INTRODUCTION
CULTURE is a set of beliefs, rules, institutions, practices and customs that distinguish members of one group or category of people from others. It also encompasses group’s behaviour, interactions, techniques as well as its understanding of the society.
The word ‘culture’ has three meanings: "Culture" hails from the Latin word “cultura” which is derived from "colere" that means to tend to the earth and grow, or cultivation and nurture.
Edward B. Taylor, an English anthropologist was the first to coin the term 'culture' in the eighteenth century. He defined culture as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”.
Metaphorically
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Different layers of culture exist at the following levels :
• The national level: Associated with the nation as a whole.
• The regional level: Associated with ethnic, linguistic, or religious differences that exist within a nation.
• The gender level: Associated with gender differences (female vs. male)
• The generation level: Associated with the differences between grandparents and parents, parents and children.
• The social class level: Associated with educational opportunities and differences in occupation.
• The corporate level: Associated with the particular culture of an organization. Applicable to those who are employed.
Culture can be viewed in terms of both what one does and how one thinks based on their beliefs, traditions, customs, norms, and even religion (Hofstede,1980). Professor Geert Hofstede, a Dutch cultural researcher, has conducted the most known research and theory about five cultural dimensions that can be used to compare cultures and for categorizing them. The study was carried out internationally in 1960s and 1970s among employees working for IBM. The collected results made a ground-breaking theory in cultural studies. Hofstede started with the 40 largest countries and altogether over 80 countries have now been analyzed. He discovered the first four dimensions of national culture which included Power Dis- tance (PDI), Individualism/Collectivism
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A high Power Distance Index score indicates that a society involves an unequal distribution of power, has a tall hierarchy and everybody has a place in the system and needs no justification. In high power distance societies, such as many Latin American countries, most of African and Asian counties, and most counties in the Mediterranean area, people generally accept power as an integral part of the society. A Low Power Distance Index score means that value equality, democracy and people are free to question question or challenge authority. eg Nordic Countries, UK, USA, Germany
Individualism vs.
There are four different powers. Political, economic, military, and religious are all effective in our lives. The two forms of power that have been most effective throughout history are economic and political. These two powers are important because economic power had to do with all the trade that was doing now and political power since someone had to control the land and the people. First effective form of power is economic.
There are several cultural concepts competence for example in the book identified cultural competency in two senses. First, recognizing the beliefs and behaviors of own cultural person to treat a patient in a way fit the culture. Second, acquiring adequate knowledge of cultural to give the care that suits the culture of the person (Cartwright, L.A. and Shingles, R.R., 2011). Simplify, Dr. René state cultural competence as a process that makes you involved and appreciate cultural differences.
1) From personal knowledge, I am aware that throughout history culture has changed overtime and is still developing as we speak. Much like the fifth definition in the book, I believe that culture can be described as the tensions or adjustments between shared and unshared groups of people throughout time ( Martin,P. 89). For example, American culture has altered so much over the years, we went from a country that had laws that deliberately caused injustice and discrimination towards a selective groups of people ( slavery , Jim Crow laws, Women’s suffrage, and same- sex marriage) to a more progressive nation that is implementing acceptance that will impact the world for the better in the future to
One of the more unusual cultural aspects that is discussed in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart is the existence of an ogbanje. According to a study of Igbo culture conducted by researcher Bertram I. N. Osuagwu, an ogbanje is “an evil spirt causing people to die suddenly” (Osuagwu 36). Some believe that the ogbanje are deities that enter the world and become human beings, but because of a promise that they made to the spirit world, they die early in their lives (Osuagwu 36). In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s wife Ekwefi believes that she has been cursed by an ogbanje because of the abnormally high mortality rate of her children. Early in the novel, Achebe describes the hardship that Ekwefi has endured, stating “Ekwefi had suffered a good
Piedad Molina Professor Ana Hernandez LIT 2480 October 7, 2015 Culture is the set of traditions, beliefs, and values, which are characteristic of a certain population. Each country or region has different parameters to determine their culture. The predominant values in the population, the language spoken, religious beliefs, and the way they dress; all these manners influence in the creation of a culture and what is autonomous of its region. Within a country we can find different cultures or ethnicities, social status, education and region make a population differ from another. The exchange of cultural ideas, beliefs, and values with the youngest members of the community make it possible for a culture to survive and to keep the legacy.
