Abstract:

One of the key challenges of globalization is the need to work across cultures. Since Lebanon is exporting a large portion of its brain-power, a considerable number of our students work outside Lebanon, in the Middle East or elsewhere abroad. The growing demands of diversity make it crucial that the Lebanese work force, our graduates, be empowered with the tools necessary to succeed and advance in a multicultural business world. Preparing our students to work with people from different backgrounds, and presenting them with cultural awareness and respect for other people's attitudes, values, and beliefs, will help the young graduates excel in unique work environments and understand various cultures, races, and ethnicities. This paper will explore the barriers to intercultural communication, compare different cultural patterns, identify cultures within cultures, and examine cultural gender differences in order to provide help in immigration and acculturation processes people nowadays have too deal with in this global age.

Keywords:

Intercultural communication, acculturation, ethnicity.