Intercultural communication and interaction problems in the framework of international business event-management

*Collectivism versus individualism.

Collectivism and individualism indicate the degree to which representatives of a particular culture prefer to function individually or as members of a united society. In simple words, some countries encourage the feeling of independence, self-interest and individuality, while other ones - sense of uniqueness and belonging to something. Collectivistic people value wishes and goals that benefit the whole society and individualistic - on themselves, personal or families' interests. It can be stated that individualism is about appreciating private life, self-satisfaction, fun and personal pleasure. Collectivistic persons make much effort for the achievement of the society's needs and interests. What is more, family and doing things together are the most significant aspects for them.

Fig. 2. Richard Lewis Communications web-site, 2019

*Femininity versus masculinity.

These two traits refer to characteristic that are traditionally assigned to the male and female sexes. Femininity emphasizes sexual equality and changeable and flowing social gender roles. It means that both women and men can demonstrate different characteristics like modesty and emotionality, power and fragility, focus on children or career, etc. Masculinity includes much ambition and spiritual strength and strictly separates gender roles in a society: men are supposed to be tough and serious and focused on career achievements, and women - to be nice, kind, tender, emotional and focused on family and children.



Fig. 3. Richard Lewis Communications web-site, 2019

*Uncertainty avoidance.

Uncertainty avoidance refers to the extent to which representatives of some culture are afraid of unpredictable and uncertain situations and changes in habitual way of life. Countries with high uncertainty avoidance try to minimize the possibility of these conditions by introducing strict laws, strong security measures and other forms of control. This way, they make their citizens literally unprepared for ambiguous accidents.

Fig. 4. Richard Lewis Communications web-site, 2019

*Long-term versus short-term orientation.

This concept describes employees' acceptance or not acceptance of the fact that excellent work results require much time and effort to be achieved. Moreover, it indicates whether they think that long-term relationships between colleagues and with company are necessary for this process. Respectively, short-term oriented businessmen and businesswomen do not think that it is needed to establish strong contacts with others and spend much time to complete tasks effectively.

Fig. 5. Richard Lewis Communications web-site, 2019

3. Richard Lewis's model.

Richard Lewis (2019), an English communicator consultant, developed the so-called “Lewis Model of Cross-Cultural Communication”. He classifies cultures into linear-active, multi-active and reactive, and distinguishes them according to people's attitudes towards space and time, behavior and life concepts.

*Linear-active cultures.

Representatives of linear-active cultures are extremely responsible workers that plan their duties carefully and prefer to be accurate and logical in everything. That is why they feel comfortable while working with those who value scheduling and time frames and who are job-oriented. Sometimes they may seem unemotional and “cold” because of these features and the fact that they avoid losing the face and using much body language.Examples: the UK, Northern Europe and America.

*Multi-active cultures.

Multi-active people are very energetic, emotional, expressive and even impulsive.

They live according to their feelings and emotions and not to the job. As it is significant for them to be social, they appreciate friendly relationships with their colleagues and partners. Furthermore, in case of conflicts they do not view them as something serious or important so everything will be forgotten in ten minutes. It is claimed that punctuality and politeness in communication (they tend to disturb and interrupt others) are not respected by multi-active cultures.Examples: Middle East, Latin countries, Southern Europe, African countries.

*Reactive cultures.

Reactive persons appreciate strong relationships though they can look too severe. They always listen carefully and give advice but do not like to talk too much. They try to build a career and create a family at the same time but in a good balance. Moreover, they are distinguished by politeness, punctuality and people-orientation.Examples: East Asia. Summarizing everything that has been mentioned above, I can conclude that being aware of different cultures' characteristics may be an extremely useful factor in effective intercultural communication. Because it influences the establishing of international interactions by building reactions based on mutual respect and understanding. Though many people are rather optimistic concerning these problems, companies continue failing in achieving anticipated global goals because of cross-cultural incompatibility (CCI). When people feel that their cultural background is valued, accepted and taken into consideration they become more friendly, open, minded and favorable. (Shi J. & Cai H., 2013).

