Cross Cultural Awareness for Business - Essay Example

The cross cultural awareness for business The cross cultural awareness for business Introduction In order for organizations to compete more effectively in the ever challenging and changing business environment, it is vital for these businesses to make use of cultural adversity as a means for survival. With the globalization taking the centre stage across various trading regions, organizations have had to hire individuals that are from different cultures because of their expertise and competence. Therefore, ones cultural background does not hinder them from joining well known organization because what matters is the value that they may bring to an organization. Essentially, culture refers to the traditions, set of values, and norms or practices that tend to influence the ways in which individuals behave, think, make a judgement and also their perceptions within a group setting. The perception that employees may have about an organization tends to influence the way in which they tend to complete organizational tasks that may not be in line with the deadlines. This brings about the idea of cultural competence that refers to the ability for individuals within an organization to interact in an effective manner with people from different cultures. This may draw from their worldviews and the understanding of other people’s culture’s and also being tolerant of them (French, 2010). Based on this overview, this essay will delve into the emic approach in understanding and managing people in the workplace that have cultural differences by referring to the works of two writers. The focus will be on the value of their contribution to cross-cultural managers and also refer to four countries in which this approach is applied. The emic approach Ideally, the emic and etic approach is a form of field research performed with the aim of obtaining various viewpoints within a social group from with the observer’s perspective and also from that of the subject at hand. In much detail, the emic approach determines the way in which people from a locality think, they way that they perceive and explain things, the way they behave as per their rules and also the things that bring meaning to them. These approaches to to manage cross culture within the workplace were developed by Kenneth Pike in 1954 to which his suggestion was that when both of them integrate then this is likely to yield more positive results (Ritchey, 2011). The emic approach requires the examining of each culture in order to determine the way in which those applying this approach interpret certain observable facts. The emic approach is drawn from the phonemic term and the etic approach from the term phonetic that are both applied in linguistics. According to Olive James (2014), the emic perspective a researcher may opt to study the culture of an entire school system as an example or smaller groups of people that share common interests in which they tend to illustrate their unique views on events that are happening around the globe. At times, this culture is also viewed as the humanistic as it pays attention on viewing the culture at hand from the perspective of the other person. This tends to reduce the instance in which one may become judgmental because understanding the other person’s culture from their perspective by collecting behaviour patterns that can be helpful in managing a workplace that has elements of cultural diversity. The emic approach or otherwise referred to as the natural approach, this requires that an observer externalizes the observations as much as possible and also not be judgmental of the behaviour that they witness as part of the study and also part of understanding the culture in question. The research method applied in this approach is that of participant observation in which the observer is required to spend an immense amount of time with the group being studied in order to discover as as they can from them. In this approach, an observer tends to compare some of the misconceptions or views that they might have heard with the observation that they make so as to understand the culture being observed better. This can also help in explaining the different languages and the ways that they differ in an attempt to understand the cultures that they draw from. A better placed example of this would be the understanding the culture and languages of English and Spanish speakers based on the alphabet. Essentially, for Spanish speakers the consonants C and S or V and B tend to sound the same when pronounced, but this is not so when written because the mix up can be clearly be seen, especially on signposts such as “cerrado” or “serrado” among a list of other examples. Therefore, when an observer tries to understand culture from this point of view, then it helps them understand the difference that there is between the American and the Spanish culture as it may not be easy for them to note the difference in words that start with S or C because the pronunciation to them is quite similar. Understanding this fact an help reduce instances where an employee from the Spanish culture is victimized when they provide wrong spellings to work documents simply because a manager may not be aware of their language element in terms of phonemes. This may be so because most English understands the difference between the consonants B and V or C and S meaning that they may not understand why this can be a challenge to their Spanish speaking colleagues. As part of managing a culturally diverse workplace, it is the responsibility of the management team to first understand such differences and also explain the same to other employees so as to avoid conflicts that others may view as neglectful. On the other hand, the Spanish speaking employees have the responsibility of learning the difference between the consonants that challenge them in order for the to become competent at the workplace rather than sit on their weakness. Those that believe in the emic approach firmly argue that culture is specific and locally based which is contrary to the etic approach where their belief that knowledge is similar across cultures. The advantage of using these approaches is that it helps individuals within a workplace to understand the intercultural differences that exist in the workplace that also explain their unique behaviors and attributes (Thatcher, 2012). One writter that has contributed immensely in the study and application of the emic approach in managing workplaces that are culturally diverse is D’Iribarne in his study in the late nineties. This study involved a French company dealing in aluminium