CULTURE is a distinctly human means of adapting to circumstances and transmitting this coping skill and knowledge to subsequent generations. Culture gives people a sense of who they are, of belongingness, of how they should behave, and of what they should be doing. Culture impacts behavior, morale, and productivity a work, and includes values and patterns that influence company attitudes and actions. It is a complex system of interrelated parts. Thus, we can say that culture does counts.
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We live in a culturally diverse world accommodating people from different religions, and cultures.
CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION (also frequently referred to as intercultural communication) is a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures.
When we leave our home for the first time and go out in the world of different cultures, the burning question always is, "What do other people think of me?" only because we are unsure of the grounding rules operating in the alien culture in which we are trying to work.
It's no secret that today's workplace is rapidly becoming vast, as the business environment expands to include various geographic locations and span numerous cultures. What can be difficult, however, is to understand how to communicate effectively with individuals who speak another language or who rely on different means to reach a common goal.
Challenges should be anticipated when people communicate within single culture and single country. These challenges increase exponentially when people communicate across cultures and countries.
In a global village, human resource management and organizational behavior are expected to play crucial role in the process of internationalization of business. Succeeding in the global market today requires the ability to communicate sensitively with people from other cultures, a sensitivity that is based on the understanding of cross-cultural differences. The management is required to cope with problems of alien cultures, unfamiliar laws, languages, attitudes, practices, competitors, managerial styles, work ethics, and so on. To face this challenge, the management must be flexible and proactive.
CROSS-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
Business is not conduced in an identical fashion from culture to culture. For understanding cultural issues in organizational setting against international perspective, it is essential to understand employee behavior. A few basic factors that cause Cross-Cultural differences are:
Sense of self and space, the comfort one has with self can be expressed differently by nature. Self-identity and appreciation can be manifested by humble bearing in one culture and by macho behavior in another. Independence and creativity are encountered in other cultures by group cooperation and conformity.
Individual Behavior (or employee behavior) in different organizations varies across varied cultures. Thus, the employee based in India is likely to have different attitude and pattern of behavior when compared to an employee in U.S. The behavior patterns are likely to be widespread and pervasive within an organization.
Communication and language, the communication medium, verbal and non-verbal, distinguishes one group from another. Apart from the multitude of "foreign" languages, some nations have fifteen or more major spoken languages (within one language group there are dialects, accents, slang, jargons, and other such variations). Furthermore, the meanings given to gestures, for example, often differ by culture.
Culture itself is an important variable for this variation in employee behavior. There are also other factors like differing standards of living and varied geographical conditions which cause variations in behavior.
Manager's Behavior, the same manager behaves differently in different cultural settings. A manager may adopt one set of behaviors when working in one culture, but may change his/her behavior once he/she is moved to a different culture.
Limited Practicality, cultural diversity can be an important source of energy in enhancing organizational effectiveness. More and more organizations are realizing the virtues of cultural diversity, but surprisingly, very less of them actually know how to manage it.
Dress and Appearance, which refers to the noticeable visible garments and representations, as well as body decorations that tend to be culturally distinctive. For Instance, there are some famous outfits adopted in certain cultures, say, the Japanese Kimono, African headdress, the Englishman's bowler and umbrella, and the Native American's headband. Many sub cultural individuals wear distinctive clothing, like, the formal look of business, the jeans worn by youth throughout the world.
Food and Feeding habits, the manner in which the food is selected, prepared, presented, and eaten often differs by cultures. For example, the Americans love beef, yet it is forbidden to Hindus, while the forbidden food in Muslims and Jewish is normally pork, eaten extensively by Chinese and others. Many restaurants cater to diverse diets and offer "national" dishes to meet varying cultural tastes. Feeding habits also differ, ranging from hands and chop sticks to full set of cutlery.
Time and Seasons, sense of time differs by culture; some are exact and others are relative. Generally, Germans are precise about the clock, while many Latin people are more casual. In some cultures, promptness is determined by age or status. Thus, in some countries, subordinates are expected on time at staff meetings, but the boss is the last to arrive.
Time, in the sense of seasons of the year, also varies by culture. Some areas of the world think in terms or winters, spring, summer and fall; but for others the more meaningful designations may be rainy or dry seasons. In the United States, for example, the East and Midwest may be very conscious of the four seasons, while those in the West or Southwest tend to ignore such designations.
Relationships, cultures help in defining human and organizational relationships by age, gender, status, as well as by wealth, power and wisdom. Family unit is also an important point of distinction like the Hindu households usually have a Joint family while some cultures prefer to have Nuclear family. Relationship among and between people of the family differ according to different cultures, for example, in some cultures; women must wear veils and look deferential, whereas in other cultures women are considered equal.
