Barriers to cross-cultural communication in international organizations: a case study of the British council kenya

Abstract

In times of rapid growth, both in terms of economic development and globalization and international development in developing countries, an increasing number of international organizations extend their development agenda abroad. A subsequent challenge of this development is the managerial implications of cross-cultural management. This study employs a qualitative approach in a single case study of British Council Kenya, which is one of the international offices of the British Council United Kingdom. After reviewing the previous studies, the authors summarize the differences of management style, staff behavior and communication system in different cultural context and find the barriers of cross cultural communication in international organizations. The findings of this study indicate that the barriers of communication come from the national cultures’ influence at the work place and behaviors of people with different identity. Moreover, culture also influences people’s way of thinking and behavior, resulting in different understandings toward vision and purposes of the organizations