Culture is a complicated general notion with various definitions. For simplicity, cultures in general refer to a group with which people share general experiences that outlines the way we value life. This may consist of groups that were born into such as sex, tribe, or nationality. For instance, one can acquire a different culture by moving into a new region, by a change in the economic situation, or by becoming incapacitated. When thinking of culture in a broad way, we recognize everyone belong to many cultures at one time. According to Jandt (2000), “culture is also a context. Every culture has its own worldview; its own way of thinking of activity, time, and human nature; its own way of perceiving self; and its own system of social organization”. Culture has also been defined as “that culture constitute that which makes up our way of life, these include our shared values, knowledge, behavior, and expressing of symbolism” (Dobkins, B. and Pace, R. 2003). Also in accordance to a paper titled “diversity in the workplace” (Lopez-Rocha, S. 2007), “organizational management and those in management positions deal with differences in communication on day to day basis”. Majority of these frictions are focused on those diverse styles in communication. Cultures furnish people with methods of thinking such as to see, hear, and interpret the world at large. However, similar words can mean different things to people from different cultures, though they speak similar language. When translating different languages used for communication, there is high possibility of misinterpretation which could lead to an increase in confusion in an organization.
Some cultures see conflict in a positive way while other people see it as something that can b...
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...s to assign meaning to the symbols of communication. The context can help recognize to what extent the source and receiver share a similar meaning for the communicated symbols, and an understanding of the culture in which the communication take place, which is being critical for the success of the communication itself. Getting to know about other cultures would potentially help us mirror our own image. There is an opportunity to confront our assumptions about the best way of doing things and through various approaches.
Finally, learning about people from other cultures would become less lonely. Discrimination and label divides us from entire groups of people who may be friends and partners in working for transformation. There is hope and energies that take us on the challenge of enhancing our communities and the world at large when talking with different people.
Culture brings significant differences in the way of working, communicating, addressing relationships and so, it can positively or negatively affect the work environment.
According to Geert Hofstede (1983, p. 76), culture can be explained as the ‘collective programming of the mind’ and it influences how people think and how they act in different situations. This distinguishes members of one group or category from another. He argued that people are mentally programmed and that it influences the lifestyles, attitudes and norms of people and their belonging in particular groups (Hofstede 1983, p. 76). Another definition of culture is that it explains the different way in which people of different populations perceive values, norms, attitudes and roles in society. By gaining an understanding of the differences that separates a culture from another and gaining knowledge on how cultures operate on a daily basis, conflicts and misunderstandings can easily be avoided (He & Liu 2010, p. 2).
In order to be able to analyze cultural differences, one must first know the definition of culture. Culture is defined as the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group (Merriam-Webster). Being that there are so many different cultures across the world, John Ladd has given us two theses to analyze in attempt to understand cultural differences. Understanding cultural diversity is an important way in understanding how different organizations operate through their set of beliefs. I am going to explain what the diversity and dependency theses are. Then I am going to assume that the premises are true and defend my position, I will also assume that the premises are false and defend my position again. Finally, I will conclude my paper on cultural differences.
Understanding the impact of globalization on cross-culture communication is imperative for organizations seeking to create a competitive advantage in the global market. Regional, ethnic, and religious cultures account for differences with countries; ethnic and religious groups often transcend political country borders. These groups form minorities at the crossroads between the dominant culture of the nation and their own traditional group culture (Hofstede, et., al, 2010). An effective global leader, when crossing country and cultural borders a transformation should occur asking ourselves, who we are and how we see ourselves. Global businesses must understand how to communicate with employees and customers from different cultures in order to fulfill the organization’s mission and build value for stakeholders (McCall & Hollenbeck, 2002). To achieve goals and avoid cultural misunderstandings, leaders should and need to be culturally sensitive and promote creativity and motivation through flexible leadership. Cross-culture leaders should be culturally sensitive and promote creativity and motivation through flexible
Before understanding how to deal with conflict, one must understand what conflict is. Conflict can be defined as, “any situation in which incompatible goals, cognitions, or emotions within or between individuals or groups lead to opposition or antagonistic interaction” (Learning Team Toolkit, 2004, pp 242-243). Does the idea of conflict always have to carry a negative connotation? The growth and development of society would be a great deal slower if people never challenged each other’s ideas. The Learning Team Toolkit discusses three different views of conflict: traditiona...
Defining culture gives us a basis from which to work towards intercultural interactions. Traditional thoughts of culture usually assume that culture is enclosed, self-contained, distinct, and the community has a high homogeneity, that is people are primarily part of one culture (Welsch 1999). Now it is becoming increasingly clear that culture is a complex, sophisticated, massive, interwoven set of confounding variables of which a single person has multiple or a hybrid membership of, additionally it is imperative that these cultural values and beliefs are translated properly to another set of such beliefs in an intercultural exchange if violated, pragmatic failure occurs thus resulting in unintended insult or shame.
