What is Cultural Shock - Literature review Example

 What is Cultural Shock? 1. What is Cultural Shock? “Culture shock has been a topic of research for many years because of its negative effects on both education and workplace” (Miller & El-Aidi 2008, p. 26). Cultural shock refers to the problems that an individual faces in changing the cultural environment. It is a fact that when a person moves to some other part of the world for any particular reason, he/she has to do some struggle to fit into the new culture. The reason is that the norms, values, and traditions of every culture are usually different from every other culture. For example, there is a difference between clothing style, communication style, and living style of every culture. When a person leaves his/her own country and goes to some other country for living, he/she has to spend some time in understanding the culture and social values of the new country in order to service in the new environment. Cultural shock not only includes the differences in the cultures of different countries where a person goes, it also includes the difference in the cultures of different cities of the same country. If we talk about the issue with respect to telecommunication companies, we can say that telecommunication companies face a number of cultural challenges while expanding their business to other countries. Cultural shock is one of those challenges which main occurs when a company attempts to launch the marketing campaign in countries which have a very different culture from the culture of the company’s mother country. Similarly, a company also faces cultural shock when its employees find it difficult to adjust to the cultures of other countries. In this paper, we will discuss the causes, symptoms, process of cultural shock in relation with theories related to the topic. 2. Causes of Cultural Shock Despite of the fact that every person going to some other country for work wants to adjust in the new environment as soon as possible, there occur many difficulties in adjusting properly to the new cultural and social environments. However, such difficulties are temporary because after some time, a person becomes accustomed to the norms and values of the new culture (Furnham 2010). Some of the main causes of cultural shock for a person include change in the organizational structure, changes in the communication styles, difference in organizational values, no sense of belonging, difference in laws and policies, and difference in attitudes of people. All of these factors play their role in making a person feel difficult in understanding and adjusting into the new culture. The fear of being unknown, selective information processing, security issues and personal habits promote resistance to change for a person (Torres 2009). Cultural shock also arises due to difference in the interaction styles of different cultures. In some cultures, men and women do not hesitate in talking to each other freely, whereas in Eastern counties, men and women usually think a lot before talking to each other because they are brought up in such circumstances and cultural environments where free talk between men and women does not occur so often. Therefore, people from such countries feel it difficult to communicate with others when they go to some other country. Difference in clothing is also a main cause of cultural shock which makes it difficult for people to adjust quickly to new environments. For example, women of South-East Asian countries do not wear skirts either in schools or at workplaces. However, when they go to European countries for work, they have to change their dressing in order to move with the pace of the changing society. In doing so, they take some time because the do not feel it easy to convert from Eastern to European dressing mode. Summing it up, it can be said that cultural shock is one of the negative aspects of the change in cultures which affect the professional progress of a person. 3. Effects of Cultural Shock Having discussed the causes of cultural shock, let us now discuss the effects that it has on people moving to other countries. The effects of cultural shock are never good for a person because they have the ability to create psychological and social stress. The effects include both short-term and long-term effects (Chen, Lin & Sawangpattanakul 2011). Some of the widely observable short-term effects of cultural shock on a person include fatigue, stress, discomfort, fear of being alone, social isolation, fear of being cheated by the local residents, frustration, anger, and anxiety. On the other hand, some of the main long-term effects of cultural shock include drug use, alcohol use, and social disengagement for a longer period. All of these effects, whether short-term or long-term, affect the level of productivity of a person. People go to foreign counties to get better jobs and earn good amount of money for them. They do not want to fall in stress because it affects their job performances and ultimately the cause for which they leave their own countries. Cultural shock is such an element which can destroy the mission of a person to some extent (Tange 2005). Although people become accustomed to new cultures after some time, but they cannot recover the amount of time they have lost due to cultural shock (Xia 2009). 4. Symptoms of Cultural Shock Having discussed the short-term and long-term effects of cultural shock, let us now discuss the physical and behavioral symptoms of cultural shock on people. Some of the main physical effects of cultural shock include lack of appetite, tiredness, sexual issues, nervousness, and diarrhea. On the other hand, some of the main behavioral symptoms include feelings of hate for self, difficulty in decision-making, and lack of concentration towards work. All of these symptoms can be observed on the people experiencing cultural shock (Holloway 2008). 