Understanding Cultural Diversity in All Settings

Understanding Cultural Diversity in All Settings
Sociology Unit 5 Individual Project
American Intercontinental University

Abstract
This paper is about understanding and achieving cultural balance in society. This paper will evaluate and generate reasons why people may not appreciate the cultural point of views of others. Also, this paper will discuss how to achieve cultural balance in a multinational corporation setting. Lastly, this paper will provide steps that Nestle can take and discuss policies that can be put in place to help the company achieve global success.

Achieving Cultural Balance
In America their cultural talks about individualism are taught to think about themselves. They are encouraged to pursue individualism or pursue their own goals as far as what they want to do. Because they are encouraged to be individualized they are challenged with understanding other people’s point of view. The Chinese are taught to think in connection to a group, rather than being independent they are inter-dependent. They are more connectional as a group, their whole relationship or concept of self is based on relationships and their social obligation.
There are several reasons people could not appreciate the cultural point of views of others. Different communication styles since it has barriers. The language is a large issue between cultures. Some words and phrases are presented in different ways. Facial expressions in cultural are important as well. These are the non-verbal communications. An example would be when voices are raised to most this is considered a fight our argument is happening. But in some cultures it’s considered excitement and a good thing. (Trompenaars)
FEAR
We all have a subjective agenda of those we know nothing about or do not understand, needless to say appreciate. Everyone has partialities, even preconceptions, against particular cultures. One very essential reason is fear. Fears for the most part contain being criticized, misperceptions, and condescending or upsetting others inadvertently. Any time we are transacting with individuals different from ourselves, the possibility is that they hold an identical agenda of expectations and uneasiness in their possession. Culture is a complicated notion, with various interpretations. Yet, clearly put, culture refers to an association or society with which we administer standard knowledge that from the way we perceive the world. It contains classes that we born into, for instance gender, nationality, or national origin. Additionally, it contains associations we take part in. For instance, we could obtain a new culture by moving to a new country, by an adjustment in our monetary situation, or by coming to be incapacitated. When we analyze culture this extensively, we recognize that we all belong to various cultures instantaneously (DuPraw and Axner, 1997).
LANGUAGE BARRIERS Language barriers have been one of the major cultural factors affecting many business organizations which seek to expand internationally. As for this case study, we analyzed Samsung Company, which is the leading producer of electronic goods. The company, which was established in the Eastern countries, notably Korea faced language barrier as they seek to expand to the international market, notably English speaking countries(Dunning, 1989). However, the managers of the organization sat down and discuss various way of solving the challenge and resolve to hire the foreign workers who represented them in their countries (Steers, Sanchez-Runde, & Nardon, 2013).
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS
Religion varies from continent to continent. For example, while black cats are seen as a bad omen in Western Countries such as USA, it is seen as a blessing in the Eastern countries such as Japan. In this case, black items, such as clothes symbolize sadness in Western countries and it will make fewer sales because it is put on under rear occasions. The same clothes will accrue to lots of sales in Eastern countries. Therefore, entrepreneurs should determine such fact so as to know what items sell most and which one does not (Steers, Sanchez-Runde, & Nardon, 2013).
Research shows that different cultures have different level of trustworthiness, in this regard, cultural difference are to be used so as to measure different and variable level of trustworthiness between different countries around the world. This will ensure that there will be strategic alliance in foreign market investment. Therefore, higher level of trustworthiness is required to facilitate the success of the company (Kaufmann, O’Neill, & York, 2013).
In some Middle Eastern religions it is customary that women are covered entirely. If a company is to expand into their land such observations should be considered if expansion is going to be successful. Western feminism and Islamic feminism concerns the issue of "veiling." The hijab (often translated as "veil") is the form of scarf or hair covering commonly worn by Muslim women. (Women in Islam. 2013) In countries that observe the Muslim religion would take great offense to a company expanding to their land and not observing their ideals.
In other countries certain types of foods are not eaten, such as types of meats and dairy products. For instance is societies that practice Judaism all prepared food must be kosher. Similarly, Judaism does not allow meats (except fish) to be eaten at the same time as other dairy products. (Barbara, 2013) In order to successfully expand a company into a foreign land should educate themselves on the proper diets of the civilians.
EDUCATION
A likely scenario where an employee, of a multinational branch of the Nestlé Company, might not value the opinion/point of view of another employee could be due to age and or sex. Ethnocentrism is described as an attitude of superiority of one’s culture versus the culture of another (Sociology, 2012). In the event which an older subordinate male employee (with a limited educational background) has to report and answer to a younger female authority figure (who has an extensive educational background), can create a conflicting situation. Many countries like Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Nepal, Sudan, Guatemala, Mali, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Somalia do not uphold women to have equal rights to men (www.feministezine.com). This particular scenario in either of the aforementioned countries would create uproar, civil unrest, and violence. Companies would have to implement a practical solution to the problem, but by doing so would require intricate knowledge of the culture.
When you work with people you should have some perspective on an individual culture because it influences their view points. It plays strong part of people’s lives and helps to form the relationships that are built. One cannot act like their cultural difference don’t matter or discrimination doesn’t exist for example people can be mistreated or oppressed depending on which cultural group you derive from. People have a tendency to ignore cultural difference but for fear that it will drive individuals or groups further apart, but what the author is recognizing the difference or trying to understand them would actually bring the groups closer together.
When companies expand globally, there is a lot of time, energy and thought that must be put into place before the company can expand. Perhaps one of the most important things a company has to take into account is cultural differences. Understanding these differences is an important part of being successful when expanding to other various cultures. What is commonplace in one culture may seem rude or offensive in a different country. Taking into the account of cultural differences is vital to the company’s success and will determine if they are successful or not by being a multi-national cooperation. While expanding your business to a multi-national level, the company needs to be able to appreciate cultural diversity. The company needs to understand the different cultures and what they mean in that culture. The company also needs to understand the different language translations as well. Effective communication is very important when a company is trying to expand on a global level.
Nestle is committed to being a multi-national company and staying committed to connecting with all their customers in a meaningful way. (Denis 2012) Nestle Corporation believes in being decentralized and keeping things “local” They understand the importance of being a multi-national company but also still connecting on a very local level to their consumers, wherever they are. Factories are placed where the consumption is.
Another thing that Nestle focuses on is international standards. International Standards help Nestle to apply, throughout the company, the same dimension of judgment and the same terms of reference. If Nestle has a standard that is the same the world over, they muster the resources to achieve or, whenever relevant, surpass the requirements of those standards.
To conclude, the overall basis of achieving cultural balance is understanding and education. One must understand the trials and tribulations our fore-fathers when through to achieve cultural understanding. Policies such as “no tolerance” should be put in place in multinational corporation such as Nestle. The first step is to take a look in the mirror and then examine what we see.

