Dimensions Of Culture

Dimensions Of Culture

Part 1: Cultural Analysis

My Culture

I am a Caucasian American woman living in a multicultural society. My national culture is the American culture, among my neighborhood’s most popular cultures. The American culture includes approaching others to get information. In the business environment, the American culture includes establishing self-reliance and demonstrating initiative. Americans are also open to doing business with people they do not know well as long as they have a shared objective. The culture also includes freely speaking about success and focusing on becoming successful in society (Hofstede Insights, 2021). The American culture values interactions with others to complete tasks in the workplace and maintain productive teams, enabling people to exchange information and ideas. Americans rely on direct communication, which includes speaking clearly and honestly and getting straight to the point. The American culture also includes using informal communication to create rapport. Americans are also open to new ideas and ensure that any new information or idea is verified before it is applied in the workplace. Many Americans also believe in good and evil, thus emphasizing ethical conduct in the workplace and respecting other people’s boundaries (Hofstede Insights, 2021). For example, promotion and hiring are done through merit and considering a candidate’s skills and ability to complete the tasks within the advertised role. The American culture also includes measuring business performance based on quarterly profit and loss statements to maintain short-term reviews. The workplace culture in the American culture includes giving employees the autonomy to implement new ideas without relying on managers and leaders to offer support.

Summary of Chinese and Algerian Cultures

The Chinese culture is characterized by a high regard for authority and observing societal ranks. Sanctions and formal authority influence individuals who practice the Chinese culture and do not have aspirations beyond their rank. The Chinese culture also lacks organizational commitment because personal relationships are considered more important than company relationships and tasks. However, many Chinese prioritize work and are willing to sacrifice their leisure time and families to work. Another characteristic that is evident in the Chinese culture is embracing ambiguity (Hofstede Insights, 2021). Chinese adapt to change fast and have an entrepreneurial spirit. Most of them operate family-owned and medium-sized businesses to generate income rather than seek employment in the corporate world. The Chinese culture also includes an open view of truth. They believe that truth is dictated by time, context, and situation. Chinese also demonstrate the ability to adapt to traditions and changes easily, perseverance in achieving results, thriftiness, and a strong tendency to invest and save. The Chinese culture also restrains individuals by controlling the satisfaction of their desires and putting less emphasis on leisure time (Hofstede Insights, 2021). Social norms influence their actions. The Chinese workplace culture includes observing a hierarchy of command and emphasizing hard work, teamwork, and commitment. Chinese rely on indirect communication to maintain good relationships among colleagues in the workplace and save face during interactions. The official language in the workplace is Chinese, although employees may use English or the language of their geographic region as long as it can be understood by those they are speaking to.

The Algerian culture includes following a hierarchical order where everybody has a rank in society and understands the responsibilities within the rank. According to Hofstede Insights (2021), the hierarchy in the Algerian culture reflects the societal inequalities and differences in power sharing, thus giving authority figures more benefits than other people. The Algerian culture also includes close and early incorporation and long-term commitment to a solid and cohesive group in society. They promote strong relationships where everybody takes accountability for and protects others in society. Loyalty is also vital in the Algerian culture and is linked to the societal rules set by authority figures. The Algerian culture also includes focusing on working to survive and valuing quality, solidarity, and equality at work. Algerians also encourage teamwork at work, and conflicts are handled through negotiation and compromise (Hofstede Insights, 2021). The Algerian culture is also characterized by high uncertainty. Therefore, individuals resist change and are risk-averse. They also observe rigid behavior and codes and do not tolerate unconventional ideas and behavior. The workplace culture in the Algerian culture includes following strict policies, regulations, and laws and following a chain of command. Algerians also demonstrate great respect for authority and focus on achieving results quickly. They put less emphasis on leisure time and control the urge to meet their desires. The Algerian culture is also characterized by indirect communication. Many Algerians use humor to make the conversation interesting and maintain rapport.

