Four Cultures: American, German, French and Arabic - Essay Example

Comparison of four cultures (American, German, French and Arabic This paper draws an analysis of the cultural differences among the American, German, French and Arabic culture. The four cultures are compared with respect to the aspects of time, psychology, communication style, management, employee expectations, business etiquette, labor: bottom-up power, women in business and advertising. The characteristic features of the four nations are revealed through a brief discussion on the above mentioned factors. The factors are discussed in the same order as they appear above as follows: Time: Americans: Americans generally have a varying attitude toward time management depending upon the nature of their activities. However, the business in America is quite monochronic but not as much as it is in Germany. Americans schedule their time appropriately and respect the deadlines. They are quick decision makers. Lead time depends upon the level of importance of the business and the status of people involved. German: Germans are very punctual and specific about time. It is not at all acceptable to a German manager if his / her staff are not time conscious. German culture is quite monochronic in nature, and Germans give due time and consideration to one thing at a time to get the ultimate results. Americans consider Germans as very slow decision makers. Like Americans, Germans give more lead time to businesses of higher value. French: “Punctuality is treated very casually in France.” (Priest, 2008). French culture is very polychronic. They do not respect the deadlines much and are often late. French can not schedule the upcoming work unless they had a meeting with the concerned people in the company. This makes internal business cumbersome because of a difference in the management of time and preparation of schedules. Arabic: Arabs are not punctual and their attitude toward time management is quite relaxed. They do not plan long and do not follow the deadlines. This makes doing business with them difficult for many international companies. The Arabs lack in punctuality and do not take it seriously. Many Arabs like spending time with friends. They kill time roaming about new places and enjoy. Arabs are generally polychronic in nature when it comes to managing time. An appointment taken too earlier than actual time of meeting is likely to be forgotten. They prefer to take advance appointments no earlier than 3 or 4 days before the actual time. Psychology: Americans: Americans are direct, straight forward, stylish and individualists. American culture is a low context culture. They focus on individuals rather than groups. They take others’ comments seriously and consider what should they do in order to gain others’ appreciation, especially when it is about their looks. They are generally intelligent people and many of them are hard working. Americans are monochronic in business and polychronic in personal life. Germans: Germans are very multicultural in their behavior and interaction. They tend to keep their individuality. The German culture is low context, even lower than American culture. That is why, one would observe a lot of variation in the Germans’ temperament, behavior and mood. The population of Germany is very less and therefore, strict enforcement of laws, rules and regulations is more achievable in the German society. Long story short, the Germans are quite serious, yet friendly and cooperating in nature. Germans are monochronic. They very much possess their belongings. French: French people give a lot of value to ethics and manners. They generally maintain a significant personal space around them. They are more of polychronic than monochronic. Time management is not very good. French people try to make sure everything they do is done ethically and nicely. Those people are morally strong, and are generally very hospitable. They have a very strong aesthetic sense, that is why a lot of artists and perfumes originate from France. Arabic: Arabic people are generally brave, straight forward, and occasionally poetic. They are generally very rich people and accordingly, like expensive things and many can easily afford them. The Arabic women have a special taste for clothes, makeup and jewellery. And they are some of the most rich and beautifully dressed women in the world. Islamic laws are enforced in Arabic countries in general and Saudi Arabia in particular. The laws are strict and are effective. Arabic people are said to be very hospitable and entertain their guests with food rich in taste, nutrition and variety. Arabs are polychronic. Arabic culture is inclined toward the high context side. Communication style: Americans: Americans are very straight forward in their speech. They do not care much about the formalities of speech as many other nations would do. They remain casual and try to indulge in good humor. They neither do it themselves nor do they understand it much if some body tries to convey his / her point indirectly. Similarly, they do not pay much attention toward the body language. However, a good sense of humor is quite appreciated. Moreover, they prefer to remain informal in their speech. Germans: Germans are quite less straight forward in the style of their speech than the Americans. Their language is structured in such a poetic way that the verb forms the last part of the sentence, thereby elongating the sentence. That is why, Germans usually take longer to convey their point, unlike the Americans. Americans