Factors leading to intercultural communication problems: a survey in a group of international hotels

Abstract

A rapid advance in communication and transportation technoLogies. an ongoing shift in the worLd economy, the growth of internationaL commerce and tourism are among deveLopments that make international and inter-cultural communication indispensable. Many organizations are operating across national borders and conduct businesses that involve different nations and cultures. Because of this processes intercultural communication problems are abound. The aim of this research is to identify communication problems that assumed to be the results of cultural differences in a group of international hotels, which employs different nationalities in the southern region of Turkey. The analysis of research data measure the impacts of factors that lead to communication problems between individuals who belonged to different cultures. Following the statistical analyses, the findings are interpreted. Our findings suggest that socio-cultural, organizational and linguistic factors are all important factors respectively on intercultural communication problems. Nevertheless, people who are older than 30 years old, with high organizational position. and with high educational levels consider these factors less important than people who are younger than 30 years old, with low organizational position, and with low educational levels