HEALTH, CULTURE AND SOCIETY

[Health, culture and society] Formative assignment



[Health, culture and society] Formative assignment

Q1/Ans: The world is becoming smaller and smaller nowadays. Different countries are more closely linked to one another now than ever before. Along with the globalization progress in the world, management is no longer restricted to the domestic territory, but has gone beyond national borders and constantly confronts cultural diversity. Many companies operating in international environments have found it more and more necessary to incorporate management of cross cultures into their global entry strategies (Castillo, 2004 Pp. 34). Differences in approaches, values and expectations between customers, suppliers, employees and team members with different cultural backgrounds have led to many business failures (Adler, 1997 P. 16). In response to this, studies in cross-cultural management have gained considerable attention. Hofstede's (1980) idea of differences in national cultures was widely discusses and also used in industry practitioners training nowadays. Increasing international activity makes additional demands on the skills of those who participate in cross-cultural activities. They are faced with interpreting the actions and attitudes of individuals and organizations operating in contexts quite different from their own. Managers and practitioners must negotiate with groups that have not only different goals but also different methods of reaching them and different expectations of their superior (Cray & Mallory, 1998 Pp. 29). By understanding the impact of cross-cultural differences, managers and practitioners can increase the probability of their business success. Hence there is need for managers to adjust their leadership style when managing across cultures. Their ability to interact effectively in multiple cultures, which has been labelled culture intelligence (CQ), is becoming more important in today's global business world (Crowne, 2008). Ang (2003) also stated that knowing your CQ is essential in achieving personal and professional success.

The tourism and hospitality industry, characterized by cultural and linguistic diversity, constitutes an international phenomenon of global consequence and is undergoing rapid expansion (Dimanche, 1994 PP. 38). Thus, cross-cultural management in this industry can not be ignored. Actually, the researches and application of cross-cultural management and cultural intelligence have been taken in promoting the development of tourism and hospitality industry.

Culture can be defined as a way of life of a group of people, the configuration of all the more or less stereotyped patterns of learned behavior, which is handed down from one generation to the next through the means of language and imitation (Adler, 1997). Hofstede (1980) stated: culture (is) the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another the interactive aggregate of common characteristics that influences a group's response to its environment.

Schein's (1985) definition of culture is a pattern of basic assumptions invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems for external adaptation and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems ...