...Culture is one of the basic things in life. Whether when we are working, dealing with people, spending time with family or even doing our daily routine. Culture is learned since we were born, no matter we as human realized the differences or not. Culture is the full range of learned behaviour patterns that are acquired by people as members of a society like in a family. A culture is a complex, interrelated with anything that consists of the knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs, skills, and habits learned from parents and others in a society. Culture is the basis of transparent material of adaptation for humans. The word culture itself comes from the Latin term pronounce as cultura, which is related to cult or worship. In general, the term refers to the feedback of human interaction. Culture is knowledge that acquired that people use to interpret experience and generate social behaviour. This knowledge forms values, creates attitudes, and influences behaviour. Somehow, culture also has the characteristics of being learned, shared, trans-generational, symbolic, patterned, and adaptive. There are also many dimensions of cultural diversity, which is focus on centralized vs. decentralized decision making, safety vs. risk, individual vs. group rewards, informal vs. formal procedures, high vs. low organizational loyalty, cooperation vs. competition, short-term vs. long-term horizons, and stability vs. innovation area in this assignment. This assignment will...
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...NO-60 Q1. What is meant by the term culture? In what way can measuring attitudes about the following help to differentiate between cultures: centralized or decentralized decision making, safety or risk, individual or group rewards, high or low organizational loyalty, cooperation or competition? Use these attitudes to compare the United States, Germany, and Japan. Based on your comparisons, what conclusions can you draw regarding the impact of culture on behavior? Ans:- culture is defined as the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialization. Culture is the acquired knowledge that people use to interpret experience and generate social behavior. This knowledge forms values, creates attitudes, and influences behavior (Hodges, 2005). Centralized versus decentralized cultures are different in which the top managers or leaders make all the important decisions in a centralized culture and in a decentralized culture, the decisions are made throughout the levels. Safety and risk in some cultures are frowned upon because the results are unpredictable yet other cultures are “riskier” and encourage risk taking on all levels. The same can be said about individual versus group rewards. Some societies or organizations reward individually and other only based on the group effort. High or low organizational loyalty in cultures are different in which the high loyalty in an organization...
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...STUDY OF DAILY COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE VIETNAMESE AND AMERICANS OUTLINE Introduction Vietnamese - American cross-cultural communication: 1. Theories of intercultural communication 2. Vietnamese vs. American perceptions and communication styles 2.1 Vietnamese vs. American perceptions 2.1.1 Individualistic vs. collectivistic cultures 2.1.2 High- vs. low-context cultures 2.1.3 Face-saving 2.2. Vietnamese vs. American communication styles 2.2.1 Ways of greetings 2.2.2 Topics for conversation 2.2.3 Silence and Eye contact 2.2.4 Touching 2.2.5 Other nonverbal gestures 3. Cross-cultural communication strategies Conclusion Introduction Cross-cultural encounters have long provided a great source of interest for research. Globalization has increased contact between people from different cultures, but it has not evened out cultural differences as much as expected. The divergence of perspectives continues to survive in communication between people from different cultures such as Vietnamese and American. This paper aims to address the issues of intercultural communication between the Vietnamese and Americans in daily life. By juxtaposing the main traits of the two cultures while some common cultural misinterpretations are listed, I wish to give a comprehensive look at the Vietnamese- American daily communication, meanwhile improve mutual understanding...
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...flexible and managing across cultures. The Global Human Resource Management (GHRM) and Human Resource Management (HRM) perform similar duties, but are faced with different challenges. “Most HR professionals no longer question that there are important cultural differences between nations that might influence the effectiveness of HRM policies and practices” (Ivancevich & Konopaske, 2013, p. 99). The ability to understand and adapt, has a huge impact on an organization, and its likelihood to succeed when doing international business. Holfstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory Geert Holftsede is a Dutch social psychologist and former IBM employee. Holfstede traveled internationally when working for IBM and was the head of the Personnel Research Department. Holfstede studied differences amongst different cultures. Between 1967 and 1973, he conducted a large survey containing samples from 117,000 IBM employees; he compared value scores from the database. “The data covered more than 70 countries, from which Hofstede first used the 40 countries with the largest groups of respondents and afterwards extended the analysis to 50 countries and 3 regions” (Natural Cultural Dimensions, 2014). Based on Holfstede’s theory there are five dimensions of national cultures: power distance index (PDI), individualism (IDV) vs. collectivism, avoidance of uncertainty (UAI), masculinity (MAS, and long-term orientation (LTO) vs. short-term orientation. The country culture scores on The Hofstede Dimensions...
