CULTURE AND GLOBALIZATION

Culture and Globalization



Culture and Globalization

Introduction

Globalization is a phenomenon that is in vogue nowadays. In this rapidly changing world, to succeed it is imperative for an organization to adopt the phenomenon of globalization. On one hand, globalization cultivates scores of benefits for the organization. On the other hand, it also generates various dilemmas for management. This phenomenon of globalization presents challenges of understanding and managing different facets of cross-culture. According to Stephen Roberts:

Culture is the framework in which we communicate

This suggests that various factors give rise to the various problems of cross-cultural. These factors include language, environment, technology, social organization, the perception of authority and nonverbal communications. Having the ability to assess these variables is vital in ensuring for managers to convey messages and conduct business across a wide range of cultures.

Discussion

Culture

Culture is a shared set of meanings among community of people who develop a common model from shared experiences (Zapf 1991, 106). So, from this statement of Zapf one can say that culture for a different region must be different. This difference of culture plays a vital part in conducting the business smoothly while operating in multicultural teams.

Every country of the world has a distinct culture of its own. People living in a particular country relate to the norms and values of the society. There are values that are drastically different in various cultures and societies. The dressing pattern, languages spoken, colours, buildings, architecture et al differ in different cultures. People to America have different values as compared to the values in Russia. With globalization taking roots in the world economy and people having access to TV channels of the world, the whole planet has shrunk. People all over the world are now exposed to all sorts of cultures and values starting right from the very bizarre to very classic and highly educated. No one can now stay in complete isolation from other cultures and their impact. Now culture cannot be seen in complete isolation from the rest of the world. The mingling of cultures has given way to a new phenomenon of cross cultures where a blend of indigenous or local and alien or foreign values portray a unique picture where some values are common among all yet each one of them differ in various ways.

Theoretical Models for Analyzing Cultural Differences

According to the scenario that is given in the case it is significant to conduct an analysis of the differences of culture. The primary reason for study culture is to help organizations better understand the variations of job stress for people with different backgrounds. Existing cultural theories have been adopted to guide cross-cultural research on the management of cultural differences (e.g., Liu, 2003).

Hofstede's Dimension of Culture

The theory of Geert Hofstede is the theory that is most famous and frequently quoted concerning culture. Hofstede conducted a study. In the study that he conducted, he analyzed how difference of culture can affect the work practices. He devised four different cultural ...