are of the view that the Germans unnecessarily include too much information in their speech which is just more than what is required by the person listening to them. French: French deliver an even more indirect speech as compared to the Germans. They inherit the art and sophistication from their culture and the same is reflected in their speech. They put too much expression into their speech. Besides, they make quite a lot of use of body language. Arabic: The richness of the Arabic culture reflects not only in their dressing but also in their speech and style of communication. They are very straight forward in the style of speech, but generally give due consideration to the formalities. Their choice of words and facial expressions depict their internal feelings. They are never shy and deliver the speech with utmost confidence. Generally, it is observed that Arabic people speak in a higher tone than the non Arabic people. Management: Americans: Americans are very good, sharp and technical in their management. They are very hard working and devoting when it comes to management. At times, they prefer to work rather than enjoy a holiday with their family. “American executives often work fifty-six hours a week and take only fourteen days of vacation per year.” (Hall and Hall, p.145). The American managers are very good at planning and scheduling their work and foresee the potential factors that they are likely to encounter in near future. German: German managers consider their project in detail and undergo a deep evaluation of exch portion of the project. They might take long to get plan a certain course of action for the project, but once planned, the managers make sure that things go as per the requirement of the schedules both in terms of time and cost. French: French managers tend to settle business matters one to one whenever they confront each other. They do not rely on meetings to discuss important business matters. The usual trend is to organize a business lunch and discuss the issues besides enjoying lunch. French is a relatively high context society and the managers do not believe in being distant from the workers. Arabic: The Arabic management is quite influenced by the European and the American style. In fact, many Arab companies keep employ American or British executives to ensure effective management of their business. For example, the project management services on Burj Khalifa project were performed by an American company namely Turner Construction Corporation. Besides, the Arabs are very rich and not many Arabs study high enough to be eligible for managerial positions. However, one way or the other, Arabs tend to carry out a very effective management in all areas. Employee expectations: Americans: America is a multi-cultural society and people from all over the world go to America in search of jobs. These days, there are many organizations in function in America that ensure the availability of equal employment opportunities to all people irrespective of their backgrounds. For example, “The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces all federal laws prohibiting job discrimination.” (www.naa.org, 2010). Though, America lags behind in the employee job-security satisfaction in many companies. German: German companies tend to take a lot of care of their workers in terms of labor compensation, wages, overtimes, retirement pensions and other facilities. Besides, German culture is relatively homogeneous and labors experience very less linguistic barriers. French: (Tipaldy, 2006) noted that the French government has recently taken some steps to reduce youth unemployment in France by requiring companies to lay off workers below 26 years of age within the first two years of their service. Laws in France are quite strict about workers’ protection on the site. Though still, there is some degree of unemployment that prevails in the French society but the employed people enjoy a high range of facilities and protection as enforced upon the employers by the government. Arabic: Law is enforced very strictly in the Arabian cultures, and accordingly labor rights are respected a lot. Though the facilities are not as much as they are in Western cultures but they get all the facilities decided for them by the labor department. Business etiquette: Americans: Americans are extremely particular about business ethics and many American organizations have launched business ethics programs to earn good public relations and conform to the standards of corporate social responsibility. Business in America is majorly dominated by Monochronic time. Minimum time an appointment can be taken in advance is 2 weeks. People wish everybody with a grin on their face every morning when they arrive at the work place. German: Germans do not appreciate surprises. All sorts of surprises in business are unwelcome even if they go in favor of the investors. Chewing gum while addressing the other person is thought of as bad manners. They take business very seriously and there is no room for humor in a German business. Be they public gatherings or official meetings, the elders are given due respect and priority over the youngers. Like the Americans, the Germans need to have a minimum of 2 weeks to get an appointment. French: There is no firm association of business with some particular meal. However, business is best considered at Lunch. The French give a lot of consideration and importance to etiquettes in business. They would never enter any room without getting permission. They are very particular