Wherever you go in the world every place is unique in their own way. Other countries have different language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music, and arts. Even though these things are different we all have them and they are part of a culture. Culture is the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social groups. The population of the United States is built on immigration from other countries.
Everyone has their own unique cultural identity. Individuality is the genetic code for differences and individuality, and it allows people to perceive certain aspects of the world through a different lens. Everyone has different tastes in music, different behavioral attributes, and different facial features that set others apart. To a great extent, one’s culture informs the way they view others and the world.
Introduction Culture and Subculture Culture is a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. (Tylor, 1871) Subculture is a different, or even opposes, the mainstream culture in society in terms of norms and values. It is formed by people sharing similar background. These people usually form their own norms, values, attitudes, and lifestyle.
Culture is the way of life. Culture is generally the beliefs, behaviors, practices, and artifacts a social group shares with each other through commonality. This is rather interchanged with “society” which is difference because society talks about the people who share a common territory or definable region and culture. Culture will not exists without a society, and neither would society exists without culture. Culture consists of two types: material culture, the tangible objects that may be used as symbols to cultural ideas or belongings to society, and nonmaterial culture, the ideas and attitudes of a society, of which both types are linked to each other.
He based his ideas and theories on social structure, economics and politics.
The film Lost in Translation follows two Americans visiting Tokyo during important transitional periods in their lives. Charlotte is a recent college graduate trying to figure out her career while also moving on from the honeymoon phase of her new marriage. Bob Harris is essentially going through a mid-life crisis as he sorts through life post-movie stardom and struggles to maintain a relationship with his overbearing wife. The two find each other in the hotel bar as a result of their inability to sleep and form a connection based on their mutual isolation in both their relationships and the city of Tokyo. The film touches on the importance of communication as well as what it is like to be a foreigner alone in a vastly different culture.
The position of a country on each of the four dimensions could be indicated by a score. Each dimension’s score is on a scale of zero to hundred, and the range of scores represented the range of different answers to the four issues. The power distance dimension is defined as “the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions accept and expect
Culture is a slippery term. Its meanings are vast and varied. While the Merriam Webster Thesaurus defines it as ‘a high level of taste and enlightenment as a result of extensive intellectual training and exposure to the arts’ and also as ‘the way (in which) people live at a particular time and place’, the Macmillan Dictionary defines it as, ‘activities involving music, literature and other arts’ and also ‘the process by which a group of bacteria or other cells is grown in a scientific experiment’. Thus while in one sense it refers to appreciation of good music or literature or art, in others it means a colony of bacteria or other microbes growing in a dish or jar or tube of nutrients in a laboratory.
Culture is a very vast and complicated term. As a result, it is extremely difficult to provide an all encompassing definition. In layman terms, culture is used to refer to symbolic markers used by societies to differentiate and distinguish themselves from other societies. These symbolic markers range from religion to customs and traditions to something as basic as language and clothes. Basically culture is a way of living.
Culture is comprise of religion values ,economy ,languages ,class ,material items ,social institutions ,customs ,manners ,education, policies and attitudes (Czinkota & Ronkainen ,1993).Kirkman and Shapiro (2001) described that cultural diversity affect the management styles .He stated that managers with different cultural backgrounds showed different behavior, attitudes, beliefs and basic values. Moveoneinc (2013) stated that culture has prodigious impact over the management style. For example, in Japanese firms almost all employees are participating in the process of decision making. But in the society of America, only top management is involved in the decision making of important and vital matters. In the same way, reward systems are designed on individual performance in western countries and America whereas individual performance has less significance in Japanese firms.