Cultures of the United States and Saudi Arabia - Essay Example

In effect, these factors essentially make the behaviors of human beings different, which essentially bring cultural differences in various societies. It may be stated that each country around the world has its own unique culture. However, there are also some similarities in some country's cultures. There are characteristic cultural differences and similarities between the Americans and the Saudis. However, in general, it is obvious that the differences in culture are way more than the similarities.

For example, the Saudis believe that the religion is essentially the most important part in their daily lives. Americans do not attach a significant value to religion in their daily lives. Also, the Saudi government mainly depends on the religion as a constitution to lead the country. Because of all that, in this paper I will be focusing on the most important culture differences and some common similarities and of the United States and Saudi Arabia. Differences The following are the various cultural differences between the American and the Saudi societies.

Collectivism The Saudi society is considered to be more collective in its cultural aspects than the American society. This can be attributed to the fact that collectivism is given more importance in Saudi than in America. People in Saudi Arabia prefer group work. That is, they favor undertaking their work in companies as a group rather than working alone. For instance, the Saudi people would prefer funding a business rather than looking for people to invest in it. Similarly, Saudi people think of themselves as members of one group hence they work together to effect things for each other according to Sam and Berry (2006).

They also base their decision on group basis as opposed to Americans who mainly base decisions on personal thoughts. Power distance In Saudi Arabia, there is higher power distance as compared to America. The lack of development in Saudi followed by the belief in old customs has led to higher power distance in the country. This can be attributed to the fact that Saudi men have more authority than women hence women cannot make any decisions without the approval of men. On the other hand, in America, the man and the woman share in decision making hence there is almost no power distance.

Uncertainty Avoidance Among the Saudi, the society is considered close minded while in America, the society is open minded. As a result, the Saudi people have uncertainty avoidance as opposed to their America counterparts, as they try to keep away from the unknown. For instance, in Saudi, the employees in a company are always opposed to change in procedures while in America the workers are more open to any change in company procedures according to Kleypas and McDougall (2011). Moreover, in Saudi, the people’s emotions at work are important hence good relations are ensured among workers.

On the contrary, In America, work itself is the most important aspect at work as people do not allow personal relationships to interfere with their work. Nepotism Nepotism is considered a positive thing among the Saudi people and most family members succeed through family businesses. Men shake hands in meetings while good friends shake hands and kiss in Saudi. Similarly, men are free to approach fellow men in Saudi. This is however not the case when dealing with Saudi women. However to the American culture people are free to approach each other.

To the Americans, this is an issue of freedom as opposed to Saudi where this is a matter of respect. Similarities Despite the above