Comparison of the three cultures

One of the main differences between the three cultures is that the Algerian and Chinese cultures have a high power distance while the American culture has a low power distance. According to Zhu et al. (2022), high power distance is the degree to which people with less power in a society or company accept and expect power sharing. Cultures with high power distances give more power to a person in authority, and those with low power distances value equal treatment of everybody, including those in power. The second difference is that Algerians and Chinese are collectivists, while American culture is individualist. Collectivist societies create groups to care for people in exchange for their loyalty. Individualist societies require people to take care of themselves and their direct family members. Another difference is that the Algerian culture is feminine, while the American and Chinese cultures are masculine. According to Keith (2013), masculinity is driven by success, achievement, and competition.

Consequently, being feminine includes emphasizing the quality of life and caring for others. Americans mainly focus on improving themselves and their lives by becoming successful. Therefore, assessment tests are vital in improving their performance because they set targets and monitor their progress towards achieving them. Chinese focus on becoming successful and are willing to sacrifice their family and leisure time to achieve success. Algerians focus on the quality of output they give at work, solidarity, and equity.

The Algerian culture has high uncertainty avoidance, while the American and Chinese cultures have low uncertainty avoidance. According to DeWees & Lerner (2020), uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which people from a specific culture feel threatened by indefinite situations and have developed institutions and beliefs that try to avoid such situations. People from the Chinese and American cultures embrace risks and are not afraid to try out new ideas. However, Algerians resist change and do not demonstrate the willingness to take a risk. Another difference between the three cultures is that the Algerian and American cultures do not have a long-term orientation, while the Chinese culture has a long-term orientation. According to Láng (2020), long-term orientation is how a society maintains some connections with its past while handling current and anticipated challenges. Chinese demonstrate the ability to easily adapt to traditions to deal with societal challenges and persevere to achieve results. Algerians focus on accomplishing results within a short time and have a low propensity to save. Americans measure short-term success and focus on immediate success. They also critically analyze any new information to determine whether it is reliable. The three cultures also have different indulgence levels. For example, the American culture is characterized by high indulgence, while the Algerian and Chinese Cultures have low indulgence because they do not emphasize leisure. Another difference is that the American culture uses direct communication, while the Algerian and Chinese cultures use indirect communication. The main similarity between the three cultures is that they embrace teamwork in the workplace and maintain good relationships among colleagues to meet a shared goal.

Part 2: Cultural Value Reaction

• Family

Quantigration Company’s family value states that everyone who works at the company is part of the Quantigration family. This value represents the values of the Algerian and Chinese cultures because they are collectivist cultures. The two cultures promote the development of in-groups, which help members to deal with challenges and access resources, thus creating a family set-up. The value does not represent the American culture because it is an individualist culture where everyone relies on themselves to deal with challenges. Therefore, the value seems directly opposed to the American culture. Requiring employees to develop close relationships among themselves in the workplace could create tension for an employee from American culture because they prefer looking after themselves and their family members without establishing deep relations with colleagues. Americans also prefer being self-reliant in the workplace and displaying initiative. Therefore, the family values should be changed into teamwork to better align with the three cultures and encourage better intercultural interaction. The company can state that everyone who works at Quantigration is part of the Quantigration team instead of using the term family. The term team is more acceptable in the three cultures because it suggests that employees are a group working towards achieving the same goal.

• Process

Quantigration Company’s process value states that the following processes will result in quality products. The value aligns closely with the values of the three cultures on different levels. For instance, the value aligns with the Algerian culture by acknowledging the need for order in the workplace which is linked to the culture’s high power distance and respect for authority. The value also aligns with the Algerian culture because Algerians value the quality of their work in their working lives. The value aligns with the Chinese culture because it acknowledges formal authority has an influence on individuals and ensures that people meet their responsibilities as expected in rank. For example, processes define what every employee is expected to do in the organization, thus establishing order in the workplace and pushing people to take the initiative in completing assigned tasks. The value aligns with the American culture because the quality of work is linked to a person’s success, thus enabling individuals from the American culture to measure their success and improve the quality of their work by following the required processes to gain monetary rewards and a higher status in the company. However, the value may create tension among employees from the American culture because Americans do not require rules to govern their behavior in the workplace, thus increasing the likelihood of not following the required processes to complete assigned tasks. Therefore, I would recommend changing the value by stating that the following processes is recommended to increase the quality of products to align them to the three cultures better and encourage better intercultural interaction.

