Rick, Post 5

1.Which type of culture has a stronger impact on workplace behavior: societal culture or organizational culture? Why?

I would say societal culture because it provides the base for the organizational culture. As we've learned in our class, it's important to understand the people in the work place. For example, some cultures have traditions of taking long lunches in the middle of the day. A manager trying to impose a traditional American work day of 9 to 5 with half an hour for lunch might be unpopular.

2.Provide an example of a behavior in high context culture and low context culture.

Germany is a country with a low-context culture, i.e. they let their words speak for themselves and may be viewed as blunt. Social and hierarchical standing are less important.

China is a county with a high-context culture, i.e. Nonverbal communication is more subtle and body language and nonverbal cues are more important. Social and hierarchal standing are more important.

Novelist Amy Tan: "I try to explain to my English-speaking friends that Chinese language is more strategic in manner, whereas English tends to be more direct; an American business executive may say, 'Let's make a deal,' and the Chinese manager may reply, 'Is your son interested in learning about your widget business?' Each to his or her own purpose, each with his or her own linguistic path."

3.Contact a person who is in the US from China. Seek their input on any instance of ethnocentric bias they experienced while in the US.

Friend of a friend, Bill Luo:

"I don't think I have ever encountered any hostile ethnocentric bias during the past three and a half years living in the U.S.. People I have met are pretty nice to me especially when I was in Spokane WA. But I would not say there was no ethnocentric bias out there. Even though I am just standing there saying nothing... I still look different because I am Chinese... My background and culture are different than American people. That makes it harder for me to get involved into even just a casual conversation among friends. But if the conversation is just between two of us, that will be much better. To sum up what I want to address to you... I think it is because the natural differences are out there. So you got to do something to make it the same or closer. It might not be any problem if the same issue happen between two white guys..but it might be brought up to a racial issue between two different colors."


4.Is China’s culture polychronic or monochronic? Justify your answer.

I would say polychronic. Chinese people tend to view life in the long term. They won't rush into things or let the clock be the ultimate decision-maker for them. Chinese culture also is based on traditions which have not changed over millennia. (source: http://www.theamway.com/wikis/amway/index.php?title=Monochronic_or_Polychronic)

5.What is Guanxi? Explain with an example from your workplace.

According to Wikipedia, Guanxi is basically your social network and people you can interact with to solve problems. It's also the dynamics of the Chinese social capital system, i.e. rules about owing favors or having to do things for someone of higher status. At my job, my boss is very good at keeping in contact with people from his old work relationships and he's able to easily get in touch with many important people in the regional news industry. I think he frequently proves that who you know is important and having a good work relationship with people is invaluable.