5. Process of Cultural Shock The process of cultural shock passes three main stages, which include coming across a new culture, understanding of difficulties, and adjustment. The first stage of the process revolves around two main features, which include hopefulness and excitement. At this stage, a person undergoes a positive experience of life as he/she comes across an entirely different culture. The second stage starts when a person starts realizing the difficulties in understanding the norms and values of the new culture. The main features of this stage include uncertainty, stress, and depression. A person feels bad about his/her decision to leave his/her own country. Negative experiences occur at almost every phase of this stage making a person physically and mentally tired. The third stage of the process is adjustment in which a person tries to come out of the negative phase of life to continue his/her life in a normal way. The outcome of this stage of the process is increase in the level of self-confidence and improved understanding of the new culture. 6. Theoretical Perspective - Cultural Shock If we talk about cultural chock from theoretical point of view, we can say that cultural shock is the feeling of disengagement from the culture in which a person is brought up. Such feelings of disengagement and alteration of the cultural norms make a person feel disconnected with his/her real self. Cultural shock not only shifts the focus of a person away from real life elements but also injects a sense of isolation in the mind of a person (Murdoch & Kaciak 2011). From theoretical perspective, cultural competence is essential for an individual to adjust in a new culture properly. The reason is that cultural competence makes a person able to recognize the norms and values of the new culture. A person should also have a high level of cultural intelligence in order to adjust to the new culture successfully. The main components of cultural intelligence include cognitive behaviors, motivation, and behaviors. The MBI model can also be used to understand any new culture properly (Lane et al. 2009). Using this model, a person first understands the differences between his/her original and new cultures, prepares to bridge the differences between the cultures, and finds the ways to manage the differences and come back to normal life with the new culture. 7. Reverse Cultural Shock Reverse cultural shock refers to the experiences of a person when he/she comes back to his/her own country after doing the work for which he/she went to some other country (Allison, Davis-Berman & Berman 2012). Reverse cultural shock occurs when a person comes back and finds some changes in his/her own culture (Baker 2012). Although adjusting to those little changes is not difficult for a person but the adjustment which a person usually does with the new culture puts some obstacles in readjusting to the original culture. Some of the common emotions and behaviors that occur in a person when he/she comes back to his/her own society and culture include excessive sleep, remembering the new culture and new people quite often, and change in eating habits. However, there are many ways a person can use to avoid reverse cultural shock. Some of those ways include remaining in-touch with old friends, calling family members quite often, and reading newspapers of the hometown. Part - Two 1. Cross Cultural Management Cross cultural management is a new culture is a big issue for people going to other countries for work. They face different people, different social structure, different values, and different laws and policies, which make their journey difficult for them. Such people need to adjust as soon as possible to the new environment in order to bring success to their lives. They need to alter their thoughts and behaviors in accordance with the new culture to develop a harmonious relationship with the new social and cultural environments. In this part of the paper, we will provide some recommendations to the telecommunication companies to help them in becoming adapted to the cultures of the countries where they plan to expand their work. It is essential for such companies to gather a god amount of knowledge about the cultures of those countries in order to succeed the process of internationalization in a short span of time. 1.1 Theoretical Perspective (Acculturation) If we talk about acculturation or adjustment from a theoretical perspective, we should not forget the Berry’s model of acculturation. In this model, there are four outcomes of acculturation which include integration, rejection, assimilation, and marginalization (Berry 1997). Integration occurs when a person aims to adopt new cultural and social values while maintaining the values of his/her original cultural. Such people are usually the most successful ones because they keep their identities while adopting new values. They remember their own culture, try to learn the features of the new culture, and practice both cultures while living in the new society. Such also do not face reverse cultural shock because they do not forget the elements of their original culture. Assimilation is another outcome in which a person forgets the basic values and elements of his/her own culture and adjusts completely with the new culture. Such people are although successful in the new cultures but face reverse cultural shock when they go back to their own countries. Third outcome in the Berry’s model is rejection in which a person cannot adjust with the new culture. Such people are focused completely towards their own cultural values and can do nothing to adopt the new norms and values. The last outcome is marginalization in which a person is neither able to remember his/her own cultural values nor he/she is able to adopt the values of the new culture. 1.2 Recommendations The three recommendations which I would like to give for adjusting properly to the new cultures include training and coaching, interacting with positive people, and keeping the level of motivation high to experience new culture. Let us discuss each of them in detail. 