...perspective, and there is an ethnocentric tendency to favor your own culture, viewing it as superior to others. In order to overcome this tendency toward ethnocentrism, it is helpful to change your perspective, assuming an outsider’s view toward your own culture and taking on an insider’s perspective toward another culture. Over the course of this paper, I will examine an aspect of my own culture through an etic lens in order to gain the perspective of an outsider, and I will examine an aspect of another culture from an insider’s perspective in order to become more familiar with the motivations behind this practice. Specifically, I will examine the state of higher education in America, contrasted with the practice of veiling among Muslim women to show that what Americans view as “normal” is unusual in a wider context, and that while veiling may seem one-dimensional and oppressive to an outsider, it is a far more complex practice to insiders than most outsiders realize. ----------------------- The following is an example of an introduction for this paper. You can use this as a model to help you write your own introduction, but you can’t use this exact introduction. End your introduction with a thesis statement that sets up what you will cover in the body of the paper and explains the purpose of your paper. Helpful tip: Use the introduction to set up the major concepts and topics that will be covered in the...
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...Global Market - #2125 Prof. Creed Final Paper 04/29/2015 As shared in the Introduction section of the textbook “Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands” by Terri Morrison and Wayne Conaway, one of the most important lessons to learn in doing business internationally is that “communication always takes place between individuals, not cultures.” (Morrison pg. ix) We live in an age today where information and knowledge that is almost instantaneous is gradually blending the lines between countries doing business and the individual cultures that those businesses cater to. Today, more foreigners are entering U.S. schools for education and that will only continue to blur the lines between understanding specific business dealings – and understanding how those business dealings will work in a foreign country. If the playing field of business is becoming more and more aligned – where do the missteps happen in regards to doing international business? And if the communication goes successfully between the individuals creating the deal – shouldn’t that be the ‘green light’ for success? My argument is No. Because once the communication is successful in establishing the opportunity to do business internationally – it will then not be in the correct handshakes or presentation of business cards that success will be found – now it’s time to communicate with the culture. Here is where international business could go wrong, with an overall belief in ethnocentrism. The belief that doing it the way you...
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...Ethnocentrism is a major reason for divisions amongst members of different ethnicities, races, and religious groups in society. Ethnocentrism is the belief of superiority is one's personal ethnic group, but it can also develop from racial or religious differences. Ethnocentric individuals believe that they are better than other individuals for reasons based solely on their heritage. Clearly, this practice is related to problems of both racism and prejudice. While many people may recognize the problems, they may not realize that ethnocentrism occurs everywhere and everyday at both the local and political levels. Ethnocentrism in History Present Day Politics To solidify the definition of ethnocentrism, looking at the present day politics of the United States is helpful. With instances occuring since its conception, the United States has often thought of itself as more powerful, more economically sound, and just generally "better" than other nations. This has been shown by the country's tendency to dabble in situations occuring in other nations, such as the country's current involvement with affairs in the Middle East. Although the idea of every citizen in the United States belonging to one ethnicity is certainly debatable, since the country has citizens who originally came from all over the world, the feeling of national pride can stand in for a pure ethnicity in this case. European Imperialism Imperialism, the practice of taking over other lands, was heavily...
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...365 13 January 2015 Article 1 1.) The authors are Mahmood Bahaee and Michael J. Pisani. They are teachers at Central Michigan University and have no biased opinions on the matter. They wrote this article for the students of their classes to relate this topic to international business. Business Horizons is published by Elsevier and is provided for non-commercial research and educational use. These questions are important because one needs to know how to cite work and realize if what they are reading is credible. 2.) Consumer ethnocentrism the term used to measure the feelings and morality one feels about buying imports. 3.) Consumer animosity focuses on a specific country and measures consumers’ attitudes toward products of that singular country. 4.) They are examples of Psychometric scales because they both measure the knowledge, attitudes, and personality traits between individuals and how these traits effect economic attitude. 5.) The context of this paper shows that the majority of Iranians will still buy U.S. made goods despite that feud between the two countries. Individuals want quality goods regardless of where they come from. This is important information for people running businesses trying to enhance net profits. 6.) Business practitioners can use these statistics to find what age, gender, race, etc. to specifically market and sell to. They can maximize profits by proportionally focusing their efforts on groups of people who will respond to sales most effectively based...
