I have a daily question thats due

Graded.txtweek2quest2.docx

Home >Psychology homework help >I have a daily question thats due

4.0 Points Possible. Mar 15, 2018 7:19 PM

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Cross-Cultural Communication in the Workplace

The American workplace can be very diverse, composed of people of different genders, races, ethnicities, and religions all working together. In fact, the United States is oftentimes considered to have some of the most culturally diverse workplaces. To help you with this discussion, review the “Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context” article to read about Professor Geert Hofstede’s research into the six dimensions of national cultures. Next, visit the The 6-D Model of National Culture webpage to look at how the dimensions of national culture in the United States compare to those of other countries.

The multi-cultural workplace provides a lot of benefits through diverse viewpoints and experiences that are brought to the table. However, it can also present us with unique workplace challenges, particularly in regard to cross-cultural communication. In order to understand more about how miscommunications can happen in cross-cultural interactions, please also watch the Intercultural Communication Adventure with Little Pilot video and read “Cultural Communication Barriers in the Workplace.”

Based on the websites, video, and article, please address the following:

On Hofstede’s The 6-D Model of National Culture webpage, select a country of your choice and compare it to the United States on three of the six dimensions of national cultures. For each of those three dimensions chosen, answer the following questions:

How is the dimension defined?

Why is this dimension useful to understanding the country’s culture?

How does your country compare to the U.S. on this dimension?

Describe an experience you have had involving cross-cultural communication. What tools did you use to navigate your cross-cultural interaction? Did you confront any misunderstandings due to the cross-cultural nature of the communication? If so, what where they? If not, how were you able to avoid any misunderstandings?

What two techniques or skills do you think would help reduce cross-cultural communication misunderstandings in the workplace?

Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7.

38unread

Philip Lorenzo Mar 13, 2018 1:59 AM

SOC402 Week 2 Discussion 2:

The country I chose to compare to the United States is Mexico. I will be comparing three of the six dimensions of national cultures between the two countries. I will be covering individualism, masculinity and indulgence.

Individualism can be defined as being independent or relying on one’s self and having the freedom to make desired choices. When comparing the individualism dimension between the United States and Mexico they are on different spectrums; the United States scored between a 77 and 91 whereas Mexico scored between a 24 and 32. (The Hofstede Centre, n.d) Based off the scores people in the United States are more individualist compared to a collectivist society in Mexico.

The dimension of masculinity can be defined as a society that is driven by achievements, success and competition. The United States and Mexico scored fairly close in this dimension with the United States scoring between a 60 and 62 and Mexico scoring between a 63 and 73. (The Hofstede Centre, n.d) Both countries scored fairly high on being a masculine society where expected emotional gender roles play a huge part in society.

Indulgent societies can be defined as a society that is free spirited, enjoys life and is about having fun. Both the United States and Mexico scored fairly high in the indulgent cultural dimension. The United States scored between a 294 and 320 and Mexico scored between 329 and 425. (The Hofstede Centre, n.d) Both societies see the importance of friends, having fun and living life. Both countries like to party.

I have had many involvements with cross-cultural communications, being in the Air Force has brought me to several different countries. In my experience I had to deal with cross-cultural communications where English was not the prominent language spoken, luckily I was always accompanied with a translator or someone who was somewhat versed in different languages. When I was not with a translator or someone who knew the language, the use of sign language, pictures and Google translator helped avoid any misunderstandings.

To help reduce cross-cultural communication misunderstandings employers and employees can expand the work place’s cultural competency by being committed to expanding their knowledge about the different cultures in their organization. To help with expanding everyone’s knowledge and understanding about different cultures; I think having a week or month to promote diversity where employers and employees can highlight their nationality and share their customs, food and culture with everyone in the organization would help.

