What do we mean by navigating another culture - Essay Example

John Q. A Anthropology 10 Feb Navigating Another Culture When interacting with people from another culture, it becomes important to respect their cultural sensibilities, whether the interaction with them is at business level or at personal level. The culture of any country reflects a set of appropriate behavior which has been laid down for any given situation. When it comes to navigation in another culture, there are essentially two levels. One level when navigating another culture means to behave appropriately when in another cultural setting.

The deeper and the second level means to adopt an attitude which recognizes that there are other ways to perceive the world and be at ease with different social and cultural settings (Hofstede, 2010). When people from another culture interact with that particular society, they have to understand the cultural behavior of the host society and refrain from offending them by any indication that they do not respect the other culture. For this, they have to examine various characteristics and ramifications of another culture.

As per the experts, all cultures share four major characteristics which are common in different cultures (Sarkar, 2010). It includes symbols which reflect on the art, religion, language and finance of that particular culture. When dealing with people from other culture, it is necessary to keep the open mind and learn the nuances of the other culture for a successful social outcome. When navigation of other culture is concerned, it is also necessary for a person to learn the core philosophy of that culture’s values (Hofstede et al, 2010).

He or she should also understand various geo-political, socio-economic and cross-cultural factors such as traditions, customs, religious and social values such as taboos and ethos at the time of navigation in another culture. The person while navigating another culture, should always remember that something such as lack of respect, appreciation or ignorance about another cultural milieu can lead to breakdown in communication and goodwill from the people of another culture. In fact, if one tries to understand or imitate their ways while with them, it will lead to wholehearted support as well as enhancement of goodwill.

Works CitedHofstede, Geert, Gert Jan Hofstede and Michael Minkov.Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2010.Sarkar, A,N. Navigating the Rough Seas of Global Business Negotiation: Reflection on Cross-Cultural Issues and Some Corporate Experiences, UBIT [Online], Volume 3 issue 2, 48, 2010. Available at: https://commons.esc.edu/globalissues/wp-content/uploads/sites/1354/2014/05/navigating-global-negotiations.pdf [Accessed 07 February 2015].