• Numbers

Quantigration Company’s numbers value states that precision engineering requires precision thinking. This value aligns with the American culture because Americans take time to analyze new information before applying it and accept new ideas and innovative products. Americans also demonstrate a strong willingness to try something different and new by seeking information and listening to the opinions or ideas shared by others. Therefore, they may encourage precision thinking when dealing with a situation to ensure it is addressed effectively. The value also aligns with the Chinese culture because the Chinese people can adapt traditions to react to changes. However, this value seems directly opposed to the Algerian culture. The value would cause tension for an employee from Algeria because Algerians maintain rigid beliefs and are not tolerant of new ideas and behaviors. Therefore, I would recommend changing the value by stating that precision engineering requires precision thinking and adapting to change to encourage employees from any of the three cultures to embrace change and new ideas within the workplace. Adjusting the value to the recommended version will better align it with the three cultures and encourage better intercultural interaction because the uncertainty avoidance of the people from the three cultures will be considered.

References

DeWees, B. R., & Lerner, J. S. (2020). Uncertainty avoidance. Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences, 5647–5652. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_806

Hofstede Insights. (2021, June 21). Country comparison. Hofstede Insights. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/algeria,china,germany,the-usa/

Keith, K. D. (2013). Dimensions of culture (Geert H. Hofstede) – masculinity. The Encyclopedia of Cross‐Cultural Psychology, 404–405. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118339893.wbeccp584

Láng, A. (2020). Long-term orientation. Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences, 2686–2688. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_703

Zhu, X., Tian, G., & Liu, Z. (2022). The smaller the power distance, the more genuine the emotion: Relationships between power distance, emotional labor, and emotional exhaustion among Chinese teachers. Sustainability, 14(14), 8601. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148601

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John would like you to begin by doing background research and analysis. He would like you to take stock of the current culture at quantization and compare it to the national cultures of the two new acquisitions.

Dimensions Of Culture

Part 1: Cultural Analysis
First, examine your national culture as a representative sample of the current Quantigration workforce. Think about how your nationality relates to your culture. Consider how your culture views interactions with others, workplace culture, teamwork, and communication.

Then, select two countries different than your own. You may select two countries from the Understanding Global Cultures e-book or choose others you are interested in. In the Supporting Materials section, you can find more information about some countries in the A to Z World Business resource and the Hofstede Insights Country Comparison Tool.

Using what you have found, write a cultural analysis containing 250- to 500-word summaries of your selected cultures. Also, include a summary of your own culture in this document. In these summaries, pay particular attention to how members of each culture interact with others, what values they consider important, and how they view work, family, and obligation.
Once you have completed your summaries of your selected countries, write a 500-word summary comparison to help Gregory understand the major differences and similarities between the cultures. In your comparison, identify three major cultural differences and three similarities between your analyzed cultures. As you write, consider common cultural dimensions that these cultures share and how they differ most.

Part 2: Cultural Value Reaction
After finishing your analyses, Gregory wants you to examine Quantigration’s company values. (Read the article “How to Write a Company Value Statement That Will Achieve Strategic Impact” in the Supporting Materials section for more information on how company value statements can motivate employees and reflect company objectives.)

Review the three company values Gregory has given you:

Family: Everyone who works here is part of the Quantigration family.
Process: The following processes will result in quality products.
Numbers: Precision engineering requires precision thinking.
Consider each company value from the viewpoint of each selected culture from your cultural analysis. Think about how these values relate to the cultural values you uncovered in each country you analyzed. Then, write a brief reaction for Gregory that examines the values.

For each company value, write a 200-word summary explaining whether it does or does not represent the values of the three cultures you have examined, providing specific reasons why or why not. In particular, ask yourself the following:

Which company values align closely with the values of the cultures?
Are there any values that seem directly opposed to your selected cultures?
Would any of the company’s values cause tension for an employee from one of your selected countries?
You should also include recommended changes to the values to better align them to your own culture and the cultures you have selected to examine and to encourage better intercultural interaction.