Developing Cultural Flexibility - Assignment Example

Developing Cultural Flexibility Q1 -What is the significance of national identity as a source of individuals’ culture? In most cultural settings witnessed in most societal set ups, there is always a sense of national identity which characterizes such societies. The significance of national identity can not be overlooked in cultural settings. It is the unique identity of the people. The very tenets that define any society are based on the overruling factors that bring together the members of the society. These are enshrined in the stipulated norms and trends that most members of the community conform to. In brief, these contribute to the national identity. Cultural flexibility is the ability of combining different cultures that are diverse without necessarily conflicting them (Mathew, 2008). The idea was recently adopted after numerous researches from the business world. Though culture is diverse, integration is not as hard as people think it to be although it is quite complicated to achieve it. Culture is mostly in three perspectives; economically, socially and politically (Martine, 1998). The national identity is a document that is used to show that one is the member of a country and is legally an adult of that country. In most countries, the legal age for acquisition of such a document is between sixteen and eighteen years. Culture is defined as the common ways through which people understand and interpret the world, thus becoming the mindset that distinguishes members of different groups (Pascal, 2010). The national identity affects the culture because it gives the owner a sense of responsibility. After receiving the national identity, one feels strongly attached to a certain group. This causes them to start following that group’s ideas socially, politically, and economically. For instance, if the national identity is issued in a communist country, most people tend to adapt to that idea without questioning it. The major problem, however, comes in when a culture oriented to nationalist is tried in some a different aspect like in the ideology of capitalism. Culture is said to be integrated morally, spiritually and economically in the minds of the participants. Everyone is a member of a particular cultural context and the national identity just brings that to focus. Economically oriented culture, for example, is fully realized when one is under the recognition by the law. One feels adequate and is able to face the challenges brought on by their competitors. At some point in someone’s life, one chooses what cultural beliefs are convenient and which ones are not as per individual perception. This depends on their upbringing, and that’s why most people who want their legacy to be carried on start training their predecessors at an unusually young age in order to create that cultural position within them. Experts in this field state that in order for people to leave their adapted culture and welcome a new culture into their midst, they have to be dealt with patiently. No culture should be termed as superior to the other. The main reason why cultural flexibility had not been achieved earlier is, because people from bigger nations saw as if the culture from others was inferior (Kristin, 2011). Q2 -In what aspects of work and employee relations should international managers be aware of religious sensitivities? It is imperative that managers of organizations at all times be made aware of the religious sensitivities witnessed in their employees. As international employees, there are many factors that these persons must consider in their day to day lifestyles and management practices. The diversity of the work group stipulates that every interest of individual worker must be put into consideration. This is in line with ensuring that the cultural factors that hold the employees together are abided by. Some of the religious affiliations and the sensitivities that are associated with diverse working environments demand that the practices that are put in place by the managers must be considerate in very aspect in terms of individual needs of every employee. In cross cultural communication, the managers should be able to communicate with their employees effectively without causing cultural conflict. As we had seen earlier, culture is political, economical, and religion oriented. Directly criticizing another person’s culture causes conflict. Communication in intercultural relation is complicated, but it doesn’t have to be complicated because the culture doesn’t have to be necessarily different. However, the respect for every culture in diverse working environments is imperative for the cohesiveness and success of the working groups. Good managerial skills are formed and maintained by the ability of the one in charge to accommodate and be able to offer a maximum output from such. They should be able to use intercultural communication and interaction to create one unified body in working. An example is heading a company in India. According to the Indian cultural religion, a cow is seen as a god. In America, however, a cow is just a domesticated animal. This difference in religious values will seriously affect the production of the employees if the manager is not smart enough. On referring to such sensitive issues in a cultural-diversified environment, one needs to use all available means of communication. The one in charge should ensure that the recipients realize that nobody is inferior to the other despite their differences. They should work towards assimilating one another without discrimination. People should learn to appreciate their non-verbal and verbal communication skills. One’s ability to communicate on such sensitive intercultural issues is crucial because the misinterpretation could lead to severe consequences. Intercultural communication is the most complicated communication. It should be precise, appropriate and well understood by all parties. The message should motivate, inform, and prompt the recipient to act. In our case, however, the non-verbal communication should be more applicable. The message should get to the recipient without necessarily being spoken out. The speaker should portray a stance portraying that he is not discriminative or undermine the religious culture of the recipient. There are two types of communications; systemic and dynamic in an intercultural forum. The systemic form is whereby there are comparisons between cultures hence setting relationships within different cultures. In dynamic communication, the interaction between cultures is practiced. In this case, each culture is defined by its own characteristics. However, it interacts with others without minding the difference. These two are the best ways to address a worker’s religion without interfering with their culture. Q3 -What are Hofstede’s culture dimensions? What correlations do Hofstede make