The Importance of Cultural Differences - Essay Example

?Lecture 2: Culture Shock and Cultural Adjustment and the Importance of Cultural Differences Reflections on the module: When the slide of an iceberg was flashed in this module to illustrate what is observable (tip of the iceberg) and not observable (rest of the iceberg submerged in the water), I thought it was a slide for a Psychology class that explained the unconscious. It was so familiar to me and I know we only see the surface and get to judge people for what we see, not really mindful that beneath that surface lies so much more! A person only shows his appearance, the way he presents himself to others, and his behaviours. He does not really overtly manifest his beliefs, expectations, perceptions, assumptions, values, thoughts, deep-seated feelings and impactful experiences in his life. Take that iceberg and multiply it a hundredfold and you have a multi-faceted population who may only be bound a number of commonalities. Culture may be one of them, or gender, or age, but still, deep inside, they are unique individuals. Let’s say a person from a certain cultural background is plucked out of that environment and brought to a totally different one. Orberg (1960) theorized that his initial reaction would be culture shock because he is not accustomed to what he sees and experiences in that new place. He may be excited to be there and feel that it suits him really well because it addresses his own personal preferences for a living environment. Take someone else from the same culture he belongs to and bring him to the same new environment. He may likewise experience culture shock but not be excited like the first individual. On the contrary, he may be terribly upset for leaving his home culture because he was out of his comfort zone and needed to go back to it. Both people from the same culture may have different views and perceptions of the new culture and their reaction to it will depend on what they have “beneath the tips of their icebergs”. It will be dictated by their past personal experiences of loss and change. Generally, patterns of cultural adjustment have been studied by Lysgaard (1955) and he found that patterns share a U-curve. First, the individual feels elated and optimistic to be undergoing a new adventure (honeymoon stage), but after some time, he might realize that it is something very different from what he was accustomed to, so he becomes frustrated and confused (morning after stage). This is the time when homesickness sets in, and is described as the dip in the U-curve. Eventually, as he learns to adjust to his new environment, he slowly regains his positive disposition. This pattern is not limited to adjustment to living in a new country. It may also be adjustment to a new job, new school, phase of life, etc. where the individual experiences a different culture. Adjusting to the people in the new culture may be challenging especially if there is a language barrier. If so, the individual will rely on non-verbal communication to understand the natives. He also needs to know the new culture and be aware the people’s beliefs, value system, food, traditions, etc. David Kolb (1984) explains four stages of learning experiences. These are having concrete experiences, reflective observations of what was just experienced, abstract conceptualisation or extracting learning from the experience and finally the active experimentation leading to new experiences thereby completing the full learning cycle. For an individual immersed in a new culture, he needs to establish rapport with others and establish smooth interpersonal relationships. Especially in settings where people from various cultures come to live and work together, each person adopts certain roles to play to contribute to the team. Belbin (1981) has come up with team roles. Team roles improve self-knowledge and understanding among individuals and teams. They also depict a current behavioral pattern at a certain point in a person’s life. Preferences aren't fixed, since many factors can influence behaviour, whether a new job, promotion or circumstances outside work. In the documentary about BBCtv’s (2008) ‘Tribe’, Bruce Parry did anthropological research on the Penan tribe by living with them or rather, living as part of their team. Although he was an outsider, he was accepted and allowed to be immersed in their culture, so Parry got to know the culture and its people first hand. Reflections on experiences related to what was discussed in the module Being on vacation in a new place is an exciting thing. I enjoy seeing new sights, eating new food and meeting new people from that place. However, since it is a temporary thing, I get to go home after a few days. It is a different thing when one gets expatriated to another country for a good number of years. My uncle was sent to Singapore to assume a managerial position in their company’s branch there. His contract was for 3 years. It may be a long time, but his consolation was that his family can come along and live with him, with the children being schooled in an international school sponsored by the company. My uncle was exhilarated at this offer, not to mention the higher compensation he will be getting in his new position. I can say he and his family went through the “U-curve” of cultural adjustment because after a few weeks of exciting news from them about how wonderful Singapore is and how awesome the children’s school was, my aunt reported how homesick they were and how much they craved for the food they usually have back home. The children seemed happy enough in their new school but they missed their friends back home and pleaded to their parents to go back home. In their international school, it was the first time they got exposed to children from other cultures and they had a difficult time communicating to them that is why they stuck together just to feel a sense of familiarity. My uncle experienced the same in his new position. He has two people from his old office back home and the three of them were always together trying to fit in with their new team. It was worse for my aunt because she did not have a social circle outside the family, until she met the wives of her husband’s colleagues and some parents from her children’s school. Since Singapore had English as one of its main language, they were able to get around, however, they found it hard to understand the accented English of the people. My uncle sat them down one night for a family meeting and told his family to focus on the positives in their expatriation and not to dwell on the negatives. A