Arguably, globalization and information technology has tremendously converted the world into a global village. Therefore, the entire sectors of human life have become diverse. In the business sector, it is crucial to deal with diversity as it affects marketing, product and service delivery, as well as consumer behavior. Hence, in order to deal with, and embrace diversity it is important to understand other cultural beliefs and activities. In order to deal with diversity, I participated in a Brazilian cultural celebration; analytically, the cultural activity had differences and similarities to my Chinese culture, as well as been educative.
The cultural activity I participated was fabulous, it was known as the carnival. Brazil is one of the diverse nations in the world. In fact, it population is made of Asians, Portuguese, Africans and the natives. Nothing in Brazil embodies the spirit than the carnival. This is annual ceremony held in approximately forty-six days to Easter. In this cultural event, Catholics and other Christians come together to abstain from consumption of poultry and meat. During the event, participants dance, sing and party in the streets. In fact, thousands of people from other countries become part of the unique celebration.
During the cultural activity, groups compete for the first place. The most colorful of it all is that dancers put on incredible costumes of feathers and sequins. Drummers and dancers accompanied the parades. The event was organized by Samba schools; people from all classes, the rich and the poor, and young or old celebrate the cultural event. The main goal is to have fun and be happy, not to make money. The entire cultural activity is influenced by African and Brazilian cultures.
The Brazilian cultural event had the similarities and differences with Chinese culture. During this cultural activity, people in different departments do not attend as they fully believe in the event. In fact, many people leave their daily activities to attend the celebration. Undeniably, people Brazilians during this day enjoy the existing labor protections. In Chinese culture, there are virtually unreal labor-friendly protections. Analytically, Brazilian independent labor movements’ clashes with Chinese centralized system of various company unions. In this case, it is important to appreciate diversity of culture in the workplace.
The most significant similarities in the event with Chinese culture, is the way of celebration. Dancing and singing marked the ceremonies. Furthermore, in both cultures, people party in various festive seasons, focusing on happiness. On the other hand, the punctuality of Brazilians on such organizations was incredible, yet in the real sense, Brazilians are never punctual at work. In Chinese, culture urgency is very important factor at work. The Carnival ceremony in Brazil could be compared to Confucianism in Chinese culture. Both cultural activities have a sense of religion in it.
Through the entire cultural activity, a lot of lessons was learned. Conversably, it is important to understand other people’s culture in all fields. This will ensure that a cohesive environment in intercultural events, sports, workplace and business is created. Perhaps, globalization has made led to a combination of culture. For example, Brazil is a diverse society, yet they enjoy the yearly cultural activity regardless of their differences. Therefore, individuals in the world should embrace diversity and work together. Perhaps, the do’s and the don’ts should not be taken negatively. For example, in Brazil carnival ceremony making eye contact showed you are honest, interested and paying attentions. In terms of marketing and business, I learned that understanding cultural differences is a crucial step to booming cross-cultural differences. Diversity in the world is a reality; hence, the best thing is to understand and respect the culture of other people.
