INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF MANAGERS AND CONFLICT BEHAVIOUR STYLES IN MULTICULTURAL BUSINESS INTERACTION

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between managers' self-assessed intercultural communication skills and their conflict behaviour styles in multicultural business interactions. It focuses on four components of intercultural communicative competence: intercultural sensitivity; tolerance of uncertainty; active listening; and message adaptation. The empirical basis consists of two comparable cross-sectional survey datasets, each comprising 100 manager responses, collected in 2023 and 2025. The research employed a shortened self-report questionnaire that was based on the conceptual logic of the following models: intercultural sensitivity; tolerance of uncertainty; active listening; message adaptation; and conflict behaviour. The results showed that managers in both samples rated their intercultural communication skills as above average. The 2025 sample had higher mean values for most components than the 2023 sample, particularly for tolerance of uncertainty and message adaptation. Collaboration and compromise were the most common conflict behaviour styles in both samples, while avoidance, competition and accommodation were less common in 2025. Correlation analysis revealed strong positive associations between the components of intercultural communicative competence and constructive conflict behaviour styles, particularly collaboration and compromise. Active listening and message adaptation were found to be most closely associated with constructive responses. However, these findings should be interpreted with caution as all indicators were self-reported and measured using shortened scales within a correlational design. While the results do not prove causal effects, they do indicate consistent patterns between managers’ communication self-assessments and conflict behaviour styles. The study's practical value lies in its implications for the foreign language training of future managers. This should encompass professional vocabulary and standard business dialogues, as well as intercultural negotiation scenarios, conflict resolution exercises, active listening tasks, and adapting messages. It should also involve working with uncertainty.