2.3 Intercultural communication problems and the ways to solve them within international business event-management

Anyhow, businessmen and businesswomen have an opportunity to overcome barriers that possibly can occur in cross-cultural communication - with tolerance, respect and patience. So, what are possible barriers?* Language - lack of language proficiency affects any communication. And I have already mentioned that employees' ability to get information about work and do the tasks totally depends on it. Moreover, misunderstandings between interlocutors from different cultures lead to business collapses and failures as they do not manage to express their ideas and opinions properly, and make decisions;

* Status - most of the cultures demonstrate a social hierarchy or sexism. For example, in some countries women are not allowed to even open their faces (they are covered with special clothes), so there is no chance that they will have an access to business. For some men it will not be easy to adapt to working with businesswomen. Furthermore, there can be cases when a person from the higher-class background issues with receiving orders from someone from lower-class background. For this course, it would be essential to realize that it is necessary to adapt to different circumstances and cultural expressions;

*Non-verbal ways of communication - body language and non-verbal behaviors are the common reason for misunderstandings and even conflicts in the workplace. It concerns eye contact, face expression, gestures, manners, etc. So, having knowledge about this aspect will help international workers to escape communication breakdowns, reduce negative impressions and confusing situations with their foreign colleagues;

*Religion - it is a fact that religion dominates in the life control in many countries, and sometimes in the ways that are difficult to be understood by representatives of other cultures. But this matter is considered to be the untouchable one or even holy one because globally accepted that religions are respected, accepted and sensitively negotiated everywhere. For example, some religions abandon working on some days, so these moments should be discussed in advance and should not be disputed;*Personal space - people from different cultural backgrounds have different zones of comfort. In other words, some of them prefer to be close to their interlocutors and others find it inappropriate. It would not be the right decision to try to change this feature and convince a partner that less distance is better for good relationships - it can be regarded as harassment;

*Personal appearance - I have already mentioned that cultural diversity is expressed not only in manners and traditions but also in the human's appearance. For some businesswomen and businessmen it is important to wear their national dresses or religious attributes to business events and simply workplace. But sometimes it can cause problems if we speak about safety issues in specific places like factories, for example. (Vinyamata E., 2010).

Overall, all these barriers can be the reason for intercultural misunderstandings and as a consequence communication breakdowns and even conflicts. And this is an obstacle on the way to mutual successful business cooperation, new partners and clients engagement, global corporative development and so on. That is why it is essential to provide some useful knowledge for those who want to become better global communicator. For example, Goncharuk P. A. & Kovaleva E. S. (2015) claim that a business event of any kind is directed to solving two basic issues:

1. A business event must result in agreement;

2. If an agreement is not possible or relationships of all the parties cannot be improved, participants cannot let them become worse.

In order to achieve this it is necessary to prepare in advance by learning more about all the problems that can occur during interaction and looking through specific materials and information concerning cultural backgrounds of all the partners or clients. What is more, there exist general rules for international business meetings that can help unexperienced businesspersons:

* One cannot be late for an event, especially since it can be postponed or cancaled;

*It is important to provide enough space for bags and briefcases while placing at the table;

*All the participants must wear name badges. Names should be written in English and in the native languages of your interlocutors;

*It is necessary to negotiate in a benevolent manner by carefully listening to others, and without interrupting;

*Knowledge of the English language or the native of your interlocutors is highly desirable;

*It is better to try to view things from the perspective of partners in order to reach mutual understanding.

*Interlocutors must be sociable, logical and be able to control emotions so that it would be easier to avoid conflicts;

*At the stage of preparation for the event businesspersons should pay attention to peculiarities of national behavioral styles of all the participants as it has a direct impact on the whole process of interaction.

According to Goncharuk P. A. & Kovaleva E. S. (2015), sociologists and psychologists that had analyzed the work of businessmen and businesswomen from different countries provide the grouping of negotiating styles' features. Here are the examples of seven countries that collaborate more often with anyone.