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...(Campinha-Bacote, J., 2003) Cultural competence plays an important part in helping managers and professionals in a business setting to meet the needs of culturally diverse groups. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Minority Health defines cultural competency as “a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency or among professionals that enables effective work in cross-cultural situations.” (OMH, 2005) In order to bridge the gap between groups whether minority or majority, we have to develop certain abilities and skills and examine our own views of others. We need to become culturally aware recognizing our biases, prejudices and assumptions about those who are different. There is where ethnocentrism plays a part; evaluating cultural differences in relationship to ours. The prejudices that arise from our ethnocentric...
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...skill characteristics. Diversity should be respected and valued because nobody is completely the same as anyone else, even within the categories above. People tend to reject what is different. Our differences/diversities can lead to growth as a society or it can lead to violence and hatred. We must value our diversity in order to work together for the common good of our society/world. What is ethnocentrism? In what ways can ethnocentrism be detrimental to a society? Ethnocentrism is judging another culture solely by the values and standards of one's own culture. The ethnocentric individual will judge other groups relative to his or her own particular ethnic group or culture, especially with concern to language, behavior, customs, and religion. These ethnic distinctions and subdivisions serve to define each ethnicity's unique cultural identity. Even though it may cause external conflicts, it creates internal unity. It also makes individuals feel more certain about their beliefs. Through providing individuals with a sense of belonging to a particular community, ethnocentrism enables social order. Societies need that kind of solidarity and order so as to continue. Define emigration and immigration. Emigration is the act of permanently leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Immigration is the movement of people into a country or...
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...There are countless theories behind the story of everything, the story of how we exist and why. If one is not a believer in science, typically the next best choice would be religion, and the concept of a higher spiritual entity or "god". The article by Stephen Hawking unleashes a brilliant statement about how science is inherently progressive and religion is inherently conservative. Religion is relatively close minded and illogical, and is based on fundamental beliefs as opposed to empirical facts. Clearly we know that God or Gods is (are) not necessary to imagine the beginning of the universe, in our modern understanding science lays out the groundwork for what I believe to be the most viable explanation of the universe. Although, I am only a fraction of the percentage of humans who believe in these theories, as many of us do need some sort of higher entity or religion to put the universe into perspective. With so many different opinions and beliefs about the story of everything, we can start to understand the why and the how of these beliefs and empathize with the believers. In the last century alone we have begun to strung together more scientific facts about our existence than ever before, and are beginning to answer the questions that have perplexed our ancestors for so many years. Now here is the tricky part, we can understand the concept of molecules and the universe, but science states that all of this simply materialized out of nothing, otherwise known as "The Big...
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...Consumer ethnocentrism and attitudes toward domestic and foreign products Literature review : The country of origin effect and consumer ethnocentrism The country of origin effect, also known as the ``made in'' concept, has been broadly defined as the positive or negative influence that a product's country of manufacture may have on consumers' decision processes or subsequent behaviour (Elliott and Cameron, 1994). Within the realm of consumer decision making, country of origin has been defined as an extrinsic cue that acts as a risk mitigant or quality cue for consumers (Cordell, 1992). Such extrinsic cues (others include price, brand name, warranties) serve as intangible product traits that contrast with intrinsic cues (e.g., taste, design), which are tangible aspects or physical characteristics of the product itself (Bilkey and Nes, 1982). Although some studies have questioned the importance of country of origin for much consumer decision making (Elliott and Cameron, 1994; Hugstad and Durr, 1986; Mitchell and Greatorex, 1990; Schooler and Wildt, 1968), recent research has demonstrated that the country of origin has a substantial effect on attitudes toward products and the likelihood of purchasing these products, often demonstrating effects that are as strong or stronger than those of brand name, price, or quality (Ahmed and d'Astous, 1996; Lantz and Loeb, 1996; Okechuku, 1994). Recent research has linked the country of origin effect to levels of consumer ethnocentrism. Consumer...
