Awareness of sensitive cultural topics
There are many topics in business that can be sensitive to various cultures
and can be interpreted differently. These topics are important to keep in mind
and to be cautious of because, especially in the modern day with multiple
outlets of personal opinion and interpretation such as social network sites, a
company can be portrayed in bad light for cultural negligence. Standardised
marketing strategies are more at risk for offending and committing “faux pas”
towards different cultures. This is due to the fact that they are marketing
globally and have to take into account the multiple culture differences.
Taboos – Avoiding offending cultures through cultural taboos is
part of a business’s corporate social responsibility. It is important with a
business such as VW to be aware of other cultures taboos, their “do’s” and “don’ts”
both in the business world and out. Taboos
are important to be aware of in the business environment because of scenarios
such as conferences and meetings with individuals from different cultures attending.
Some cultures can take great offense to different things that may be accepted
in certain parts of the world. For example a nod means "no" in
Bulgaria, and shaking the head side-to-side means "yes." (M. Katherine Glover 1998) or, “In
Indonesia it is considered extremely rude to point with the forefinger. It is
especially rude if the pointing is towards a person. When pointing the
Indonesian uses his thumb.” (MTS
logistics 2012).
Sexuality – Sexuality is an important sensitive topic, especially
when conducting business. Like cultural taboos, sexuality equality is part of
an organisation corporate social responsibility and is viewed as etiquette for
the company to conduct this equality. Dissimilar to business taboos. There are
legal legislations laid down to protect gender and sexuality/gender preferences
within a working environment to prevent discrimination. T. Lawrence has discovered
that,
“The
difficulties black men experience in corporations are due more to sexism than
to racism. Robert Goldfarb's recently published article in the New York Times
on the impact of affirmative-action programs in the corporate structure would
seem to suggest that racism is more entrenched than sexism in the business
world. Black men are not faring as well as women in corporate organizations.
They are more likely than women to be dismissed or to be assigned to
conventional jobs where their performances are closely monitored.”
In this instance T.Lawrence then
continues to explain the reasoning for this discovery,
“Goldfarb
observes that black men often fulfilled the stereotypes that whites
"ascribe to blacks: they arrived late to important meetings, moved from
assignment to assignment without developing enduring skills, and exploded in a
fury of temper at what whites perceived to be minor slights." It can come
as no surprise to anyone, whether black or white, male or female, that to
exhibit behavior such as this is to commit professional suicide.”
This
explains that there is a correlation of unemployment within the black male
society. This article could cause contradiction between gender discrimination and
reasoning for the low statistic of successful black males in a business
environment.
Sexism
is a topic which should be addressed in a business because of equality. Women
have as much right to progress and maintain a career as men do. Women can be
proven to be extremely successful in businesses, for example Deborah Meaden
from the popular TV program ‘Dragons Den’,
“From a very early age Deborah knew she wanted her own business. Having
left school after O-Levels she studied at Business College and at the age of
19, with very little capital she launched her own glass and ceramics import
company supplying upmarket stores like Harvey Nichols. But despite having sole
agency rights, the goods started appearing in other high street shops and,
without the finances for a legal fight, Deborah walked away.” ([Online] at Deborah Meaden’s webpage)
This shows the prospects and potential of female entrepreneurs.
References
·
M. Katherine Glover, 1998, Business America, cover
story. “Do’s and taboos”
·
MTS Logistics, 2012, Culture clash, http://gcaptain.com/culture-clash/
·
T. Lawrence, Business Horizons;
Jul/Aug81, Vol. 24 Issue 4, p62
·
http://www.deborahmeaden.com/2/about-me
‘about me’ Deborah Meaden
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