Term paper on Culture

Culture Essays

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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...

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