The book Cultural Map by Erin Meyer indicates the way and manner through which culture intercepts with the work environment. This includes an evaluation of what role culture plays in the workplace and this includes communication, appropriateness, persuasion, power structures, decision-making processes, trust, conflicts and the conception of time. This book shows how the average worker and the average organization makes use of cultures and how the globalizing world is going to have inherent issues with conflict and other cross-cultural dimensions and its related issues. The book shows that culture can be explained and presented to people with divergent views and ideologies of life. Therefore, the book provides a strong approach to cross-cultural management and its related activities.
The book also provide some practical elements of implementing cross-cultural change. This includes the way through which people modify their systems through the study of the environment by means of studying trends and patterns and making appropriate changes where it matters. This includes how cultures differ, the emotional aspects of culture and diversity in the work place as well as the creation and maintenance of a rather stable set of cultural practices and systems.
Analysis of Book
Meyer begins his book by demonstrating that the world is indeed a global village. The first few pages show how some people that were not likely to interact at all in this world are by default, likely to work with each other to achieve results in the corporate and global work environment. This shows that the issue of culture is important and it must be analyzed in order to draw conclusions and identify the best way through which different people can interact without confusion and conflict.
The discussions in the first chapter which show the issue of “cultural map” and how it exists indicate that our interactions, no matter how innocent they might be could end up with major problems and issues. This indicate that there is some room for misunderstanding and conflict which could be based on a number of different considerations that we might not share in our respective cultures.
Meyer concludes that there is some kind of invisible boundary that divides our world (10). He goes on to show how acute the problem is by stating that “the sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting on their work”. Thus, obviously the gaps that are created in this situation leads to emotional imbalances, conflict and various cultural incompatibility matters that lead to major problems and major issues that could cause a company to freeze and not meet its goals and agenda.
There are many challenges in decoding messages and information that could lead to serious problems and matters. Therefore, it is necessary to have a mastery over culture and ensure that culture is presented in the best way and form possible to keep an international business going. And it is identified from the book that the cultural differences in international businesses will continue. This is because outsourcing and presenting different stakeholders cuts down the cost of a business significantly, and the need to coordinate affairs and deal with the various stakeholders and players is important to achieve the most important results that is necessary to keep a company going.
One thing Hofstede, another authority in the field of cross cultural affairs states is that culture is the software of the mind and defines the way and manner in which people think and sets the parameters for what is alright and what is not. Therefore, if viewed individually, what Professor Meyer is putting across is based on a collectivist and externalist view of the problem of cross cultural communication. On the other hand, Hofstede critiques what makes each individual different. Hofstede’s conclusion is that the mind of each person is influenced by the culture with which he or she is familiar. Therefore, in any situation and in any context where there is a problem or issue, an individual will break things down into a familiar culture, analyze it and make meaning of whatever content has been presented to him.
Therefore, Meyer brings out the broader context and the larger perception and prospection of discussions and other important pointers in interaction in outsourcing, supply chain relationships, call centers, and project teams which are important and vital for global businesses. Meyer’s views and ideas are meant to show that there are many different angles through which different people can carry out their actions and interact for the achievement of results. Therefore, there is some kind of justification for the creation of an appropriate framework and arena through which the different stakeholders can conduct their activities, in a win-win manner. Thus, cultural sensitivity is seen as key and vital to most of the relationships in today’s modern businesses.
Communicating: Low context versus high context
Evaluating: Direct negative feedback versus indirect negative feedback
Persuading: Principles-first versus application-first
Leading: Egalitarian versus hierarchical
Deciding: Consensual versus top-down
Trusting: Task-based versus relationship based
Disagreement: Confrontational versus avoiding confrontation
Scheduling: Linear time versus flexible time
These eight pointers seem to be part of all the most popular and most powerful cultural dimensions presented by different scholars across different timelines. Cultural dimensions have particular time-lines and limits and are based on assumptions about how well and how often things occur and this is applied to various interactions across a given culture which provide indicators for general behavioral patterns. The framework of Meyer therefore shows a valid scale of the most relevant issues that can be applied and utilized in predicting and analyzing a wide array of matters and issues that are of importance and significance to learners and information users in different countries and communities.