year later when they were settled in, they were on an uphill in the U-curve already. Reflections on overall learning from the module I enjoyed this module so much because of all the new things I’ve learned which validated my own theories about cultural adaptation. I know that even if people belong to the same cultural group, their inherent differences make them experience and interpret things differently. Cultural differences in a multicultural group may be a source of friction and segregation OR an interesting tool to bring people together because of the drive to know more about other cultures. The latter is what should be encouraged as a way to establish inclusive settings. Each person is part of the team, so he brings in something from his own background to contribute to the group culture. Lecture 3: Research and Contributions from Geert Hofstede Reflections on the module: Hofstede’s (1991) on cultural dimensions may not be impeccable, but impressive anyway. Being able to conduct a study of such magnitude in content and scope must have been barraged by challenges! The representative dimensions that Hofstede came up with: power distance, individualism/collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/femininity and time orientation (long/short-term) explain the general beliefs, attitudes and behaviours of various cultural groups. He assigned scores based on the average scores garnered in each country. Being average scores, there is an accepted margin of differences held by other members of the same cultural group. The scores in each dimension are accessible for comparison to other countries. Basing on these scores, one can understand cultural differences. For example, With France and the UK, France scored significantly higher (68) on power distance than the UK (35), which means the French hold very high regard for people of authority that they tend to segregate themselves from them, creating a certain distance between them and the authoritative leaders. On the other hand, UK, as based from the lecture on Britain, scored low on power distance, meaning there is less distance between persons of authority and the people, and there is more opportunities to achieve equality among all people. France also has a significantly higher score (86) than the UK (35) in uncertainty avoidance meaning the French rely on structure and expected routines. It does not welcome change as much as UK because it is unknown what such change will bring. UK scored higher (89) than France (71) in the dimension of individualism/collectivism implying that British people think on their own and need not rely on others for validation. The French are more collectivist, meaning the people bond together especially in coming up with a common decision or opinion on something. Finally, in the dimension of masculinity/ femininity, UK scored higher (66) than France (43) meaning UK is a more patriarchal society. It adheres to more masculine traits such as competitiveness while France is more feminine in its traits such as nurturance. Also, this implies that the British are less emotional than the French. The above example may be applied to the comparison of other countries. Hence, managers can make use of Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension framework (1981) in managing their people who are from different cultures. From it, they can anticipate how people of a certain culture will respond to issues. He needs to know so that he can plan how to motivate them and resolve conflicts among his people. Reflections on experiences related to what was discussed in the module I have friends who are a biracial couple. The man, Javier, is Spanish while the woman, Michelle, is Filipino. Although their physical features are very different, with Javier being very fair-skinned, and Michelle being very tan, they share the same religion as both of them are Catholics. However, they share different views on gender roles. Javier believes women should be more domestically skilled and stay home to care for the family just like how his mother, and grandmother before her. Michelle, being an empowered woman disagrees and insists that she needs to use her talents and abilities in work or else it will just go to waste. Knowing that historically, Spain conquered the Philippines for such a long time, their cultures are very similar. Referring to Hofstede’s scores will help them both know more about each other and learn how to resolve their differences. Reflections on overall learning from the module Nowadays, managing a culturally diverse team is made easier with the accessibility of Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension Framework (1980, 1991). A German team leader can better understand a Japanese member’s issues, and behaviours. Colleagues from Russia and America can learn to get along better by adjusting to each other and not insisting on their own practices. However, being reliant on this framework may make one see stereotypes and inadvertently label each person with certain characteristics. These labels may be harmful because it constrains a person to a box instead of being motivated to develop his potentials and fly. Since Hofstede (1991) has made it clear that the scores are just averages, one needs to be open to the possibility that the person being “labelled” does not belong to the majority of people in his cultural group who share similar beliefs, attitudes and values. Each person should get his chance to prove himself as he is and not as a member of a cultural group. Lecture 9: The historical context of national culture: the ‘British’ example Reflections on the module: In this module, Britain’s cultural profile seemed to reflect the overall personality of the British people. From Hofstede’s cultural dimension framework (1991), the British are presented in general as very independent, assertive, hence, not intimidated by power, unafraid of what is unknown and willing to try new approaches. They do not care much about other people’s opinions and just do what they believe is right. The masculine traits indicate they are led more thinking than feeling. Trompenaars (1993)seem to echo Hofstede’s (1991) observations of the British’s view of equity when high universality was adjudged. they are also viewed as neutral so they are not transparent with their emotions. This may explain why only a selected few are allowed in their private spaces. This also reflects a specific culture is preferred by the British. They may have a wide social network however, they are choosy with the people they allow to be close to them. They are driven to achieve because it