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Cultural Difference

Regardless of geographical locations, the meaning of cultural differences is more or less similar. They are differences in the living standards, values, beliefs, rituals and legal practices among various countries, societies, communities, religions, and groups of people. In studying the topic of cultural difference, the first question raise in the mind is “What is culture?” In 1952, “Kroeber” and “Kluckhohn” illustrated 164 definitions of culture, which were searched from anthropology literature. However, in the present time, several new definitions have been found.

“Bates” and “Plog” defined culture as “Culture is a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that the members of a society use to cope with their world and with one another, and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning.” Consequently, variations in the system of beliefs, values, behaviors, traditions, customs, and rituals are known as culture differences. The term “culture difference” is an extremely complex and vast subject to study. With respect to anthropology, it can be said that wherever human beings exist, there will be a specific culture, as well (Qingxue, 2003, p. 22). In this paper, cultural differences are discussed with regard to “cultural differences between west and east in international business negotiation”, “consequences of globalization on cultural differences”, “cultural differences in nonverbal communication” and “the values in a cross-cultural context.”

Globalization brings growing communication of international business and economy among nations. Not only negotiation is an important element of multinational business process, but communication of cultures is also a significant part of trading between countries. Negotiation of ideas and behaviors are managed by particular cultures of the country (Luo, 2008, p. 103). According to several researches, globalization focus on modifications in the economic and political arenas, and a lot of concerns has been raised over the influence of globalization on the atmosphere ...