...“There is a snake in Eden; corruption in paradise.” To what extent do you agree that the Brideshead estate embodies a corrupted paradise in the novel? June 2010 Within the context of pastoral literature, change is typically seen as a destructive force, intrinsic with the movement away from a harmony with the natural world towards modernisation and corruption. In ‘Brideshead Revisited’ the same pattern appears to be followed; moving from the peaceful harmony of Sebastian and Charles’ life in Oxford into corruption and turmoil or the shifting power balance between the social classes, from the nobility to the lower classes. However, change is not exclusively a negative force in the novel. The title of book one ‘Et in Arcadia Ego’ suggests that even in paradise there is corruption or more accurately, death. The slightly morbid dorm room décor of Charles’ in book one which includes a skull as an ornament suggests that there is more to than meets the eye in reference to appearances in Brideshead revisited. Although Oxford appears to have been one of the places Charles remembers most fondly, there still is evidence of corruption/sinister events to come. Another places which exposes this paradise/death dichotomy is in the two passages from book one when Charles and Sebastian are picnicking and Sebastian states, ‘Just the place to bury a crock of gold…I should like to bury something precious in every place where I’ve been happy and then, when I was old and miserable I could come back...
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...Methodological Issues Subunit 1 Conceptual Issues in Psychology and Culture 12-1-2011 Article 8 Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context Geert Hofstede Universities of Maastricht and Tilburg, The Netherlands, hofstede@bart.nl Recommended Citation Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, Unit 2. Retrieved from http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/orpc/vol2/iss1/8 This Online Readings in Psychology and Culture Article is brought to you for free and open access (provided uses are educational in nature)by IACCP and ScholarWorks@GVSU. Copyright © 2011 International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology. All Rights Reserved. ISBN 978-0-9845627-0-1 Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context Abstract This article describes briefly the Hofstede model of six dimensions of national cultures: Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism/Collectivism, Masculinity/Femininity, Long/ Short Term Orientation, and Indulgence/Restraint. It shows the conceptual and research efforts that preceded it and led up to it, and once it had become a paradigm for comparing cultures, research efforts that followed and built on it. The article stresses that dimensions depend on the level of aggregation; it describes the six entirely different dimensions found in the Hofstede et al. (2010) research into organizational cultures. It warns against confusion with value differences at the individual...
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...13 Introduction The globalization has been the key which allowed the exchange and diversification of different culture. Nowadays, the proper understanding of cultural differences has become a daily matters for businesses because employees, products, services,… are located, are sold and bought across the world (Mirja Ivonen, Diane H. Sonnenwald, Maria Parma, Evelyn Poole-Kober, August 1998). The subject is not new and has been discussed and analyzed for the past four decades (Xiumei Shi, Jinying Wang, 2010). Geert Hofstede, a Dutch social psychologist and professor emeritus of organization anthropology and international management is one of the pioneer in this study area and published in 1980 a book titled “Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values “ and introduced the first four dimensions of national culture (Geert Hofstede, website, 2014) after a six years study realized among IBM corporation’s employees. The Professor Hofstede, analyzed “how values In the workplace are influenced by culture” in more...
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...Vincent Marziano MUS 361U Dr. Bluestone 5/16/2013 841 words #20 Bob Dylan Highway 61 Revisited Can words describe the amount of sound that came out the speakers after playing Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited? The many sounds that make up this remarkable piece of what one could only describe as artwork is a phenomenal mix of instruments and vocals to produce a sound that is of no other. Dylan combines everything from a simple harmonica (which he makes sound anything but simple) all the way up to electric guitars, drums, acoustics, tambourines, banjos and even what sounds to be like a Kazoo in track 7! His background falls under influences coming from the blues with an emphasis on delta blues, and a strong country back ground as well. He ties these older sounds together with the new sounds of today’s rock and roll to create even flowing and cohesive piece of work. His music is made for the youth and even in a time when folk and country music is something we would relate to our parents, his music brings out a young vibrantness that no person, old or young, could ignore. His overall CD encompasses many mixed emotions. Dylan seems to incorporate personal stories of his own life along with random stories which when combined produce songs of happiness as well as desperation to the modern world. His CD doesn’t carry a main story line, and in fact really sounds like a mix of random feelings and emotions that he kind of slapped together into one cohesive motion. His first...
