No Business without Communication: How Communication Can Shed Additional Light on Specific Business Contexts

This book examines various aspects of the business world from the perspective of communication. After all, no business is possible without communication. A statement that ought to be an axiom because communication is central to the interaction of people; hence, also interactions at the workplace, amongst business partners, and with customers. And when the people come from different cultures, then the role of culture assumes an important role as well. But instead of pursuing a typical management perspective, the authors in this book examine various business and work-related contexts from an intercultural, general communication, and linguistic perspective. A perspective that is often not in the focus of classic management literature – probably because it is assumed that everyone can communicate. But what if the communicative efforts are ineffective? And what if the interactors are unaware of this? That is why communication needs to be considered and understood so as to be more effective and more productive. This book follows an interdisciplinary approach to communication and, thus, offers some useful insights to such interactions and contexts. The contributing authors provide literally a global perspective because they come from different parts of the world and from different scientific disciplines. The book is divided into six parts: The first five chapters offer a general introduction to culture and communication. This is followed by four chapters examining various aspects of worldview and perception. Next come six chapters dealing with a selection of topics revolving around the meaning of messages. The next five chapters take a closer look at communication at the workplace. This is followed by three chapters exploring politeness and emotion at work. The book ends with five chapters considering communication competence and cultural adaptation. The book, thus, offers some unique insights to the world of business from the perspective of culture and communication.