An Insightful Interview on International Business: Are You Listening?

As I began to research my potential interviewees, I was eager to speak with an individual who had real world international business experience and who could give me true insights into the communication that occurs between businesses in two different countries. Mr. Jash Joshi was neither a business major nor a communications major in college (he was in fact a chemistry major at University College in London); however you would be hard pressed to find someone who could speak more intelligently about both subjects in relation to the international business world. Though Mr. Joshi is based in the United Kingdom, I was able (through good timing and plenty of begging) to secure a portion of his time to discuss communication in business. Mr. Joshi is an entrepreneur whose company, Bushco International, buys and confirms petroleum equipment for Eastern European, Middle Eastern, and Far East countries. I was able to tap into his 30+ years of knowledge to explore his perceptions of communication and its role in international business.

I met with Mr. Joshi at the restaurant in his hotel in Washington, D.C. on Monday afternoon. It was an informal setting as he is a family acquaintance and business partner however the actual interview was very formal as I was using my questions to navigate it. Though we did often stray from the initial question, the discussion always remained related to communication so the extra information was in fact very helpful. Mr. Joshi identified noise as a significant communication issue in his field. He mentioned that cultural and semantic noise “can seriously impede conversation and progress in [his] line of work.” According to Mr. Joshi, communication may begin with a message but that message means nothing if it is not properly received. He believes that “ethical communication is honest communication” and very much includes active participation. Referring to Edgar Dale's Cone of Learning, Mr. Joshi stated that active listening results in passive learning which stimulates active learning and participation.

The turning point in my interview came when I asked my most important question: “If listening is the single most important aspect of business communication, what are its possible negative effects?” I expected a somewhat canned answer of how if you don’t listen you can miss important information however Mr. Joshi surprised me. He launched into a story of how when he first entered his industry he was eager to talk and convey his message to anyone and everyone who listened. According to Mr. Joshi that was the first and only year his business cited a loss. Mr. Joshi directly attributed his initial failure to “a overall failure to LISTEN.” Mr. Joshi said he forgot that the best businessmen are not the ones who can talk but the ones who can listen effectively. In his particular case, Eastern Europeans valued a man who was willingly to speak less and hear more. Mr. Joshi said that by ignoring the social norms in Eastern Europe, he was establishing barriers between his potential client and himself – a setback to any businessman.

Coming into the interview I was especially nervous. Though I was amply prepared, the idea of the spotlight being on me to lead and navigate the conversation was daunting. As we proceeded with the interview, I became much more comfortable as it became apparent to me that Mr. Joshi was very comfortable. I noticed Mr. Joshi’s body language to be open and inviting, a plus for any interviewer, indicating that he was willing and ready to not only just help me complete my assignment but actually contribute in any way I needed him to. Reflecting back on this interview I appreciated the sincerity with which Mr. Joshi gave to this interview and real world insight that I walked away with.