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...Globalization Note Series Pankaj Ghemawat and Sebastian Reiche National Cultural Differences and Multinational Business The eminent Dutch psychologist, management researcher, and culture expert Geert Hofstede, early in his career, interviewed unsuccessfully for an engineering job with an American company. Later, he wrote of typical cross-cultural misunderstandings that crop up when American managers interview Dutch recruits and vice versa: “American applicants, to Dutch eyes, oversell themselves. Their CVs are worded in superlatives…during the interview they try to behave assertively, promising things they are very unlikely to realize…Dutch applicants in American eyes undersell themselves. They write modest and usually short CVs, counting on the interviewer to find out by asking how good they really are…they are very careful not to be seen as braggarts and not to make promises they are not absolutely sure they can fulfill. American interviewers know how to interpret American CVs and interviews and they tend to discount the information provided. Dutch interviewers, accustomed to Dutch applicants, tend to upgrade the information. To an uninitiated American interviewer an uninitiated Dutch applicant comes across as a sucker. To an uninitiated Dutch interviewer an uninitiated American applicant comes across as a braggart.”1 Cultural differences, while difficult to observe and measure, are obviously very important. Failure to appreciate and account for them can lead to embarrassing...
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...Globalization Note Series Pankaj Ghemawat and Sebastian Reiche National Cultural Differences and Multinational Business The eminent Dutch psychologist, management researcher, and culture expert Geert Hofstede, early in his career, interviewed unsuccessfully for an engineering job with an American company. Later, he wrote of typical cross-cultural misunderstandings that crop up when American managers interview Dutch recruits and vice versa: “American applicants, to Dutch eyes, oversell themselves. Their CVs are worded in superlatives…during the interview they try to behave assertively, promising things they are very unlikely to realize…Dutch applicants in American eyes undersell themselves. They write modest and usually short CVs, counting on the interviewer to find out by asking how good they really are…they are very careful not to be seen as braggarts and not to make promises they are not absolutely sure they can fulfill. American interviewers know how to interpret American CVs and interviews and they tend to discount the information provided. Dutch interviewers, accustomed to Dutch applicants, tend to upgrade the information. To an uninitiated American interviewer an uninitiated Dutch applicant comes across as a sucker. To an uninitiated Dutch interviewer an uninitiated American applicant comes across as a braggart.”1 Cultural differences, while difficult to observe and measure, are obviously very important. Failure to appreciate and account for them can lead to embarrassing...
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...INB400 – International Organization and Management Term paper Wal-Mart’s culturally and institutionally flawed entry into the German retail market Joakim Holsten Leren s105710 Julianne Øien s106222 Mirko Wichmann s145433 Lara-Caterina Buggert s145400 Eloise De Bont s145611 22 pages Table of Contents Introduction 2 Case presentation 2 The Wal-Mart concept 3 Institutional challenges [to be deleted] 4 Cultural challenges [to be deleted] 4 German market 5 Theoretical Background 5 The cultural perspective 6 The institutional perspective 9 Case Analysis 12 The cultural perspective 12 The institutional perspective 15 Recommendations 19 Cultural 19 Institutional 20 Limitations 22 Cultural 22 Institutional 22 Conclusion 23 References: 25 Introduction The purpose of this paper is to address and analyze the challenges Wal-Mart faced during its entrance into the German market in the late 1990s. We have analyzed this with the following problem in mind: “Which aspects, both cultural and institutional, led to Wal-Mart’s failure in Germany and what should they have done instead?” We will approach this problem by outlining theoretical frameworks for analyzing cultural and institutional aspects of a company. We will then employ said theories in order to analyze the case of Wal-Mart’s failure in Germany. Finally, we will come to a conclusion concerning what they should have done as they entered into the German market...