is with achievement that they also gain respect and recognition from others. These cultural views on the British have been dissected in the module as to its veracity. Historical facts were reviewed to see if they contributed to such traits of the British people. One factor was the industrial society it had in the past in which the economy thrived on manufacturing from factories owned by influential people. The masses worked hard in order to survive that even child labour was acceptable. The industrialisation urbanized British people and accorded more value to family and home no matter what social class. Trompenaar’s contention of the British living in an achievement culture was true as reflected in how they value education. For them, education is an important tool for social mobility. It will help them move up the social class and be privileged enough to have influence over others. The high masculinity score given by Hofstede was reflected in Britain’s history especially felt during the 19th century when gender role segregation was established. Women were constrained to the home front with the main role of being a home maker and caretaker of her family while the men were supposed to be out working to earn an income for the family. However, World War II necessitated women to contribute their efforts to support the decreasing male population by also taking on more masculine-related work outside the home. Having had a taste of being outside and tapping their potentials to contribute to society, the women’s movement accelerated in the sixties as women became more vocal with their issues. Slowly, they have achieved their goals of equal status with men, although there are still environments where males reign such as in some corporate workplaces where women cannot get through the ‘glass ceiling’. Family and home are very important to the British. In recent times, smaller households are preferred in place of huge ones and these small families have maintained greater distance from extended families. This is the specific culture that Trompenaars observed, and each family unit establishes a culture customized to their members. It also strengthens Hofstede’s cultural dimension of Individualist instead of a collectivist culture that conforms with a wider cultural base. As a tolerant society, Britain welcomes people from all walks of life, and gives them due respect. This has led to the acceptance of multicultural groups and the discouragement of prejudice Reflections on experiences related to what was discussed in the module Growing up, I have met peers from various cultures myself and with each one, I feel a sense of wonder as to how we are alike and how we are different from each other. Generally, I believe Asians are smart and very family-oriented that most of their values stem from their own family traditions. Hispanics are likewise clannish. Americans and Europeans are very independent-minded people, that they can be intimidating to people from cultures which are different from them. While doing the module, I asked myself if these views I have of each culture are influenced by stereotypes or have a sound basis from the cultural frameworks we have studied. I have also met a Chinese girl who looked very much Chinese with her chinky eyes, fair skin, straight, shiny hair and lean body frame, but once she spoke and moved, any stereotypical beliefs one can think of a Chinese person is shattered. She speaks with a strong British accent, her movements are kind of boyish and she is very liberal in her views. She is very close to her family, but is very opinionated, not mindful of what others will think. She goes against the cultural profile of a typical Chinese girl who is expected to be reserved, soft-spoken, docile and conforms to what her family and culture dictates. She is one proof that although one comes from a specific cultural group, many factors can make her change and adopt other cultural influences. In her case, her family came to England when she was only three because of her father who was an expatriate for a huge multinational company. She attended English schools and is very close to her brothers who treats her like one of the boys, so she never learned to be ladylike. Her parents are separated and she has grown up without her mother. So, this originally Chinese girl has grown up to be English. I now wonder how different she will be if she grew up with her mother around. Will she be taught to behave like a lady? Will the Chinese values of her mother rub off on her? Will she be very different from how she turned out to be? Like the module, which used a multidisciplinary approach in studying British culture, I am sure that studying this Chinese girl’s background from various angles – her family and educational history, the people she grew up with, the experiences that shaped her… all these things can be examined to understand why she is the way she is. I guess the same is true with studying various cultures, like what Hofstede and Trompenaars have done, although it goes on a wider scope and more advanced level. Reflections on overall learning from the module I have been amazed with the cultural frameworks presented in the module especially Hofstede’s and Trompenaar’s. I could not imagine how they conducted such a study that spanned so many countries and cultures and is now heralded as a pillar in cultural studies. I picture it as stepping inside a world of differences that they have expected from the people they will encounter… some will accept them, some will reject them, and in general, it will be a herculean task to come up with the conclusions of their study that students of culture benefit from. References BBCtv (2008) The Tribe, Retrieved on December 5, 2013 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007ly82 Belbin, R.M. (1981) Management Teams: why they succeed or fail. London: Heinemann Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture's consequences: International differences in work- related values. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Hofstede, G. (1991) Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill UK. Kolb, David A. 1984. Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Lysgaard,S. (1955) Adjustment in Foreign Society: Norwegian Fulbright Grantees Visiting the United States, International Social Bulletin, 7,45-51 Oberg, K. (1960) Cultural shock: Adjustment to new cultural environments, Practical Anthropology 7, pp. 177–182. Trompenaars, F. & Hampden-Turner, C. (1993) Riding The Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business, Nicholas Brealey Publishing. Read More