How to manage cross culture

The cultural dimensions theory was developed by Geert Hofstede. This idea offers a methodical way to assess how different nations and cultures differ from one another. Hofstede contends that value can be viewed from six various cultural vantage points. People are able to discern between nations based on their cultural differences because to the dimensions. He claims that this allows for a comparison of civilizations between two or more countries. The cultural distinctions between Japan and India are also discussed in this discursive essay. In this essay, using the Hofstede cultural dimensions hypothesis this paper to distinguish the two cultures found in these countries. As well, it discusses the various potential problems that might arise for people from these two countries doing business with one another.

Japan is an island nation located in Pacific sea, and it has a different culture compared to India. India is South Asian country, globally known as the seventh largest country in the world. The first viewpoint of differentiating cultures between these nations is Power Distance Index. This dimension determines the extent to which the disadvantaged individuals in a society believe that power is unequally distributed. It also measures how foundations recognize and think that power is appropriated unequally. According to Hofstede theory, India has the highest Power Distance of 77 compared to all countries in the world (Hamilton, D. L. 2015, 32).  The global average power distance according to Hofstede statistics is 56.5. Japan, on the hand, has a Power Distance Index of 54. Comparing these two countries, it is evident that India has a higher PDI. This suggests that in India, hierarchical structures of business are highly valued. The employees expect the employers to direct them on what they should do in the business organization. In a comparison of the two countries’ culture, it is evident that a more significant percentage of people (including the employees) feel that power is unequally distributed (Ash, E., & Brown, E. 2015, 32).

The cultural differences have various impacts on behavior in organizations. It is worth comparing the multiple ways in which cultural perspectives such as Power Distance impact on actions. In Japan, the organizational subordinates believe that people in the higher ranks should be respected and whatever they say should arguably be final. Compared to Japan culture, assistants see their bosses as colleagues who they can share ideas with and debate their choices. In countries like Japan, where power distance is high, the child is expected not question the opinions of the older individuals. Failure to abide by the culture might be taken as an indication of lack of respect, and as a child, one is expected to take what is given to him or her. In spite of the fact that nations are positioned along an inclination, and it is all comparative, Asian nations, including India, have high Power distance.

The next dimension covered in Hofstede theory is Indulgence vs. Restraint. This aspect measures a culture's capacity to fulfill the immediate needs and individual wants of its individuals. In Japan, The indulgence score is at 42, which means that the Japanese culture encourages cynicism hence people have a weak control of their desires and impulses. In a business organization where such individuals are, leisure time is not emphasized. The same applies to India where the culture is restraint. India has a lower score of 36. Hofstede stresses that the social dimensions are just structures designed to help survey a given cultural aspect and in this manner better guide central leadership. There are different variables to think about, for example, identity, family history, and individual resources. The proposed dimensions cannot foresee singular practices and do not consider unique characters.

The next dimension covered in Hofstede theory is Masculinity vs. Femininity. This measurement depicts the level of significance a culture puts on characteristically male esteems, for example, decisiveness, desire, power, and realism and typically female esteem, for example, an accentuation on human connections (Valiquette-tessier et al. ,2010,97). Both India and Japan are masculine countries. Japan leads with a score of 91 while India has a score of 56. Societies that are high on the masculinity scale in most cases have more unmistakable contrasts amongst genders and tend to be more focused and aspiring. The masculine countries mainly believe that the material gains are accurate validations of success and achievement. Those that score low on this measurement have fewer disparities amongst sexual orientations and place a higher encouragement on relationship building.

The fourth dimension covered by Hofstede theory is Uncertainty-Avoidance index. This is a dimension that measures the way a general public manages difficult circumstances, sudden occasions, and the worry of progress Japan is the leading uncertainty avoidance country in the world. It has a score of 92. The state has the highest score because it continually experiences frequent natural calamities, hence the need for proper preparation (Romanenko, 2012, 82). Societies that score high on this record are less tolerant of progress and tend to limit the nervousness of the incomprehensible by actualizing inflexible guidelines, directions, or potentially laws. India has a low score of 60. This means that the country is not highly prepared to encounter the uncertainties compared to Japan. Businesses operated in nations with higher uncertainty-avoidance index are more likely to be compensated for any loss, should there be the presence of unexpected occurrences. Countries that score low on this record are more open to change and have fewer standards and laws and to some extent democratic rules.

The fifth dimension hypothesized by Hofstede is Long-term Orientation vs. Short-term Orientation. This aspect portrays a general public's chance skyline. The dimension tries to access the manner in which a county relates to its past experiences while attacking the current problem. This implies the past and the present are interconnected and that which is impossible today should be possible tomorrow. Japanese has a high score of 88. This means that Japanese view their lives in a shorter period. India, on the other hand, has a score of 51. The Indian culture is profoundly grounded in religion, and they believe in Karma. In countries where individuals view their lives in a shorter term, they cannot have long-term business goals or programs. The Japanese view their lives in a shorter period due to the occurrences of tornadoes, earthquakes, and other natural calamities. These natural disasters kill people.

