FREE ESSAY ON CULTURE

CULTURE

Culture exists in every society. It is the specific learned norms based on attitudes,
values and beliefs. Culture is often based on long standing traditions that have been
passed from elders to the younger generation. It can be evolved through societal and
religious influences. Changing culture, though difficult, can be done through choice or
imposition. When culture are isolated they tend to stabilize and change is slow or
ceases. When culture makes contact with other cultures, a type of cultural borrowing
takes place and is more prominent when languages are similar or identical. Culture not
only influences daily life but also effects business transactions that take place in that
community. Because culture can vary from country to country and even area to area doing
business in a foreign country can cause complications for even the best of business
managers. 
The culture of the country a company does business in can and will effect many of the
business decisions that the company has to make. Cultures are made up of group
affiliations. Ascribed group memberships include those based on gender, family age, caste
and ethnic/racial/nation backgrounds, they are determined at birth. Acquired group
memberships are not determined at birth and include religion, political affiliation and
professional and other associations. These affiliations often reflect the status the
individual has in the country's class system. Therefore manager's must make themselves
aware of the implications certain positions will have and target those job vacancies to
the appropriate groups or they must be aware that their products will appeal to only a
certain segment of the population of the country and determine who that segment is.
Another way that culture has effect on business decisions is the concept of competence.
Some countries feel that competence should be highly rewarded while others feel that
seniority or some other quality is more important when determining promotions or hiring.
Some countries legalize their cultural beliefs through laws regarding hiring and they too
must be taken into consideration when making business decisions in a foreign country.
Cultural attitudes towards the importance of work vary from country to country and impact
the management styles, product demand and levels of economic development. The reasons why
people work and how hard they work changes from area to area. Some work harder than they
need to make more money to purchase luxuries that are sought in that culture. Other
cultures take a more laid back approach to working. Often as economic gains are achieved
attitudes change, workers often do less work when incomes are raised. If workers believe
that they will be rewarded when they succeed and is there is uncertainty of success. Some
countries value high need achievers, or people who work very hard to achieve material
success or career success even if it negatively effects their social/family
relationships. Other countries however, place a higher value on the relationships one has
with their family and their friends than the success they achieve at work. Some cultures
differ as well in their ranking their physiological, security, affiliation, esteem and
self actualization needs. They may feel that activities that satisfy their self
actualization needs are more important than activities that ensure their security needs
are achieved. Businesses must be aware of these factors for many of the decisions they
must make in order to be successful in that market.
Different cultures differ in the way they view occupations and the relationships between
employer and employee. Many cultures view certain jobs as the best jobs, but these jobs
deviate from country to country or culture to culture. Some cultures also find it
demeaning to work for a boss while others feel that it is important to be part of an
organization. Some cultures use autocratic styles of management, while others use
consultative. Another area of concern is the degree of uncertainty regarding rules and
effects on the company. Some cultures want to know the specific guidelines and rules of
the organization and how breaking them could effect the company. They also plan to work
for companies for a long time. Other cultures do not have as much loyalty to the company
or their rules. Some cultures trust easily while others spend lot's of money on
monitoring other's actions and making contracts to ensure compliance. Cultures that
believe in self determination, rather than fatalism will work hard to achieve their
goals. In several countries they have a very collectivist culture and work for the group
instead of individual rewards. These variables all impact the success or failure of the
company in it's endeavors in a foreign market and an organization must be very aware of
these issues to ensure a smooth transition.
Language, both silent and vocal, reflect the environment of the society. Language in
itself is a unifying force. Translating a language into another can be difficult because
of varying environmental factors. Words in different cultures also may have different
meanings, so a phrase that is socially acceptable in one culture would be unacceptable in
it's translation to another culture. Languages such as English, French and Spanish are
widely accepted and often people who speak these languages are not motivated to learn new
ones. Silent language is when messages are exchanged through nonverbal cues like colours,
appropriate distance between people, time, status cues and body language. When meeting
with foreign cultures a business person must be very aware of what is acceptable or not
acceptable to certify that they do not insult their prospective partners or customers.
Many countries deviate in the way that the receive and process information. Some cultures
require broad information while other's want more focused relevant information. Many
cultures are comfortable with dealing with many tasks while others want to handle one at
a time. In numerous countries national norms hold that principal issues should be handled
first while other cultures require small issues be cleared up before the main ones. If a
company is going to operate successfully in an international capacity they must be
attentive of the process of communicating and problem solving. 
As Canadian business people one has to understand the differences between our culture and
the cultures of foreign markets. Canadians are very self determinate in their approach to
business, and pay less attention to the effects of fate. We usually have a scheduled
approach to tasks and take one task at a time, rather than multi-task. We are also time
and task oriented, a Canadian business man might stay late to work on a task that was
supposed to be accomplished by 5 PM while other cultures will leave the office early to
have dinner with their family and finish the project tomorrow. Canadians rarely beat
around the bush they tend to get straight to the point while other cultures feel that it
is more sophisticated to be less blunt. Canadian tend to limit physical closeness to a
pat on the back, while other cultures hug and stand very close to each other, even other
cultures believe that physical touching in any way is inappropriate. Canadians also
recognize and promote individualism. We value the many subcultures that exist in our
society and believe in an individual achieving their goals. Other cultures take a more
group oriented approach to accomplishing goals and achieving recognition.
An example of a foreign culture that many Canadians do business with is the Japanese
culture. The Japanese culture is one that is based on collectivism. People work together
to achieve goals that benefit the group as a whole. Their primary motivation for work is
the honour and welfare of the collective group. Japanese language is very subtle, they
believe that it is very sophisticated to derive the main point from a broad conversation
without having to spell it out. Japanese culture require punctuality for business matters
but allow tardiness for social engagements. The Japanese also place meanings on every
gesture and recognize negative responses through fanning of the right hand in front of
the face and sucking air. Japanese culture also regards individual space as something
that should be maintained at all times and that hand shakes should be weak with a nod of
the head and downcast eyes. The Japanese culture views gift giving as extremely important
and requires business gifts to be exchanged on Jan.1 and July 15 (year-end and mid year).
To the Japanese image is everything so gifts with well known logos are important. Gifts
should not be given in even numbers and never give four of anything. Wrapping should be
done in Japan by a wrapping service as many colours and decorations have significant
meanings for example, white means death and bows are not used. The Japanese also believe
in lavish entertainment and reciprocation. They place high value on seating and will seat
people according to their rank. The Japanese begin business negotiations very formally
but follow their dinners with several trips to the bar, each decreasing in formality. The
Japanese culture is very different from Canadian culture and is an example of how one
culture must be aware of the connotations of another culture when doing business with
them.