Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Understand Cultural Similarities Countriesâ€Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Understand Cultural Similarities Countries? Answer: Introduction There are one ninety five countries in the world. The culture and sub-culture of one country varies widely from that of another country. The customs, social behaviors, norms of inhabitant of one country is very different from that of another country. The cultural norms of inhabitants of one country are hugely influenced from the traditions and values of their ancestors. In some countries only one language is spoken for example, French is spoken in France and people in this country are mostly French. Most European countries practice their native language. However in countries like the United States of America, different dialects are spoken like Chinese as the inhabitants of the country come from different nations like China and India. Some countries follow an individualistic culture like the United States of America while other countries like China and Japan practice a collectivistic culture where more emphasis is laid on the concept of family (Chanlat 2013). The way of doing business is also different in different countries. For example, in the United States, a rational approach to business is followed while in Japan business is based on trust and Japanese first try to know the people well and develop good relationship with them before doing business with them. The difference in culture can be attributed to the different macro environmental conditions in each country, for instance, the political, social, economical, technological and legal environment in each country is different. The countries that will be compared here are France and Australia (Chhokar et al 2013). Discussion The culture of France The culture of France has been influenced by Celtic and Gallo-Roman cultures and the Franks, a German tribe also influenced the culture of the country. The country is the international hub for fashion, architecture, art and literature and the popular French cuisine and wine. France came under the western region of Germany and it was known as Rhineland. Later during the Iron Age and Roman era the country was known as Gaul (Gaffney and Kolinsky 2014). Languages The country is the home for seventy million people and French is the language that is spoken officially in the country. There is evidence that three percentage of the French population speaks German and in the northeast region of the country there are some Flemish speakers. The third largest minority language that is spoken in the country is Arabic. The country shares its borders with Italy and people living in the border region of Italy often speak Italian. France also shares border with Spain and Basque is the language spoken in this border region. Other languages that are spoken in France are Catalan, Breton (the Celtic language), Occitan, Kabyle and Antillean Creole (Halls 2014). Religion The religion that is practiced in France is Catholicism. The French Institute of Public Opinion, that is, IFOP conducted a survey and according to the survey sixty four percentage of people in the country, that is, around forty one million of people claimed that they were Roman Catholic. Islam, Buddhism and Judaism are the other religions that are practiced in the country (Tackett 2014). Values The French people are extremely proud about their historical background, art and literature and their rich heritage and culture. They are highly patriotic and often they refuse to hear any negative comments from outsiders about their culture. The visitors from other countries often misconstrue this strong patriotism of French people as rude and obnoxious. The French people are highly sophisticated and equality, liberty and fraternity are of prime importance in the country which is often known as "Libert, Egalit, Fraternit in the country. The country follows a secular culture and children born to unmarried couples are common in the country. Also the country follows an open attitude towards sexual behaviors and extramarital affairs as revealed by Frances National Agency on AIDS (Scriven 2016). French Cuisine The French people often socialize while organizing lavish dinners and food and wine are an integral part of the society. The French cuisines often have complicated recipes and are associated with usage of butter, cheese and heavy sauces. Red wine is often used in French cuisines and beef, pork, rabbit and many other meats are consumed in the country. Clothing France and Paris is the international center of fashion and is the home of world renowned fashion brands of premium and luxury segments like Dior, Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Chanel. The French people dress up in a sophisticated meticulous way and popular clothing in France are dresses, suits and long coats. The term haute couture is a term used in France by Paris Chamber of Commerce to describe tailor made garments that are handmade (Okonkwo 2016). Art The Louvre museum in Paris is the home to famous works like Mona Lisa and is a famous museum. The French culture is rich andGothic, Romanesque Rococo and Neoclassic culture is reflected in the architecture of France in buildings and churches. The famous artists like Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Camille Pissarro were motivated by French culture and the beauty of Paris. Holidays, Festivals and Celebrations The French celebrate holidays during Christmas and Easter. May 1 is celebrated in the country as labour day. Bastille Day is a renowned public holiday in France. On this day revolutionaries stormed the Bastille fortresses to make the commencement of French revolution. The end of cruelty in Europe during World War II is celebrated as Europe Day on May 8. Comparison and contrasting of French and Australian Culture France has the Batille prison and criminals from England were sent to Australia. So both the countries have a criminal background. Wine Both Australia and France are famous for wines but the culture of winemaking is very different in both the countries. In Australia, people are encouraged to learn the science of winemaking and they have to go to universities to learn the science while in France wine is prepared in the same way in all the regions of the country. Inhabitants The inhabitants of France are recognized as French while most of the inhabitants of Australia are born of foreign nations. French people are original in their culture and are not influenced by any other country but the customs of Australia and law and order of the country are influenced by the British as the ancestors of the country were mostly British prisoners. The Australian population also has a huge percentage of Aboriginal people who are not properly educated and intimidated by the Western culture. Visual Art France is a country that gave birth to modern art during the twentieth century art revolution. The country is the homeland of world renowned artists like Paul Gauguin. Modernism has not reached Australia to a great extent with the exception of Dot Painting. Religion and Language The French are mostly Roman Catholic while the Australians practice