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...Outline The Joy Luck Club: Culture Clash and Identities I/ Introduction to The Joy Luck Club * About 4 mother-daughter (Lindo - Waverly, Ying Ying - Lena, An mei - Rose, Suyuan - June) duos living in America * 4 mothers were immigrants from China with tragic past * 4 daughters are American born and raised * A movie with many layers of intercultural and intergenerational communication (miscommunication) between mothers and daughters, as well as the daughters’ struggle with their cultural identities II/ Relevant literature and intercultural communication term * High context/ Low context Cultures * Collectivism / Individualism * Cultural Identity III/ Language barriers Even though the mothers speak understandable English, there are differences between the mothers’ English (alternative version of English with different accents and dialects) and the daughters’ English (American Standard English) Analysis: Analyses scenes where the differences are prominent Ex: [The title of the movie] The word “Joy Luck” does not exist in English. It is a poor, fractures version of English [Clip 01: The opening sequence (family/ friend gatherings)] Even though they are both speaking English, when spoken in groups (of mothers and of daughters), the languages used in each group seem different => Analyze differences in grammars, vocabulary and accents IV/ Communication style * High/Low Context China (high context) vs US (high context) Analysis:...
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...IHRM Intercultural Management Studies Our world is filled with many different and unique countries, all with their own customs and cultures. In International Human Resources Management, it is the IHRM Department’s job to educate any expatriate about the foreign country they will be moving too. The main reason to do this is preventing cultural shock causing a smoother transition for the expatriate. Culture can be defined as “the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time” or is a more business related sense “a way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in a place or organization.” Throughout the years there have been many intercultural management studies and there are four most widely accepted theories: The Hofstede study, The GLOBE study, The Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner study, and Hall & Hall’s cultural dimensions. These studies broke down cultures and behaviors around the world and are valued resources for IHRM departments. First, there is the Hofstede study. Geert Hofstede was a professor who conducted an extremely comprehensive study of how different cultures place value in the workplace. It was Hofstede who first made an empirical model and had different dimensions of national culture. These dimensions were: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, femininity vs. masculinity, individualism vs. collectivism, and long-term orientation. Each different country would get scores in each section and from these scores one could...
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...participate in a certain culture, denotes a body of books, music and art that have been traditionally noted by Western scholars that shape Western culture. Why have a cultural canon? Define a people, find a common purpose, unity What are the problems with having a canon? Exclusionary, represents the hegemony (dominant power structure) Defining American Cool… “Cool figures are the successful rebels of American culture….to be cool is to have an original aesthetic approach or artistic vision—as an actor, musician, athlete, writer, activist….. that eithers becomes a permanent legacy or stands as a singular achievement Rebel is independent, goes against the grain, cool is the mainstream, yet you need to be “Edgy” un-mainstream to succeed. Live fast, die young Jazz is cool. It started as a marginalized expression that the dominant culture romanticized but once mainstream it lost lots of its coolness. “outsider as an insider” To define what is supremely “American” is to be a living contradiction. Cynicism is American Prude sexuality Ephemeral: catch it and it dies Talking shit is American Cause controversy is cool, but it is also cool to be above the controversy Cool is relative and ever changing. Satire is the new cool. Satire is a type of comedy, the use of irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and critique people’s stupidity or vices. Food of all mixture and availabilities Will the Clash of Identities Consume Us? “The cult of identity...
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...INTRODUCTION The case introduces us to Ken Morikawa and John Sinclair, two employees of a Japanese manufacturing plant under construction in Georgia. John Sinclair, the Personnel Manager, is keen to hire a Japanese professor to “translate their corporate philosophy”. The real question is – Can a corporate philosophy simply be translated? Will it be understood in its depth and entirety when simply converted from Japanese to English? The case does not merely deal with language. It deals with the crux of a company’s philosophy – its culture. In trying to understand how to marry Japanese and American culture in business, both Ken Morikawa and John Sinclair visit Chiba International, a success story in this arena. Before we entail to analyze the methodology used by Chiba International and put forth our recommendations, we will first explain the generic differences between the cultures of Japan and America. CULTURAL ANALYSIS We can analyze the differences between Japanese and American cultures using Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions: Japan Score: 54 A borderline hierarchical society. Business decisions are slow and must be confirmed by each hierarchical layer and then by Top management. Individualism Score: 46 Harmony of group is generally placed above expression of individual opinions. They are considered collectivist by Western standards and individualistic by Asian standards. Masculinity Score: 95 Japan is one of the most masculine societies in the world. There is a strong drive...
