To Learn the Meaning and Values and Norms of Any Culture, Group, Family, Etc. Is a Definition of
Culture
SOME DEFINITIONS
- Civilization refers to the cumulative eolith of cognition, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of fourth dimension, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving.
- Culture is the systems of knowledge shared past a relatively large group of people.
- Culture is communication, communication is culture.
- Culture in its broadest sense is cultivated behavior; that is the totality of a person's learned, accumulated experience which is socially transmitted, or more than briefly, behavior through social learning.
- A culture is a way of life of a group of people--the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking well-nigh them, and that are passed along by advice and simulated from one generation to the side by side.
- Culture is symbolic communication. Some of its symbols include a group's skills, cognition, attitudes, values, and motives. The meanings of the symbols are learned and deliberately perpetuated in a society through its institutions.
- Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of man groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of civilization consists of traditional ideas and specially their attached values; culture systems may, on the i manus, exist considered as products of action, on the other hand, every bit conditioning influences upon farther activity.
- Culture is the sum of total of the learned behavior of a group of people that are generally considered to be the tradition of that people and are transmitted from generation to generation.
- Civilization is a commonage programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.
THEORY OF CULTURAL DETERMINISM
- The position that the ideas, meanings, beliefs and values people larn as members of society determines human being nature. People are what they acquire. Optimistic version of cultural determinism place no limits on the abilities of human beings to do or to be whatever they want. Some anthropologists suggest that there is no universal "right way" of beingness human being. "Correct way" is well-nigh e'er "our mode"; that "our fashion" in one guild almost never corresponds to "our fashion" in whatever other society. Proper mental attitude of an informed homo existence could only be that of tolerance.
- The optimistic version of this theory postulates that human nature existence infinitely malleable, homo existence tin cull the ways of life they prefer.
- The pessimistic version maintains that people are what they are conditioned to exist; this is something over which they have no control. Human beings are passive creatures and do any their civilization tells them to do. This explanation leads to behaviorism that locates the causes of human behavior in a realm that is totally beyond human control.
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
- Different cultural groups call back, feel, and act differently. In that location is no scientific standards for considering one group every bit intrinsically superior or inferior to another. Studying differences in culture among groups and societies presupposes a position of cultural relativism. It does not imply normalcy for oneself, nor for 1'southward society. Information technology, however, calls for judgment when dealing with groups or societies different from i's own. Information virtually the nature of cultural differences between societies, their roots, and their consequences should precede judgment and activeness. Negotiation is more than likely to succeed when the parties concerned understand the reasons for the differences in viewpoints.
CULTURAL ETHNOCENTRISM
- Ethnocentrism is the conventionalities that one's own culture is superior to that of other cultures. It is a form of reductionism that reduces the "other way" of life to a distorted version of ane'south own. This is peculiarly important in example of global dealings when a company or an individual is imbued with the idea that methods, materials, or ideas that worked in the domicile land volition too piece of work abroad. Environmental differences are, therefore, ignored. Ethnocentrism, in relation to global dealings, tin can be categorized as follows:
- Of import factors in business are disregarded because of the obsession with certain cause-effect relationships in one's ain country. Information technology is always a good idea to refer to checklists of man variables in society to be bodacious that all major factors have been at least considered while working away.
- Even though one may recognize the environmental differences and bug associated with change, but may focus only on achieving objectives related to the abode-land. This may issue in the loss of effectiveness of a company or an individual in terms of international competitiveness. The objectives set for global operations should likewise be global.
- The differences are recognized, only it is assumed that associated changes are then basic that they tin be achieved effortlessly. It is always a good thought to perform a cost-benefit assay of the changes proposed. Sometimes a change may upset of import values and thereby may face resistance from being implemented. The cost of some changes may exceed the benefits derived from the implementation of such changes.
MANIFESTATIONS OF CULTURE
Cultural differences manifest themselves in different ways and differing levels of depth. Symbols represent the most superficial and values the deepest manifestations of culture, with heroes and rituals in between.
- Symbols are words, gestures, pictures, or objects that carry a item pregnant which is only recognized by those who share a particular culture. New symbols easily develop, quondam ones disappear. Symbols from one particular grouping are regularly copied by others. This is why symbols stand for the outermost layer of a civilization.
- Heroes are persons, by or present, real or fictitious, who possess characteristics that are highly prized in a civilisation. They likewise serve as models for behavior.
- Rituals are collective activities, sometimes superfluous in reaching desired objectives, merely are considered equally socially essential. They are therefore carried out almost of the times for their own sake (ways of greetings, paying respect to others, religious and social ceremonies, etc.).
- The core of a culture is formed by values. They are broad tendencies for preferences of certain land of affairs to others (good-evil, right-incorrect, natural-unnatural). Many values remain unconscious to those who hold them. Therefore they often cannot be discussed, nor they tin exist straight observed by others. Values can just exist inferred from the way people act under different circumstances.
- Symbols, heroes, and rituals are the tangible or visual aspects of the practices of a civilization. The true cultural meaning of the practices is intangible; this is revealed only when the practices are interpreted by the insiders.
Figure 1. Manifestation of Civilization at Different Levels of Depth
LAYERS OF Civilization
People even within the same culture carry several layers of mental programming within themselves. Dissimilar layers of culture exist at the following levels:
- The national level: Associated with the nation as a whole.
- The regional level: Associated with ethnic, linguistic, or religious differences that exist within a nation.