Hofstede’s last cultural dimension is Individualism vs. Collectivism. This feature has no political implication and alludes to the crowd instead of the person. Societies that promote individualism expect their citizens to progress independently. This does not happen in communities that embrace communism. In collectivist societies, the goals of the groups and its prosperity are esteemed over those of the person. The Japanese culture stresses both individualistic and collectivistic ideologies. India has a sore of 48. Japan, on the other hand, embraces collectivistic approaches and group work is mainly encouraged. This dimension gives a clear difference between these countries cultures. Japan scores 46 in matters regarding collectivism and individualism (Burgers, C. and Beukeboom, C. 2014, 09).

Various potential problems might arise for people from these two cultures (Japanese culture and Indian Culture) doing business with one another. The first issue is the language barrier. It is difficult for people of different languages to communicate if they do not have a common language. In a situation when citizens from both countries want to trade with another, all of the must have a common language to speak. Challenges arise when the individuals do not have a standard language hence cannot talk to one another. The next issue is on the non-verbal cues. Different cultures have different non- verbal cues and a failure for one to know these, he/she cannot do business well (Tekin, H., & Tekdogan, O. 2015, 14). The Japanese have some verbal-cues not practiced in India. When such individuals want to trade with one another, all of them must know the non-verbal cues. The verbal and non-verbal cues vary across cultures, and they have impacts on managers.

The international managers working in different countries with different cultures face some challenges. The managers working in such countries, therefore, need to understand the new culture fully. For instance, when a manager runs a business in India, he/she is expected to adhere to Indian culture. The customers value their cultural beliefs hence the business practices should conform to them. For instance, there is some food not eaten by the Indians. When a manager wants to include those commodities in business, he /she may dictate by the Indian culture not to do so.

Most international business managers perform well in culturally diverse business yet there is dependably the issue of a communication gap in the new market. The communication gap is challenging to manage. Hence it quires proper planning. The business materials must have the capacity to build up an appropriate supplementary arrangement and system to challenge this issue, and this must be done before starting the business operations. Such communication gaps majorly result from the different dialects and reactions from societies in which the business are operated.

Stereotyping

Stereotyping is the act of generalizing a particular idea concerning an individual or place to the general group. Stereotypes may involve a person’s gender, race, activity, location or religion. There are some stereotypes, whereby their type are based on the individual subjects. Generalizations form part of our daily existence. We hear generalized statements consistently and all over. It is worth saying that people have adopted most stereotypes as facts. Such individuals cannot, therefore, agree to ignore such stereotypes. This paper talks more about an example of stereotyping; cultural stereotyping. Cultural stereotypes are present in the modern world. Such stereotypes have a greater influence on people’s social lives and how they interact with other people.

Cultural stereotyping involves the generalization of individuals’ cultures. People who believe in those stereotypes may either say bad or good things about a certain culture. An individual will either appreciate or discriminate other people’s cultures based on their beliefs. Stereotypes create assumptions which may lead to barriers in communication. This mainly occurs through prejudgment (Cavusgil, et al 2015, 07). An individual will therefore not learn more about other peoples’ culture because they already believe in particular stereotypes. An excellent example of a cultural stereotype is the belief that all African Americans live in the poor living neighborhood. When an individual has such a mindset, he/she will not accept to learn more about the African Americans culture and get the facts right.

Cultural stereotyping is not a good thing. It creates assumptions which may divide people along cultures. An individual will, therefore, think that his or her culture is supreme compared to other peoples cultures. Cultural stereotypes disrupt organizations operations. This may happen when an employee judges the employer regarding his or her culture. In a company or business organization, cultural stereotypes are not accepted, though, in some cases they find themselves in. When an employer on the hand believes that people from a particular region or part of the country are bad in a certain way, he or she may not be willing to employ them. This, therefore denies the individuals who believe in a specific culture, an opportunity to serve in such companies or business.

A good is an illustration that is worth considering is when we search for a specific address in a new city. When we stroll in the city, for example, just to get to a specific address, we will most likely be unable to tell what number of hairstyling parlors we go amid our adventure. In any case, if we stroll on a similar road to discover one, our thought is tuned to see the barbershops' signs hanging over the walkers. Cultural stereotyping work similarly: they concentrate individual’s thought on specific highlights and offer final judgment. In this case, people will, therefore, quickly remember certain information about a particular group of individuals when they set their eyes on them.

If an individual believes that people from a specific culture are rude, for instance, there is less probability of them having an effective communication. This will, therefore, act as a barrier to communication between the individual (Fields, C. 2016, 72). s. A good example where such communications may be interrupted is in the interview process. When there is an interview process, and the interviewer has particular generalization on interviewee’s attitudes or behaviors, they may not consider the interviewee for the job. It is not in any way, good for a person to lose the chance at the workplace because the interviewers believed on certain stereotypes.