Values and Norms, the needs and values of individuals differentiate them according to different cultures. People in some cultures, value getting the basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter while those with high security needs value material things like job titles, and money.
Every culture has its own set of norms and values. The Globalization and increasing communication through internet and telephones have lead to the development of some shared values that unite the world for some common issues like environment protection.
Beliefs and Attitudes, people's belief often influence their attitude towards certain things and situations. Also religious traditions act as a factor that affects people's approach towards living. Western culture, for example, is largely influenced by Christianity while Eastern or Asian are majorly influenced by Buddhism and Hinduism.
Work habits and Practices, the division of work, the work habits, all these affect the behaviors of different individuals of different cultures. Work refers to the efforts done by any person directed to produce some pre-decided goals. Some cultures follow a proper work ethics that defines some rules that are meant to be followed by all the members of the organizations.
The classifications given above provide a general and basic model for studying a particular culture. These points provide a layout of how a person can organize and prepare himself/herself before entering into a new and diverse culture. Any individual, after analyzing these key concepts, can overcome the cross-cultural differences.
MANAGING CROSS-SULTURAL DIFFERENCES
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If I consider myself working for multinational IT Company and I have been transferred to Japan for five years on a project, I am bound to face many Cross-Cultural Difficulties.
The most required and important strategy for Effective cross-cultural communication is to be Self Aware about the Japanese values, cultures, language, famous locations, food and eating habits, values and traditions, and their beliefs and attitudes.
The first and foremost thing to be learned about a particular culture is the Etiquette and Custom to greet a person of that culture.
Learning the formal way of greeting and self-introduction: For Instance, greetings in Japan are more formal and follows their ritual. A foreign visitor (called as 'gaijin') must bow his/her head slightly to show respect. Bowing head is a traditional way of greeting a person in Japan.
Gift Giving Etiquette: The act of giving a gift is considered very ritualistic and meaningful to the Japanese people. Presenting a properly packed gift is sometimes more important that the gift itself. Also, lilies, camellias, and lotus blossoms are associated with funerals in Japan and so they shall not be gifted.
Dining etiquettes: Certain dining etiquettes like removing shoes and wearing the sleepers kept at the doorways before entering the house, keeping the shoes pointing away from the doorway, reaching on time for any dinner invitations are some of the dining etiquettes I will have to take care about.
Table Manners: There are a few table etiquettes to be pursued by me. For example, the honored guest or the eldest person is seated farthest to the door and in the centre of the table and he/she is the first person to begin with the meal. Learning to use chopsticks would turn out to be plus point for me. And while keeping the chopsticks back, one thing to be considered is hat they should not be crossed.
Business Meeting Etiquettes: Appointments for any meeting are to be made well in advance, preferably few weeks in advance which shall be made through a phone call rather than an email, or a letter. In a meeting, the most senior Japanese person is seated farthest from the door following a descending order such that the most junior person is seated nearest o the door.
Dressing Etiquette: The dressing or business attire suitable in Japan is conservative.
The biggest hurdle for me to overcome will be the Japanese language. To avoid this type of language barrier, the very basic and important task to be done will be to learn to speak Japanese language, at least to the elementary level.
Another very important aspect regarding the Japanese culture in following the management practices is the emphasis given to their culture. Studies have shown that he management practices, procedures and rules followed in Japanese organizations are linked to their cultural values. So, to understand how the practices followed in Japan are different from the others, I will critically analyze various research papers and studies done by several writers like Chie Nakane- best known and most influential analyst of Japanese values, De Bettignies studied the organizational behavior and management along with family structure in Japan, and a few more.
Studying about the medium of communication mostly followed by the Japanese individuals, especially the officials. Japanese most often prefer Non-Verbal communication medium using signs and gestures. Knowing about their usage of gestures for communication, the next step I will take is to read and learn about a few most commonly used gestures. And for this purpose, I can take help of certain books that provide detailed guidelines on how to interpret signs.
Hierarchy that is maintained in the organization or in a family like the Japanese follow a proper hierarchy since they are very conscious about the age and status.
Therefore, following the above ways and techniques of learning about the Japanese culture, their customs and business practices, I can avoid any kind of Cross-Cultural problem that can come my way and can successfully communicate to achieve the desired goals of my Company.
We are a world of diverse populations and groups, ant the success of international business largely depends on our ability to communicate effectively, reach mutual understandings, and to realize that DIVERSITY IS STRENGTH.