References:

The Hofstede Centre. (n.d.). The 6 dimensions model of national culture (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Retrieved from http://geerthofstede.com/culture-geert-hofstede-gert-jan-hofstede/6d-model-of-national-culture/

Patricia Pieart Mar 13, 2018 10:31 AM

Week Two, Discussion Two

Cultural barriers

Power distance is defined as “different solutions to basic problems of human equality” (Hofstede, 2011, page 8). All societies are unequal in terms of power. Eastern European countries, Latin, Asian, and African countries are high power distance countries. German and Western countries are low power distance countries (Hofstede, 2011, page 10). China is a large power distance country. Characteristics include: teaching children obedience, respecting and fearing older people, and subordinates are expected to do as they are told (Hofstede, 2011, page 9). The United States is an example of a small power distance country. Characteristics include: treating children as equals, neither respecting or fearing older people, and subordinates expect to be consulted (Hofstede, 2011, page 9). Understanding the power distance orientation can be beneficial in the workplace because cultures have a different set of guidelines to govern appropriate behaviors and discrepancies can be resolved with more ease when you have knowledge of other cultures beliefs.

Collectivism refers to societies that function as a society as opposed to individually. Individualism refers to societies who look after themselves. Collectivism is common among less developed countries and Eastern countries. Individualism is common in developed countries and Western countries (Hofstede, 2011, page 12). China is a collectivist country. Characteristics include: a stress of belonging, a ‘we’ consciousness, a belief that harmony must be maintained, and an avoidance of using the word ‘I.” The United States is an individualist country. Characteristics include: an emphasis on privacy, an ‘I’ consciousness, a belief that speaking your mind is healthy, and an emphasis on ‘I’ in language (Hofstede, 2011, page 11). Individualists often have loose ties where everyone takes care of themselves and collectivists have strong cohesion in their in-groups; this can be beneficial in having a deeper understanding of why people work and behave as they do (Hofstede, 2011, page 11). Understanding one’s cultural background in the workplace can help the employer understand the employees work ethics.

Uncertainty Avoidance distance is defined as “the level of stress in a society in the face of an unknown future” (Hofstede, 2011, page 8). East and Central European countries are higher on the uncertainty Avoidance orientation. English speaking, Nordic and Chinese cultures are low on the uncertainty Avoidance orientation (Hofstede, 2011, page 11). Russia has a strong uncertainty avoidance orientation. Characteristics include: a need for clarity and structure, staying in jobs they dislike, and lower scores on health and well-being. The United States has a weak uncertainty avoidance orientation. Characteristics include: comfort with chaos and ambiguity, changing jobs, and higher scores on health and well-being (Hofstede, 2011, page 10). Employers can benefit from understanding this orientation because stress levels, emotionality, and anxiety are higher in Russian cultures. They have a need for clarity and rules, even if they are not followed (Hofstede, 2011, page 10). This would help to explain their work ethic when problems arise.

An experiment that comes to mind involving cross-cultural communication is when I called Verizon with a phone problem. The person on the other end had a very strong accent. This was a very frustrating conversation. I had to ask the person on the other end to repeat things many times. Not only were they frustrated, but so was I. I eventually asked for an English-speaking person because I simply could not understand them. I ended up talking to someone else who also had a foreign accent, but they were very patient with me and spoke slowly to improve our communication. Now when I have a problem, I use the online chat option.

Employers need to be willing to understand cultural diversity in the workplace. Gaining cultural intelligence to improve communication is a key aspect in running a business and supporting the workers. Employers could do research into different cultural backgrounds, provide interpreters, ask the employee about their culture, and manage problems that arise. Problems that occur due to language barriers, stereotypes, behavior differences, and emotionality can be managed more effectively by becoming culturally intelligent (Penn, paragraphs 2-5).

References

Hofstede, G. (2011, December 1). Dimensionalizing cultures: The Hofstede model in context. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). Retrieved from: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=http://geerthofstede.com/culture-geert-hofsted e-fert-jan-hofstede/definition-culture/&httpsredir=1&article=1014&context=orpc.

