Cultural Dimensions Essay

Culture is angiotensin converting enzyme of those terms that have no particular(prenominal) definition beca drug abuse of its diverse nature. It shtup be looked at from any stratum of view. However, a basic definition that includes every(prenominal) the in-chief(postnominal) aspects of a socialization is the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that cyphers upon the capacity for learning and contagion knowledge to succeeding generations ( meshworkster, 2008). Culture is very important if one wants to ca-ca a society. It can tell a lot any(prenominal)what unalike aspects of the society and this is the ground why various countries deal with issues differently.This paper leave behind outline and discuss the agri agricultures of China, Saudi Arabia and United extracts of the States and will channelise how, because of differences in cultures, issues like schema, group communications, define tactics, date management and so ontera argon dealt differently in these countries. Towards the end, recommendations to avoid cross pagan differences will be outlined. United States of America The population of United States of America is very diverse. It has wad from umpteen backgrounds. However in general, the American culture is said to be one of the most individualistic culture in the founding.This means that throng be less integrated in forms of groups. They do non depend on each other(a) and atomic number 18 more concerned about themselves than about others. The kingdom in like manner has a higher than domain median(a) score for masculinity. This means that at that place is differentiation between genders to some goal in the American culture. On the other hand, the score in military force distance dimension shows that there atomic number 18 not some(prenominal) differences in societal levels. This can be seen in organizational, family or governmental settings. mountain stay that exponent will be distribu ted equally to a greater extent even if someone is junior-gradeer in the level of hierarchy. anyway this, the score on uncertainty avoidance is also lower than the world average. This means that pile are tolerant to uncertainty and there are few rules and regulation present to control results (Hofstede, 2003). One important singularity about the work culture in United States is that hard work and integrity is appreciated and also, punctuality is valued. Both mean and women are evaluate to plume according to the surroundings, situation and weather. The culture does not promote or support gift giving in business as it may be considered as bribe (International credit line Center, 2003).As mentioned above, because of the cultures individualistic nature, solitude is valued. The lifestyle in general is causal and informal. Americans believe in utter their opinions and although this direct speaking is sometimes considered as rude in other cultures, it is totally normal among Ame ricans (American fine-tune Education, 2007). From the above details, we can tell a lot about how issues like strategy, team communications, influence tactics and conflict management get affected. Since mickle believe in voicing their opinions, the strategy is normally bold.In addition to this, since any kind of strategy requires its actors to be sick in all the effort they can possible put in. Be it in an organization, government or even in ones personal life. The team communication is very effective because of the low situation distance characteristic and informal nature of the American culture. The belief that the power distributed to everyone is equal and the informal nature in groups inhibits any kind of relaxation methodraint in effective teamwork. Gift giving or anything close to graft is considered very insulting and inappropriate thence this approach is not widely used in influence tactics.Conflict management is usually through openly without an arbitrator or a tre y troupe (American Graduate Education, 2007). As mentioned above, Americans believe in voicing their opinions so this plays a major role in conflict management strategies used nationwide. In high society to remove the communication barriers, in my opinion, one would not have to transmute much about himself because of the presence of a diverse cultures in the population. However, it is suggested that face is used to communicate any kind of verbal cultivation as this is understood and accepted by almost everyone (American Graduate Education, 2007).Regarding dressing, one is suggested to dress appropriately considering the time of the day, weather, occasion and gathering. China Now we come to the Chinese culture. The culture of the raft of China is very different from the American culture just discussed above and it is said to be the exact oppo turn up of the America culture. In fact, the Chinese culture is very different, unique and peculiar if one compares it with the rest of the cultures in the world. It is difficult to realize for those who are not a part of it however one does not need to completely understand it before blending in (Think demand, 1998).We will now look into this in detail. We can prove the above hypothesis correct by comparison the individualism dimension of the American and Chinese cultures. unconnected the America culture, the people of china are very collectivistic. They are integrated tightly, they look subsequently each other and they are highly dependable on the people around them. This can be seen in their family structures and organization values etc. Both the Chinese and American cultures are similar when it comes to the Masculinity dimension.They both score approximately 68 on a scale of 1 to 100. This again is higher than the world average which means that there are slightly more differences between genders in the Chinese culture compared to the rest of the world. The uncertainty avoidance is slightly higher than Unite d States which means people are more tolerable to not have complete information as compare to the American culture. The fourth dimension of antecedent surpass is also quite higher than the United States meaning that people expect more differences in organizational hierarchies.The American score on Power distance was 45 while the Chinese score is 85 therefore one can imagine the amount of differences in the structures of organizations, governmental institutions and families etc. One major difference is in the long term druthers dimension of the two cultures. While the American culture was more on the lower side of this dimension, the Chinese culture is known to have the highest be factor when it comes to long term orientation. These means that people tend to keep down obstacles with time and not with will and strength (Hofstede, 2003).Some other important details of the Chinese culture include being used to the communistic form of government. The Chinese culture is very hospita ble and accepts people from all backgrounds. Since there is no one particular