among groups of countries and how valid are they for you? Hofstede is among the first researchers who did a research on the cultural influence on management practices. He carried out his study at a large multinational company. He used around one hundred and sixteen thousand questionnaires, and sixty six national subsidiaries. He set the questions such that sixty out of the one hundred and fifty mainly targeted values and opinions. He developed a model that identified certain dimensions in helping differentiate culture. The dimensions are power distance, individualism, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance. He later included long-term orientation in his model. On the power distance, he argued as follows: Although inequality can not be eradicated, everyone has a place they deserve; it should be less to avoid exploitation of others. Hierarchy in an organization reflects natural differences and is there just for convenience. Despite people being superiors over others, they are all the same. Power holders are entitled to privileges, but they should be available to everyone. He defined the two types of people in the company as collectivists and individualists. The collectivists are those that think and act as a group with the mentality of helping each other. Collectivism supports that the decisions made are what are best for the whole group while those of individualists are specified as what is best for the individual. He also stated that collectivist’s relationships prevail before tasks but in individualism task comes before relating to others. In collectivism, the focus is usually belonging to an organization while in individualism he stated the focus is on individual initiative and achievement. Masculinity or femininity is another cultural dimension whereby in some cultures the male is given distinct roles while the female gets simpler roles. In this dimension, women are looked down upon as the weaker gender. The masculine gender is seen as independent and the provider of others in the cultural structure. He claims that, on the uncertainty avoidance, uncertainty in life is a fact and cannot be entirely eliminated, but it should be reduced. He also claims that although deviance is not a threat, it is utterly ignorant of deviant person’s ideas. He also asserts that predictability and clarity are preferable to ambiguity which is only tolerable. He insinuates that national culture is heterogeneous within a given country and is changeable. It cannot be quantitatively captured or reduced to a few variables. Inter-country relations don’t necessarily mean that it is intercultural. Culture is the aspect with the most effect in the development of a business and how much it determines in a business. According to schein, a business idea gaining ground and maturing into a business mostly depends on how it treats the people of the culture in which it is involved. Integrating what different cultures have given a unique outcome that is normally more complex and enhanced than a mono-cultivated idea. It gives room for creativity and a forum to air your ideas to an appreciative, responsive audience. We have also seen that the research undertaken by the various people including organizations has shed more light on the dimensions and effects of different cultural settings on the businesses. Q4 - Why do firms’ internationalize? What are the implications of doing so for their role as employers and how will it affect your role in the future as an employee? Firms in this current environment of intensified competition prefer to move their influence to different cultures. They develop and expand within a certain nation and continue expanding. This expansion leads to the firm over reaching the boundaries of its original state hence encouraging internationalizing. The firm expands to a different country, probably with different culture and with a different reception to its services. Most internationalizing firms tend to start off with their own senior staff in a different country. The company first advertises itself to the public so as to gain root and foundation in the country they are moving in. After the public has gained knowledge of its presence, the company should then offer jobs to the citizens of that country. These small acts go along way in gaining the trust of the public which normally is the market. The personnel should be experienced and well qualified for the job. If people are not qualified, the company should give them the required training before offering them the jobs but bringing in employees from another country should be the last option. The employees, however, will one day be affected by the decision to internationalize especially if the firm gets a better reception than the previous. Firms tend to put their headquarters in the highest production areas. If a new branch outdoes the original firm, that’s where outsourcing kicks in. The best employees are taken to the new firm that is doing better, and the average employees left to develop the upcoming firms. To manage such a firm, the one in charge needs to have several tasks that should be thoroughly carried out. The manager should be able to provide and develop a learning support structure to educate the new labor coming in. The manager should help in realizing multicultural synergies and his ability to allocate resources into the networks should be exemplary. Since the company has moved to a new environment, the manager’s ability to create stakeholder value should be advantageous so as to set a strong foundation for the internationalized firm. The senior employees moved to upcoming international countries though have to be affected in the future. The personnel used in developing such a company is later on disposed due to their inability to fit in after moving to a new culture. Change of culture normally changes ones character. At the rate, the world is growing; cultural flexibility is a key participatory role in the ongoing growth. According to this study case culture is both advantageous and disadvantageous. Culture affects the nature of business development, and what businesses are in a certain cultural environment. The nature of work and how the workers respond to their leader mainly depends on the culture of the subordinate staff. It is hard to change the cultural beliefs of people, but communication is a key factor in an intercultural environment. Failure to communicate effectively can lead to a massive conflict that is just misguided. The question in focus gives the reasons why the aspect of cultural integration becomes an important part of a company’s operations. This is especially important for large multinational firms whose employees are from different cultural and social regions. References Kristin, P. (2011). Critical Analysis of Hofstede’s Model of Cultural Dimensions. Washington: GRIN Verlag. 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