...No two cultures are the same. The American and Indian cultures have very vast differentiation between them..While the culture of America is a mixture of different cultures, the Indian culture is unique and has its own values. One of the major differences that can be seen between American and Indian culture is in family relations. While the Indians are very much family oriented, the Americans are individual oriented. In Indian culture, the family values are given more prominence than the individual values. Indians respect family values. On the other hand, in American culture the individual values gets prominence than the family values. Indians are more committed to their family where as the Americans are more committed to themselves only. In another sense, it can be said that the American culture is more goal oriented and the Indian culture is more people or family oriented. Indians may even forsake their individual wishes and also happiness for the sake of families. But in American culture, this trend cannot be seen. Unlike the Indians, the Americans plan things ahead. The Americans believe in dominating nature and controlling the enviorment around them. On the contrary, Indians believe in the harmony with nature. Another difference that can be seen between Indian culture and American culture is that the Indians love stability where as the Americans love mobility. In American culture, one can see that the individuals think of self-reliance and independent. On the...
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...Nontraditional Culture Paper By PSY 450 Michele Wagner April 14, 2014 Traditional and nontraditional culture paper America versus Indian culture Around the world, there are numerous cultures that are traditional and nontraditional. Traditional cultures are rules, beliefs, values of rural and non-industrialized group in which their practice is very strict and are non-willing for any social change or innovation (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). Nontraditional cultures are grounded on more modern views and are willing for any modification mostly base on technology, science and media (Shiraev & Levy, 2010. Comparing and contrasting American and Indian cultures would facilitate to identify the traditional and nontraditional values, belief and behaviors among these two cultures Similar Values in Indian and American Cultures Despite being on opposite sides of the world, some values are shared between Indian and American culture. One similar value is the importance placed on religion or faith. While religion is more prominent in Indian culture, it is also present in American culture as it’s seen in the constant battles for keeping the name “God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, in the phrase “In God We Trust,” on American currency, and open discussion of faith. On the other hand, in India pictures and statues of deities are commonly seen, worship takes place openly, and religious expression in fashion and accessories is more prevalent. Another shared value between the two cultures is the...
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...the dimensions. Individualism and Collectivism Individualistic cultures “offer their members a great deal of freedom, the belief being that this freedom makes it possible for each person to achieve personal success” . Members tend to “put their own interests and those of their immediate family ahead of social concerns” In contrast, members of collectivist cultures “have tight social frameworks in which members of a group . . . feel primary loyalty toward one another and the group to which they belong” . · Todd has his own apartment in Seattle, he lives alone, and he is ambitious and consumption-oriented. As he explains to Puro: “In my world, it just makes sense to work your ass off and go into credit card debt just so you can have that 50-inch plasma.” · Todd also does not see his parents often, even though they live only two hours away from him. This news stuns Puro, who also cannot understand why Todd continues to work for a company and a boss he dislikes. Todd and Puro are at opposite ends of the individualism-collectivism continuum. A series of events at the beginning of the film also highlight the contrast between individualist and collectivist cultures: · When Todd sits down on a crowded train after a boy has given him his seat, the boy unabashedly sits on Todd’s lap, much to the surprise of Todd, who is used to the private personal space of a person from an individualist culture. · When Puro is taking Todd to his accommodations, Puro...
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...With the world being full of several different cultures, no two cultures are the same. The American and Indian cultures have very large differences between the two. The American culture is a mixture of different cultures, the Indian culture is generally unique and one of a kind. The one major difference between the American culture and the Indian culture is family relations and sometimes values. The Indian culture is very family oriented. With the Indian culture, family values and relations are given more importance than just the individual. More often than in any other culture, the extended family is brought in on decisions affecting most aspects of life, including career choice, mate selection, and marriage. American culture is very different in the fact that the individual values are more important than the family values. Americans are more gears towards personal goals to better the person and not the family. Depending on the culture of the family in America, family runs a close second. Religion has big similarities between the two. Quite a bit of the American culture is based on religion. The main religion in the American culture is Christianity, where are in the Indian culture is dominantly Hinduism. About 80% of Indians are Hindus. “Hinduism is a colorful religion with a vast gallery of Gods and Goddesses” (Fowler, 97). Hinduism is one of the ancient religions in the world, but Christianity runs a close second. Both Christianity and Hinduism are found...