Table 1

Negotiating style	Description
American style	Americans are straightforward, friendly and open. They quickly get to know each other and try to make conversation easy. They are more restrained by the Europeans; their quick transition to informal communication may seem unexpected or even rude to them. In America, individualism is highly valued - people are proud of their personal achievements, initiative and success. In general, American greetings are fairly informal. This is not a sign of disrespect, but a demonstration of the equality of all those present. At parting, an American can say “We'll have to get together” or “Let's do lunch”. It is just a gesture of friendliness. Americans are not too keen on the names. It is not an insult if someone incorrectly utters or shortens your name. If an American finds you are standing too close, he can retreat without even thinking about it. “Time is money” is another famous American proverb. The question of time-saving is very important for Americans; chatting in vain means spending time, and therefore money. Therefore, the time of meetings and negotiations is most often limited to one hour. An American builds his life on schedule, clearly following it every day. Punctuality in the US is very important, and being late is perceived as being rude. Business etiquette of the United States is not much different from European, but there are some peculiarities. For an American, there is nothing offensive about the question of an unfamiliar person about his salary, although, for example, in Germany this question is considered unacceptable. In the US it is much easier to meet and make friends, compared, for example, with Japan. The main thing is to be able to present yourself correctly. Americans are very energetic, open and friendly people. With a new friend, you can immediately get down to business and speak quite frankly. They are characterized with a high level of professionalism so it is a rarity when someone from the delegation is not competent in the issue that is about to be discussed. Moreover, all the participants demonstrate independence in decision-making and aim for relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
French style	In France business cards play an important role in business communication. They should not be printed in Russian, as most businessmen in France read in English. Business cards should be made one-sided, since the reverse side is often used for various entries. All business cards you received during negotiations should be put in a business card holder or wallet, not in your pocket. It is better to greet a person by calling his last name, or you can use the impersonal treatment “monsieur” and “madam”. At the meeting and parting necessarily handshake. Clothing for the French reflects social status and success, so it should be chosen with taste and style. In business, they are aimed at long-term perspectives; therefore, they try to establish close personal cooperation with partners. Therefore, from the very first business meeting, it is worthwhile to show cordiality and politeness, but without going over to friendly familiarity. The French are big fans of oratory, loving to turn the negotiations into the training of intellectual abilities. Discussion of the details, all aspects of the planned business relations, the need for clarification on all points of the proposal of the future partner - especially the French negotiation. Also, the French often love polemics and discussions during the negotiation process, respect the ability of a person to defend his position effectively and independently of other people's opinions. The main thing is that in your proposal everything is well thought out and logically explained, and in this case a positive decision will not keep you waiting long. Nevertheless, it is worth acknowledging that the French do not like to take risks, and a business meeting is rather an exchange of views than a decision. The French try to avoid formal face-to-face meetings and prefer to discuss some important issues in advance in order to come to preliminary agreements. During an event they will preserve their independence but when it is a time to make a decision they do not express strong self-confidence like Americans. The French usually negotiate in their own language and expect the others to speak French as well. Though they tend to be courteous, polite, helpful, inclined to joking and unconstrained communication.
Chinese style	The Chinese require consistency in everything - they want any event to consist of separate precise stages. At the beginning they pay much attention to their partners' appearance and manner of behavior as it helps them to identify their status. At the first meeting, the exchange of business cards is practiced, most often bilateral - in Russian and Chinese, but you can also use a card in English. It is necessary to take and submit a business card with both hands. In the culture of China, it is not customary to show your emotions, especially in unfamiliar surroundings, so during the acquaintance the Chinese behave discreetly and emphatically officially, avoiding even smiles. In China, due to the unseemly act of one of the group members - family, work collective or public organization - you can lose the reputation of the whole group, so in any situation, the Chinese try to behave with dignity. In China, it is not habitual to argue with elders by age and those of hifger status, rank and position. This will be perceived not as a gross violation of etiquette, but of the national tradition as a whole. In addition, the Chinese are very scrupulous people who do not make decisions without a thorough study of all aspects of the case. Therefore, in the negotiations it is worthwhile to involve highly qualified specialists who are well versed in all the intricacies of the question and a good translator who knows specific terms.
Japanese style	In Japan the traditional form of greeting is a bow, and the lower it is, the more respect is shown. However, in contact with foreign colleagues, the common handshake is becoming more common. Any business acquaintance with representatives of Japanese business begins with the mandatory exchange of business cards, so they should always be in possession of sufficient quantities, because if, in response to a card offered by the Japanese, you do not give yours, then this may puzzle and even offend the Japanese businessman. All business practice in Japan is based on accuracy. Since childhood, the Japanese are brought up in the spirit of “group solidarity” and corporatism; they learn to suppress their individualistic impulses, restrain ambitions and not stick out their strong qualities. In some cases, this is not the strength of Japanese companies and very often creates problems. During discussions the Japanese try to avoid collusion of positions and fierce arguments. They like it when their culture is respected, and if their partners are benevolent they will answer with the same.
Hungarian style	In Hungary, it is customary for women to introduce themselves to men, and elders to represent younger ones. It is desirable that people represent each other a common friend. At the meeting, the Hungarians use a handshake and give each other a slight smile. Hugs and kisses are common only among well-known people. During the acquaintance, the Hungarians first call their surname, and then the name, they must call the title. In business communication, Hungarians are characterized by a calm, soft, balanced and sensible tone. They are very polite, official, follow the rules of etiquette. Business conversations with Hungarians are always full of specifics, although they are preceded by small talk on general topics. This could be a discussion of Hungarian cuisine, culture, family and children (Hungarians love their children very much; usually there are three or more children in the Hungarian family). But the themes of the history of the country, the nationality of the Hungarians and politics are best avoided. In order for the Hungarians to like it, it is necessary to form an opinion about themselves in society as a polite and courteous person. The word “tact” is a key word for Hungarian society, as well as the word “punctuality”. The indispensable courtesy, delicacy, flexibility and restraint are mandatory qualities when dealing with Hungarian partners. Competent organization and qualified translation of business meetings is the basis for successful collaboration with Hungarians. The Hungarians do not like long and problematic discussions so it is easier for them to make concessions without demanding anything in return. They also find it very essential when people respect their country and culture, and actually it can be the decisive factor.
British style	The British are quite restrained in behavior, especially compared to representatives of the United States or the southern countries of Europe. As correctly, they act without using violent gesticulations and exaggerated emotions. They do not tolerate familiarity, so do not rush to put a hand on his shoulder or to acquire new acquaintances around the waist. The British are hospitable and often invite friends and business partners to their homes, but do not like extra questions. Personal life should remain personal. At first, the British may seem cold or indifferent, but in fact they are very welcoming and ready to help a foreigner. They establish business and friendly relations slowly, but if this happens, such relations will be stable and can last for years. British people spend little time for preparation for business events. They believe that the best decision can be made only in accordance to their partners' position. They cannot stand omniscience, arrogance and commanding tone or behavior.
German style	In Germany, great importance is attached to punctuality, which should not be underestimated. A meeting delay of only 5-10 minutes is considered by partners as an unacceptable delay and an expression of disrespect. On the contrary, to come to the meeting a few minutes earlier is a good way to express your respect for your partner. They love to give facts and examples; they are not indifferent to figures, schemes, diagrams. During the negotiations with them, one must be logical in argumentation and accurate in presenting the facts. The Germans are known for their pedantry, therefore, while negotiating with them a person must strictly adhere to the protocol. The German business protocol requires that people greet each other with a firm, brief handshake, both at the meeting and at parting. This applies equally to men and women. It is considered indecent when meeting a person to shake someone's hand, leaving the second in his pocket. The usual nod of the head or a light greeting in Germany is not enough. Unlike Americans, for example, you can only contact by name to very close friends and colleagues. In the business environment, appeals were made by last name with the indispensable indication of the corresponding rank. Such an appeal at a formal level is accepted even among colleagues who have known each other for years. Finally, they do not see any reason in negotiating that which obviously will not give a result and lead to an agreement.

