Two Teams: Bridging Cultures, Language Barrier for Sealord-Aus Partnership. Essay Sample

The two teams forming the partnership will face a variety of communication and cultural hindrances. The language barrier is one of the communication difficulties the teams will face. While New Zealand and Australia both speak English almost predominantly, differences in pronunciation, accents, and slang language exist among the populations (Binder, (2016). This would affect the business partnership on various levels. Thus, the communication methods between the Sealord Company and the Australian company should be chosen carefully to avoid any misunderstanding and confusion. It is, therefore, crucial to do enough research in order to prevent miscommunication. Also, it's important to be polite and patient when having meetings to limit misunderstandings (Reiche et al., 2016). This will also apply between management and employees, employees and customers, and the business partners.

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The team must also decide on the strategy to use while marketing the new product. The packaging, the writing, adverts in the new country must be respected so as to reach the relevant market (Adekola & Sergi, 2016). English is a similarity between the countries, but other languages are also spoken. New Zealand has Maori as its sign language, and Australia has Mandarin (Zander & Butler, 2012). Recognition of these other languages is important to reach every market intended in every country. Australia and New Zealand have the issue of word pronunciation. Some items have different names in different countries. People respond differently to languages and accents. Therefore, marketing and advertising language should be carefully chosen. Remaining consistent in branding will also help in maintaining the company's image (Doz, 2011).

The task of communicating across countries may also be challenging. Both vertical and horizontal communication through different cultures and accents with effective protocols should be implemented (Kawar, 2012). There are limitations to secondary communications not to mention personal contact. The human resource part of this partnership will be crucial to the success of the business. People may relate better to familiar salespeople thereby increasing the chances for business success (Morgan & Wright, 2014). If employees from New Zealand are going to work in the Australian market, careful managerial skills must be put into place to ensure effectiveness. In the case of these two countries, there is also the issue of the difference in time zones. There is a two-hour time difference between the two countries (Globalization Partners, 2016). This will affect the time calls could be made and the time stores open just to name a few. Another cultural difference is holidays. The countries have different holidays which implies that there will be differences in working days and themed holiday foods.

Cultural barriers would also affect the teams. Automatically, cultures differ from area to area not to mention country to country. This may include foreign business customer needs. Some products sell more in different places; therefore, introducing a new one would require a lot of planning (Daim et al., 2012). The team would have to strategize on how to penetrate foreign markets for them to succeed. Introducing new seafood in Australia by Sealord, for example, would require significant planning. For Sealord whose foods are fashioned around Maori culture, it would be important to redesign the Australian foods to suit their culture (Sealord International, n.d.). This will make the content very relatable to the locals of the foreign country.

Work cultures in countries differ. Introducing a routine from New Zealand may be somewhat unacceptable in Australia. People work at different paces. The amount of hours they work is different, and thus it's essential to put this into consideration. Also, some places have extensive delivery systems while others rely directly on personal service (Scullion & Collings, 2011). In addition to that, the political histories between the two countries should be considered. New Zealand is made up of the Maori as a religious colony, and Australia was created for convicts (Driver, 2017). It is therefore essential to put this into consideration as these demographics make up the customer base.

References

Adekola, A., & Sergi, B. S. (2016). Global business management: A cross-cultural perspective. Routledge.

Binder, J. (2016). Global project management: communication, collaboration, and management across borders. Routledge.

Globalization Partners. (2016). Challenges with Working in a Cross-Cultural Team. Retrieved from https://www.globalizationpartners.com/2016/06/23/challenges-with-working-in-a-cross-cultural-and-multilingual-environment/

Daim, T. U., Ha, A., Reutiman, S., Hughes, B., Pathak, U., Bynum, W., & Bhatla, A. (2012). Exploring the communication breakdown in global virtual teams. International Journal of Project Management, 30(2), 199-212.

Driver, S. (2017, September 08). How to Go Global: Challenges, Considerations and Tips. Retrieved from https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/8211-expand-business-internationally.htmlDoz, Y. (2011). Qualitative research for international business. Journal of International Business Studies, 42(5), 582-590.

Kawar, T. I. (2012). Cross-cultural differences in management. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(6).

Kozenkow, J. (2016, October 26). International Management Challenges. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/international-management-challenges-56168.htm

Morgan, L., Paucar-Caceres, A., & Wright, G. (2014). Leading effective global virtual teams: The consequences of methods of communication. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 27(6), 607-624.

Scullion, H., & Collings, D. (2011). Global talent management. Routledge.

Sealord International. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.sealord.comReiche, B. S., Stahl, G. K., Mendenhall, M. E., & Oddou, G. R. (Eds.). (2016). Readings and cases in international human resource management. Taylor & Francis.

Zander, L., Mockaitis, A. I., & Butler, C. L. (2012). Leading global teams. Journal of World Business, 47(4), 592-603.