Penn, S. (n.d.). Cultural communication barriers in the workplace. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/cultural-communication-barriers-workplace-13888.html.

Stephen Lyons Mar 14, 2018 2:09 AM

The country I chose to compare is Germany. The 3 dimensions are as follows:

Collectivism-Individualism: This dismension studies integration of individuals into primary groups. (Hofstede, 2011) Germany’s results ranked very similar to the U.S. Both of them were at the top of the individualist spectrum with the U.S. just barely higher. This is typically common in developed and Western countries. Individualist societies emulate an “I” mentality and focus primarliy on themselves and immediate family. Hofstede found that individualism scores were closely linked to a countries national wealth. This can be useful in understanding the countries culture because wealth leads to individualism (Hofstede, 2001) and if a country is higher on this index, we could assume they have established schools, hospitals, police forces etc.

Power Distance- This index was also very similar. Both scored rather low on this index which is often the case with these societies. Power distance is basically how much unequally shared power a culture will accept. This can be useful in understanding the countries culture because places like N. Korea or Iran you can understand the power lies with the State and the people are at their mercy. Other countries like the U.S. and Germany lower scores ofen reject inequality among their population.

Masculinity- “refers to the distribution of values between the genders” (Hofstede, 2011, pg 12). Both countries landed somewhere in the upper middle of the scale, with Germany scoring slighty higher. This means they are often driven by success and somewhat assertive and competitive in nature. This can be useful in understanding the countries culture because understanding, things likes their established gender roles, can go a long way in communication and not offending them.

The workforce in America, especially in the global markets, is just as diverse as many of the settings I have been around overseas in the militray. One cross cultural communicatoin experience I had was last year working in the Middle East. We worked side by side with the foreign nation’s Air Force maintaining a fleet of small aircraft. Everything from their pace of work, food and prayer differences, as well as the language was all barriers between us at first. They spoke some Enlish but a lot had to be translated by their supervisors. We did our best to avoid misunderstandings by not offending ayone and adopting to their customs and curtesoies.

One technique to avoid communication misunderstandings in the workplace would be to eliminate any potential language barriers. Language barriers are often reflected in the use of idioms and jargon, which can fuel misunderstandings (Korgen, Korgen, Giraffe, 2015). Another technique would be to promote empathy and understanding for all cultures. Provide education to all employees so that everyone can better understand one another.

Reference:

Hofstede, G. (2011, December 1), Dimensionalizing cultures: The Hofstede model in context. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). Retrieved from: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=http://geerthofstede.com/culture-geert-hofsted e-fert-jan-hofstede/definition-culture/&httpsredir=1&article=1014&context=orpc

Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations across Nations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage (co-published in the PRC as Vol. 10 in the Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press SFLEP Intercultural Communication Reference Series, 2008)

Korgen, K. O., Korgen, J. O., & Giraffe, V. (2015). Social issues in the workplace (2nd ed.) [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/.

Penn, S. (n.d.). Cultural communication barriers in the workplace (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/cultural-communication-barriers-workplace-13888.html

Robert Proffit Mar 14, 2018 2:30 PM

Week 2 Discussion 2

-On Hofstede’s The 6-D Model of National Culture webpage, select a country of your choice and compare it to the United States on three of the six dimensions of national cultures.

For this week’s discussion topic I have chosen to compare the United States against Mexico utilizing Hofstede’s the 6-D Model of National Culture webpage. The three dimensions that I have chosen are Individualism, Masculinity, and Indulgence.

-For each of those three dimensions chosen, answer the following questions:

How is the dimension defined?

-Individualism is defined as, “the extent to which people feel independent, as opposed to being interdependent as members of larger wholes” (The Hofstede Centre).

-Masculinity is defined as, “the extent to which the use of force is endorsed socially” (The Hofstede Centre)

-Indulgence is defined as, “the good things in life” (The Hofstede Centre)

Why is this dimension useful to understanding the country’s culture?