There exist many more negotiating styles and features - it is impossible to provide them all but it is possible to find necessary information about your future interlocutors' cultural habits before the meeting in order to avoid communication breakdowns and conflicts. But sometimes conflicts still happen as people demonstrate absolutely different or even unexpected traits. That is why it is necessary to have conflict management skills if you want to resolve and overcome these situations without harmful consequences. Vinyamata E. (2010) states that conflitology is a system that is helpful in all the spheres because it changes the way of thinking as people begin to believe that peaceful coexistence can make their lives and work better. It is not about a set of theories, beliefs or ideas - it is about rationality, using empirical evidence and life experience in a willing to improve relationships in any social or cultural context. Hellriegel D., Woodman R. and Slocum J. (1989) stated that conflict resolution is possible when a person is able to identify its type and level as it will help him or her to choose the proper strategy. In this way, conflicts can be:

1. Constructive - it has a positive background as interlocutors are encouraged to express their opinions and ideas in a controlled and healthy manner so that they experience mental growth and innovation. This conflict benefits to cooperation as people begin to understand each other better;

2. Destructive - it creates an unhealthy and stressful environment in which people cannot express themselves and are not encouraged for alternative ways of thinking. This conflict takes attention from the activities that really matter and does not let interlocutors find a common language as it causes even destructive behavior;

3. Task - conflict that occurs because of the different view of content and goals;

4. Relationship - conflict that happens between people that have personal problems in communication;

5. Process - it occurs when people do not agree on how the work should be done.

Levels of conflicts can be:

1. Intrapersonal or cognitive because it occurs in people's heads between their own opposing motives and ideas;

2. Social as it occurs between people:

* Interpersonal - occurs when people demonstrate opposing goals, perceptions, values and interests, opinions, needs and approaches in life and their relationships, or when two or more individuals compete for power and status;

* Role - occurs in case that interlocutors experience unclear boundaries of their work, roles and responsibilities;

* Intergroup - occurs between two or more different groups. For example, between ethnical or racial groups because of developed stereotypes or competition;

* Intragroup - happens within a group or one team, for example, in case members cannot come to an agreement or cooperate in a healthy manner;

* Multi-party - happens when parties have different priorities and policy management;

* International - occurs between states at the global level because of the competition for resources or power.

