Cultural Analysis Paper Essay Example

Specifically, the French tend to be very assertive or aggressive when participating in 'greves', which translate to strikes in English.

According to Ruffier-Meray (2008), 'greves' occur commonly as a means of defiance or rebellion towards a person or entity that is causing displeasure among the French. The French tend to be very direct when communicating dissatisfaction, but they prefer to express themselves within a group rather than individually. Despite being a proud nation, their pride sometimes interferes with confrontational situations. It can be observed that French assertiveness is akin to American assertiveness, as seen from the French perspective.

Based on our interview with Ana Granadeno Cardon, we support the idea of collectivism. Ana is from El Salvador and comes from a large family of nine siblings. At 18 years old, she moved to the United States after marrying an American. In Latin culture, leaving one's parental home usually only occurs when getting married as collectivism holds great importance.

Collectivism is defined as a tightly-knit group of individuals who strongly identify with their membership. Those residing in a collectivistic culture depend on their group for support and security, in exchange for loyalty to the collective. In this society, one's family and close friends are regarded as family and take precedence. Decisions made consider the common good, as an individual's actions reflect not only personal values but also those of affiliated group members.

The bond between us was prominent in our lifestyle back home where we found a reason to rejoice in any occasion. Birthdays were noteworthy, no matter the age. Ana shared her perspective on leaving her country for the US and offered insight on the differences between the two

places.

Describing a different reality from her vision of a country without poverty, although unable to speak English, Ana perceived a notable difference between the US and El Salvador. While many Americans are wealthy, they have given up much more than they have gained without knowing it. According to Ana, prioritizing family over other material pursuits is crucial, as she observes many Americans sacrificing family time for worldly things.

Despite not knowing most of the people here, Ana was able to identify our individualistic ways, which we found interesting. When it comes to the final two dimensions - one of which is high power distance - we interviewed a Chinese transfer student named Cong Feng (Lisa). Though she's only been here for six months, our language barrier proved challenging. However, we were able to draw some understanding from her answers, which were not particularly detailed or complex due to this barrier. The Hofstede Cultural Dimensions defines high power distance as the extent to which less powerful members of institutions or organizations expect and accept that power is distributed unequally (Hofstede, 2008). As we conducted the interview with Lisa, she predominantly allowed us to lead without offering many personal insights.

In another class, there were three of us in a group project with her. However, it was troublesome to involve her in our project plans and obtain her perspective on our ideas. These actions align with the findings of the Hofstede study which shows that Chinese tend to have a high power distance rating. Furthermore, when we asked her about her comfort level in situations with uncertainty and ambiguity, it was in line with China's overall lower

rating in this area compared to other Asian and world countries according to Hofstede's 2008 research.

We made an exception to our rating for Lisa due to the unique circumstances of her situation. She came to our country to study and lived here for a year. Lisa described Americans as friendly and expressed her love for meeting new people and working with them every day. Despite maintaining a strong high power distance stance, we observed that she was willing to learn new things and embrace new experiences, even those involving high degrees of uncertainty. The dimensions applied well to the cultures of the interviewees throughout these interviews.

Despite this, it is important to note that individuals often deviate from the characteristics attributed to their respective cultures. (Ana Granadeno Cardon, Interview, Logan, Utah, September 2008; Cong, Feng)

Email Interview conducted on September 23, 2008 regarding Hofstede™ Cultural Dimensions as published by ITIM International in August 2003.

On September 23rd, 2008, Robert J. House referenced Geert Hofstede's resources available on http://www.geert-hofstede.com/geert_hofstede_resources.shtml. The statement was made within indicating a paragraph.The book "Culture, Leadership, and Organizations" was edited by Hofstede and others, and was published by Sage in London in 1999.

On page 51 of her book "International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior," Nancy J. Adler discusses the concept of collectivism. Samantha Ruffier-Meray was interviewed via email on September 23, 2008, regarding this topic.