Public Relations in Global Cultural Contexts - Essay Example

? Self-Developmental Plan Overview People have been travelling from one place to another in search of better opportunities to satisfy their wants or needs. Different regions of the world have their own set of values and beliefs that are needed to be adopted in order to reside in those particular regions with comfort (Bardhan & Weaver, 2010). I am from Saudi Arabia and moved to Canada for my higher studies and in this regard, I need to observed differences in culture. Self-Awareness and Cross Culture It is crucial to understand that individuals should have proper knowledge regarding different aspects of their culture. One should be completely aware of his/her culture in order to explore and understand diverse cultural aspects. Moreover, individuals should be aware of different cultures so that they are able to accept cultural diversity in relation to their values as well as attitudes. In precise, individuals with appropriate knowledge about various facets of diverse cultures are more likely to develop themselves in a better social manner (Koyama, Plash & Davis, 2012). Self-Awareness: Cultural Identity My native place is Saudi Arabia and I moved to Canada with the objective of pursing my higher studies. After my migration, I observed that there are vast differences in culture of these two countries. Initially, I faced a lot of trouble in getting accustomed with the diversity of these two cultures. Owing to my adaptive nature, I was however able to get habituated. Nevertheless, there are certain differences which tend to raise substantial challenges for me to be accustomed with the foreign culture of Canada. In my childhood, I was not exactly aware of the heritage and richness of my culture. I practically understand about the fact that people of different cultures have distinct ideas, perceptions and values. Now that I know mush more about my native country, I feel proud to be a citizen of Saudi Arabia as this country has given me an identity of my own where I can depict myself as a part of the rich cultural heritage of the country. I am 32 years old and I need to learn a lot from life and acquire maximum knowledge from experiences. Furthermore, I belong to the Islam religion which believes in helping people in need. The cultural values and believes have assisted me in following the right path to earn my livelihood without harming others. In Arabian culture, men are more dominating and are offered with every opportunity to grow and develop their future life as compared to women. I am physically fit and healthy which further enables me to execute any activities with efficiency. I grew up in a middle class family where my father worked hard in order to provide me with all the necessities of life including education so that I can grow my capability to earn my own livelihood. This meant a lot to me and I will always remember the support and role my family in my life. My background, comprising values and heritage of my culture, education as well as family support, altogether has assisted me towards better growth as well as development in life. The aforementioned factors have also aided me to develop my personal life and to build enhanced relationships with people. The love, affection and support of my family have further been responsible for the development of my personality. In this regard, I will aim to provide adequate support and care to my family with utmost importance. Self-Awareness: Examining Ethnicity Socialization Using SIP I have met with people from various cultures and backgrounds. My family does not have any objection regarding my association with different cultural people. My family has encouraged me to make friends with people from different cultures, enabling me to understand the importance as well as various aspects of diverse culture. They have also insisted me to bring my friends from other culture in my home and treated them with immense respect. This aspect teaches me to be kind even with people from different cultures and backgrounds. Moreover, my family has never obstructed or restricted me to be involved with the cultural ceremony of other people. The behaviors of the people belonging to other cultures have also been very kind, gentle and helpful to me. I learnt a lot from them in regard to the fact that people should always be supportive towards each other irrespective of their culture and background. I applied this approach in my personal life for which I was appraised by people around me. I did not face any sort of punishment for the good behaviors I deciphered for people around me. The viewpoints of my teachers coincide with me where they have always encouraged me to respect the values and ethics of other’s culture and background. They also appraised me for any good work that I had done for people irrespective of cultural differences. The people who have studied or worked with me have also been very much supportive and guided me towards positivity to respect people of different cultures, religions or races. However, there were incidents where I was being teased by people of my own community for my involvement with people of other communities. This point was bit of a setback for me but in course of time it gradually disappeared. The changes that I have experienced in my personal beliefs and thoughts with regard to my involvement with culturally different people have been influenced by media technologies substantially. I have observed that there are numerous people who have identical beliefs and values for culturally diverse people. This teaches me that every person in the world possess certain similarities with others in regard to cultural values and ethics. Hence, I acquired