In their article (Brake, Walker, and Walker 28-78), Bartlett and Ghosal explicitly discussed how businesses can succeed in understanding culture. They also highlighted how businesses can turn cultural awareness into a competitive advantage. In their introductory part, Bartlett and Ghosal argued that culture influence all spheres of life within a country which include behaviors, values, and norms of managers in national companies. They observed that for a long time there has been a misconception that cultural practices have no influence on business and that irrespective of where one conducts business, everything to do with that business is universal. To them, this should not be the case. Available evidence suggest it is increasingly becoming clear that in the business world, it is very hard to cut across cultural boundaries. In fact, some companies use cultural competence as their competitive advantage. Failure to integrate cultural awareness into business strategies can result in huge losses for firms. For example, companies operating across various cultural boundaries ought to combine the best of both cultures. One way is to embrace diversity in the company employees. Some of the benefits of incorporating cultural awareness in business include enhancing productivity, organizing, innovation and creativity, planning, problem-solving, organizing, customer responsiveness, and so forth. However, ignoring culture result in the opposite effect. To make sure their employees are up to date with cultural issues in the context of business, it has been found out that multicultural organizations invest in training their staff about culture. It has been suggested that managers ought to undergo four level of cultural competence: open attitudes, self and other awareness, cultural knowledge, and cross-cultural skills respectively. The starting point in creating cultural awareness is to be conversant about dos and don’ts when doing business in certain regions. It help the participant to understand behaviors and beliefs of other people’s culture. The greatest elements of culture has been described as those that form the basis of everyday interactions and has been referred to as value orientations. Value orientations have been defined as the preference of certain outcomes more than others. People’s value orientations are enshrined in their behaviors, patterns of thinking, attitudes, and beliefs all of which are key components of not just individual identities but also national identities. These value orientations are specific to each society and define what it means to be either a German, a Chinese, or an American. Studies about culture has shown that it comprises a combination of variant value orientations and dominant value orientations. While it is agreed that the issues of value orientations and dominant human problems are controversial theoretical notions, they provide a good basis for building business-oriented and practical approach to views about culture.
Studies have shown that the key to understanding actions of human being across various societies is to classify them into pattern variables referred to as basic dilemmas which people encounter in social situations. They include affectivity, self-orientation, universalism, ascription, and specificity. Implicit messages can be derived in various cultural orientations regarding space, agreements, time, material possessions, and friendship. For example, Americans value agreements based on signed contracts more than negotiations, Greeks value negotiation more than contracts, and Arabs only value word of mouth as binding than contracts. Research in culture has also resulted in the identification of cultural dimensions: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, and masculinity. Previous studies of seven top cultures of capitalism suggest a link between belief structure and economic activity. Belief is the invisible hand that controls their economies. One is said to be culturally competent if he has the ability to not only recognize the primary cultural dimensions of others but also for themselves. It is also about being conscious about how differences can affect the working relationships.
A “cultural shock” has been described feeling which one experience upon entering into a place with cultural differences. Feelings of resentment, inferiority, excitement, depression, fear, aggressiveness, frustration, superiority, loneliness, and curiosity may come in. Although generalizations can be made in other fields, in cross-cultural studies they turn into stereotyping. Cultural orientations has been divided into 10 variables with their corresponding cultural orientation. These are environment (control, harmony, constraint), time(multi-focus, single-focus, fixed, fluid, past, present, future), action(being/doing), communication, high or low context, direct, indirect, expressive, instrumental, formal, informal), space(private, public), power(hierarchy, equality), individualism(individualist, collectivist, universalistic, particularistic), competitiveness (competitive, cooperative), structure (order, flexibility), and thinking(deductive, inductive, linear, systematic).
Cultures are viewed as clusters of values which are closely related. A difference in cultural orientation implies a difference in management approach. Being a good manager means one is employing management strategies that are consistent with the culture in which he is working. Such management actions like rewarding and goal setting has to be in line with the culture of the people affected. The issue of culture is in itself more complex than it appears. Besides national and regional culture, there exist also a cultural profile of an individual which can be so unique and can be shaped by social class, religion, generation, education, friends, region, family, profession, gender, neighborhood, corporate culture, and race. It is also possible that an individual switch cultural orientation depending on situations such as when meeting friends, attending a professional meeting, visiting home, or even at work. In light of this, it is not appropriate to place too many assumptions on an individual from another culture. Cultures have also been viewed as dynamically stable. They change slowly since they are passed from one generation to the next through key institutions such as schools and families. To adapt to a culture is not to adopt. People’s way of doing things hardly change. Adaptation may be only for the purposes of convenience because it is very hard for one to abandon his culture. Understanding cultural differences can help a lot since it adds value to the business. Corporations whose operations cut across cultures can increase their global success by enhancing cultural learning in all aspects of the organization.
Works Cited
Brake, Terence, Walker Daniel Medina, and Walker (Tim) Thomas. Doing Business Internationally: The guide to cross-cultural success. New York, NY: IRWIN Professional Publishing, 1995.
