Cultural sensitivity is a fundamental component in international business operations. It refers to the understanding and respecting of another person’s culture, including beliefs, values, customs, and attitudes during interactions. Today, businesses interact with clients from culturally diverse backgrounds. The incorporation of cultural sensitivity when interacting with international clients has several benefits, including the development of quality relationships, reduction of trading barriers, successful negotiations, and creation of new competitive advantages.
Integrating cultural sensitivity when interacting with international clients leads to the development of sustainable relationships with foreign clients. Cultural distance is undoubtedly the biggest hindrance to the establishment of positive associations with people from different ethnic backgrounds (Lutz, 2017). For example, a lack of awareness about another person’s values makes it difficult to establish common ground during business negotiations. Cultural research helps companies to understand and appreciate the culture of foreign clients; thus, they adapt their strategies to fit the needs of the partners. In turn, a trusting relationship develops between companies and international clients. The strength of the relationship grows as long as the businesses continue to maintain a high level of cultural sensitivity in future interactions. So, cultural sensitivity facilitates the formation of strong and quality connections in the global marketplace.
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Secondly, cultural sensitivity reduces the obstacles of interacting with international clients. Language is a major barrier to interrelations with client from different countries because the meaning of words may vary between cultures. Secondly, it is the different uses of color patterns across cultures. For example, the Japanese value the green color because it symbolizes their unity and expects other people to respect the hue even if it lacks special meaning in their culture. Religion is another primary source of obstacles that affect interactions with international clients (Dang et al., 2019). People have different religious beliefs and practices that influence their activities. For instance, some clients may be unwilling to do business during the day of worship because it is against their beliefs. Cultural sensitivity reduces these obstacles by helping companies to understand the symbols, values, and practices that influence behavior.
Additionally, cultural sensitivity leads to the adoption of successful negotiation styles when interacting with international clients. Cross-cultural negotiations are particularly complicated because the type of strategies differs between countries. For example, Chinese nationals are perceived to have tough negotiation styles, including setting artificial deadlines, raising irrelevant questions, and making unreasonable demands to the other sides (Hennig-Schmidt, & Walkowitz, 2016). Moreover, the negotiations are made more difficult by the language barrier, among other cultural differences between the negotiations. Companies should conduct cultural research on international clients to understand their negotiation strategies to get an advantage during negotiations. Therefore, the insight gained during cultural research makes cross-cultural negotiations easier and successful.
Lastly, incorporating cultural sensitivity when interacting with international clients leads to the development of a competitive advantage. Cultural factors significantly influence the clients’ needs and purchasing behavior. Understanding of the international clients’ value system and beliefs helps companies to establish the type of goods or services that they are likely to buy. Moreover, cultural information helps companies to understand the attitude of international clients during their interactions. As a result, the firms adopt the right approach when communicating with the clients leading to successful business interactions.
In conclusion, cultural sensitivity has significant influence over interactions between businesses and international clients. Cultural sensitivity facilitates the development of a positive quality relationship with international clients and reduces the barriers of interactions between the parties. Besides, cultural sensitivity aids in cross-cultural negotiation by helping companies to understand the strategy of the international client. Furthermore, cultural sensitivity helps companies to develop competitive advantage over international clients during business interactions. So, cultural sensitivity supports interactions with international clients.
References
Adamczyk, M. (2017). The importance of cultural differences in international business. Central European Review of Economics and Management , 1 (2), 151-170.
Dang, W., Zhang, X., Xu, X., & Cao, J. (2019, June). Culture Sensitivity Assessment and Culture Protection in Religious Region: A Case from One Project Construction. In 2nd International Seminar on Education Research and Social Science (ISERSS 2 019) . Atlantis Press.
Hennig-Schmidt, H., & Walkowitz, G. (2016). Negotiations among Chinese and Germans–An experimental case study. Homo Oeconomicus , 32 (4), 451-488.
Lutz, S. A. (2017). Cultural sensitivity: Importance, competencies, and public relations implications.
