Introduction
In today’s global economy, working with people from different cultures is becoming the norm. Although this brings many rewards it also introduces challenges for both workers and management alike. All managers know that motivating their staff is the key to a successful business. To do this, they must understand what drives their staff. But what if their staff seem to think and behave in unexpected ways? This can happen when people from very different cultures work together. Organisations are beginning to realise the importance of training their managers to become inter-culturally competent in order to ensure their staff continue to be motivated and productive.
What is culture?
Culture is the common behavior of a group of people living in the same geographical area; these shared behaviors identify the members of a specific group and differentiate them from other people from different groups. These set of behaviors are taught to the new generations as the way of life. Linton, R. (1945). Describes culture as a learned behavior which been shared and passed on by the people of a specific group to their generations. Schein(1992) defines culture as a set of assumptions on how the world should be and these assumptions are shared by a group of people who belongs to the same society these set of assumption designs their behaviors, feelings and thoughts.
To have more understanding of culture we have to refer to Schein (1985) theory which defines that there is three levels of cultures in organizations which are:
1. Artifacts are things that are tangible and can be seen or felt once a person enters into a new culture.
2. Espoused values these are shared values, norms, believes and principles.
3. Underlying assumptions ...
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...s are a very important factor in the changing environment and globalization, any organization that wants to succeed they have to move global and explore other markets in the world to enable them to expand. Understanding different culture is essential for smooth transition from local to global. Many organizations understand the importance of this. In this report the author has explained what is culture and the different level of cultures in organization and then he moved on to explain the management style of cultures, which is an important factor which guides on which style of approach suites a specific country or society, and lastly he explained the Hofstede five cultural dimensions which can be considered as a good head start for any manager or leader to use this simple module or theory to measure the cultural nature of any society through the five dimensions.
Culture can be defined as the way of life of a particular people, shown in their behaviors and habits, their behaviors and habits toward each other, and their moral and/or religious beliefs. Many different aspects can be used when trying to define what makes up a culture of a particular group of people. The Center for Advance Research on Language Acquisition describes culture as shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and understanding that are learned by socialization. In many countries, the culture can be derived from many different groups of people in their country. A country can be comprised of the cultures of many different groups of people making the culture of an entire country very diverse. Culture is formed
Just as there are cultures in larger human society, there seem to be cultures within organizations. These cultures are similar to societal cultures. They are shared, communicated through symbols, and passed down from generation to generation of employees. Many definitions of organizational culture have been proposed. Most of them agree that there are several levels of culture and that these levels differ in terms of their visibility and their ability to be changed.
Giger (2013) defines culture as a response in behavior that is shaped over time by values, beliefs, norms and practices shared by members of one's cultural group. A person's culture influences most aspects of his or her life including beliefs, conduct, perceptions, emotions, language, diet, body image, and attitudes about illness and pain (He...
Culture is an aspect of everyone's life. It helps others to understand another person's beliefs and actions. There are multiple cultures in the world which are opposed to their own kind seeking help for a mental illness. There is an infinite number of cultures that are represented in the United States. “Many cultural and religious teachings often influence beliefs about the origins and nature of mental illness, and shape attitudes towards the mentally ill.” (1). One's cultural beliefs can make them think about whether or not they should seek to get help for a mental illness. Among the cultures around the world and particularly in the US, many Asian cultures do not want the community members to be receiving help for their mental illness. In these cultures mental illness is seen as shameful, because these cultures influence the “conformity to norms, emotional self-control, and family recognition through achievement.” (1). There are many cultural factors that play a role in whether or not a person will receive therapy. These factors include: language, level of acculturation, age, gender, occupational issues, family structure, religious beliefs, and traditional beliefs about mental health (2). Language limits the access of therapy. If a person living in the United States does not speak English very well, it could influence them to not seek therapy. There is a large focus on “in-group/out-group” in many Asian cultures, as in everyone who is in the family/community around them are in the “in-group” and everyone else who is not like them are in the “out-group.”
A person’s culture is an assembly of their thoughts, practices, beliefs, values, traditions, relationships, and roles (Geurink, 2012, p. 267). An expected behavior is associated with a group of people who share an ethnicity, race, language, and religion (p. 267). Culture, a specific set of practices and behaviors, implies the
Throughout the years, humans have shaped the world and many societies have developed different cultural patterns. Culture is the way of life of a society. Through culture, we learn how to collaborate with groups of people and we learn how to survive and adapt to changes. It is composed of values and beliefs that are shared by other members of society, as well as species survival. Every culture has different cultural elements that are vital to one’s survival in a certain place.