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...What difficulties might the international manager experience in trying to apply Hofstede's model? Culture is the learned way in which a society understands, decides and communicates.”(Hollensen, 2007). Hofstede, a Dutch academic wished to find an explanation for cultural differences across the world, in relation to society and business. He began by researching why various concepts of motivation did not work in the same manner in all countries. Hofstede based his studies on an extensive IBM database, receiving 116,000 questionnaires from IBM employees from over 70 countries, and in 20 languages. The gathering and evaluation of this study took 6 years, at the end of which, Hofstede concluded that the way people in different countries perceive and interpret their world varies along 4 dimensions. Hofstede’s model is known as the 4+1 model due to the addition of another dimension some years later. Theoretically this model appears to be effective in business context, however, after in-depth analysis, it can be seen that difficulties may arise for the international manager when trying to apply it. The first dimension, Power Distance, refers to the degree of inequality between people in both physical and educational conditions in a culture. In ‘High Power distance’ societies, the power is concentrated amongst the few highest people, of who make all the decisions. Therefore, the others in society have no choice but to obey, and carry out the decisions made. Differences in...
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...Past Examination Revision QUESTION 1 QUESTION 2 Take framework very seriously in the exam. Do not define Hofstede’s framework because the question has already define it. Individualism and collectivism is about how people are related to each other. Every single individual contribution is important and should be treated as an individual. The implication is showed in the reward system; the rewards are going to be given to the individual. Where in the other hand, collectivist mindset represent the group instead of themselves. Each mindset should be treated accordingly. Power Distance (who is making the decision) Culture that are low power distance sharing of power is a must. The employees are expected to be involved in the decision making. Managers need to learn how to make the decision via power sharing. People with high power distance mindset tends to operate under instructions. Leadership management style needs to be customized. Uncertainty Avoidance; how decision is made High uncertainty avoidance = Low risk taker and vice versa. The decisions are made quickly as the quickest as possible manner is important. Low uncertainty avoidance= high risk taker Masculinity (equality in the workplace) Managers needs to understand when they are working in the Masculine culture, they need to accept it not to change it. For example: no female managers to middle east. Long term short term Planning, setting goals, target, and objectives. Short term wants to achieve everything...
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...Name: Class: Date: ID: A SPC 1017 - Exam #1 - Ch. Multiple Choice l-6 Identifu the choice that best completes the statement or unswers the question. L The process of putting our thoughts and feelings into words and nonverbal cues is called a. encoding b. decoding c. feedback d. semantics 2. What three things can help improve your communication competence? a. Motivation, desire, and expertise b. Skills, context, and semantics c. Encoding, decoding, and feedback d. Motivation, knowledge, and skills The route used to transmit messages is known as a. encoding b. decoding c. feedback d. noise e. a channel Sarah and Stephen are meeting to talk about their class project, but Stephen is distracted, because he is worried abouian exam in another class. He asks Sarah to repeat herself several times. This conversation is 3. 4. most strongly influenced bY a. b. c. d. 5. physical context physical noise internal noise semantic noise - The cashier at the store greets you by saying, "How are you doing today?" Even though you're having a bad day, you say, "I'm fine, thank you." Your response is an example of a a. spontaneousexPression b. constructed message c. scripted message d. semantic message Competent communication depends on a. having a friendly personalitY b. learning how to give strong feedback c. being both effective and appropriate d. avoiding noise 6. Name: ID: A 7. According to scholar Brian Spitzberg, motivation is...
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...state that organizational culture is a set of shared mental assumptions that guide interpretation and action in organizations by defining appropriate behavior for various situations. At the same time although a company may have "own unique culture", in larger organizations, there is a diverse and sometimes conflicting cultures that co-exist due to different characteristics of the management team. The organizational culture may also have negative and positive aspects. Hofstede (1980) looked for global differences between over 100,000 of IBM's employees in 50 different countries and three regions of the world, in an attempt to find aspects of culture that might influence business behavior. He suggested about cultural differences existing in regions and nations, and the importance of international awareness and multiculturalism for the own cultural introspection. Cultural differences reflect differences in thinking and social action, and even in "mental programs", a term Hofstede uses for predictable behaviour. Hofstede relates culture to ethnic and regional groups, but also organizations, profession, family, to society and subcultural groups, national political systems and legislation, Daniel Denison’s model (1990) asserts that organizational culture can be described by four general dimensions –...