The cultural dimension also provides an objective manner and approach through which two or more cultures can be assessed and evaluated absolutely and in a relativistic context. Thus, the culture of Russia and China can be compared to each other and there could be definitions of how they vary. And each of the cultures can be studied independently to draw inferences and conclusions on what they stand for and how they operate and work out.
Communication across Cultures
There are different methodologies and approaches of communication in the global and international sphere. Different cultures have their own ways of coding and decoding messages. Therefore, communication across cultures is destined to have its own unique and distinct features including various building blocks and communication traditions which could vary. The implication is that the most important and most vital communication and information is shared and applied according to what is most appropriate. This is something that could vary and for there to be results and positive ends, communication must be positioned to be understanding and accommodating of each other. This will lead to better and more enhanced and improved ways and means of discussions and interactions to give a richer and more meaningful approach to interchange and exchanges.
Communication style is also necessary to maintain and sustain various goals. Since the definition of goals and specific ends are enshrouded in a framework of various respective goals and worldviews influenced by culture, there is a general trend towards the introduction and acceptance of culture as a means of ensuring that the ultimate ends and goals of communication is identified and protected in order to receive the fundamental goal for the business interaction to achieve its fundamental process and procedure.
Erin Meyer identifies low-context cultures and high-context cultures. The low-context culture is one in which there is precise accurate and direct information that is shared. This is referred to as uncertainty avoidance and definitiveness in communication where emotions are excluded from communication. The process ensures that there is a straightforward approach to exchanges and communication can be at the highest and best level and form. High-context culture is one in which various forms of symbolism is integrated and included in the communication process and this leads to many different methods and approaches that are used to imply and make meaning of communication and emphasize a point. This method is rich in cultural codes and as such, will have to be carefully critiqued and understood in order to make meaning of.
There are also cultures that combine a good dose of each other. Managers must therefore be aware of each culture in which they are communicating and make adequate and appropriate adjustments to avoid problems and issues that could come up.
Coding and Decoding Messages – Cross-Cultural Perceptions
When a communication is made, there is the need for the parties in the discussion to make meaning of what is done. This is because communication is about encoding and decoding messages as per the demands and expectations of the parties. The internalization or the process of making meaning from a given communication is based on what a person’s culture is and how such communication is commonly viewed or perceived in one’s culture. Therefore Erin Meyer brings out the issue of possible misinterpretation and the poor understanding and appreciation of information and data as it comes up and how it could ruin the production process of an organization (25).
Cross-cultural perception is behind the wide array of possible divergences and departures in making meaning of communication. This is because a person with one cultural background will most likely take a path of understanding information that is most common to him. This is likely to lead to numerous forms of conflict and could cause interpretation of information to be incomplete. Therefore, the onus is on managers in international businesses to appreciate ambiguities and possible areas that could have wrongful interpretations that are relevant. In that situation, there must be proper arrangements to right the wrongs and improve the return on communication and enhance the level of enrichment that a given communication might bring to the parties by way of achieving the entire goal of communication.
Persuasion in Multicultural Interactions
The art of persuasion is something that could potentially be rich and employ various methods and approaches that could enrich a discussion and an interaction. The persuasive art is something that brings about various elements of respect as well as factual combination of logos and pathos which are arts of persuasion and facts that is meant to get the attention and decision of the targeted audience. This process has different cultural implications and dimensions because they mean different things in different cultures. Therefore, the procedure of persuasion is one that must comply with dominant practices and behavioral trends. If there is no clear approach in dealing with them and ensuring the mediation of these different methods, there is bound to be conflict and persuasion will lead to its opposite end. Thus, an organization and a context of interaction must be one that promotes respect and honors some of the proper contexts and theories.
Power Structures across Cultures
There is also a trend towards the extent to which people expect to be treated by those above them. This includes the extent to which power is wielded by those who have expert power, rational power or traditional power. This includes the level of control and authority and how people in authority acts.
In some cultures, it is expected that culture will be one in which power is centered on a particular individual and authoritarianism is the norm, rather than the exception. In other cultures though, it is expected that people are included in the decision-making. This is known in Hofstede’s cultural dimension as whether the organization has a high power-distance or a low one. In high-power distance cultures, there is the need and desire for power to be centralized and given to some group or individual who has the ability to take absolute and final decisions. In low-power distance cultures, there is the need for some degree of inclusion to ensure that all relevant stakeholders are integrated and given their fair due in everything.
