Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL) > International Trade

Cross-Cultural Business Communication

The 21^st century global marketplace offers many opportunities for international business expansion yet, also come with a variety of intercultural communication challenges that businesspeople must comprehend in order to succeed.

SIBL has a variety of books, journals, and electronic databases that deal with the topics of international business communication and practices as well as current business and economic conditions. These resources offer a foundation of information that will help prepare today’s businessperson for the communication challenges of the multinational business community.

To find books at SIBL on this topic, search the NYPL Catalog under any of the following SUBJECTS: (This is a partial list; there may be related subjects in the catalog)

• Americans-employment-foreign countries-handbooks manuals etc.
• Business communication-cross-cultural studies
• Business etiquette
• Businesspeople-foreign language competency
• Competition, International
• Corporate culture-cross-cultural studies
• Intercultural communication- handbooks, manuals, etc.
• International business enterprises-management-cross-cultural studies
• International business enterprises-personnel management- handbooks, manuals etc.
• International trade-cross-cultural studies
• National characteristics
• Negotiation in business

Below is a representative list of some books on this topic and their locations on the open shelves at SIBL:

• Cross-cultural communication: the essential guide to international business
  *R-SIBL HF5718.C76
• Cross-Cultural Business Behavior: Marketing, Negotiating, Sourcing and Managing Across Cultures
  JBE 03-867
• Doing Business Internationally: the resource for business and social etiquette
  *R-SIBL HF5389.D64
• Dun & Bradstreet's guide to doing business around the world
  *R-SIBL HF1416 .M78
• Global Smarts: the art of communicating and deal making anywhere in the world
  *R-SIBL 5389.H63
• Kiss, bow or shake hands: how to do business in sixty countries
  *R-SIBL HF5389. M67
• Management worldwide: the impact of societal culture on organizations around the globe
  JBD 95-1247
  

Some of the Business Databases, to which SIBL subscribes, that index full-text articles covering current foreign business topics are:

• Academic Source Premier    
• Business Source Premier
• PAIS
• PROMT

Some phrases to use to find articles in these databases are:

• Cross-Cultural Orientation
• Exchange of Persons Programs
• International Communication              

Kwintessential Cross Cultural Solutions provides profiles of culture, customs and etiquette for a variety of countries for the foreign businessperson.

Project GLOBE, a research study sponsored by the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, investigated the cultures of many countries to determine how they affect how business is conducted in each country. In September 2003, a summary of the findings of Project GLOBE were presented at Baruch College’s Weissman Center for International Business.  Click here to view the presentation. The full report was published in 2004 with the title, Culture, Leadership and Organizations: the GLOBE Study of Societies.

Executiveplanet.com is a website which provides valuable tips on business etiquette, customs and protocol for doing business worldwide. Guides are co-authored by experts in international business etiquette, who are available to answer your questions on the discussion board.

To find other material on the internet pertaining to intercultural business communication, try Google’s web directory of cross-cultural business communication sites.