Introduction
Modern social, political, business and economic contexts make people and groups increasingly aware and concerned with diversity. Access to technology, globalization and growing possibilities in tourism and travel make individuals more mobile and internationalize cultures and societies in general. With that in mind, companies and people face with the complexity of dealing with this personal and professional diversity, focusing on cultural awareness and differences. In view of these trends and growing interest in cultural studies, it is important to define the concept of culture as a whole.
Meaning of Culture
Allan (1998) identifies culture as the set of characteristics and knowledge of the particular group of individuals. In other words, the author suggests that the culture is a combination of shared patterns of cognitive and emotional behavior and response to the external environment. These patterns, therefore,are unique to the group and define its cultural identity.
Another important view on culture, which helps to take the analysis of Iran further in the context of a specific framework is the Hofstede's (2001) model of cultural dimensions. The author outlines six major criteria, which can be used to compare and contrast different national cultures. These dimensions include power distance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, uncertainty avoidance, long as opposed to short-term orientation and indulgence. Using these dimensions, individuals and groups can learn about the behavioral patterns of individuals, based on their origin and improve the diversity awareness and ability to interact in a diverse environment.
Iranian Culture Characteristics
Common Culture Characteristics of the Region
When it comes to the analysis of the region and placement of Iran in the context of the Middle East culture, it is possible to identify several common characteristics. Comparison with such countries as Turkmenistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and Turkey, allows arguing that indulgence, collectivism, and power distance are some of the major touch points between the countries. Historically, political and social systems in the region placed hierarchy and collectivism in the center of the cultural identity and people tend to feel more comfortable with clear social and political hierarchy. Additionally, it is evident that traditions and religion play the paramount role in building on the social and cultural identity of the region, determining the similarities in a way to deal with uncertainty and unknown situations. Regional culture, therefore, can be identified as collectivistic, where people value loyalty and strong relationships bond, which make individuals responsible for the actions of others in their respective societies. Furthermore, it is evident that regional identity is linked to the strong hierarchical element on a social and organizational level and the focus on traditions, norms and informal beliefs, that shape not only internal but also the external line of cognitive behavior (Hogan, 2012).
Social Infrastructure, Economy and Military Profile
The economy of Iran is a mixed and transition economy with a very large public sector, shaping the way the private and public sector in the country interact with one another. The statistics of the county shows that over 60 of the economy is centrally planned and highly dominated and dependent on the oil and gas sector (The Economist, 2003). It is important to mention that over 40 industries are registered on the Tehran Stock Exchange, which among the best-performing markets over the past 8 years (Lynn, 2015). Iran is considered as one of the countries with the largest development potential, while the economic indicators outline its strong for the region position in terms of Purchasing Power Parity and gross domestic product indexes, placing the country on the 18th place in the world (Jordan, 2015).
Finally, it is important to look at the Iranian military capabilities, more specifically the Air Defence and surface to air installation and technology, which attracted large governmental financial in spite of the overall limited spending in military sector (Cordesman, 2005). It is a common knowledge that Iranian air defense system constitutes an important part of the governmental spending with the focus on strengthening this influence through expansion of the military bases, such as the largest air defense installations in Abadeh. Controlled by the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, the system is comprised of a surface-to-air missile, artillery and air defence installations. The military sector accounts for a large employment base with over 545,000 effective personnel. With the growing cooperation between China, Russia and Iran in terms of military installations and equipment, it is possible to argue that nuclear deals and the reinforcement of the air-defence systems will attract further financial and intellectual investments to the sector (Cordesman, 2005).
References
Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture Consequences. Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations. London: Sage Publications.
Hogan, M. (2012). The Four Skills of Cultural Diversity Competence. 4th Edition.Belmont: Brooks Cengage Publishing.
Kenneth, A. (1998). The Meaning of Culture: Moving the Postmodern Critique Forward. London: Praeger Publishing.
The Economist (2003). Stunned and Distorted. The Economy is Too Dependent on Oil and Gas and Too Dominated by the State. Web 16 January 2003, http://www.economist.com/node/1522098 [Accessed 23 July 2016].
Lynn, M. (2015). Are you brave enough to invest in Iran? Web 16 March 2015, http://www.marketwatch.com/story/are-you-brave-enough-to-invest-in-iran-2014-03-26 [Accessed 23 July 2016].
Jordan, R.W. (2015). Iran Could Become an Economic Superpower. The Times. Web 16 March 2015, http://time.com/3960122/iran-economic-superpower/ [Accessed 23 July 2016].
BMI (2015). Iran Infrastructure Report. Business Monitor International [Online]. Web 1 January 2015, http://store.bmiresearch.com/iran-infrastructure-report.html [Accessed 23 July 2016].
Cordesman, A.H. (2005). Iran's Developing Military Capabilities. Washington: The CSIS Press.
