Answer the questions

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 1092.

Text 2

Cultures

As the world gets smaller, we need to learn more about each other's values, habits and expectations. Culture is, in the famous phrase, the way we do things around here. The “here' in question may be a country, a region, a social class, a company, a university. The most common definition of culture is: «it is a set of ideas, beliefs, customs and traditions, habits and expectations that are shared and accepted by people in a society or an organisation».

We live in a set of culturesand subcultures that interlock in complex ways. And one of the most dangerous things is to generalize about them. We are repeatedly warned to beware of generalizations. But it seems that the human mind cannot resist categorizing people and things. We love to 'pigeon-hole', to make order out of a universe that frequently seems to us confusing and even chaotic. Stereotypes are, of course, to be handled with caution. The stereotypemay represent the middle of a range of differing behavious, it may be at one extreme or it may just not be true at all. And there may be more variety in behavior within a culture than between one culture and another.

Neighboring countries or regions, or two companies in the same industry, tend to see themselves as very different to each other, but that difference may be hard for the outsider to grasp at first glance. A few years working in one of the two places will make it seem more apparent, as one gets “involved” in one of the cultures.

The most important cross-culturalor intercultural issues are areas where there are variations in behavior across different countries and there can be the ways they relate to the business world. Here are some examples:

· Religion: Is it expected of people or a matter of individual choice? Does it play a role in business life?

· Roles of men and women: Are women often found at the highest levels of business and society?

· Hierarchy: What is the distance between managers and the people who work for them?

· Levels of formality in language and behaviour: Is there an elaborated system of levels of difference in addressing different people (exchanging business cards, shaking hands and kissing; being formal and informal; giving presents etc.)?

· Conversation and discussion: Settings (formal and informal meetings, social situations, etc.), turn-taking, proximity, body language, contact, accepting interruption, humour, being direct, using first names etc.?

· Dress for different settings and occasions: Is the business suit de rigueur (essential)?

· The relation of work to private life: Are spouses expected to attend certain types of company event? Do businesspeople invite colleagues and contacts to their houses or is everything done in the office and restaurants?

· Time: Timescale of the activity/organisation, planning, punctuality, the working day/week/year, meals, recreation, holidays, etc. Do meetings start on time? Is the summer break sacrosanct?

1) What is “culture”?

2) Why stereotypes can be dangerous?

3) Which of the mentioned intercultural issues is the most important for business people?

4) Why should we learn more about different cultures?