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...Karen and Ted’s Communication Breakdown Karen Leary and Ted Chung’s breakdown escalated from a series of miscommunications rooted in cultural, communication, motivation, management, and leadership differences. CULTURE Karen's concerns escalate when Ted's stock purchases deviate from the conservative financial plan that Karen had previously approved. Karen is low-context, universalistic, and forward-looking; she is comfortable with the financial plan because it is essentially a written contract that explicitly states Ted's plans for the future of the account (a conservative purchase plan). Although Ted is careful to document his unsolicited trades, in an attempt to abide by Merrill's universalistic compliance issues, his high-context, particularistic, and past and present-oriented relationship with the client later lead him to invest in riskier stocks. Ted's relationship with the client is rooted in trust, which is a dynamic, unspoken contract that can be changed with the situation. This trust has its foundation in a shared historical past (both Ted and the client come from the same village) and grows stronger by the day, requiring Ted to adjust the financial plan to the changing relationship. Additionally, since Ted has succeeded in entrepreneurial contexts he has a lower uncertainty avoidance than Karen, who climbed the corporate ladder. Thus, Ted and the client may be more comfortable with the ambiguous profitability of risky stocks. Ted's adherence to standard...
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...Concept of political environment The political scenario in a country is the outcome of the interacting influence of various interest groups such as individual households, firms, politicians, bureaucrats and many others. The stronger a particular interest group the more prominent its ideology will manifest in the overall political scenario. In a country with federal character, where different interest groups are prominent at different levels, different ideologies exist side by side at the same juncture. The political scenario in different states may be different. Even at the centre, the political scenario may change with changes in the dominant interest group. As opposed to diverse political environments in a particular country, a particular political ideology may be found in more than one country. It is because the ethnic background, language, religion and so on bring many countries within the fold of one common political ideology. For example, it was the ethnic considerations that brought Serbs of the neighbouring regions into one political umbrella known as Greater Serbia. Thus political environment is marked by both diversity and uniformity. The political scenario often varies between the two extremes democracy on the one hand and totalitarianism on the other. The purest form of democracy represents direct involvement of citizens in policy making. But with growing time and distance barriers over time, it did not remain feasible for all citizens to participate in the political...
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...Introduction "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships." -Michael Jordan When talking about accomplishing success in any type of organization, we must mind the essential role of team working. A team that provides high performance is one of the most important assets for a company. But even if an organization has the best talents in its field, it is not enough unless their aptitudes are incorporated into collectively performing unit. Turning an average performing into high performing team can be done by utilizing the strengths of each team member and the cultural diversity of the entire group. In the contemporary world we live, it is very common to work in multicultural teams. These teams are perceived as highly potential based on the perception that the greater the diversity, the greater the creativity and productivity of a team is. Yet, there are certain challenges that international teams encounter and that is why it is of great importance to be aware of the cultural diversity around the globe. Despite of how influential is our own culture on our beliefs and behaviours we must be aware that we are not coming from the one and only “valuable” culture in the world. People often tend to believe that their own values and beliefs are the only “right” ones as they are embedded in their particular cultures. We must be aware that each of us, each singular culture might shine in a different way, but that does not mean someone...
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...CHAPTER 3 Group Member Diversity CHAPTER OUTLINE Heterogeneous Groups Personality Dimensions Personality Theory Implications of Personality Dimensions Cultural Dimensions Individualism–Collectivism Power Distance Uncertainty Avoidance Masculine–Feminine High Context–Low Context Monochronic Time–Polychronic Time Barriers to Cultural Understanding Gender Dimensions Generational Dimensions Balanced Diversity GroupWork: Personality Preferences GroupAssessment: Identifying Cultural Dialectics ISBN: 0-536-56665-8 63 Working in Groups: Communication Principles and Strategies, Fourth Edition, by Isa N. Engleberg and Dianna R. Wynn. Published by Allyn & Bacon. Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. 64 Part I Basic Group Concepts HETEROGENEOUS GROUPS When you read or hear the word diversity, you may think about race or about people from other countries. The concept of diversity, however, involves much more than country of origin, skin color, or ethnic heritage. When discussing group communication, we use the term diversity in its most general sense—the quality of being different. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines diverse as “made up of distinct characteristics, qualities, or elements.”1 The homogeneous–heterogeneous dialectic is particularly applicable to the study of group membership. As we note in Chapter 1, the prefix homo comes from the Greek language and means “same” or “similar”; hetero means “different.” Thus, a homogeneous...
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