Cultural Differences. Chapter 5 Imagine this scene - you are inspecting a house with the possibility of purchasing it and you open a bathroom door to see a woman sitting naked in a bathtub. How would you expect the surprised woman to react? A British or American woman would cover her breasts with one hand and her genitals with the other, while a Swedish woman would cover only her genitals.
A Muslim woman would cover her face, a Sumatran woman would cover her knees and a Samoan only her navel. We Were Having Pizza at the Time All cultures walk on the same side of the pavement as they drive on the road. You'd also be stunned when you go to shake hands to say goodbye to an Italian but, instead, you get a kiss on both cheeks.
As I departed, the Italian man kissed me on both cheeks. As you talk with local Italians, they seem to stand in your space, continually grabbing you, talking over the top of you, yelling in fact, and sounding angry about everything. Take the Cultural Test What did you score? Greeting Differences. Racism in advertising: 50 shocking examples » Article » OWNI.eu, Digital Journalism. The typical black server – a concept used far too often Today, we will try to address a serious topic in advertising: racism.
In the past, advertising was extremely racist and was almost accepted as rooted in morality. Fortunately in modern times, attitudes have come a long way to counteract this phenomenon in advertising. Nevertheless, there are still traces of this outdated mindset that focuses on cliches and stereotypes. Because racism takes many forms, it can be viewed in several recent ads…. Years of racism: Between slavery and stereotypes. Roots of racism “Why doesn’t your mama wash you with Fairy Soap?” In France, the abolition of slavery occurred in 1794, but it wasn’t enforced until 1848. Across the Atlantic, abolition occurred in 1868. “The soap ‘Dirtoff’ makes me white!”
While the context of these ads are appalling, unfortunately for the time period they were considered normal. Banania’s famous advertisement campaign - France The black servant: Dominated by the white. The Business of Culture: How Culture Affects Management Around the World. Originally published Sep 30th, 2010 [Update September 6th]: Since we published this blog post, more and more people are looking at the importance of organizational culture and the role your talent management programs can play.
The Hofstede Centre continues to conduct research into how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. They’ve added more countries to their national culture research and a new dimension called “indulgence versus restraint” in 2010. You can learn more about their research and findings on their website and in the 2010 edition of Cultures and organizations.
When in Rome, talent management practices may need to be modified in order to suit local conditions. When it comes to international business, it is remarkable to see how different cultures approach management. Geert Hofstede carried out one of the most comprehensive studies on how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. Hofstede’s five dimensions of culture include: Japan (image source) China Germany. Pratiques interculturelles en milieu hospitalier. Five lessons learned about cross-cultural social networking. Looking for a clear and simple path to a new intranet?
Download our free Intranet Buyers Workbook to learn 10 key steps in evaluating intranet solutions. Social networking theorists like to debate whether and how much cultural differences impact the way people respond to and interact with social networks.* Some, for example, argue that networks such as Facebook mainly reflect and accommodate values and norms prevalent in Anglo-Saxon cultures (U.S., UK, Canada, etc.) — which explains why they’re much less successful elsewhere.
The theoretical discussion turns starkly practical when multinational enterprises develop intranets or other social networking tools for internal use. ThoughtFarmer goes to Asia: On-site visit in Japan The good news is that most such differences can be overcome with a little innovation and modification. 1. Asian users said the original ThoughtFarmer pages, designed in Canada, “looked North American.”
This was not a trivial objection. Solution? 2. 3. 4.