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...the Vietnamese and American workplace Phạm Thanh Huyền University of Languages and International Studies M.A Thesis: English teaching methodolody, Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor : Phan Thị Vân Quyên, M.A Year of graduation: 2012 Abstract: Facing the fact that more and more Vietnamese and Americans have to work with each other due to the globalization, this study has been carried out to investigate and describe the Vietnamese and American communication style at the workplace. Data were obtained from 30 Vietnamese and 30 Americans who have experience working with foreigners (i.e. Americans and Vietnamese) in different companies. After analyzing and discussing the results of the survey, a number of potential problems experienced by Vietnamese and Americans when communicating were revealed. Based on these barriers, the study provided some concluding remarks of this study. Though the research is in small scale and cannot cover all problems faced by Vietnamese and Americans in intercultural working environment, the author of this study hopes that it will contribute to identifying the problems Vietnamese and Americans may experience and help their communication become easier and more effective. Keywords: Tiếng Anh; Giao tiếp; Giao tiếp nơi công sở Content CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Rationale In recent years many researchers in applied linguistics and professionals working for an international company have emphasised the importance of knowledge of different cultures and they agree that...
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...: April 26, 2012 America vs. the World America the Beautiful, The Home of the Brave, words that we often hear as Americans in our patriotic way of life; however, are we as Americans so egocentric and or narcissistic in our way of life that we project our thoughts and way of life onto other countries in a global sense? As defined by freedictionary.com, to be egocentric is to view things from one’s own point of view as the only right. It also defines narcissistic as to be infatuated and obsessed with one’s self to exclusion of all others in a ruthless pursuit of one’s gratification, dominance, and ambition. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being proud and patriotic Americans. Although most people who live in America can agree that it is a great place to live, we should not project our way of life, as the only right way, onto other countries’ cultures, or people around the world, because when we do we take the risk of being viewed as America vs. the world. In the excerpt, Moral Disagreement, by Kwame Anthony Appiah, he discusses how different perspectives to any situation and or word(s) mean different things to others based on a variety of things: culture, religion, and morals to name a few. Appiah is a native of Ghana and because of his different upbringing and perspective he views things different. For example, “Many married women lived with their brothers, visiting their husbands on a regular timetable” (Appiah 381). For most Americans this may sound very strange...
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...terms of leadership styles as influenced by their respective different cultures. The reason in selecting Japan as one of the research countries is because of its deep rooted strong cultural beliefs and group centered style in a business perspective. It is well known to the world that Japan is a closed economy but at the same time, extremely competitive. On the other hand, United States make a good contrast in terms of its open culture and individualistic style of doing business. Despite the differences, both are amongst the most competitive and successful nations in the world. The compromising Japanese and confrontational Americans do make this research journey an exciting and interesting one. Different cultures exist in the world and their impact on leadership styles in their respective countries is significant. As defined by Luthans and Doh (2009, p96), “Culture is the acquired knowledge that people use to interpret experience and generate social behaviour.” And culture is gained through transmissions between individuals in forms of symbols, rituals, languages, stories told and etc. It will be interesting to find out that the countries’ cultures do in fact influence their leadership styles to quite a great extent. In this report, two entirely different cultures; Japan and United States will be explored in depth to provide a better understanding of their background. The seven determinants of culture in these two countries will be individually discussed as well. Leadership...