that operated in France, the US and the Netherlands through the use of questionnaires. This researcher found that the same answer given by those that filled the questionnaires who were drawn from various cultures carried different meanings inclining that making a general assumption would be misinformed. According to D’Iribarne, an observer had to reconstruct the perceptions of the respondents through their responses so as to ascertain the different meaning embedded in each (Helfrich et al., 2008). This is turn helps create a better understanding of other people’s cultures because this allows individuals to share in the thinking of others in order to understand where they are coming from. Countries that apply the emic approach China is considered to be one of the countries to have high contents of culture through the observation of behavior from the view of an outsider. From an insider’s view, symbols from Chinese scripts form the traditional way of thinking by the Chinese as their understanding is drawn from a context that is related to Chinese culture. Based on this, China and other developing nations apply Human resource management theories and practices that are western irrespective of the differences that exist in the local and the foreign culture as a way of achieving economic progress. Mariappanadar (2005) in his literary works also prefers the emic approach over the attic approach in effectively managing diverse workplaces and companies that operate on a global scale. This author also insists on the need to apply the emic approach in order to understand the cultural attributes in human resource management practices instead of replicating a specific cultural HRM practice from a cross cultural context. Another country that applies the emic approach in understanding cultural diversity is Australia, where the egalitarian-style is also applicable (Gesteland, 2012). In the egalitarian management style, employees have equal power and responsibility. This acts as an effective way of influencing employee morale because employees can choose the type of tasks that they work on or not as per their job description. Therefore, managers in Australia prefer the diversity management approach instead of HRM practices that are culturally indigenous. For them, an emic understanding of the different cultural practices and cultures in their management approach, which explains why it is necessary to be aware of the cultural reasons in order for this to be effective. Further, research has also proven that Australian managers prefer diversity management instead of cultural indigenous human resource management practices because the country is a culturally diverse nation (Shen et al., 2009). Additionally, exporting some of the relevant HRM practices for international companies to the locals is an effective practice as much as they may be alien because it helps in including the local values that the local employees may hold dear. The advantage of applying the emic approach by managers in cross cultural workplaces One the benefits of the emic approach is the fact that it helps in bringing the benefits to the local people because the key focus tends to on what good an international company can bring to the country if it begins operations. Therefore, when managers apply the emic approach it makes them be in a better position to entice locals to come on board in their company because the locals will feel valued and understood. Initially, communication might be a challenge, especially if the parties involved come different cultures, but this should both be formal and direct in cross cultural aspects should also be applied in order to make the process successful. Further, reproaching employees that might execute the duties expected of them should also be a matter of caution for managers in diverse workplaces. This is because some employees may not take humiliation in public in the name of correcting them calmly especially in countries like China. When a manager applies the emic approach and attempts to understand why the Chinese feel correction in public as a form of humiliation then this is likely to allow them to experience minimal conflicts. In most cases, employees in China prefer that a person from the same culture as theirs be used to communicate the any wrong doings to them rather than have a foreigner communicate the same because to them this would be disrespectful. The emic approach can be helpful to managers and organizations seeking to establish investments in countries like China because understanding culture from an insider’s view can be one way of ensuring that the workplace is cohesive. In a country like China, the locals believe in a form of hierarchy in which their most senior individual has authority, meaning that they can only listen to the one that they consider superior and also they only allow this person to speak on their behalf. Managers that manage diverse cultural workplaces should understand local practices to avoid attracting unnecessary friction by forcing employees to respond to their concerns where they in turn would opt to be quiet. Further, the emic approach influences the aspect of managers bing more of team players rather than them being bosses because the approach helps in creating a collaborative work environment. In order to avoid cross cultural miscommunication, it is essential that managers provide written materials that are both in English and in Chinese that should have simplified characters to help in effective responses between parties. This brings the certainty that the message that a manager was trying to put across has been understood and it would be safe for them to expect the desired organizational results (Kirk, 2010). By applying some of these concepts that are embedded in the emic approach, a manager will be able to effectively manage a culturally diverse workplace, especially in foreign regions that value their cultures and practices more such as China (Babatunde & Long, 2015). References Babatunde, Y., & Low, S. P. (2015). Cross-Cultural Management and Quality Performance: Chinese Construction Firms in Nigeria. Springer Publishing, New York. French, R. (2010), Cross-Cultural Management in Work Organisations, 2nd Edition, London: CIPD. Gesteland, R. R. (2012). 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Managing diversity through human resource management: an international perspective and concept. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(2), 235-251. Thatcher, B. (2012). Intercultural rhetoric and professional communication: Technological advances and organizational behavior. Hershey PA: Information Science Reference. Read More