When looking at Mexico’s individualism on the world map it is useful in understanding the country’s culture as you can see that the majority of the country is more towards the collectivist dimension.

When looking at Mexico’s masculinity on the world map it is useful in understanding the country’s culture as you can see that the country is used to force being endorsed socially.

When looking at Mexico’s indulgence on the world map it is useful in understanding the country’s culture as you can see that the country is more on the indulgent dimension.

How does your country compare to the U.S. on this dimension?

When comparing Mexico to the United States when it comes to the individualism dimension Mexico’s people feel much more as members of larger wholes, whereas the United States’ people feel independent.

When comparing Mexico to the United States when it comes to the masculinity dimension, Mexico’s people feel that the use of force is much more socially endorsed when compared to the United States.

When comparing Mexico to the United States when it comes to the indulgence dimension, Mexico’s people seem to be more about the good things in life as compared to the United States.

Describe an experience you have had involving cross-cultural interaction. What tools did you use to navigate your cross-cultural interaction? Did you confront any misunderstandings due to the cross-cultural nature of the communication? If so, what where they? If not, how were you able to avoid any misunderstandings?

Years ago I was in charge of training a junior worker. Almost immediately I realized that the training of this individual was not going to be our hurdle, but rather a language barrier. For this particular block of training I was responsible to train this individual on memorization, and part of the memorization was a song. Due to the language barrier we seemed to hit wall after wall for him to memorize the song. To assist this individual in memorizing and to further avoid any misunderstandings I asked the individual to sing the song in their native language. I asked this because the individual could speak English just fine, but had a bit of trouble translating English well enough to memorize. Almost immediately they were able to memorize the song in their own language and subsequently English.

References:

-Korgen, K. O., Korgen, J. O., & Giraffe, V. (2015). Social issues in the workplace (2nd ed.) Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

- The Hofstede Centre. (n.d.). The 6 dimensions model of national culture. Retrieved from http://geerthofstede.com/culture-geert-hofstede-gert-jan-hofstede/6d-model-of-national-culture/

unread

Reubon Kelly Mar 15, 2018 3:06 PM

On Hofstede’s Countries webpage, select a country of your choice and compare it to the United States on three of the six dimensions of national cultures. For each of those three dimensions chosen, answer the following questions:

I selected Australia from Hofstede’s country webpage because I have thought about moving there from time to time. I have been there a few times and love the people and the culture. They are very much like us in a lot of ways and it is almost like be in America when you are in their major cities. I will compare Australia to United States and the three dimensions I have chosen are Power Distance, Individualism and Indulgence. I chose these because the two countries are so much alike it will be interesting to see the little differences between the two.

How is the dimension defined?

“ The extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally ” (The Hofstede Centre, n.d.).

Why is this dimension useful to understanding the country’s culture?

It helps you see that the people in Australia try to treat everyone equally. “Within Australian organizations, hierarchy is established for convenience, superiors are always accessible and managers rely on individual employees and teams for their expertise” (The Hofstede Centre, n.d.).

How does your country compare to the U.S. on this dimension?

Australia scored a thirty-six and the United States scored a forty. This shows that the two countries are not far from being different when it comes to equalities for individual rights.

Being a veteran, I have seen and been in many cross-cultural Communications. For example, when I was in Korea we had to have Korean soldiers called KATUSA’s assigned to our units so they could assist us when communicating with the Korean nationals. It helped us to be able to better do our jobs over there with them helping us to communicate when needed. Thank goodness I can honestly say that I have never had a misunderstanding with one of them.

What two techniques or skills do you think would help reduce cross-cultural communication misunderstandings in the workplace?