Katz D. (1965) created a typology of conflict sources:

1/ Economic - is about competing motives in attaining more resources so that each party wants to get as much as it can and acts for the sake of its own interests;

2. Value - involves incompatibility in ways of life, ideologies, preferences, etc.;

3. Power - occurs in case when each party wants to maintain or maximize the amount of its influence. Its struggle always ends with victory and defeat as one of them will always be stronger and the other one will be weaker;

4. Ineffective communication - happens when interlocutors demonstrate different perceptions of a situation which leads to miscommunication.

Thomas K. and Kilmann R. (2008) provide 5 approaches to conflict resolution that can be used separately or in a match for a better effect as situations may require mixed methods. All in all, they offer the following approaches:

* Collaborating, win-win situation.

It is an assertive and cooperative style that helps in commitment building and negative feeling reducing. Both parties come to an agreement that meets the needs of them both.

* Compromising, win something-lose something situation.

It is moderate in assertiveness and cooperativeness as the main goal is to find a solution that would partially satisfy everybody and avoid harmful arguments. It can be used when it is more important to make any decision than to make the most desirable one.

* Competing, someone wins-someone loses situation.

It is assertive and uncooperative and as sometimes parties are aggressive and inflexible, and use coercion and force in attempts to reach what they need. Though, it is suitable in cases a person believes that he or she needs to protect his or her position, beliefs or rights.

* Accommodating, lose-win situation.

It is unassertive and cooperative as one party neglects its own interests and needs as a gesture of good will in order to let the other one get what it wants. It is appropriate in case people care more about relationships ad peace more than about the issue itself.

* Avoiding, lose-lose situation.

It is unassertive and cooperative as parties try to avoid the conflict and the problem. It is appropriate when it is not so important or insignificant; when it would be better to postpone the resolution for better times.

Accordingly, conflictology thoroughly analyzes the nature of conflicts and allows individuals to understand them better. It brings together many approaches and aspects that can be useful for those who interact with people because conflicts are an integral part of the human essence. This explains why conflict management is obligatory for employees in many organizations across the world as it may be the key skill in negotiating or collaborating.

3. Interview as a way to investigate and analyze intercultural communication problems in international business event-management

3.1 Interviews with international event-management specialists of different companies

In the modern world interview is a common practice of observations and explorations which are directed to analysis of some phenomena that are connected with people's activities. It is widely used not only in mass media but also in the academic and scientific spheres as not all the investigations are those that require experiment.

Before conducting it a researcher needs to develop a protocol in which he or she must formulate the most important questions and stages because it will help to guide the process and maintain the right direction of the conversation. In my work I have chosen face-to-face interview as a qualitative research method. Despite the fact that simple surveys and polls have gotten much popularity, I claim that they cannot reflect the depth of the problem of the research as they provide rather superficial data. In order to fully understand why this approach is suitable in this case it is necessary to acknowledge the definition of a qualitative research. According to Labuschange (2003) it is concerned with investigation of the nature of some phenomenon, giving explanations and backgrounds of people's activities. It is not about measuring and counting like a quantitative one - it should demonstrate the cause-and-effect relations and the essence of some things, discover and describe themes and patterns.

It focuses on generating understanding and meaning. What is more, this interview is semi-structured which means several benefits:

* A real contact disposes to more detailed, honest responses and expression of thoughts. Open questions help interviewees to understand the sense of the conversation much better so that they provide more specific and proper answers;

* This format means that there are not right or wrong answers as participants are asked to share their real personal opinions, attitudes, feelings and experiences - all the aspects that constitute the qualitative research. Furthermore, they do not feel any pressure and discomfort as they are not influenced by the response of others, so they feel free to express themselves;

* During the conversation flow additional questions may occur and on-line surveys and polls do not provide this opportunity. Sometimes people stay too closed and inconversable so it is needed to clarify information by specifying some moments;

* An interview allows a researcher to concentrate on the most significant moments and collect the truly needed data;

* In case the questions seem unclear participants have an opportunity to ask for reformulating which makes a research more successful;

* The main aim is not simply to get the answers but to hear different personal stories which becomes possible due to an unstructured interview;

* A researcher is able to mote such factors like participants' facial expressions, intonation, gestures that reflect the meaning of their words;

* It is possible to use special prompts (like “What happened next?”, “How do you feel about it?”, etc.) in cases a participant loses the flow of his or her thoughts;

* There is no chance for the interviewees to be distracted by TV/radio/social media/on-line advertisements like it can be during passing on-line surveys and polls. The participants stay focused on the process of communication.