1.2.1 Pre-Deployment Training and Coaching The first thing that telecommunication companies can o to avoid cultural shock for their employees is training and coaching them to make them accustomed with the cultural norms and values of the cultures of other countries. It is a fact that when employees go for work in some other country, they face new challenges and difficulties some of which are related to the difference between cultures. For example, clothing, communication style, and interaction style put up the main difficulties for the foreigners. To avoid these problems for employees, companies should arrange training sessions for their employees which should focus on all cultural elements of the new society (Li 2012). For example, the management should include language training program in the training session in order to make employees fluent in the use of new language. Language is the very first element of success in a new culture because it helps a person in communicating effectively with other people. “It not only promotes understanding and mutual respect by allowing for dialogue in another's tongue but also gives an insight into foreign cultures and different ways of thinking” (Davey 2010, p. 1). When a person knows the way to communicate with others, he/she can adjust easily in the new culture. On the other hand, if a person has no awareness of the behaviors, attitudes, and communication approach of the people of the new society, he/she takes a lot of time to adjust properly and that time can cause stress in that person. Therefore, it is imperative for the management of a company to train their employees in accordance with the customs, traditions, and values of the new culture in order to make them excel in the new culture, as well as to make them able to show good productivity for the company. Cultural study can also do a lot for a person in adjusting to a new culture (Crawford 2012). Managers should include cultural study in the training sessions in order to make employees aware of the basic elements of the new culture. There is a lot of difference between pre-deployment coaching and post-deployment coaching. Post deployment coaching is less productive for employees because the time they may take to get accustomed to the new culture can delay the start of their work for the company, as well as it can cause mental and physical stress in them. Going into a new culture and starting learning it is less beneficial than learning the basic elements of the new culture and then starting experiencing it. Pre-deployment coaching makes a person mentally prepared to experiences the differences between his/her own culture and the new culture. In case of telecommunication companies, managers can train their employees regarding the thinking style and cultural values of the people of the country to which they are being sent to work. Using this way, they can develop a mentally strong and culturally skilled workforce which can start its operations in the new country right from the first day of their deployment. Summing it up, pre-deployment training and coaching regarding the basic culture of the new society can reap many benefits for employees, as well as for the company. Employees become eager to move to the new country to start experiencing the new culture. This approach not only improves the productivity of the company but also helps employees in enriching their professional work experience. 1.2.2 Interacting with Positive People Another recommendation for the people going abroad for work is to interact with the people having positive mindset instead of getting nervous and confused about the changes in the cultures. Interacting with positive people will help them in understanding the attitudes and behaviors of the people of the new country and that understanding will definitely help them understand the culture and progress positively in the new society. Problems occur when a person who goes to some other country for work does not find a person who can guide him/her about the ways to adjust in the new culture. Such people are there in every society but one needs to find them out for guidance. Interacting and meeting such people help a person understand the norms and values of the new culture minimizing the effects of the cultural shock. For example, a person should go to public places instead of sitting at home to find such people who can guide him/her. At such places, a person can also learn the values of the new culture by observing the way people talk to each other and mix with each other. Similarly, a person can visit the religious places of the people of the new country to get the basic understanding of their religion. Religious understanding definitely plays a key role in understanding the way people behave with each other because behavior of most of the people is related directly with their inner self which is further associated with the spiritual and religious aspect of the culture. Therefore, visiting such places not only reduces the stress of a foreigner but also helps him/her understanding the religious aspect of the new culture. 1.2.3 Show Interest in Experiencing the New Culture Another recommendation for the people going abroad for work is to show interest in experiencing and learning the new culture. It is a fact that when a person takes interest in something, it neither looks boring nor does it creates difficulties for him/her. For example, if a person takes interest in studies, he/she never gets bored rather gets a lot a benefits based on his/her educational achievements. On the other hand, a person having less interest in studies is not able to achieve its benefits rather he/she undergoes depression and stress after getting low marks. Similarly, if a person takes interest in experiencing a new culture, learning the norms and values of that culture becomes easy for that person and he/she becomes able to adjust into the new culture in a short span of time. Interest creates passion and enthusiasm in a person that leads him/her focus on new things with full attention. Therefore, showing interest in experiencing a new culture builds the level of motivation in a person which makes learning an easy and enjoyable experience. These were some of the key recommendations that I would like to give to the management officials of the telecommunication companies, as well as to the people going to other countries for work. 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