The stereotype is a barrier to intercultural communication. When individuals from different cultures interact, they share various ideas. When an individual makes assumptions on a particular person based on his/her tribe or culture, then such interactions lack effective communication (Fiedler, K. 2015, 50). Stereotypes are basically, assumptions which lack strong basic background. An individual will, therefore, believe what the parents or grandparents told him/her concerning a particular culture. The social sciences stress that there is no superior culture. All cultures are equal. Maybe an individual would think that he /she is coming from a higher cultural background compared to the other person. Such thoughts or beliefs are not true. For people to interact freely and have communication without any form of intimidation or discrimination, then such stereotypes should not be embraced (Willink, R. 2013, 34).

The next concept is that most stereotypes are passed from one generation to the other. It, therefore, becomes impossible for an individual to abandon them. People believe that such beliefs are inborn and failure to understand them means one is defying the social orders. Stereotypes can be classified into types, namely: positive stereotypes and negatives stereotypes. The positive stereotypes are that do not have adverse effects on the population. For instance, if a person believes that everyone from a particular country is collaborative and loving, this may be a beneficial stereotype (Nelson, T. D. 2009, 98). This stereotype promotes peace amongst the individuals and people from different cultural backgrounds will try as much as possible to associate with them. Peaceful coexistence of people from diverse cultural backgrounds is an essential determinant for peace. Societies that are in good terms with their neighbors enjoy peaceful trade and shared ideas. Though positive stereotypes are good, they may have various setbacks. For instance, when people believe that a certain community has skilled lawyers, such believes can lead to demoralization when the hired individuals cannot offer the required services.

The next type of stereotype is called a negative stereotype. This occurs when an individual has a negative or bad thought regarding an issue. For example, when a society member believes that the presence of visitors in their homesteads is a bad omen. This happens in particular countries who are still deeply-rooted in their cultures. In individual communities, people from different cultures or ethnic groups are not allowed to associate with the society members (Minkov, M. and Hofstede, G. 2010, 86). They do not accept visitors who do not know their norms. There are some examples which can be used to describe negative stereotypes. The next crucial example related to cross-cultural practices is stereotyped concerning the cross-cultural marriages. This happens upon to date when society members do not allow intercultural marriages.

The cultural practices in African countries offer an excellent case study. There are some communities in these countries, who believe that intermarriages lead to erosion of original cultures (de Mooij, M. and Hofstede, G. 2010, 53). This is a stereotype carried from one generation to another. Individuals from one community will therefore not have the opportunity to marry people from a particular community. When communities believe that individuals from a certain region possess bad habits or characters, they do not allow their members to marry such individuals. Such believes to challenges when it comes to trade and other sporting activities. Trade and other events such sports cannot occur in such communities because people have different assumptions against another (Armenta, B. 2010, 45).

Stereotyping, therefore, brings a lot of challenges to society. Some social scientists argue that stereotyping is difficult to ignore in a community. To some extent, this is an argument is true because most of these beliefs are inborn. Children are born and their parents start instilling such believes on them when they are. Form their childhood up to adulthood; they will only accept what their parents have taught them concerning a certain community or individuals from a specific cultural group. It is also true to say that stereotyping may lead to ethnocentrism in society (Burgers, C. and Beukeboom, C. 2014, 09). This is a belief that an individual has a greater culture compared to the rest. An individual will, therefore, boasts of their “superior” culture thus ignoring the culture embraced by other people. It comes from generalization that one’s culture is the perfect of all cultures in society. People who possess such thoughts cannot, therefore, allow others to express themselves or teach them essential elements of their culture. As these happen, it may be difficult for a manager who believes in a particular stereotype to work in another society comfortably.

If, for instance, a manager believes that people located in a particular part of the country are lazy, he may /she may find it difficult to work with such people. When he/she starts a business in those places, such stereotypes may prevent him/her from active collaboration with the clients. Individual living in such areas can be viewed in two perspectives; first, as customers and second, as potential employees (Merkin, R. S. 2018, 54) Therefore, an individual who has a negative attitude towards them due to a particular stereotype may not have a thriving business in such areas. This means that he/she will be judging both customers and managers negatively.

Finally, stereotypes can be good and evil. For instance, it can be a huge obstacle to effective communication when the parties involved in such interactions believe negatively towards others. It is also a bad idea for people judge others based on the assumptions which do not have adequate support. Such quick judgments lead to racisms, tribalism, and corruption. Through globalization, people of different cultures interact and share ideas. This is acceptable, and the next big thing required of all of them is the abolition of undesirable stereotypes which encourages practices such as wars, conflicts, intimidations, and discrimination.





















References

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