Conflicts and cultural barriers for communication: an empirical survey in multicultural environments

Abstract

This article describes the empirical survey of the cultural barriers for communication conducted in four hotel chains of different origins that are established in Brazil (North-American, French, Mexican and Brazilian). In it one aims at verifying how the local cultural values, reflected in the specific organizational values of each country, have fundamental influence on the profile of the cultural barriers to communication. In the work one defines the cultural barriers to communication, differentiating them from other types of barriers. This study is included in the efforts to develop a comparative survey of international public relations. The case study method was used. The results obtained point towards the influence of the national and organizational values on the profile of the cultural barriers to communication and on the way of resolving conflicts.