The Culture of a Certain Civilization - Case Study Example

CULTURAL FLEXIBILITY William Bloom defined national identity as the state wherein a group of people have the same recognition with the national symbols. Acting as a unified group, this people who have internalised the national symbols as one, will act as a psychological assembly when threat or possibility of threat is present in the surroundings of the nation. It is not sufficient to say that national identity is happening within that group by simply stating that they are a nation. For national identity to materialize, this group should internalize the psychological progression of making their group be identified as a nation (Bloom, 1990, 52). On the other hand, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Social Organization (UNESCO) defined culture as the collection of distinguishing religious, physical, intellectual, and emotional attributes of a society or social group, and incorporate, with the addition of aspects of the arts and social sciences, traditions and beliefs (Dilworth & Maital, 2008, 30). With these in mind, national identity is the core for culture. National identity is needed for the culture of a certain civilization to exist and be further enriched by generations and generations. Culture is a treasure of a civilization which is unique and cannot be altered by advancements of other aspects in the lives of people. Culture is a national symbol. Therefore, culture is one of the symbols that bind these people. It is what the people internalise and is being taken care of to be protected and not be altered or colonized by other cultures for these is what makes this alliance of people unique and special (Johanson & Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975; Hakala, 2008). National identity is significant as a source of culture in people as it is a symbol of the nation which makes the culture unique and special. With what is happening worldwide, people are fighting for the preservation of their cultures. They are fighting for it to be conserved and still be passed on to the future generations. It is not just a battle for their culture to withstand the modernization but it is also a battle to ensure that the culture will still be experienced and not just a mere figment of a person’s imagination (Johanson & Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975; Hakala, 2008). In this modern era, there are only several remaining cultures that have preserved their traditions despite of the modernization going left and right. That is one sad fact of the present generation that they have embraced another culture for another. They have let go of their national identity as it is not as much recognized as the others. That is a common mistake that is being made by people. It is good to have a taste of other people’s culture but what is wrong is to let go of your national identity. Once a person let go of their national identity, they have let go of their culture and heritage. These people let go of their culture so that they can gain a new identity to be part of a nation which are more powerful and influential (Johanson & Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975; Hakala, 2008). A modern workplace is not anymore exclusive to people belonging to certain race and ethnicities. It is now composed of multiracial employees who have a goal to improve not just as an employee but to further boost the industry where they belong. Since each race has their own traditions, employers should take note of that fact. It is the task of the employers to ensure that the workplace is not discriminating other employees who has beliefs and traditions different from the others (Johanson & Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975; Hakala, 2008). An office with multiracial workforce needs to check regularly that the workplace would be respectful regardless of the race their employees belong. This event would not happen overnight. One reason is that there are still individuals who are not that open-minded in socializing with people who belongs to another race than theirs. This is still a reality which employers should ensure equality be practiced (Johanson & Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975; Hakala, 2008). It is not just workers who are migrating to other countries who experience change and need to adapt to the culture of the country where they migrated. There are also managers who tend to transfer to other countries so that they can see how their company’s overseas operates. Employers should be the forerunners in upholding open-mindedness and recognition of cultural and religious differences. Open-mindedness is the key not just in sustaining efficient output of employees but it also helps the company by lessening complaints with regards to discrimination (Johanson & Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975; Hakala, 2008). In a workplace, open communication should be practiced to avoid any forms of discrimination and hurt somebody else’s feeling unintentionally. The employers should promote this to lessen stiffness and division amongst its employees (Hakala, 2008). One thing that should be practiced anywhere to avoid any religious discrimination is respect. One should respect others beliefs so that others will also respect theirs. These cross-cultural relationships are usually embodied by miscommunication, misunderstanding and misinterpretation. Due to different behaviours, people have the inclination to misapprehend others and tend to outcast them because of this. The most effective way for this to be conquered is having an open communication not just in a workplace but also in a society where people have different cultures, traditions and beliefs. Also, when people have opened to others with regards to their cultural or religious difference, listeners should not just judge and isolate them instead they should show enthusiasm and interest to learn a new thing from the speaker (Gudykunst & Mody, 2002, 127-129). Willingness to communicate goes hand in hand with acceptance. When a person opens up to another with regards to the aspect of culture and religion just means that that person trust another to accept them regardless of those factors which is considered by most in choosing their peers and friends. Once a person receives such trust from others, how they perceived that person before knowing such facts should not change. They should accept what was entrusted onto them and respect the facts as they are. Such differences does not make any person lesser or be marked to be treated lesser. Every individual is made to be equal therefore no individual has the right to treat others with less significance just because of the culture and religious difference that they have (Boyd, 1-2; Gudykunst & Mody, 2002, 127-129). In 1928, Gerard Hendrik Hofstede was born in Haarlem, The Netherlands. While he was working for IBM in the 1980s, he developed his cultural dimensions. Originally, there were only 4 dimensions. However, Hofstede added a 5th dimension after he conducted supplementary experiments where surveys were industrialised with Chinese employees and managers. The 5 cultural dimensions are: 1) Power Distance Index (PDI), 2) Individualism (IDV), 3) Masculinity (MAS), 4) Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI), and 5) Long-Term Orientation (LTO). The 5th dimension was based on Confucian vitality (Boyd, 1-2). Power Distance Index (PDI) characterizes the inequality among cultures, majority against the minority. Inequality though is not of who is more powerful or influential than whom rather it is recognised by the followers. Here, Hofstede stated that “all societies are unequal, but some are more unequal than others.” PDI is further broken down into Low PDI and High PDI. People who are new to Low PDI cultures have more chances of finding equality rather than in High PDI cultures where hierarchy and autocracy exist (Boyd, 2; Puri, 2006). Individualism (IDV) constitutes the person’s ability to look after him. The