-cultural conflicts experienced by British and

Turkish businesses competing in the same markets. The disparity in communication

styles between the two cultures is one of the major conflicts noted in the case study.

According to the study, British managers typically have more assertive and direct

communication styles, whereas Turkish managers typically have more indirect and

polite ones. Misunderstandings and conflicts between the two cultures can result from

this difference in communication style. The different work styles have been identified

as another source of conflict in the case study. According to the study, Turkish

managers are more relationship-focused and more focused on forming personal

connections than British managers, who tend to be more task-oriented and more

concerned with achieving results. Conflicts over expectations and priorities may result

from these disparities in work styles. For businesses to create an adaptive business

strategy that will help them resolve these conflicts and forge fruitful cross-cultural

connections, a thorough understanding of these issues pertaining to multicultural

business environments is essential (Ball, 2004). According to the case study,

managers who cultivate cultural sensitivity and awareness are better able to resolve

these disputes and forge fruitful cross-cultural bonds. For instance, the study

discovered that British businesses that were successful in the Turkish market had

modified their communication style to be more indirect and polite, which is more in

line with Turkish culture. Similar to this, Turkish businesses with success in the
British market adopted a more task-oriented, results-oriented work style that was

more in line with British culture.

The approaches to cultural interpretation:

Cultural analysis is conducted using a hermeneutic method in this case study. The

importance of comprehending cultural context and deciphering cultural meaning is

emphasized by the hermeneutic approach. This method acknowledges the complexity

and diversity of culture and the ways in which historical, social, and political factors

influence cultural meaning. The hermeneutic approach also acknowledges the

subjectivity of cultural meaning and the possibility of diverse cultural meaning

interpretations (Reichertz, J. 2004). The case study employs a hermeneutic approach

to examine the cultural distinctions between Turkey and the UK. The study

acknowledges the complexity and diversity of both cultures and the ways in which

historical, social, and political factors influence cultural meaning. The study also

acknowledges that cultural meaning is a matter of personal interpretation. Because

both Turkey and the UK have histories that are intricate and nuanced, the hermeneutic

approach is especially pertinent to these cross-cultural situations. In contrast to the

UK, which has a rich cultural history influenced by Europe, Asia, and the Americas,

Turkey has a mixed ethnic heritage combining influences from the Middle East, Asia,

and Europe (CIA, 2019). The hermeneutic approach acknowledges that these

historical and social factors have shaped cultural meaning and that comprehending

these factors is crucial to comprehending cultural differences. Because it

acknowledges that cultural meaning is arbitrary and that various individuals may

interpret cultural meaning in a variety of ways, the hermeneutic approach is also

pertinent to the cross-cultural situations of Turkey and the UK. According to the

study, managers from both cultures interpreted cultural meaning differently, which
caused miscommunication and conflict. The hermeneutic approach acknowledges that

these variations in interpretation are normal and that comprehending these variations

is crucial for forging fruitful cross-cultural connections.

Effective tools to prevent risky business mistakes:

Business owners can employ a number of strategies to guard against potential cultural

business errors, according to a case study. Developing cultural sensitivity and

awareness is a useful tool (Strategies for dealing with intercultural Communication,

2020). The study discovered that managers who practice cultural sensitivity and

awareness are better able to deal with cultural differences and forge fruitful cross-

cultural connections. Training courses, cultural encounters, and intercultural

mentoring can all help with this. Participating actively in learning about the local

environment is another useful strategy. According to the findings of the study,

carefully reading a culture is necessary for understanding it and responding to it. The

study discovered that managers who actively engage in learning about the local

environment are better able to comprehend cultural differences and create fruitful

cross-cultural relationships. Making use of a common cross-cultural communication

strategy is a third efficient tool. According to the study, problems that a foreign

company's international business encounters in a host country can be resolved with

the aid of a standard cross-cultural communication strategy. This can be accomplished

by creating a communication plan that accounts for cultural variances and offers

guidelines for successful cross-cultural communication.

The cross-cultural communication strategies:

It emphasizes how crucial it is to develop a communication strategy that recognizes

cultural differences and offers recommendations for cross-cultural communication

success. According to the study, businesses should modify their communication

culture. To be more in line with British culture, businesses in the UK should change

their work practices to be more task-oriented and result-focused.

Conclusion:

For businesses to create an adaptive business strategy, understanding cross-cultural

issues is essential because it enables them to resolve conflicts and forge fruitful cross-

cultural connections. The case study shows that managing these conflicts and

establishing fruitful cross-cultural relationships requires managers to be sensitive to

and aware of cultural differences.

Adekola, A. & Sergi, B.S., (2007). Global Business Management: A cross-cultural

perspective. Ashgate Publishing Ltd

Ball, D.A., McCulloch, W.H., Frantz, P.L., Geringer, J.M., & Minor, M.S., (2004).

InternationalBusiness: The Challenge of Global Competition. New York, US:

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

CIA, (2019). World Fact Book, Turkey and United Kingdom. Retrieved from https://

www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbookgeos/tu.html

Reichertz, J. (2004). “Objective hermeneutics and hermeneutic sociology of

knowledge,” in A Companion to Qualitative Research. eds. U. Flick, E. V. Kardorff,

and I. Steinke (London: Sage), 290–296.

Strategies for dealing with intercultural Communication. (2020, November 13). Small

Business - Chron.com. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/strategies-dealing-

intercultural-communication-11875.html

Strengthening institutional risk and integrity culture. (2020). McKinsey & Company.

https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/risk-and-resilience/our-insights/

strengthening-institutional-risk-and-integrity-culture