Danelle Post #6

1. Societal culture has a far greater impact on workplace behavior than organizational culture. The culture of an organization that an individual joins when they are 18+ years old will of course impact the way that they behave in the workplace. However, the societal culture in which they matured and in which they will continue to grow outside of the workplace with friends and family who do not necessarily work for the same organization will have a far greater impact on an individual's character and workplace manners than the culture of that particular organization. In many cases, the organization's culture has also been shaped by the societal culture of the founder(s) of the organization. In this way, organizational culture is necessarily subservient to/a product of societal culture.

2. Examples of high and low context culture:

Interactions between high and low context peoples can be problematic. Low context cultures include Anglos, Germanics and Scandinavians. High context cultures include Japanese, Chinese, Arabs and French.

The Japanese can find Westerners to be offensively blunt. Westerners can find the Japanese to be secretive, devious and bafflingly unforthcoming with information.

French can feel that Germans insult their intelligence by explaining the obvious, while Germans can feel that French managers provide no direction. (http://www.analytictech.com/mb021/cultural.htm)

3. I contacted a former co-worker, Vivian Lee and asked her to share her experience with any ethnocentric bias while she has lived in the United States. Her answer was two- fold. Vivian moved to the U.S. when she was 16 and although she was learning English in China and was a top student in her class, she had a very strong accent when she spoke English and still does today. She remembers struggling to communicate verbally in school with students and teachers. She understood the material being taught in class and understood the trends the other students were following but the language barrier made it very difficult for her to simulate and she was often treated like she was not as intelligent or as capable as the other students in her school. She feels that even today that people doubt her ability to perform her job because she stills has a heavy accent. Interestingly, she explained that she has had more conflict with other Asian cultures within the U.S., specifically Filipinos, than any other ethnic group. Among the Asian cultures exist a historic tension and while growing up in China, Vivian never came face to face with non-Chinese Asians. When she moved to the U.S. she came in contact with many other Asians and works with many Filipinos at her company. Without providing specifics, she made it clear that relations are tense and communication with her Filipino co-workers is uneasy.

4. Daily life in China has historically been arranged according to vast, agriculturally based blocks of time, over which no individual or government had control: seasons, days and nights. Even today, the workday in China begins fairly early (around 7 or 8 A.M.), and ends early (around 4 or 5 P.M.). Most workers take an hour break and a mid afternoon nap after lunch. On balance. China is a polychronic culture, as are most of the cultures of Asia; the clock is not the ultimate reason for action. (http://www.theamway.com/wikis/amway/index.php?title=Monochronic_or_Polychronic)

However, despite their polychronic tendencies, the Chinese do place significant emphasis on punctuality (as a way of showing respect) and they will act aggressively to seize an opportunity when it presents itself.

5. Guanxi describes the basic dynamic in personalized networks of influence, and is a central idea in Chinese society. Guanxi describes a personal connection between two people in which one is able to prevail upon another to perform a favor or service, or be prevailed upon. The two people need not be of equal social status. The term is not generally used to describe relationships within a family, although Guanxi obligations can sometimes be described in terms of an extended family. The term is also not generally used to describe relationships that fall within other well-defined societal norms (e.g. boss-worker, teacher-student, friendship). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanxi)

I worked in healthcare for more than 10 years and spent half of those years managing the Financial Assistance program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH). One example of Guanxi while I worked at NMH was the favors and assistance that was asked of me in providing information about the financial assistance program to people who knew someone in their lives that needed help paying their medical bills. I found throughout my years of managing the financial assistance program that many people who were not patients themselves had uninsured friends or family members who needed to seek medical attention but had no way to pay their bills. In fact, I have not worked in healthcare for two years and I still receive calls from people who know someone else that needs to apply for assistance and I am their "go-to-person" for providing details on how to apply for the program.

Another example is at my current place of employment. I work for a company that makes industrial grinders for coffee, food and chemicals. Our sales team has developed relationships with representatives at many companies including Nestle, Starbucks, Smuckers, etc. and it is common for both our sales team and the representatives at these companies to exchange favors especially in the form of providing leads for business.