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...Contents 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 4 1.11 Indian weddings 4 1.12 Indian greetings 4 1.13 Indian Food 4 Introduction to American culture 5 1.14 American music 5 1.15 American religion 5 1.2 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY 6 1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 7 2.0 LEVELS OF CULTURE 7 2.01 GLOBAL CULTURE 7 2.02 REGIONAL CULTURE 7 2.03 NATIONAL CULTURE 7 2.04 ETHNIC CULTURE 7 2.05 SOCIAL CLASS CULTURE 8 2.06 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE 8 2.07 FAMILY CULTURE 8 2.08 GENDER CULTURE 8 2.09 AGE CULTURE 8 2.1 DETERMINANTS OF CULTURE 8 2.11 GEERT HOFSTEDE’S MODEL 9 2.12 INDIVIDUALISIM V COLLECTIVISM 9 2.13 POWER DISTANCE 9 2.14 LARGE POWER DISTANCE 9 2.15 SMALL POWER DISTANCE 9 2.16 MASCULINITY V FEMINITY 9 2.17 UNCERTAINITY AVOIDANCE 10 3.0 CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE 10 3.01 Culture is dynamic 10 3.02 Culture is pervasive 10 3.03 Culture is learnt 10 3.04 Culture is integrated 10 3.05 Culture is ethnocentric 10 3.06 Culture provides social cohesion 11 4.0 VIEWS ON CULTURAL TRENDS 11 4.01 The Convergent View 11 4.02 The Divergent View 11 5.0 ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION 12 5.01 ANALYSIS 12 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.01 WHAT IS CULTURE? Culture rules virtually every aspect of your life and like most people; you are completely unaware of this. Culture is vital because it enables its members to function with one another without the need to negotiate meaning at every moment. Culture is learned and forgotten, so despite its importance we are generally unconscious...
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...The Miscommunication between the US and India There is a very big miscommunication issue between the US and India. Both sides have piled up plenty of issues against each other. One great thing is the one person who takes out of his busy schedule to mediate between the two countries. This person is Romesh T. Wadhwani, one of the richest Indian American globally and who plays an active role in the communication between the US and India. He states that the two countries needs to communicate better with each other. Mr. Wadhwani is chairman and founder of the Wadhwani Foundation and founder of the Symphony Technology Group, a private equity firm investing in software, internet and technology- enabled service companies, the California native invest a significant amount of his personal wealth towards philanthropic activities in India. The Indian and US dialogue is not the best. The two countries could really use a lot of help when it comes to them communicating with each other. They started a policy program three years ago, there was a sense of much greater promise particularly in the areas of economic development, putting aside geopolitics. But, now there is a feeling of frustration on both sides. On the American side, the feeling is that the Indian policies are too inconsistent in a variety of ways, such as one ministry doesn’t talk to another ministry and nobody steps in to end the confusion or the issues at hand. They are even inconsistency in a way that when the cabinets...
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...High and Low-Context Cultures High-context cultures, as India, are relational, collectivist, intuitive, and contemplative, meaning that people in these cultures emphasize interpersonal relationships (High-Context & Low-Context Culture Styles. (n.d.)). According to Edward Hall, these cultures prefer group harmony and consensus to individual achievement. They focus more on a speaker’s tone of voice, facial expression, gestures, posture, etc. than the actual words said. Travel effect stated four reasons why American workers chose not to use their vacation time. The first reason was the dread of returning from a vacation to piles of work, followed by the belief that no one will be able to step in and do their job for them while they're gone, not being able to afford going on vacation and lastly the fear of being seen as replaceable. “Indians are more efficient. Americans believe in more action and fewer words.” (SocialPC. (n.d.)). As previously stated, there are many differences between American and Indian work culture. Americans tend to be more relaxed work wise, while Indians tend to be extremely hard working. Due to their hard work, Indians quickly learned to adapt to new cultures and are very successful in other countries. Many of the differences between American and Indian culture arise from the fact that Indian cultures are based around their religions. Americans tend to be more individualistic and live life at their own will while Indians tend to rely more on the...