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...ETHNOCENTRISM Ethnocentrism is the tendency to believe that one's ethnic or cultural group is centrally important, and that all other groups are measured in relation to one's own. The ethnocentric individual will judge other groups relative to his or her own particular ethnic group or culture, especially with concern to language, behaviour, customs, and religion. The term ethnocentrism was coined by William G. Sumner, upon observing the tendency for people to differentiate between the in group and others. Ethnocentrism occurs when one culture or nation places itself at the top of an imagined hierarchy of cultures and nations and subsequently assigns other cultures and nations equivalent or lower value on that scale. To be fair, a system of belief in which someone doesn't consider his or her own as the right one is inherently inconsistent, for it is admitting its own falseness. With this in mind, it is important to examine the bases for our beliefs regarding other cultures and nations. The tendency to evaluate other groups according to the values and standards of one's own ethnic group, especially with the conviction that one's own ethnic group is superior to the other groups. "The fallacy of ethnocentrism is committed...
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...Charles Martin in Uganda: What to do When a Manager Goes Native 1. In Uganda, things are very different than they are in the U.S. The government in Uganda is extremely corrupt, which means that there aren’t a lot of regulations that are put in place. Nepotism is a huge issue in Uganda, the people who have power usually favorite family members. There are also some tribes in Uganda that believe there is sacred ties to certain land, so trying to have those tribes move is a serious issue for them. Uganda has had a short and not very happy history, ranging from mass murders to an overflow of refugees from other countries. 2. Green definitely has more of an ethnocentric approach to HG being in Uganda. He wants Martin to stay in line with the company’s culture and values. Green was uncomfortable with many of the ways that Martin was accomplishing his tasks. Even though Martin was finishing everything that he was supposed to be doing, Green didn’t like the way it was done. Martin was more in line with the ideas of having a polycentric attitude. He basically changed his culture to the culture of Uganda, which may be good for becoming friends with the citizens but that doesn’t benefit the company as much as he would think. When you become overly involved with the cultures and its practices, the locals could take advantage of your openness. This was something that Green was afraid of. Like when HG paid the local tribes $7,000 to perform a tribal ritual to appease the spirit gods...
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...Case study – Spanning the globe, Allen D. Engle, Sr. Introduction Eric Christopher was the Associate Director for Global HR Development at Tex-Mark. He got a very good education in Europe, he travelled a lot around the world and he could speak many languages as well. Tex-Mark was a firm in the printer and optical scanner industry. It had international production facilities. Eric had two meetings: one with the Plant Engineer (Fred) and one with the Director. Eric knew also the plans that the company wanted costs cut and the Vice President for HR wants this by having cheaper training programs, shorter expatriate assignments and a faster appointment of HCNs. At the first meeting, Eric realized that Fred’s team did not relate well to their Mexican counterparts and Tex-Mark did not treat the local and national government agencies with enough respect and sensitivity. Although, it seemed that Fred will get a good position in India, but in the last minute, another candidate got it. Eric thought that this was due to Fred’s unwillingness to train and hand over responsibilities to local engineers and his inability to work well with district and federal regulations in India. After the first meeting, Eric prepared for the second one with the Director and gathered all the necessary data. He realized that there is a big need for language training because China is more challenging, but this causes language problems and cultural difficulties as well. He was also thinking on the repatriation...