theology that is followed in the pastoral, anyone can adjust easily (International Business Center, 2003). All these cultural characteristics largely influence many issues in business. For instance any strategy usually requires everyone to commove together and work collectively because of the collectivistic nature of the culture and also teamwork is very effective as people realize that they are myrmecophilous on each other.However, because of high power distance, both strategy and team communication is affected. Communication within team becomes more broken as it has to be passed through several levels of hierarchy. The cultural values are imbedded in the he influence tactics. For example these tactics project the idea of togetherness as it is evident from their advertisements that promote family ties and bonds etc (Lin, 2001). The approach to conflict management is including a third party to settle i ssues. In crop to remove the communication barriers, a few things need to be kept in mind.Firstly, it is suggested to not use too much of hand movements as this distracts the audience. Besides this, there are other non verbal gestures that must be avoided. For instance pointing finger may be considered rude therefore such things must be kept in mind in order to ensure effective communication. side is understood widely in the corporate world therefore this is pet after Chinese of course (International Business Center, 2003). Saudi Arabia Now we will start discussion on the culture of the last country of the paper. This country has also been selected to be studied because of its different and unique culture.The Chinese and Arabian Cultures are similar in the power distance dimension of their cultures. Unlike the American Cultures, the high power distance ranking indicates the inequality of riches throughout the Arab world. Because of this, the rich of course have more power than t he poor. The uncertainty avoidance dimension of the Arabian culture is also very different from the Chinese and the American cultures. While the Chinese and Americans ranked lower than world average on the uncertainty avoidance ranking, the Arabian culture has a higher score in this dimension.Meaning that people do not tolerate uncertainty at all and this can be the basis why there are so many rules, policies and regulations are utilize in the country. Surprising as it may sound, the Arabian culture scored low on the masculinity dimension considering all the restrictions on the Arabian women etc. The score was 52 which is only slightly higher than the world average. The reason for low masculinity ranking could be that all the restrictions on the women of the country are because of the religion and not the culture. The Arabian culture, like the Chinese culture, is more collectivistic.It had an average ranking of 38 which is way lower than that of the American culture and also the w orld average for that matter. This means people prefer to join together and remain integrated (Hofstede, 2003). The Arabic culture is largely molded by its history and religion (Saudi Embassy, 2006). because history, religion and language are valued the most in the Arabian culture. These cultural characteristics affect many practical issues. The strategy devised by Arabs in any situation usually calls for people to remain cohesive.Also because of high uncertainty avoidance, there are many rules, regulations and policies that must be followed. Because of high power distance, like the Chinese culture, effective team communication is affected. But on the other hand, this is paying(a) for because of collective nature of the culture. The influence tactics are devised keeping the religion in mind. Anything such as bribery or use of women models in advertisements are avoided because this is against Islam. Conflicts are also managed according to the rules of Shariah which is the Islamic or saintly Law (Hooker, 1996).Also, because of the collectivistic nature of the culture a third party is often included in managing conflicts. There are many cultural traits that must be kept in mind in order to improve communication. Firstly, one must keep in mind that during communication, anything he says or does not offend or insult Islam. The people are very sensitive when it comes to the religion therefore one must dress, bubble and behave appropriately. There are certain non verbal gestures that are considered unworthy such as the thumbs up sign and crossing of legs etc. Therefore one should avoid these.Arabic is preferred by the people there therefore it is preferred is one communicates or at least uses some words from Arabic. One must not ask too many questions are the inquisitive one is considered as the most unimportant and lastly, if an Arab offers a gift, not accepting it may be considered offensive (International Business Center, 2003). References American Graduate Education (2007) U. S. American Culture & Values. Retrieved Oct 1, 2008, from American Graduate Education. sack up site http//www. americangraduateeducation. com/folder2/subfolder2/americanculture. htm Hofstede, G. (2003).China- Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions. Retrieved Oct 1, 2008, from Geert Hofstede. wind vane site http//www. geert-hofstede. com/hofstede_china. shtml Hofstede, G. (2003). United States of America- Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions. Retrieved Oct 1, 2008, from Geert Hofstede. Web site http//www. geert-hofstede. com/hofstede_united_states. shtml Hofstede, G. (2003). Arab World- Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions. Retrieved Oct 1, 2008, from Geert Hofstede. Web site http//www. geert-hofstede. com/hofstede_arab_world. shtml Hooker, R. (1996) Shariah- Sacred law. Retrieved Oct 1, 2008, from Washington State University.Web site http//www. wsu. edu/dee/GLOSSARY/SHARIA. HTM International Business Center. (2003). China. Retrieved Oct 1, 2008, from Cybor Link. Web si te http//www. cyborlink. com/besite/china. htm International Business Center. (2003). United States of America. Retrieved Oct 1, 2008, from Cybor Link. Web site http//www. cyborlink. com/besite/us. htm International Business Center. (2003). Saudi Arabia. Retrieved Oct 1, 2008, from Cybor Link. Web site http//www. cyborlink. com/besite/saudi-arabia. htm Lin, C, A. (2001) Cultural values reflected in Chinese and American television advertising.Retrieved Oct 1, 2008, from All Business. Web site http//www. allbusiness. com/professional-scientific/advertising-related-services/836806-1. html Merriam Webster (2008) Culture. Retrieved 1 Oct, 2008, from Merriam Webster. Web site http//www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/culture%5B1%5D Saudi Embassy. (2006) Culture. Retrieved Oct 1, 2008, from Saudi Embassy. Web site http//www. saudiembassy. net/Country/Culture/Cul. asp Think Quest (1998) Destiny, the Culture of China. Retrieved Oct 1, 2008, from Think Quest. Web site http//library. thinkque st. org/20443/living. html