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...2008 Introduction The objective of this paper is to emphasize the role of a leader in solving issues related to diversity management that challenge multinational organizations in the era of globalization. Shehata (2004) defines globalization as an increasing interconnectedness that involves “deepened and accelerated movement of information, capital, and people across the planet” (para. 6). The globalization process has been occurring for a number of centuries but its unprecedented growth in the twenty first century is altering the global economy and causing tremendous changes in the management and conduct of business and organizations. Globalization requires multinational organizations to eliminate borders and barriers of trade between nations resulting in a shift in traditional patterns of investment, production, distribution and trade. Due to elimination of geographical boundaries, multinational organizations face some unique cross-cultural people management challenges that can be addressed by effective diversity management initiatives. In this paper, I will present solutions to such unique issues from a hypothetical leader’s perspective. In the first section of the paper, I will explain the concept of diversity management through a thorough literature review, and propose an effective leadership style that can help to reinforce the affirmative action plans and foster diversity in multinational organizations. In the second section, I will assume the role of a human resource...
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...world, far away from the Orient, a foundation detailing the components of Orientalism must be constructed. Traditionally, Orientalism’s focus is the depiction of Eastern cultures, or places considered a part of the Orient, such as India, China, and the Middle East by western writers, or writers from the Occident. Defined, Orientalism is “a style of thought based upon ontological and epistemological distinctions made between ‘the Orient’ and (most of the time) ‘the Occident’” (1867). Based upon this definition, many people “have accepted the basic distinction between the East and West as the starting point for elaborate theories, epics, novels, social descriptions and political accounts covering the Orient, its people, customs, ‘mind,’ destiny, and so on”(1867). With the acceptance of distinctions between the East and the West, came a theory of literary criticism that “deals” with the Orient. Orientalism, in short, is a “Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient” (1868). This is where the application to Disney’s Pocahontas is the strongest. This application is not typical of traditional Orientalism, as the culture dominated and restructured is not in the Orient. However, the colonization of America and the British conquering, or domination of, the American Indians displayed in Disney’s Pocahontas easily...
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...Bharati Mukherjee and the American Immigrant: Reimaging the Nation in a Global Context Leah Rang University of Tennessee - Knoxville, lrang@utk.edu Recommended Citation Rang, Leah, "Bharati Mukherjee and the American Immigrant: Reimaging the Nation in a Global Context. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2010. http://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/655 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact trace@utk.edu. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Leah Rang entitled "Bharati Mukherjee and the American Immigrant: Reimaging the Nation in a Global Context." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in English. Urmila Seshagiri, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Lisi Schoenbach, Bill Hardwig Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official student records.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Leah Rang entitled ―Bharati Mukherjee and the American Immigrant: Reimagining the...
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...been devoted to cross-cultural perceptions in the India-U.S. business context. We developed an approach based on Levinson’s (1950) ethnocentrist model to explore the underlying values of the two cultures, specifically in relation to perceptions of work. Preliminary results indicate a potential misalignment of motivating values. This study may have further implications for the selection of strategic business partners and other important crosscultural transactions. Keywords: India, Ethnocentrist, Levinson Introduction The genesis for this study was a question posed by an Indian graduate student on her first visit to the U.S. who simply wanted to know what Americans thought of Indians and her home country. India’s economic liberalization in 1991 opened the gateway for new multilateral business opportunities, and in a broader sense, the world gained access to a vast wealth of untapped resources in India, including a highly educated workforce to satisfy the global desire for outsourced services. Although the U.S. has quickly become India’s largest trading partner, surprisingly little research has been devoted to cross-cultural perceptions in this business context. In response to our student’s question, anecdotal evidence suggested that the stereotypical view was quite favorable in that Indians in America were assumed to have strong abilities in math and science that resulted in professional positions with above average...