I think that by showing curiosity towards someone’s culture can really help. Having a positive attitude, showing interest in another’s person's culture, and asking questions will most likely end with both you and the other person having a better understanding or perspective of one another and your cultures. It also breaks the ice on having any uncomfortable, silent moments. Although depending on a person’s culture silence can mean and/or be interpreted differently in many different ways. Another way I think cross cultural communication misunderstandings can be avoided is by never assuming you know what a person’s cultural background is, especially when the only interaction you have had with them is seeing them walk into the room or office. It is easy to stereotype someone but it is not easy dealing with the consequences or misunderstandings that occur when you assume you know something about someone. For example, you have a new co-worker that just started two days ago and although you have not had the opportunity to speak with them yet you have already come to the conclusion that they are the same nationality as yourself because from what you can tell they have similar physical features and they dress the same as your culture does. This can distort or alter your expectations of a person. If it were someone who was obviously part of a different culture than you, you would automatically become sensitive to that by being aware that they might do things differently. Assuming anything before getting to know and understand a person can lead to many different misunderstandings and/or mistreatment of a co-worker.

References:

The Hofstede Centre. (n.d.). The 6 dimensions model of national culture (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Retrieved from http://geerthofstede.com/culture-geert-hofstede-gert-jan-hofstede/6d-model-of-national-culture/

Penn, S. (n.d.). Cultural communication barriers in the workplace. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/cultural-communication-barriers-workplace-13888.html.

unread

Angela Slovak Mar 15, 2018 7:19 PM

Week 2 Discussion 2

Select a country of your choice and compare it to the United States on three of the six dimensions of national cultures. For each of those three dimensions chosen, answer the following questions:

I have selected Japan and will compare it to the United States. Three dimensions I chose were: Masculinity/Femininity:

How is the dimension defined? This is about the emotional roles in the workplace between men and women.

Why is this dimension useful to understanding the country’s culture? This dimension is useful because it helps to reveal what the culture’s values.

How does your country compare to the U.S. on this dimension? Japan is considered to be a very masculine society which means that there is a big difference in roles between men and women and women are seen more as for the family and are not typically in leadership roles. The United States is on the higher end leaning towards masculinity but not as high as Japan. In our country, it is not uncommon to have career women in leadership roles and this is becoming more the norm in recent days.

Weak/Strong Uncertainty Avoidance:

How is the dimension defined? This is the society’s stress level in relation to their future.

Why is this dimension useful to understanding the country’s culture? This is helpful in understanding a society’s norms for coping with stress. It can be either laid back or high strung.

How does your country compare to the U.S. on this dimension? Japan is has a strong uncertainty avoidance while the United States is on the lower end and has a weak uncertainty avoidance.

Individual/Collectivism:

How is the dimension defined? How individuals are worked into groups.

Why is this dimension useful to understanding the country’s culture? This is helpful to determine whether the culture is more focused on “I” or “we” in the work environment.

How does your country compare to the U.S. on this dimension? Japan is considered to be middle of the road on this one. The United States is very high in individualism which means we are all about equal rights especially in the work place (Hofsted, 2011).

I personally haven’t had this issue in the workplace, but my husband recently took a job with a Japanese company and works very closely with them every day. He works in sales and has learned that work ethic and expectations are very different. The Japanese work a lot of hours and push for more work from their American employees. Some of his supervisors have not been home to see their families in over 2 years and it is not uncommon for them to put in 60-70 hour work weeks. Communication can be a challenge because of the language barrier as well as with the differences in work ethics. My husband says that keeping communication simple has been helpful for him.

What two techniques or skills do you think would help reduce cross-cultural communication misunderstandings in the workplace?

The first skill to help reduce communication misunderstandings would be to not stereotype in a negative way. It is important to understand different cultures but still get to know each co-worker as an individual not just their cultural norms. Another skill would be to gain understandings about their behavior differences and emotional display. An example of this would be that some cultures find it acceptable to talk down to or use anger towards each other (Penn, n.d.).

References:

Hofsted, G. (2011, December 1), Dimensionalizing cultures: The Hofstede model in contextPreview the document. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). Retrieved from: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=http://geerthofstede.com/culture-geert-hofsted e-fert-jan-hofstede/definition-culture/&httpsredir=1&article=1014&context=orpc

unread