Intercultural Business Communication for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Surabaya towards Global Market

Abstract

The formal establishment of ASEAN Economic Community in 2015 has marked a distinctive change of how business runs in the region. Within free movements of goods, services, and investments, as well as freer flow of capital and skills, The Micro Small and Medium Enterprises in Surabaya, are forced to adjusting itself in order to survive the competition. One of the challenges in the adjustment is the intercultural business communication. The Micro Small and Medium Entreprises in Surabaya have to equip themselves with soft skills needed to be able to market their products and services abroad. Of course this could not be done solely, a lot of sectors should be contributing in making this goal achieved. This paper aims to identify which sectors could contribute in improving the intercultural business communication skills needed for Micro Small and Medium Entreprises in Surabaya. Based on qualitative data collected, we concluded that the government, private sector, higher education, and civil society could contribute more in improving the intercultural business communication skills for Micro Small and Medium Entreprises in Surabaya under Quadruple Helix Model. Keywords—intercultural business communication; international entrepreneurship; MSMEs; quadruple helix model