What are cultural barriers?
How do people from different cultures manage to collaborate and deal with the challenges that these different cultures pose?
A cultural barrier is an obstacle in communication between individuals of differing cultures.
Some examples are different values, beliefs, and traditions.
Cultural barriers can hinder the collaboration of individuals from diverse backgrounds as well as limit their understanding of a foreign culture.
Our goal is to help you identify some common cultural barriers and provide tips for overcoming them so you can more effectively collaborate with people from other places who come into your life.
The more different cultures you interact with, the more likely it is that you will encounter cultural barriers.
If there are four people entering a room and three of them belong to the same culture while a fourth individual is from another culture, which one will be most affected by the cultural barrier?
Imagine that you are in a hotel business meeting with people from China and Japan who speak English.
How would you assess the effectiveness of this meeting?
Would you think that it was an effective meeting because everyone had an opportunity to speak, or would it be unsuccessful if they did not have a chance to communicate?
Creating a culture of collaboration can go far beyond your business relationships.
It can be used in your personal life as well. Use these tips to learn more about cultural barriers and how to overcome them.
It is okay to have expectations when you are working with people from different cultures.
What if you are planning a project with an American colleague, a Colombian colleague and a Moroccan colleague?
If you expect them to share their ideas freely in front of the group, you will feel frustrated when this does not occur.
What are the reasons (for) trade restrictions?
There are many reasons to support the notion that there are a variety of trade restrictions imposed by governments.
These include tariffs and quotas to restrict trade, export subsidies to encourage it, import restraints and border taxes for revenue, and direct controls on currency exchange rates.
Some of the most common restrictions are tariffs, quotas, subsidies and import license requirements.
In theory these measures should never have been needed.
Trade agreements have historically been an important part of international relations.
The theory of comparative advantage, which Adam Smith developed 200 years ago, argues that trade agreements are the most efficient way to expand a country’s wealth.
Trade restrictions are sometimes used for political reasons rather than economic ones.
The European Union does not allow its members to subsidize industries unless it can be justified on the grounds that it is necessary for security or health reasons.
For this reason it is possible for the EU to argue that exporting nations which subsidize their own industries are being unfair in competition with them.
When countries impose trade restrictions, the purpose is usually to give their own businesses an advantage over foreign firms.
The ultimate aim is to increase exports and reduce imports, in preference to another strategy known as free trade, which aims to achieve these objectives by reducing barriers to trade without imposing new ones.
The goal of most governments is full employment and a rising standard of living; this can be achieved most efficiently by using the policy tools at their disposal.
What are the reasons against trade restrictions?
Trade restrictions are a dangerous tool of the global economy. It not only harms the economies of nations involved, but also creates a framework that facilitates large-scale corruption.
We look at three reasons why countries should not restrict trade: international law, economic theory, and “do one another good” principles.
International Law
International law provides several frameworks for countries to follow when regulating trade.
The most important is the WTO, an international organization that governs countries’ discriminatory actions.
Although there are some restrictions on governments, this article focuses on following the rules of the WTO rather than domestic law.
Economic Theories
Market economies have benefits for all people involved—both consumers and producers—because of the free exchange of goods.
If we monitor governments closely, it is easy to see when a government makes decisions that hurt both groups (i.e., a trade restriction).
Economic theories also offer explanations for trade restrictions.
Reasons to Do Each Other Good
The most ideal situation is to do each other good.
The idea is that supporting a country can make you feel better about yourself and then allow you to feel better about others.
By doing things for other people, we can decrease our own sense of helplessness, increase our own self-esteem, and make ourselves more likeable. That effect then will go down the line and affect everyone in society.