There is no doubt that this course has enhanced my cultural understanding and hence, I am more culturally competent than when I started. One way this course has deepened my cultural understanding is by helping me appreciate that a culture of a people is more than the food or the clothes they wear and it is about the values that a community cherishes. Therefore, before I strive to understand the culture of the person I am interacting with, I try to comprehend and appreciate the values of the community from which the person comes and this assists me in establishing a common ground with the individual from another culture. Besides, the course has helped me to become more open-minded and as such, I am flexible in my opinions and ideas. I am now well aware that people’s experiences and cultures shape their view of the world and for this reason, it would be wrong to dismiss an individual if they do not share my point of view or fail to support my opinions. Before this course, I would take it personally and label such people as enemies. However, I am more open-minded now and willing to tolerate divergent views. Furthermore, the course has taught me to be more observant than I was before and this is crucial in learning non-verbal cues used by people from other cultures. The course has also altered the way I think about engaging in business in the world given that before the course, I used to think that succeeding in international markets depends solely on the marketing efforts of the company. However, I have long realized that presenting goods that resonate with the values of the local community is a major determinant of success in international markets and this is an insight I will remember throughout my career.
My perspective about how I am perceived and how I wish to be perceived in the global marketplace has also changed thanks to this course. Before the course, I used to consider myself similar to other consumers and hence I believed that a product that performed well in my country would perform well in another country. This perception has changed since I have realized that my values and culture set me apart from other consumers in other countries which means that it is not automatic that a successful product in my country will succeed in international markets. I wish to be perceived as an individual and not just a statistic because I believe my culture, values, and heritage set me apart and companies must acknowledge this aspect while offering their goods and services. Furthermore, my perspective about how I am perceived has also changed after realizing that my race also affects the type of products that companies offer to me and I would wish firms to profile me on other factors such as tastes and preferences as opposed to my racial relations. Besides, I realized that most companies do not seek to understand my culture and instead try to impose the values of the country of origin to me. To me, this is wrong as I believe that every company that cares about their consumers should take sufficient time to learn about the culture and the values of the target customers.
Working in a group has surely been an eye-opener for me. All through my schooling, I always thought that life is all about outshining my colleagues to be the best at what I do. However, participating in my group has taught me that life is more about complementing each other through combining the strengths of all the members of the group. Working together creates synergy in the group which makes insurmountable tasks seem easy. Hence, I have realized that my role in a team is to contribute the best that I can and to respect the views of every member since this fosters trust and cohesive co-existence. Also, working as a team helped me appreciate the essence of the division of labor and specialization as it helps each of the team members to concentrate on the areas where they have core competence. Through this experience, I realized that in a group, I do not have to do everything and as such, I have a responsibility to delegate activities to other members. Also, my experience working in a group has helped me understand my role in the business world. For instance, I learned the importance of completing tasks on time and I believe this lesson will be instrumental while completing projects in my career. And then, working as a team has improved my communication skills and the way I handle differences in opinions. It is noteworthy that success in any career is highly dependent on one’s ability to articulate ideas clearly. Consequently, I am convinced my improved communication skills will help me to deliver value to my employer and propel me towards the future of my dreams.