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...Japan vs. United States: Ethical Norms Japan vs. United States: Ethical Norms This paper is about the ethical norms of Japan and the United States. The Japanese culture is very complex as well as their corporate culture. Japan’s government us unitary state, constitutional monarchy, parliamentary system. The United States culture is primarily western and corporate culture is considerably fragmented. The different factors within both cultures have an impact on both countries’ ethical norms. Japanese corporations can be contrasted to American corporations which stress the interests of stockholders and are more likely to emphasize short term goals. Leadership is a term that emphasizes three characteristics which are the human trait requited, to coordinate interests of the group, and towards the group’s goals (Taka & Foglia, 1994). Effective leaders maintain integrity and trust by communicating clearly, leading by example and fostering positive relationships with sponsors, stakeholders, suppliers and employees. When leaders establish a strong commitment to ethical behavior and demand that all employees adhere to a high standard of business conduct, confidence in the company tends to be high. When leaders show disregard for the rules, morale, productivity, and overall success suffer in the long-run. The problem of when and how to adapt to different ethical standards is best approached by examining two sets of issues: those faced by Americans doing business in Japan, and...
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...1. Increased diversity in the US The changing demographics of the US, other races increases minority groups grew 11 times as rapidly as the white non-Hispanic population between 1980 and now. 2. Subjective Culture | Objective culture | 心理或集体意识A meaning system shared by a group of people;对个人以及个人的行为产生影响Affects individual behavior and mental activities, like heritageTradition, rules, political standards, etc看不见摸不着, 在你脑子里的mental settingYou cannot directly touch or see subjective culture | 具体实物或行为Materials: buildings, tools, clothing,Activities: Family, government, sex life | 3. The culture cycle Ecology rewards certain cultures->these cultures become powerful->people mimic them and they spread influence->a new ecology forms ->ecology rewards certain cultures 4. Ethnocentrism 民族优越感 Believing that one's own culture is "universal" or "normal" and that deviations are abnormal or immoral. -psychology is WEIRD: 68% psychology participants are American, 96% of participants are from Western, industrialized countries. BUT WEIRD countries only make up about 16 of world’s population. And 70% of participants are psychology undergraduates. WesternEducatedIndustrializedRichDemocratic 5. Evidence for culture in animals vs. humans · humans cultures are much more complex and symbolic · humans are much better teachers and learners · humans are most encephalized 大脑发育完全的 6. Explanation for why humans are social/ cultural · Complex social worlds led to a need...
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...Running head: NATURE VS. NURTURE/CULTURE The Ongoing Debate of Nature vs. Nurture/Culture Psychology 3520 Social Psychology Abstract In compiling information from our class text and a variety of journals in the Capella library, I have come up with some interest notions on the age old controversy of nature vs. nurture. Biologists declare nature as an innate trait given to all human being (e.g., reflexes and primary needs). Which makes us consider, is this all there is to human development? Is there something else at work? Are there other factors that play a key role in our development? At this turn we must consider nurture/culture. We as human beings are born into societies with all sorts of set norms, social structures and attitudes that manipulate the way in which we develop. The question we will be looking at is which one of these, nature or nurture has the most significant role in our overall development. Or is there yet still something else to add to the pot. Some say there are dimensions that intersect and work in conjunction with one another to form who we are as humans being. Viktor Frankl (1967) noted that the person lives in three interpenetrating dimensions: soma (the physical body), psyche (the emotions and intellect), and the noëtic (the soul). The noëtic dimension includes free will, responsibility, choice, spirituality, and the unique meaning capacity of Homo sapiens. Is it time to reinvent the wheel: Nature, Nurture and Noetic? Introduction The...
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...huge issue which has faced many companies in today’s competitive business environment. With the increase in communications and ability to reach other countries being cheaper and easier in the 21st century, many companies have chosen to internationalise and expand on the domestic market in order to generate greater profits and become household names internationally. This essay will look at how American born company Wal-Mart Stores, Inc has grown and seen successes and failures in the international environment. It also will look at reasons behind the failures in relation to culture, using the venture into the world’s third largest retail market, Germany as the main focus for the essay. Firstly, this essay will look at culture and some theories that surround it and also look at different dimensions that make up culture. The definition of culture according to the Oxford Dictionary (1992) is: “the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively or a refined understanding or appreciation of culture”. The theory that has been chosen to outline culture is Geert Hofstede’s five dimensions. The reason Hofstede’s theory has been used as an example in this case is because of the extensive research that he has put into developing his theories, as well as its relevance to the Wal-Mart failure in Germany. Between the years of 1967 and 1973, while Hofstede was working at international company IBM as a psychologist, he did a survey of over 100,000...
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