- The gender level: Associated with gender differences (female person vs. male)
- The generation level: Associated with the differences between grandparents and parents, parents and children.
- The social form level: Associated with educational opportunities and differences in occupation.
- The corporate level: Associated with the detail civilisation of an organization. Applicable to those who are employed.
MEASURING CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
A variable can be operationalized either by single- or composite-mensurate techniques. A single-measure technique means the use of i indicator to mensurate the domain of a concept; the composite-measure technique means the utilise of several indicators to construct an index for the concept after the domain of the concept has been empirically sampled. Hofstede (1997) has devised a composite-measure technique to measure cultural differences among dissimilar societies:
- Power distance index: The index measures the degree of inequality that exists in a society.
- Uncertainty abstention index: The index measures the extent to which a gild feels threatened by uncertain or ambiguous situations.
- Individualism index: The index mensurate the extent to which a society is individualistic. Individualism refers to a loosely knit social framework in a club in which people are supposed to have care of themselves and their firsthand families but. The other end of the spectrum would exist collectivism that occurs when in that location is a tight social framework in which people distinguish between in-groups and out-groups; they expect their in-groups (relatives, clans, organizations) to look after them in exchange for absolute loyalty.
- Masculinity index (Achievement vs. Relationship): The alphabetize measures the extent to which the dominant values are assertiveness, money and things (achievement), non caring for others or for quality of life. The other end of the spectrum would be femininity (relationship).
RECONCILIATION OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
Cultural awareness:
- Before venturing on a global assignment, it is probably necessary to identify the cultural differences that may be between ane's home country and the country of business operation. Where the differences exist, 1 must decide whether and to what extent the home-country practices may be adapted to the foreign surroundings. Virtually of the times the differences are not very apparent or tangible. Sure aspects of a civilization may be learned consciously (due east.thou. methods of greeting people), some other differences are learned subconsciously (e.g. methods of problem solving). The building of cultural awareness may non be an easy task, but one time accomplished, it definitely helps a job done efficiently in a foreign surroundings.
- Discussions and reading about other cultures definitely helps build cultural awareness, but opinions presented must exist carefully measured. Sometimes they may correspond unwarranted stereotypes, an cess of only a subgroup of a detail grouping of people, or a state of affairs that has since undergone desperate changes. It is ever a good idea to get varied viewpoints most the same culture.
Clustering cultures:
- Some countries may share many attributes that aid mold their cultures (the modifiers may be linguistic communication, religion, geographical location, etc.). Based on this data obtained from past cantankerous-cultural studies, countries may be grouped by similarities in values and attitudes. Fewer differences may be expected when moving within a cluster than when moving from one cluster to another.
Determining the extent of global involvement:
- All enterprises operating globally need not have the same degree of cultural awareness. Figure 2 illustrates extent to which a company needs to understand global cultures at unlike levels of interest. The farther a company moves out from the sole role of doing domestic business organisation, the more it needs to understand cultural differences. Moving outward on more than ane centrality simultaneously makes the need for building cultural sensation fifty-fifty more essential.
Figure 2. Cultural Awareness and Extent of Global Interest
Reference:
Hofstede, G. (1997). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the listen. New York: McGraw Loma.
Some contempo publications
The U.Due south. construction industry has e'er been expert at winning work overseas, but the lure of reconstruction contracts in places like Afghanistan and Iraq could draw some firms in over their heads. Large international firms have many resources to bargain with the enormous challenges of working in the global marketplace. Only the massive reconstruction of countries devastated by war could trip up the best of them.
Political and physical risks are the most treacherous and must exist reckoned with. Linguistic communication and cultural differences can't exist ignored either. Addressing them sensibly can unlock many opportunities for success.
The U.Due south. government's conference on rebuilding Transitional islamic state of afghanistan, held in Chicago last week, went a long style to outline opportunities there. These outreach programs are a skillful start because many firms need an didactics on how to work abroad. The start lesson is to drop ethnocentric views that the world should conform our method of contracting rather than the other way around.
In a dissever meeting, also held in Chicago terminal week, ENR brought together construction executives at its annual leadership conference. U.Southward. firms interested in Mainland china's Olympic building plans and other work, peculiarly those willing to mind patiently through translation, heard rich detail from Chinese representatives.
Patience, attentiveness and sensitivity are non common construction traits, only they tin can help in cultures different from our ain.
Language and cultural differences can exist treacherous to negotiate.
[ ENR (2003). Culture stupor challenges firms looking abroad. Vol. 250, No. 23. New York: McGraw Hill.]
Practise We See Heart-to-Eye? Implications of Cultural Differences for Cantankerous-Cultural Management Enquiry and Practice
Abstract
Although observation is a common research technique, piddling attention has been given to the furnishings of culture on observer judgment making. These researches argue that consideration of cultural differences is critical when applying observation techniques in cantankerous-cultural research also equally in the applied contexts of operation appraisal and international management. A laboratory written report was conducted to examine the potential for discrepancies in observer judgment making among Asian American and Caucasian American subjects. The results of the written report affirm the importance of cultural influences in inquiry and management.
[Li & Karakowsky (2001). Practice We Run into Heart-to-Heart? Implications of Cultural Differences for Cross-Cultural Management Inquiry and Practice. The Journal of Psychology, 135(five), 501-517.]
Source: http://people.tamu.edu/~i-choudhury/culture.html
0 Response to "To Learn the Meaning and Values and Norms of Any Culture, Group, Family, Etc. Is a Definition of"
Post a Comment