about such matters and respect one another’s privacy. The trend is to get an appointment for any business meeting. They wear well-stitched suits and keep their ties high up their neck, so as to display a very formal and decent look. Arabic: The Arabs are very particular about Salaat and offer Salaat five times a day no matter where they are as instructed by their religion Islam. Business meetings in Arab countries are scheduled in a way that their timing would not clash with that of Salaat. All national business meetings are conducted in Arabic, and all international communication takes place in English. The Arabs take pride in their language and prefer to keep Arabic as a medium of all business communications. Unlike many nations, the Arabs prefer to wear their traditional White Qurta dress in all official meetings. Labor: bottom-up power: Americans: American contract documents are longer than those of the French because of the low context nature of the American society, where organizational hierarchy is given due respect and consideration. Labors have very less direct interaction with the executives and everything happens through a proper hierarchical system. German: German culture is very low-context. Labors approach to top executives is even more complicated than that in America. French: French contract documents tend to be brief because of the relatively high context nature of the French culture. The managers are not that easy to approach for the labor as would be in some low-context society. This is in part, due to the casual nature of the French managers. Managers share slight responsibilities and power with the labor which is essential for them to ensure work is done appropriately. Arabic: Arabic culture is quite influenced by the western cultures especially in the field of work and management. Therefore, managers devise proper systems for the workers, so that they are not confronted by any troubles. In many Arabian companies, a hard working person has a huge tendency to rise to the top. Women in business: Americans: American women enjoy just as much job opportunities as American men do. Business women dress conservatively in shades of black, grey and white. They usually wear suits or blouse and skirt. Americans do not differentiate much between men and women for the jobs. German: German women in business prefer to wear plain white blouses over black skirts or pants. French: French women in business dress very decently. Light colors and plain prints are preferred over other prints and colors in dressing. They dress in a way that would lend them a very sober look. Arabic: There is no problem for the Arabic women if they want to do business but they would have to maintain their integrity and modesty. They are supposed to wear baggy dresses that would not define their figure. Arabic business-women keep their body fully covered except for the face. Arabic men and women never shake hands. Women do shake hands but only with women. Advertising: Americans: Americans prefer to see visual advertisements. Americans are very much concerned about how things look, and they are influenced by the same. Therefore, an effective advertisement in America is the one displayed in the TV or internet or other visual mediums including billboards. German: Germans like printed information about the ads. The Germans approach toward advertisements is quite print oriented. This is the reason why number of advertisements on German TV channels is very less. In order to convey their message effectively, German advertisers consider newspapers and journals as the best source of advertisement. One reason that explains this trend in Germans is their quest for knowing facts, and they tend to evaluate the worth of an advertisement by the numbers, instead of figures. French: French advertisements are supposed to be very elaborative and well-detailed to gain consumers’ attention. French do not like informality in advertisements. The advertisements should be well structured and quite informative to be successful. Also the selection of the right means and form is must for any advertisement or else it will be considered as bad work. Also the advertisements should be correct and to the point. Arabic: Arabic advertisements are quite rich in color and idea. The best medium for advertisement is TV. Besides advertisements in newspapers and billboards bring equally good results. The Arabs are quite inspired by rich ideas and accordingly, investing much in advertisements pays the advertisers off in the long run. References: Newspaper Association of America (NAA), 2010. “Employee relations issues”. Available at: http://www.naa.org/Public-Policy/Employee-Relations-Issues.aspx. [Accessed 17 April, 2010]. Priest, M., 2008. “France”. Available at: http://www.cyborlink.com/besite/france.htm. [Accessed 17 April, 2010]. Tipaldy, R., 2006. “Job insecurity ignites debate in France”. Available at: http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:974wItwow0oJ:www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/mar2006/gb20060321_896473.htm+job+insecurity+in+france+employee&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=pk. [Accessed 17 April, 2010]. Hall, E. T. and Hall, M. R., 1990. “Understanding cultural differences: Germans, French and Americans”. USA: Intercultural Press, Inc. Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Hr3adyadHC4C&oi=fnd&pg=PR13&dq=understanding+cultural+differences+hall+%26+hall&ots=LQdNIzt15P&sig=xYHhAm8zdoDCz68iNNP1sSBc21g#v=onepage&q&f=false. [Accessed 17 April, 2010]. Read More