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...Case Assignments (1) Uganda on Page 79 1. Uganda has had negative experiences with powerful leaders starting with IA who committed mass murder. Also, there has been a recent influx of immigrants settling in Uganda after fleeing from bloodshed in Rwanda, Zaire, and the Sudan. The government supports nepotism and is concerned to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world. There are few government regulations on the conduct of business which creates a favorable climate for doing business there. Also, electricity is not widely available. The religious terrain includes Christians, Muslims and various animistic religions. 2. With regard to a company, ethnocentrism describes the belief that the methods which work for a company at home will be equally effective abroad any cultural influences. With regard to a company, polycentrism describes the belief that an organization should behave like a local company. A geocentric attitude is one taken by a business wherein it bases its operations on informed knowledge of the needs of both home and host country. M and G: Martin’s attitude is polycentric because he believes in accommodating Ugandan ways of doing business regardless of the conflict with his company’s method of doing business. Green’s attitude is ethnocentric because he believes that the company’s methods should work equally well in Uganda as they do at home. The factors that influenced their respective attitudes are as follows: Green was influenced by the values...
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...wanted and was trying to explain her use of the ingredient. The manager could not understand what I was explaining and midway she told me that first I should go and learn English in a manner that Australians can understand. Her response was so nasty and she spoke so loud that a few of the other shoppers started staring at me. I felt so hurt and insulted because of the manner in which manager confronted me in front of so many people. As I come from the financial capital of India, Mumbai which is a cosmopolitan city, I am not an ethnocentric person in terms of my judgement. I don’t judge another culture solely by the values and standards of my own culture. I try to understand from their point of view and am very neutral in terms of ethnocentrism. In this globalised world, International managers have a lot more challenges as workforce gets more diverse. The companies are now expanding in the developing countries which have quite diverse culture and different political system as compared to the developed countries. In getting the best output from the employees they have to manage the social responsibilities of the employees and be friendly to the customers in terms of image and competitive strategies. The study by Reardon et al. (2005) found that in Kazakhstan ethnocentricity did result in negative economic development for an emerging...
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...Case Application 1 Done by Zhalgasova Korkem FIT 4th year (Tue 17.00-17.50) Checked by Sailybaev Almas Global Stumble 1. What obvious cultural differences between Nomura and Lehman do you see in this situation? Nomura is Japanese company and Lehman is American company, so these are two exactly different nationalities. Consequently, we can see here many cultural differences. For example, during Nomura’s initial training session for new workers, the men and women were separated. The women who were educated in prestigious universities like Harvard were taught how to choose clothes for job according to the season. The company’s dress code was strictly interpreted for women. Women from Lehman were told to remove highlights from their hair, to wear sleeves no shorter than mid-bicep, and to avoid brightly colored clothing. Several women were sent home to change their clothes. A Nomura’s authorities said that the dress code is displayed on the company’s intranet and is intended to ensure that clients and colleagues don’t feel uncomfortable. In my opinion, to sum up, some of the obvious differences that exist regard the treatment of females in the workplace, the degree of centralization and decision making...
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...Introduction Eric Christopher was the Associate Director for Global HR Development at Tex-Mark. He got a very good education in Europe, he travelled a lot around the world and he could speak many languages as well. Tex-Mark was a firm in the printer and optical scanner industry. It had international production facilities. Eric hat two meetings: one with the Plant Engineer (Fred) and one with the Director. Eric knew also the plans that the company wanted costs cut and the Vice President for HR wants this by having cheaper training programs, shorter expatriate assignments and a faster appointment of HCNs. At the first meeting, Eric realized that Fred’s team did not relate well to their Mexican counterparts and Tex-Mark did not treat the local and national government agencies with enough respect and sensitivity. Although, it seemed that Fred will get a good position in India, but in the last minute, another candidate got it. Eric thought that this was due to Fred’s unwillingness to train and hand over responsibilities to local engineers and his inability to work well with district and federal regulations in India. After the first meeting, Eric prepared for the second one with the Director and gathered all the necessary data. He realized that there is a big need for language training because China is more challenging, but this causes language problems and cultural difficulties as well. He was also thinking on the repatriation, so he searched the data on repatriate turnover. HR Analysis...
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