In the context of exploring intercultural communication and interaction problems in international business communication this approach seems the most suitable. Obviously, it is essential to learn the real experience and practice of the participants: if they are aware of the concept of intercultural competence and intelligence, if they think that cultural background of your foreign partners matter, what cultural and communicational problems they face while working globally and what approaches they use to overcome them, if they use conflict management techniques, etc. That is why face-to-face semi-structured interview is the best option here as it lets a researcher to guide the conversation flow and ask clarifying questions in order to get as expanded answers as possible. In this way, my participants can provide their real experiences, describe the most significant moments and cases in their international career practice and share those techniques that have already been tested on practice.

Overall, they may give valid and proper advice to workers that face issues in intercultural communication at the workplace. In this way, I can analyze the responses and on their basis - make conclusions that can become a good instruction for international businesspersons. However, this method can be rather challenging for those who have never had such a practice since all people express different personal characteristics and features concerning communication with others. The process of analysis can become a little problematic as well because it can be difficult to pick and emphasize the most important moments. It is claimed that it is often convenient to record the conversation after getting a permission and then find and highlight the most necessary points in it through coding it for concepts and themes. It also allows to not to distract on the notes in attempts of fixing all the answers manually, so the interviewer stay focused on the conversation all the time.

Another important issue is that it is extremely essential for a researcher to avoid prejudices and biases as participants will definitely demonstrate diverse and even contrasting answers and opinions on the basis of their experiences. Sometimes it happens that interviewers examine some phenomena and problems from the perspective of their own background. In these terms, it is forbidden to judge or give comments on the answers. (Martin A., Marsh H., Williamson A. & Debus R., 2003).

Coughlan (2009) offers several techniques that could simplify the process of interview conducting. Firstly, he suggests developing an interview schedule or protocol in advance as it may help to define the main goals and aspects to be discussed and prepare for a variety of responses and attitudes. Though in semi-structured interview additional discussions and the protocol ignorance are allowed, it still should be conducted according to the exemplary plan so that a researcher will not miss important points. Another challenge is that interviewees often feel anxiety because they worry about how they and their attitudes will be perceived and assessed so it is required to create a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. In this way, an interviewer should show his or her interest and attention, listen very attentively, nod and avoid any expressions of being judgmental. Also it would be beneficial to realize that the objective of any research is not to prove a researcher's point of view but to explore what is right in reality, so the result can be his or her hypotheses disproval. Overall, face-to-face interview as a qualitative research method is a quite useful and, what is more important, flexible method when it comes to exploring phenomena that cannot be measured or quantified. It gives an interviewer and his or her interviewees much freedom in feelings and attitudes expression and data collection.

It also shows a valuable information about the environment in which people exist and the insight into their real experiences. This approach benefits to feeling of openness and honesty and helps to recognize people's reaction and make some conclusions according to them. It can be stated that an opportunity to change a conversation flow and ask additional questions, which becomes possible in this method, provides an exclusive chance to gather as much significant and depth data as possible. In terms of this research the main objective is to prove or disprove the following hypothesis:

Cultural differences and backgrounds of the participants at the international business events should be taken into consideration as the successful cooperation outcomes depend on it.

1. A person that is involved in international business interactions needs to be aware of the techniques and knowledge of intercultural communication, cultural competence and intelligence, and conflict management as it will let him or her do business more effectively, successfully and bring it and personal career to another level.

In order to examine these hypothesis, I have offered the participants 16 questions concerning:

* Their experience in international business cooperation;

* Business events: specifically, their value, organization and personal preparation for them;

* Techniques that can be used in preparation for intercultural interaction before the events and that are necessary during negotiations with foreign partners and clients;

* Interviewees' opinions on cultural diversity in business and on the need to function within it;

* The role of intercultural competence and intelligence in doing business with foreigners;

* The problems and obstacles the participants face while communicating with foreign partners and clients;

* Conflict management skills;

* Advice on how to escape or solve the problems that can occur.

Summarizing, I will analyze the answers and provide specific conclusions on how the interviewees attitudes and views differ based on their personal workplace and career experiences. In this way, I will outline statistical diagrams that will clearly illustrate the tendencies concerning intercultural communication and interaction issues that are the most common in today's global business cooperation, and that will show if international business actually needs intercultural communication skills or not. The benefit of this method is that it can provide the real experiences and due to this the study will become accurate and offer valid instructions that will be useful not only for those who work at the international level but for all working people in general.