connections in the society where individualist exist are not as tight as those present in the collectivist society. Individualism deals with the “I” identity in the society. The value of standards is applicable to everybody and not just to a particular sector or group. Focus in Individualism is on the individual initiative and achievement which is contrast on those of the collectivism which is to belong to an organization. It has been stated though that the term ‘collectivism’ refers to the society or the group and not to the state (Boyd, 2; Puri, 2006). Masculinity (MAS) refers to role distribution amongst the genders which is an additional essential subject matter for any organisation. The studies made in IBM exposed facts which are a) men’s values differ to be superior to women’s values and b) men’s value vary from one country to another from being very aggressive to a more self-effacing values which can be considered similar as to the women’s values. There pros and cons in this dimension as there are aspects which needs a lighter sense of value that compliments women’s value and other aspects compliments what the men’s value are contributing (Boyd, 2; Puri, 2006). It is not just the values that differ in this aspect. The goals also differ as femininity is more service motivated than masculinity which is more ambition motivated. Masculinity is more focused on the acquisition of wealth aspect while the femininity is on the quality of life. Even in the most advanced countries, there are still gaps between the genders (Boyd, 2; Puri, 2006). Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) tackles a society’s lenience towards uncertainty and indistinctness. It measures up the society’s ability to either feel comfort or discomfort in any given situations. Unstructured situations are novel, unknown, surprising, and different from usual. Uncertainty avoiding cultures try to minimize the possibility of such situations by strict laws and rules, safety and security measures, and on the philosophical and religious level by a belief in absolute Truth; 'there can only be one Truth and we have it' (Boyd, 2). It is said that people who belongs to these types of cultures are more unemotional and introspective. Therefore, they are not expected by the people surrounding them to be expressive as to what they are feeling (Boyd, 2). Long-Term Orientation (LTO) was only added and constituted by Hosftede after questionnaires and studies were made by Chinese scholars. This dimension has been influenced by Confucianism. This dimension deals with the “Virtue rather than the Truth.” In long-term orientation, management and the workforce share the same objectives. While the short-term, it is considered as different entities. Values of this dimension originated in Confucian teachings. However, even Confucian teachings is not existent in a certain country, this dimension still applies as these values are visible (Boyd, 2; Puri, 2006). Hofstede’s dimension has been encountered by workers or even mere individuals in their lifetime. It is not easy to deal with dimensions that can make or break your existence in an environment. Though there are differences that were pointed out, still equality is needed to be practiced to achieve a common goal. This goal may be given out in universities, workplaces, and neighbourhood (Boyd, 2; Puri, 2006). These dimensions are present whether a person admits or deny that fact. If this is the first time that a person has read this, definitely that person can still relate to a couple or all of these. It may not occur in a single experience, but a person will definitely experience each dimension in his lifetime. The dimension which is particularly evident not just in this generation but most especially in earlier times is the male domination in cultures. However, if these dimensions will be ranked as to when a person will experience it, the dimensions will be ranked as: 1) individualism, 2) masculinity, 3) uncertainty avoidance index, 4) power distance index and 5) long-term orientation (Boyd, 2; Puri, 2006). Individualism will be ranked first because even children display such values. There would be children who would cling into their families more than others. There would be children who would grow up independently and be able to achieve what they aim to with their own means. However, there would be children who would grow up with the inclination that they need to belong to certain organizations and group to be able to achieve what they want to achieve. There are people who are more comfortable acting as an individual and others when there are people around them. There is however a sense of weakness being shown by those people who tends to cling within an organization. They are basing their success and goals in an organization. What if the organization is disbanded? What will happen to them? These people will have the tendency to be lost in a society where individuals exist. Companies internationalize as a form of additional exposure and investment. This internationalization process is being done in 2 ways. Either it is the company who will outsource their services from their motherland or they would be outsourcing employees for several reasons. Firms would cultivate first its home-grown marketplace then the internalization would just be the aftereffect of accrued resolutions by the firms. When internalization is in the game plan of the firm, the first aspect that management takes in consideration is recognising and determining what opportunities are available in their target market (Johanson & Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975, 306-309). Internalization is a way for small corporations to expand. Either they are looking for countries where they can get a high number of workforces for a lesser monetary value or they are looking for countries where the cost of living is not high and the company can maximize the available resources present in that place. Internalization is a market strategy of wisely investing the resource which is available in the company (Johanson & Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975, 319). At the present stage, if a company is more known worldwide, the more effective, productive and profitable the company is. It is not just making their products more available to a greater number of population but also the companies are giving income generating opportunities to people in developing countries. Internalization though may be first perceived as a profit-generating step for companies however, it can also be seen as an income-generating factor for economies where these companies decide to build a distribution emporium. It is a process where more people would benefit as time goes. Though there would be people who would think that this a way of getting through a country’s soft spot and be able to inculcate bit by bit traditions of the company’s origin, it should be taken negatively (Johanson & Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975, 319). Natives who would work for an international branch of the company need not to patronize everything just to be able to reach their goals and dreams to succeed internationally. Success always comes within. A person will definitely be looked up by others if that person would be able to break the cultural dimensions, be proud of their roots and yet still gain respect from his peers because of not trying to become another person but by being who he really is. References Bennett, M. J. in Bennett, M. J. (1998). Basic Concepts of Intercultural Communication. Intercultural Press: USA. p.191-215. Bloom, W. (1990). Personal Identity, National Identity and International Relations. New York, New York: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. Boyd, M. H. (2007). Geert Hofstede™ Cultural Dimensions. Global Human Resource Management. Dilworth, R. L., Maital, S. (2008). Fogs of War and Peace: A Midstream Analysis of World War III. USA. Gudykunst, W. B., Mody, B. (2002). 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