Culture is a set of beliefs, values and attitudes that a person inherits from a society or a group that they are in and they learn how to view the world and how to behave, these principles can then be passed down from generation to generation so that the culture that has been inherited can live on for
Cultural Artifacts: The process of culture formation essentially begins with targeting the three elements of organizational culture—observable artifacts (physical structures, rituals/ceremonies, stories and language), shared (espoused and enacted) values, and shared (implicit and explicit) assumptions. A. Physical Structure (design of physical space, work environment and buildings) The physical structure artifact includes physical space, work environment and building. Googleplex is the new Google’s headquarters located in Mountain View, it was built with an informal culture and referred to as a rambling corporate campus by Eric Schmidt during his inaugural meeting.
This essay gives a basic idea of what organizational culture is, and emphasis on the controversial issues of managing organizational cultures. As there are various definitions for organizational culture, and none of them are universally agreed. Therefore, for an easier understanding by readers, the definition of organizational culture given in this essay focusing on levels of culture, and will be discussed t together with Schein's(1983) framework. Before talking about managing organizational cultures, the types will be introduced first. Because, there are some descriptions about managing different types of organizational cultures, in the following content.
Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving. Culture is the systems of knowledge shared by a relatively large group of people…Culture in its broadest sense of cultivated behavior; a totality of a person’s learned, accumulated experience which is socially transmitted, or more briefly, behavior through social learning (http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/choudhury/culture.html).
Anthropologists define the term culture in a variety of ways, but there are certain shared features of the definition that virtually all anthropologists agree on. Culture is a shared, socially transmitted knowledge and behavior. The key features of this definition of culture are as follows. 1) Culture is shared among the members of that particular society or group. Thus, people share a common cultural identity, meaning that they recognize themselves and their culture's traditions as distinct from other people and other traditions. 2) Culture is socially transmitted from others while growing up in a certain environment, group, or society. The transmission of cultural knowledge to the next generation by means of social learning is referred to as enculturation or socialization. 3) Culture profoundly affects the knowledge, actions, and feelings of the people in that particular society or group. This concept is often referred to as cultural knowledge that leads to behavior that is meaningful to others and adaptive to the natural and social environment of that particular culture.
Simply speaking, a company’s structure and design can be viewed as its body, and its culture as its soul. Because industries and situations vary significantly, it would be difficult and risky to propose there is a “one size fits all” culture template that meets the needs of all organizations” (Nov 30, 2012). Those organizations who have shared beliefs and values and have organized methods on chain of command going to have positive outcomes. This will help shaping their employees views and performances. The growth and profit of the business relays on their employees and their performances. Culture is the core which will help and encourage all different level workers. If the core itself is weak, it will weaken the atmosphere of the business. Many companies announce that they have great culture but fail to implement to the lower level of workers. The basic issue is when organization has one set of culture and thinks one culture will meet the needs of all the workers. Each business is different and each individual is unique and have different beliefs and behaviors. The culture that is right for one individual might not work the same for the others. The ideal approach in this case would be, looking at the bigger picture of diverse working environment and give importance and respect to what are the ranges of business firms to achieve the perfect culture for organization. Sometimes one size fits all will not going to fit anybody, so the organization have to keep their ideas open and value everyone’s presence respecting all of their culture for the betterment and
Culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects and behavior. It includes the ideas, value, customs and artifacts of a group of people (Schaefer, 2002). Culture is a pattern of human activities and the symbols that give these activities significance. It is what people eat, how they dress, beliefs they hold and activities they engage in. It is the totality of the way of life evolved by a people in their attempts to meet the challenges of living in their environment, which gives order and meaning to their social, political, economic, aesthetic and religious norms and modes of organization thus distinguishing people from their neighbors.
Organisational culture is one of the most valuable assets of an organization. Many studies states that the culture is one of the key elements that benefits the performance and affects the success of the company (Kerr & Slocum 2005). This can be measured by income of the company, and market share. Also, an appropriate culture within the society can bring advantages to the company which helps to perform with the de...
What is culture? Culture is identity; it’s the indigenous or non-indigenous ideology, habits, customs, appearances and beliefs that people are either raised by or adapt to from different nations surrounding. It is a network of knowledge shared by a group of people. Culture consists of configurations, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior obtained and spread by symbols establishing the distinctive achievement of human groups including their embodiments in artifacts; the vital core of culture consists of traditional ideas and especially their attached values. Culture systems may, on one hand, be considered as products of action, and on the other, as conditioning influences upon further action.