3.2 The organization, conduct and analysis of the interview within the framework of international business event-management

In order to investigate the correlation between international business cooperation and intercultural communication problems that can occur during them I have organized the face-to-face semi-structured interview with the representatives of two huge companies - one Russian which is “Gazprom Neft” in St. Petersburg and another is Sweden that has its branch in Moscow (corporate culture of this company abandons spreading its title).

This choice may be explained by the fact that, obviously, they are from absolutely different and contrasting work scopes - the former functions in the oil-and-gas industry and the latter is related to pharmaceuticals. I believe that exactly this factor can make the research more valid as these organizations have international contacts with businesswomen and businesswomen of unrelated fields, so their employees work with diverse audience. And it would be accurate to explore their intercultural policy (if it exists at all) and learn whether companies, that are not necessarily connected with cultural spheres but that are with various ones, acknowledge the notion of intercultural competence and imply the skills it provides or not, and if they support the idea that international events and future cooperation depend on it or not. Another important aspect that should be noticed is that I have used the elements of the case study method in order to analyze the results more objectively. Firstly. 16 respondents have been chosen not randomly as it was important to mind:

*mind their age (not under 25) so that they are experienced workers;

*their work specializations so that they all participate in international business events and interact with foreign partners and clients;

*the amount of participants as if it is under at least 6 then a research is not valid.

Secondly, the whole aim of the study is to study particular phenomenon and process, and this method is the most suitable for generating hypotheses (but not for testing them so the interview approach can solve this obstacle). Finally, the main principal here is that the scientific work and its results are based on the experiences of several real persons which allows to watch concrete and unique situations and cases that cannot be repeated in some other conditions. That is why it becomes possible to watch how present things actually work.

I have made the following steps to organize the research:

* Creating the questionnaire that would be consisted of the questions directed to the thorough investigation. There were “Yes/no-questions but mostly they were “How?”, `What do you think?”, “What?”, etc.);

* Data collection or the interview that I have recorded;

* Decoding of the digital recordings and documentation of the process;

* Separate analysis of each case and then the analysis of all the cases together;

* Defining similarities and differences of all the cases;

* Making conclusion in the form of diagrams.

On the whole, I have interviewed 16 participants from 2 organizations: I have asked them the same questions but sometimes I had to ask additional one to clarify information and I have gotten quite similar opinions though some moments differ (as they are related to the personal view of things). In this way, it has become possible to make some relevant inferences that are presented below. For more convenience the conclusions are organized in the diagrams.

1. 15 interviewees (93,7%) mention business-meetings as the type of international business event that they usually attend. Other common and popular events are: exhibitions (9 participants = 56%), conferences (12 participants = 75%) and presentations (8 participants = 50%). Though 5 people (31,2%) also mention round tables, 4 (25%) - trainings and finally, 3 (18,7%) participants also take part in diverse seminars.



Fig. 6

2. All the interviewees (100%) are aware of the notions of intercultural communication and competence and claim that this knowledge certainly provides businesspersons with a significant advantage in global business cooperation over those that do not own it. They also claim that it benefits to building friendly relationships with foreign partners which has a positive effect on the whole work process

3. All the interviewees (100%) agree on the fact that preparation for an international event by learning some information about cultural backgrounds of its participants is the primary goal for those who work globally. They explain this fact by saying that it helps to avoid conflict and confusing situations, misunderstandings and other problems in the future. What is more, this preparation will allow to reach more comfortable environment for the collaborative work.

4. All the participants (100%) stand that they look through specific materials in order to learn more about culture and cultural features of their foreign partners before the business event. The most popular source is the Internet as it can offer much available knowledge.



Fig. 7

5. The interviewees notice that some cultural traits of your foreign partners should be studied in advance in order to avoid confusing situations or seeming rude and impolite. According to the answers, the most significant feature is forbidden topics for discussion - 10 participants mention them (62,5%). 9 people (56,2%) emphasize the importance of behavioral traits and 8 (50%) - of gestures and body language. Furthermore, the style of doing business (including decision-making styles and the ability to follow agreements) are mentioned by 7 employees (43,7%), manners - by 7 employees (43,7%), the way to express emotions - by 6 employees (37,5%), facial expressions - by 4 employees (25%), attitude towards food and alcohol - by 4 employees (25%), and finally, sense of humor, dress-code and attitude towards time are mentioned once (6,2%).



