Competing Across Borders: How Cultural and Communication Barriers Affect Business

26 October 2012 by EF Education First

This white paper explores the challenges companies face when they have to operate or compete in increasingly international markets. Specifically, this paper assesses the role that cross-border communication and collaboration play in the success or failure of companies with ambitions that are not confined to national borders.

The report draws on information from two main sources to present its findings, which were:

• In-depth interviews with experts and executives from a number of major organisations
• Results of a survey of 572 executives which took place in early 2012

Some of the key points made in this free white paper include, to name a few, that contrary to expectations, the economic downturn is prompting many companies to become more international, that effective cross-border communication is critical to the financial success of businesses with international aspirations, and that more prospective employees are expected to be fluent in key foreign languages.

To find out more about the information in this report, please download the free white paper.