People face conflict everyday across the globe, it's something everyone goes through. Many people deal with conflict in their own ways, but some people just stay positive, and it helps a lot. In fact, staying positive is one of the best ways to deal with almost any kind of conflict, whether it's bullying, prejudice, or violence, staying positive can go a long way. Through the course of history, some people are faced with unimaginable conflicts, and they stay positive. Their positivity can reach as far as inspiring people around the globe, even after death.
Race discrimination is the unfavorable way of treating someone, which may be an applicant or an employee because he/she is of a certain race or because of the difference in look or color of skin. It can also be in form of refusal to hire or even when hired, to deny the individual some compensation and employment privileges because of race, or to limit or segregate employees or applicants in a way that might deprive them employment.
Abstract- Racial discrimination happens all the time and most of us are unaware of it. The most common place for this to happen is in the workplace. Now people can be discriminated against because of their race, religion, or any other numerous things. Also, discrimination can occur during the job interview or even after you got the job. This paper will shoe the effects of racial discrimination and how it can be prevented. In addition there are some very important laws that deal specifically with discrimination, like the NAACP or Affirmative Action. These both will be discussed.
The word 'culture' is often described in terms of concrete ideas or social artifacts. Gary R. Weaver describes some common conceptions such as "good taste," "art or music," or "something that people in exotic foreign lands had."1 However, culture in the context of international assignments relates to how people perceive the world and the influence this perception has on their actions. It is culture on the interpersonal level. Different cultures can perceive the same thing differently, which leads to miscommunication and misunderstanding when one crosses into another culture not their own.
Can the effects of cultural misunderstandings can be painful for the individuals, but also for the organization as a whole. Embarrassing situations and inadvertently insults, offenses and failure to achieve individual and organizational goals are among the consequences of the joint. Experience of many managers and researchers in the field of strategy, organization, and the development of the theory of the organization suggests all this ", the study of cultural issues at the organizational level is absolutely essential to a basic understanding of what goes on in organizations, and how it works, and how to improve" (Shin 1990).
Therefore, it is essential to study nonverbal and verbal communication Nonverbal communication is all forms of communication other than words themselves, which includes “body motions; vocal qualities; and the use of time, space, and even smell” (Neuliep, 2011, p. 269). On the other hand verbal communication or language “consists of symbols in the form of spoken or written words (Wood, 2014, p. 67). Thus cultures have different representations of symbols and what one culture interprets another may define or view differently. Communication is closely related to culture because communication expresses and alters culture. In a culture you learn behaviors and acceptable ideologies. This can be seen in verbal and nonverbal communication. For example, the tone of your voice is based on culture. Without communication you are unable to establish cultural differences. Your own culture directly shapes how one communicates, such as when it is appropriate to make eye contact. We are not born knowing when and how we should speak; this is a learned behavior that is taught by interaction with others. This is not an easy task because nonverbal signals differ from culture to culture. Charles Braithwaite stated, “One of the fundamental components of cultural and linguistic competence is knowing how and when to use silence as a communication tactic” (Neuliep, 2011, p. 64). Before one can communicate effectively one must understand the context in which the culture exchanges information. One must have a working awareness of how each society conveys meaning, hence high vs. low context cultures. According to the Central Michigan University text, organizational dynamics and human behavior (2009), to become a successful international manager one must develop “cross-cultural skills”. One part of the skill set involves the comprehension of the difference between high-context and low-context
Communication is the key to organization for these companies and leaders depend largely on its effectiveness. In one study of cross cultural communication, managers were asked to think of seven problems before the meeting to make the communication effective (Barriers of Cross Cultural Communication in Multinational Firms). But, how do people understand each other when they do not share the same culture? To answer this question we must first understand cross cultural management. This type of management focuses on the behavior of people working together as a group ...
The way people communicate varies widely between, and even within, cultures. One aspect of communication style is language usage. Language has always been perceived as a link between people but it can also constitute a barrier. Across cultures, some words and phrases are used in different ways. For example, even in countries that share the English language, the meaning of "yes" varies from "maybe, I'll consider it" to "definitely so," with many shades in between . Furthermore, communication between cultures which do not share the same language is considerably more difficult . Each culture, has its distinct syntax, expressions and structure which causes confusion in intercultural communication. For example , in Asian countries the word “no” is rarely used, so that “yea” can mean “no” or “perhaps”. Therefore, an American traveling to Japan might be considered impolite if he ignores this rule. Furthermore, individuals who are not comfortable with a certain language may not be taken seriously. Such is the case in the classroom, where a student who has a perfect knowledge of the subject in question may have difficulty expressing his idea due to his inability to write properly and therefore he would not receive the grade he truly deserves. Similarly intercultural communication is dominant in the workplace. In the past, many companies and organizations could operate entirely within their country of origin and conduct their activities exclusively in their own native language. But now, due...
Tylor has pointed out that "culture is complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, laws, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society". According to this definition, it is easy to know that every nation has different cultural preferences, national tastes and value standards. These factors impact on every part of management in multinat...