Management homework help. How do these impact your relationships at work with those from other cultures? What are some of the important customs of your culture that are different than those who are members of different ethnic groups or from cultures in the global world. What are these that are the same and different? Why is it important to know the customs of others in building relationships with them?
Culture represents the unique personality, language, experience and history of an individual or populous of people (Khan, 2015). In essence, culture is the nature of a person, their space, and the place they occupy. Culture can be broken down into two very different categories, either general or specific. These classifications allow for a broader understanding of the phenomenon. The general classification takes a simple look at the abstract categories of culture. It provides a baseline understanding of how people relate to or value areas such as communication, emotion, or physical touch. The findings in these abstract categories can be applied to any culture. Contrary to that, specific culture speaks to actual behaviors and nuances of just one particular cultural community. Instead of communication as one whole entity, it would look more pointedly at the language or symbolism that is inherent in a specific cultural base. For example, a culture general category might be food and the importance, relevance and emotional ties people place in it. Culture specific would examine the culture of the American south and speak to prevalence of food in the heritage of events like Mardi Gras in Louisiana or the love of Peaches in Georgia.
Culture specific builds on the framework that culture general sets (Bennett, n/d). Though separate and important on their own, the two are necessary for leaders in global companies to have a deeper or fuller understanding of the local or host culture. This is truly important for leaders to know and be able to enact and utilize in their interactions with their culturally diverse teams or employees. An effective leader will be prepared for the differences that they know will ultimately exist in their new environment. They will place the appropriate level of focus and importance on not just being aware of the difference, but willing to immerse themselves in that difference. They will have a plan to help themselves and their team adjust to the cultural nuances present. In enacting that plan, they will display a high level of emotional intelligence and resist the pull to insert their own personal judgements or biases about the experience or the host culture.
There are many strategies that global organizations can implement when they are looking at cross-border mergers and acquisitions. Some of them offer a higher probability of success then do others. One thing that organizations should focus on to secure success is the ability to acculturate their organization to the existing local or host culture versus trying to assimilate the other culture. Assimilation refers to the adoption of the global company culture by the local culture, whereas, acculturation sees the global culture incorporates customs, attitudes, behaviors of the local culture into the larger global culture (Khan, 2015). Incorporating or integrating versus consolidating the local culture will show the new employees that the things that they hold synonymous to their worth are valued and appreciated. The essence of globalization goes beyond the initial business deal, it is being able to expand the awareness of different cultures to others (Lowry, 2006). The overall success of the merger depends on the ability of the global company leaders to foster an environment that shows they are interested in working with the local company’s culture.
Thomas Kuhn turned the scientific world on its ear with his theory of paradigm. Though his theory was meant to effect natural sciences, it instead found a home in the social sciences. He theorized that progress occurred not only when it was studied under a set ‘paradigm’ or model, it also when the very makeup of the model was changed or extended to make a new set of standards (Paton, 2014). After this theory, and until today, it is common to hear the phrase ‘paradigm shift’. This is a direct reflection of Kuhn’s theory, and speaks to a fundamental change in approach, assumption or belief. If applied to culture it signifies that culture is not set in stone. It can be changed and enhanced as it progresses. In the global scale, as companies merge and acquire different assets this paradigm theory or shift allows that company to see and appreciate the differences in the new culture and work to progress their plan through that new lens.