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...possible if the communicators are sensitive to each other’s cultures” (Chapter 3). There are some basic principles that should be used when communicating cross-culturally. The first is that greater cultural and language differences will increase the likelihood of communication breakdowns. Another important principle is to understand cultural differences enough to recognize what may be considered taboo within a particular culture. An example would be; it is customary to offer a small gift to a Japanese visitor, but also to know that if the gift offered is a knife, it represents a suggestion for the receiver to commit suicide (Cheesebro, O'Connor, & Rios, Chapter 3, 2010). To be effective in cross cultural communication, more so when information is intended to be persuasive in nature, one should make the effort to learn the style differences in cross culture communications. Learning Team C has prepared a persuasive document in regards to the legalization of marijuana. The content is designed with American cultures in mind and with the understanding that if it were to be communicated cross-culturally some changes would be applied. Our study of cross cultural differences between the American and Indian cultures discovered a difference in tactics for initial approach. For example; Americans move directly toward business, whereas this approach may be seen as aggressive in many Indian cultures. The Indian culture focuses on the individual rather than their business...
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...Different Cultures “Worldwide, non-Western cultures faced fundamental challenges to their cultural identities-not so much a recentering of culture but a decentering of culture.” (Sayre, 2010, p. 419) This quote is saying that many of these cultures are becoming influenced by Western cultures, namely that of America. For instance, in many Asian and African nations McDonalds and other American culture influence like Starbucks and clothing stores are coming to their countries. They are influenced by Western cultures. The non-Western cultures will face challenges to their cultural identities because they have to try and change to get modernized with everyone else. Non-Western cultures face decentering due to the challenges of globalization from the nineteenth century to the twentieth and the present. By the nineteenth and twentieth century, most cultures are trying to get modernized to fit in with all the changes of that time. As the century began, movies, music, and the media had a major influence on fashion and trends in all aspects of life. On contrast to early centuries, one of the most prominent traits of the world during the twentieth century was the drastic growth of technology. More technological advances had been made by the end of the twentieth century. Communications and information technology, transportation technology and medical advances had radically altered daily lives. (www.wvculture.org) As far as the Native Americans and the Europeans, the Native Americans were...
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...traditions between cultures vary according to the heritage a family is part of. The Heritage Assessment Tool helps evaluate the family whom is interviewed in order to develop a plan for health maintenance, health protection, and health restoration. Each culture offers a different set of traditions and beliefs that contribute to the health care practices they participate in and how the traditions of that heritage are incorporated into the health practices present in the United States. The three families that were interviewed using the Heritage Assessment Tool were families from Native American Indian ancestry, Mexican ancestry, and Portuguese ancestry. All three families were born and raised in the United States, but their ancestors were from other countries, except the Native American family. Although these families were born and raised in the United States, they still carried on some of the traditions from their ancestors. There are many similarities within the three cultures above. All three cultures are family oriented, family is considered to be very important and family gatherings to celebrate holidays and rituals are huge gatherings that involve all the relatives old and young. It is common for these cultures to have large families; it is not unusual to have more than just the immediate family living in the home. In Mexican, Portuguese, and American Indian households, other family members also live in the same household. All three cultures also have many differences, such...
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...and have played such a big role in the history of the country. I also, as I will attempt to explain later, feel like I may identify better with their culture. The English initially came to America to colonize The New World and stake their claim in what was and has always remained one of the most important resources: land. America at the time of their arrival was still a frontier land thus far only sparsely colonized by the Spanish. The English first landed at and founded Jamestown in 1607, and quickly became one of the dominant ethnic groups in America. By 1790 about 60% of White Americans were English, and being the “majority” ethnic group in the country they really experienced very little racism against them, though the early days of their colonization was far from conflict free. Many skirmishes with local Indian tribes, coupled with disease outbreaks, lead to high mortality rates for early colonies. These conflicts with Indians were not the only violent encounters they had with other ethnic groups as they were almost constantly at war with the Spanish. Though their wars with the Spanish were primarily politically motivated and not due to their ethnic differences, it did lead to a sort of forced segregation between the English and Spanish colonies early on. A similar segregation existed between the English and Indian tribes as well, and this was at least to some extent an ethnic issue. The trend of the English being a “Majority” ethnic group, as opposed to a minority...
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