Introduction
In the modern world, communication plays one of the decisive roles in the functioning of many spheres of society. Global communication plays a unique role as a way to exchange information with people anywhere in the world. This is facilitated by the development of multiple innovative technologies, such as the Internet and mobile communications. Thus, this work aims to study this phenomenon and its value. The concept of global communication itself, its advantages and disadvantages, barriers to its implementation, and the importance it has for business will be considered in more detail. This is because global communication cannot be compared with communication on a personal level.
What is Global Communication?
First of all, it is necessary to gain an understanding of the phenomenon of global communication. It implies the exchange of information at the global level in various geographical and social areas. Studies also emphasize that global communication “Global communication can take various forms, including global advertisements, political speeches, journalistic news stories, social media posts” (“What is global/international communication?”, n.d., para. 1). The analysis and consideration of this phenomenon are essential since it affects all areas of activity of individuals, including business, medicine, education, culture, politics and many others. Global communication is also called international, and it is used to spread information to as large and diverse an audience as possible. Moreover, it is also vital to highlight the peculiarity of the interaction of global data exchange with various processes taking place in the world. Thus, the concept under study has interrelations with such aspects as globalization, cultural and language exchange, and state laws.
Advantages of Global Communication
Global communication has several advantages that determine its value. Thus, it promotes cohesion and the establishment of high-quality relationships between people in different parts of the world. This is due to the development of information technologies that help individuals connect at any time and in any place. This factor applies not only to personal communication but also to such areas as economics and politics and many others where the exchange of information and data is of particular value.
Therefore, it should be mentioned that international communication has a positive effect on business development and the emergence of new opportunities. The main component of this advantage is the knowledge of other people’s cultures (Masoom, 2016). Properly established communication with foreign companies can help expand the organization’s staff by attracting new talented employees. Moreover, businesses have the opportunity to exchange experience to avoid possible problems and increase efficiency and profit. Furthermore, the advantage of sharing information on a global level is to expand the learning market. In other words, managers and researchers are presented with even more ways to acquire new valuable data not only about the business area but also about customers. In addition, it contributes to the emergence of innovative and unique ideas that will help accelerate business development.
Another crucial advantage of global communication is the improvement of cultural education for the entire population. Thus, when communicating with representatives of different peoples, individuals gain knowledge about other cultures, traditions, views, customs, and opinions (Kaptan, 2020). Therefore, the acquisition of this information can contribute to the further transmission of it to other generations. This process encourages the formation of cultural identity and awareness, which is critically important at the present stage of society’s development.
Barriers and Disadvantages
Despite the multiple advantages of global communication, this phenomenon has some limitations. Hence, they need to be known to prevent cases of problems and to ensure an easy and efficient information exchange process. Thus, the state, linguistic, and cultural aspects are the barriers to the phenomenon under study. The first is caused by differences in the legislative and legal spheres in different countries. This can manifest itself both in the restriction of specific actions on the Internet and social networks and in varying degrees of the level of confidentiality of information. Thus, organizations and individuals should treat this aspect with special responsibility and care since its observance is critical for global communication.
The second barrier that can limit the process of international information exchange is language. The main problem is the inability to convey what people want correctly and fully to the interlocutor because of the various nuances of the language, which are sometimes known only to the native speaker. An analysis of the literature emphasized that this also affects the “impairment of sensemaking in the team, which disrupts sophisticated knowledge processing activities” (Tenzer et al., 2021, p. 101184). Moreover, all responsibility for the result of communication lies with its initiator, so it is vital to introduce training in the ethics of business communication if it concerns market relations. Moreover, there are many examples where even the most successful companies have made mistakes in their advertising campaigns and failed because of the language barrier. One example could be a failed Coca-Cola company advertisement in China when a global soda retailer incorrectly translated its slogan into Chinese and wrote: “bite the wax tadpole” (Weedmark, 2018, para. 13). This example proves the importance of understanding and knowledge of the linguistic features of other countries to establish productive global communication.
The third limiting factor is the emergence of issues related to the cultural differences of the communication participants. Underestimating this aspect can lead to severe problems and negatively affect the activities of any organization (Khojastehpour et al., 2015). One of the ways to avoid cases of unintentional offending of representatives of a particular representative of culture is through the involvement of specialists. These employees can provide advice on which features and details need to be taken into account when exchanging information with other countries. For example, as already mentioned, the United States of America and China have different privacy laws. Therefore, the excessive frankness of a representative of American culture can seriously hurt the interlocutor from China.
Henceforth, the next aspect that requires attention is the negative aspects of global or international communication. Often, there are cases when problems may arise during the exchange of information, even when achieving the set goal. That is why it is crucial to arrange all the essential aspects in advance and determine the course of communication in such a way as to avoid complications. The most outstanding and severe consequence of global communication is the possibility of intellectual property being stolen and used in other countries. To do this, it is necessary to pay special attention to the protection and confidentiality of the exchanged information.
Global Communication in Business
This research paper has repeatedly mentioned the importance of global communication for business. It plays one of the decisive roles in gaining competitiveness and productive work for the company. Thus, to conduct successful activities, companies must have awareness and a clear understanding of what the phenomenon in question is and what advantages and disadvantages it has. The condition that communication takes place at the international level also carries a certain level of responsibility and the necessary caution.
The first important step for any organization is to pay more attention to the development of cross-cultural communication between it and foreign colleagues. To do this, business leaders should make strategic changes to the business policy and introduce specialized training for employees. It should include disseminating awareness about other cultures and their peculiarities regarding verbal and nonverbal communication. All this is because it is the company that should be responsible for the activities of its employees since their actions will inevitably affect its reputation.
A special relationship, in this case, is played by language, on which the outcome of communication at the global level also depends. The research underlines that “the natural tendency of humans is to communicate in their language, the most comfortable for self-expression, but also to understand others” (Constantinescuv, 2015, p. 162). The usual translation of the necessary request or information is not enough, and it is necessary to make sure that the text does not have any unintentional insults and mistakes that can hurt the feelings and views of the recipient. Furthermore, this may be influenced by the initial difference in how people express themselves and think, which is sometimes difficult to convey when translated into another language.
Henceforth, another aspect that business needs to take into account when conducting global communication with other companies is the difference in perception. This feature is closely related to the concept of culture. It represents the fact that representatives of different countries have different ideas about how to conduct business correctly, communicate with colleagues, and organize the work of staff and the company as a whole (Klitmøller et al., 2015). In addition, this also applies to concepts such as ethics and values. In cases where different worldviews collide and it is difficult to come to a mutual agreement, it makes no sense to conduct lengthy negotiations, as this will only complicate the process of achieving the goal.
To anticipate and prevent the occurrence of undesirable situations, a business should conduct a preliminary study of the culture and the foreign organization itself with which it plans to interact. This includes eliminating possible emerging prejudices and prejudices against representatives of other peoples and increasing cultural awareness of all parties involved in the process. An effective way to do this is to create a separate department, which does not necessarily have to be large, but it must have time to carry out information collection activities. Finally, the involvement of employees with different points of view can help to gain a balanced opinion and view of the negotiations and business correspondence and also help to increase the chances of getting better results.
Conclusion
This work considered the value of such a concept as global communication for both society and business. It has several advantages, such as improving cultural awareness and providing easier access to information exchange. However, some barriers to global communication were also highlighted, including the language barrier, cultural differences, and the legislative aspect. Despite this, a business can have many benefits with the correct implementation of the phenomenon under study in its practice and ensuring the proper level of education of employees.
References
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