Fig. 8

6. Speaking about preparation for an international business event, the respondents stress that doubtfully the most essential aspect to do in advance is to study the materials and documentations on the issue that is to be discussed - 11 participants (68,7%). 9 interviewees (56,2%) support the idea that after the first step follow the second - learning more about partners' culture and mentality. And then 8 people (50%) say that it would be definitely useful and helpful to investigate the style of doing business and work history of the foreign colleagues' companies in order to find the best approaches and solutions beforehand.

Fig. 9

7. The successful result of an international business event depends on the intercultural competence skills and this fact is proved by 9 participants (56,2%) who say that IC has a great impact on the cooperation, however it leads to spectacular outcomes by working together with other factors, and 8 participants (50%) who consider these skills as a decisive factor. However, all the interviewees agree that IC skills have a big influence.

8. Concerning providing with specific knowledge about intercultural communication problems and intercultural competence by managers in my interviewees' organizations, 14 (87,5%)of them claim that companies offer specific courses, seminars and trainings. Mostly, they are obligatory in the framework of the improvement of the employees' qualifications (especially in Gazprom) but there are cases when managers can help with such programs those who need it by themselves. Only 2 respondents (12,5%) have never heard about these programs at their workplaces. This is a good tendency which show that today directors have a direction to their workforce development and strengthening in the intercultural frameworks.

9. There is no doubt that intercultural misunderstandings and as a consequence communication breakdowns happen during international business events. 6 (37,5%) respondents have experienced these unpleasant incidents, and 3 (18,7%) people - rather insignificant cases, fortunately. But in total, 9 (56,2%) people still have issues with cross-cultural interactions. And although most of them state that these cases were not so serious and didn't influence cooperation or personal relationships, it can be concluded that employees have a need to improve their IC skills, and their directors must help them with that better. However, participants manage to cope with these conflicts - some of them claim that business events' participants try to be understanding and friendly to cultural diversity anyway.

10. International communication mean speaking different languages. In these terms, only 4 (25%) participants have never experienced language barriers while other 12 (75%) ones have - significant or not. These 12 people often rely on the help of the translation services and state that barriers have never been a serious obstacle on the way to successful cooperation due to translators and the fact that all the business events' participants try to be understanding to cultural diversity.



Fig. 10

11. However, all the 16 interviewees (100%) highlight the fact that foreign languages should be learnt by employees that work globally. 5 (31,2%) of them notice that translation services may be helpful sometimes but 15 persons (93,7%) argue that a true professional must know foreign languages and be able to communicate on his or her own. That is why, those who do not speak right now are beginning to learn them and improve the situation.

12. As it has been mentioned, diverse problems in international business interactions still occur. That is why the interviewees have been asked about conflictology. 10 participants (62,5%) have conflict management skills and 6 (37,5%) - have general knowledge on this topic or are on the elementary level. However, all the respondents (100%) are aware of what it is and consider conflict management skills as obligatory for those who work with people. 14 employees (87,5%) claim that they are provided with special trainings on conflictology while 2 (12,5%) persons have never heard about them. Anyway, these results illustrate that today staff is trained to find proper approaches and decisions to conflicts because the whole work process depends on it. Of course, it concerns international conflicts as well (maybe even more so).



Fig. 11

According to the results of the interview a quite positive tendency can be noticed. Russian companies are aware of the IC notion and try to develop their employees' skills so that they could behave and function effectively in any cross-cultural context and condition. However, there are still some intercultural problems and obstacles that bother workers. So, it is obvious that they have all the necessary skills (at least on the elementary level) that help them do business rather normally but there are some aspects that they need to improve in order to become excellent global professionals and specialists: learn languages, explore cultural diversity deeper and study conflict management.

Conclusion

Summarizing, it can be further noted that this paper has described the phenomena of international business event-management and communication and their correlation to intercultural competence and intelligence skills. The process of work in the conditions of cultural diversity may become quite challenging if we do not respect, accept and value the fact that all people are different and that they have the right for it. Cross-cultural communication problems may occur accidently when businesswomen and businessmen are unprepared in case they do not have the relevant qualification.

Though it is important not only to be able to interact effectively with foreigners but also to know how to prevent or overcome the problems, communication breakdowns and conflicts which do happen. All in all, the research has been directed to overview these problems and find solutions, and obviously analyze the necessity of IC skills for the global business. The study has been conducted with the usage of an interview as a qualitative research method, so analysis of the issue has been focused on the real experiences of employees from “Gazprom Neft” and Swedish pharmaceutical company - the organizations that have a great number of contacts with foreign partners and clients. It was essential to clarify if employees, that work on the global level, truly need to be interculturally competent and intelligent in order to be more effective and successful, and achieve higher results; and if these skills can be helpful during international business events.