Leadership and Decision Making Authenticity
Leadership and decision-making at the top of organizations are meant to promote the goals and specific ends of an organization. Decisions have impacts on different business units of an organization or a company. Therefore, culture defines how a person is expected to react or be treated when choices are made at the top of an organization. This provides a framework and system through which choices are made and decisions are taken.
In a culture where the desires and expectations of the top-level management traverses those below, the leadership model and system is defined around that method and system of inclusion. On the other hand, when the culture is extremely authoritarian and the needs and desires of those at the top of the organization is extremely high, the staff members are likely to do things that are of limited impact and implication to the stakeholders affected by the decision. This causes the organization to create its pathway and processes that could be applied and used for the achievement of results and operations.
Building Trust in different Cultures
Trust is what binds up the different units of an organization together and helps people to get the inspiration to sacrifice for the greater good of the group without expecting any immediate results. Trust has to do with communication and the ability of different groups to work with each other for the attainment and achievement of results.
Trust is necessary at the different nodes and hierarchies of an organization and it must be built over the years through hard work, sacrifice and concentration and cooperation. This is difficult to ascertain through a universalist cultural framework. Therefore, it is necessary to draw some kind of balance and ensure that different stakeholders are able to appreciate trust within their own unique cultural landscape and make the best in everything they do.
Disagreement and Conflict in Cultural Context
Conflict and provocation are closely related concepts. What might annoy one individual from a given country might not annoy another. Once there is provocation and disagreement, it has to be acted out and there are various accepted methods of airing out your grievances in different cultural context. Every organization with an international outlook will have to bring together these different competing desires and expectations in ways that will bring about the best results in the different parties to the organization. Therefore, to maintain group harmony, there must be various adjustments and corrections that will be put in place to ensure optimal results and promote the best level of performance requirements and expectations. This leads to various forms of adjustment needs and requirements that must be put in place in an organization to unify the different competing demands.
Also, contradiction and the presentation of new lights of ideas and views must be streamlined in a good organization to ensure that all cultures are able to express their views. This procedure might lead to conflict and the conflict might potentially turn out to be destructive. A good corporate culture is one that changes a negative cultural system to one that is positive and brings out the best in the different stakeholders and players in a given industry and organization.
Conception of Time across Cultures
Time and processes are important part of the uncertainty avoidance process of different countries. When a culture is one that has time as a linear and rigid concept, they are more likely to start and complete tax within certain timeframes. On the other hand, if they view time as flexible, they are likely to multitask and carry out activities in ways that ensure the best and most appropriate results. This could lead to an emergent strategy and a fire-fighting approach to doing things whereby a person do things that are most pressing and work for the achievement of the best results.
The implication is that time is important and vital in defining how and why people act the way they do. This provides a framework in which different people from diverse backgrounds can be managed and prepared for the achievement of results in everything they do in relation to the achievement of corporate results and overall team goal.
Time and its resources vary across culture and can be used as basis for creating limits and processes for tolerance, patience and catching-up. This helps to provide frameworks for scheduling in the practical sense. And through this, results are achieved and operations are put together for the attainment of the best results.
Conclusion
The research examines the work of Erin Meyer. The book, Cultural Map shows how cultures differ in the 21st Century. The book provides an externalist perspective whereby the importance and vitality of culture is examined in relation to how it could lead to discord and is necessary to promote effective work in all organizations that traverse national borders and is global in outlook.
The findings indicate that there are eight major cultural dimensions that must be respected and honored if a firm is to transcend its cultural diversity and differences. These processes affect emotions, worldviews and guide the way and manner in which people conduct themselves. The book shows that culture defines the kind of mentality and mindset people have. Therefore, it is important for the management of a company to work hard and pursue core goals and objectives with sensitivity to major areas of importance and significance. This provides the best way for the achievement of results and promoting the best quality of work in all operations and activities.
Works Cited
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Hofstede, Geert. Culture and its Consequences: The Software fo the Mind. New York: FT Press, 2010. Book.
Mazanec, Josef, et al. “Homogeneity versus heterogeneity of cultural values: An item-response theoretical approach applying Hofstede's cultural dimensions in a single nation.” Tourism Management 48 (1) (2015): 299-304. Web.
Meyer, Erin. The Culture Map: Breaking through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business. New York: Public Affairs Press, 2014. Print.
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