the knowledge that association with different cultures has developed my social life. In context to work, I am always determined to have a career where I can work with utmost dedication. Owing to this, I preferred to work in a private firm where I can obtain maximum scope for work and develop my experiences competently. Self-Awareness and Cross Culture I have met with people from different cultures and owing to my experience, I can state that every culture in this world has certain values and ethics similar to each other irrespective of their differences. The people from different cultures I met throughout my life were very gentle and kind to me. Both I and the people I met in my life possessed almost identical beliefs and values in relation to culture. For instance, we disagree upon certain aspects such as views about any particular topic and religious teachings among the prime subjects. I am a person who believes in respecting as well as understanding cultures of different people. In this regard, to understanding others cultures, I aims to be continuously involved with other people from different religions and countries. In accordance to Dr. Milton Bennett’s model of intercultural sensitivity, I would put myself among the group of people who adapt to the cultural differences of others where they intend to understand other’s cultural values and norms (Kiemele, 2009). Furthermore, Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions model discusses about the various cultural aspects of different countries. The first dimension, i.e. power distance, depicts about the desire of people to accept other’s culture. In this regard, my power distance is high as I am always open to acquire knowledge about other cultures where I noticed the Canadian culture is interdependent. The second dimension, i.e. individualism, signifies the nature of people to value only individual culture rather than group culture. The Canadian culture is based on individuals where people are concerned about themselves and their families which made it challenging for me to get adapted to the change. In this context, I have low individualism as I treat people of diverse culture with equality. The third dimension, i.e. uncertainty acceptance, depicts the amount of significance rendered to planned mechanisms within one’s culture. The Canadian culture is persistent to change. In this regard, I can state that my cultural uncertainty is on the lower side. The fourth dimension, i.e. masculinity, where behaviors of different genders are considered to be different and competition, the Canadian culture is observed to be based on a certain level of competition. Contextually, I rate myself to be equal to everyone irrespective of their gender and competitiveness. The last dimension of Hofstede’s cultural model, i.e. long-term orientation, deals with meeting the compulsion of one’s own culture. The Canadian culture is identified to be based on traditions and social obligations. In this regard, I rate myself to be obedient towards cultural needs and demands (The Hofstede Centre, 2013; Dainton & Zelley, 2010). Your Knowledge of Other’s Cultures There are various aspects of different cultures which I desire to learn. The Canadian culture is based on traditions and social obligations. Additionally, the Canadian people are adaptive to change and are innovative. Currently, I need to adopt the cultural values of Canada in order to execute and obtain adequate knowledge. In this context, I will also be able to determine the differences of cultures of Saudi Arabia and Canada. I prefer or wish to understand the diverse behavior of expressing qualities as well as ways or approaches toward certain aspects. Moreover, I will also acquire the importance in relation to knowledge of diverse culture (Billikopf, 2009). You know best Belonging from a Muslim background, my cultural values taught me to treat people with utmost humanity. This is the basic strength of my culture to help others in need. However, there are certain people who possess negative perception with regard to people of other cultural backgrounds. Owing to the positivity of my cultural strengths, the weaknesses do not really matter. I am totally committed and motivated to acquire vast knowledge about different cultural heritage and values in order to grow and develop in the best social manner. Action Plan References Bardhan, N., & Weaver, C. K. (2010). Public relations in global cultural contexts: multi-paradigmatic perspectives. New York: Routledge. Billikopf, G. (2009). Cultural differences? Or, are we really that different? Retrieved from http://nature.berkeley.edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7article/article01.htm Dainton, M., & Zelley, E. D. (2010). Applying communication theory for professional life: a practical introduction. United States of America: SAGE. Kiemele, J. (2009). Culturally proficient leadership: intercultural sensitivity among elementary school principals. United States of America: ProQuest. Koyama, C., Plash, S., & Davis, K. (2012). Comparing cross-cultural multicultural self-awareness among k-12 in-service school teachers. SRATE journal 21(1), pp. 29-36. The Hofstede Centre. (2013). Canada. Retrieved from http://geert-hofstede.com/canada.html Bibliography Faugeron. (n.d.). Cross-cultural management. Retrieved from http://www.faugeron.online.fr/%23%20Documents/MasterMS1%23INSEEC/Cross%20Cultural%20Management.ppt.pdf Gillman, D. (2010). The idea of cultural heritage. New York: Cambridge University Press. University of Wisconsin-Madison. (2013). A developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. Retrieved from http://www.library.wisc.edu/EDVRC/docs/public/pdfs/SEEDReadings/intCulSens.pdf Read More