References
Barbara A. 2013. What is a Kosher Diet? Retrieved from: URL: http://www.livestrong.com/article/227995-what-is-the-kosher-diet/ Denis, E (2012) Nestle CEO on the need for International Standards. Retrieved From: http://www.iso.org/iso/home/news_index/news_archive/news.htm?refid=Ref1628
DuPraw, M. and Axner, M. (1997), Working on Common Cross-cultural Communication
Challenges. Retrieved from: www.pbs.org/ampu/crosscult.html
Harns, William, (February 5, 2014), America’s Individualist Culture Influences the Ability to
View Others Perspective. Retrieved from: http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/070712/perspectives.shtml Kaufmann, J., O’Neill, H. M., & York, A. S. (2013, January 28). The Impact of Structural
Prescriptions on Joint Venture Survival. Retrieved from www.bsu.edu: http://www.bsu.edu/mcobwin/ajb/?p=178
Steers, R. M., Sanchez-Runde, C. J., & Nardon, L. (2013, January 28). Management across Cultures: Challenges and Strategies. Retrieved from: http://dualibra.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Management_Across_Cultures__Challenges_and_Strategies.pdf
Trompenaars, F. (n. d.). Retrieved from: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/seven-dimensions.htm
Unknown, (February 5, 2014) Understanding Culture and Diversity in Building Communities.
Retrieved from: http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/culture/cultural-competence/culture-and-diversity/main
Unknown, (2012), Women in Islam: Muslim Women. Retrieved from: URL: http://islam.uga.edu/Islamwomen.html

References: Barbara A. 2013. What is a Kosher Diet? Retrieved from: URL: http://www.livestrong.com/article/227995-what-is-the-kosher-diet/ Denis, E (2012) Nestle CEO on the need for International Standards. Retrieved From: http://www.iso.org/iso/home/news_index/news_archive/news.htm?refid=Ref1628 DuPraw, M Challenges. Retrieved from: www.pbs.org/ampu/crosscult.html Harns, William, (February 5, 2014), America’s Individualist Culture Influences the Ability to Trompenaars, F. (n. d.). Retrieved from: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/seven-dimensions.htm Unknown, (February 5, 2014) Understanding Culture and Diversity in Building Communities Retrieved from: http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/culture/cultural-competence/culture-and-diversity/main Unknown, (2012), Women in Islam: Muslim Women