Christianity and due to large number of immigrants, different religions like Hinduism and Islam are spoken in the country. It can be seen that French is the official language of France while in Australia there are different languages that are spoken including European languages (Lescarbot 2013) Tourism Tourism is France is a billion dollar industry. The famous attractions in Paris are the Disneyland, Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum. The Mediterranean beaches and the mountain ranges of the Alps attract a huge set of tourists in the country. Paris, Nice and Chamonix are famous cities in the country. The country attracts millions of tourists every year, however there has been several attacks by the Islamic State terrorist group in the country due to which the revenue earned from tourism has suffered in recent years. The Australian tourism is also a billion dollar industry. Sydney, Perth, Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane are famous cities in Australia and these cities are known for their pristine coastal landscapes, beautiful beaches and serene wildlife. The famous Queensland, The Great Barrier Reef and the Gold coast attracts millions of tourism from different parts of the world in the country every year. Domestic tourists also contribute widely to the tourism industry and this industry is a huge contributor to the Gross Domestic products of the country. Sports The most popular sports in France are Rugby, cycling, basketball and football and tennis. Sports are highly encouraged in Australia. The most popular sports of the country are Cricket, Football, horse racing and rugby. The Melbourne Cup and the Ashes are the sports events that are conducted in the country. Unlike the huge promotional effort which is taken by the sports league in the European countries, the sports league in Australia do not incest much time and money in promotional events. Education Most of the Universities for higher education in France are often public universities and are funded by the government. Popular university in the country is cole Normale Suprieure (ENS). Australia is the home of famous universities like Australian National University, Queensland University, University of Sydney and University of Melbourne which attract many foreign students in the country (Wiewiora 2013). Culture Both Australia and France are the developed countries of the world and people living in both the countries have people with huge high disposable income .Quality of life and purchasing power of people are high in both the countries and people invest in fashion. France is the home of worlds renowned fashion brands like Dior and Channel while in Australia beach and nightlife influence the fashion sense of the inhabitants. Both the countries are technologically advanced with modern infrastructure like high speed trains. The countries generally follow a liberal and unorthodox culture. Open culture like homosexual relationships and extramarital affairs are common in both the countries. Divorces and domestic violence are social issues that are required to be addressed in both the countries and this is the reason Government in the countries have taken several steps in empowerment of women and stricter laws are practiced to protect the rights of women in both the countries(Kingsley et al 2013 ). The culture of Australia The Australian population comprises of the Caucasian 92%, Asian 7%, aboriginal and other 1%. The Aboriginal community in Australia stays in rural areas and they do not have access to proper health, education and employment. This community is often intimidated by the Western people staying in Australia (Thomas and Peterson 2017). Language The language that is officially spoken in the country is English. Other than English two fifty Aborginial languages were also spoken in Australia in 1788 out of which twenty of these languages are spoken today. Immigrants of Europe, Middle East and Asia speak their native language which influences organizational culture (Sultana et al 2013). Socio-cultural Values Australians are known for their modest, humble nature and good sense of humour. The country has a small population. People in the country value relationships and behave amiably with each other which creates a win-win situation in negotiating and business deals. Australia has a multi-cultural background with huge immigrants from all over the world including Britain, Europe and South-East Asia who were attracted by the liberal immigration laws of the country to boost the labor force (Tjosvold 2017). The Australian culture encourages exchange of gifts among family and friends like a bunch of flowers or a box of chocolates. The people of the country invite each other over dinners where they carry their own bottle of wine. Barbeque party is very popular in the country. The country follows democracy with British system of governance. There are many non-governmental institutions in the country working for social awareness. The Australian culture is influenced by the culture of Britain. Women in Australia have been traditionally involved in professions like teaching and nursing (French 2015). Hetero-sexual marriage is often practiced in the country. Education is given high importance in the country and primary and secondary education has been made compulsory by the government among children of age in between six to fourteen years (Fiske, Hodge and Turner 2016). There are many government schools in the country but parents prefer to send their children to non-governmental schools for the quality of education. The government of the country funds most universities and colleges and higher education in the country is highly encouraged by the government which provides several employment opportunities (Ang and Van Dyne 2015). Business etiquettes Australians get directly into business without building a strong inter-personal relationships and small talks are not encouraged. They prefer to exchange business cards and decision is taken by top hierarchy of the society (Bird and Mendenhall 2016). Religion There is prevalence of religion freedom in the country and most of the people of the country practice Christianity as their religion. Since there are a lot of immigrants in the country inhabitants from different religion co-exist peacefully like the Buddhists, Muslims, Jews and Hindus. The Aboriginal community considers places of worship holy in nature and there are several Aboriginal holy sites in the country. Art and culture The country encourages literary works and there has been ample of famous publications which depict the multi-cultural background in Australia (Walton et al 2014). It has been found out that huge section of the Australian society spends their money on books and there are many famous Australian authors of international repute. Theatre and performing arts are encouraged in Australia (Carter 2013). Conclusion The world is a global village today. It is of paramount importance for us to imbibe within us the ability to work and live in a multi-cultural background. Universities of a country often collaborate with foreign universities to allow students to participate in student exchange program so that they experience the cross-cultural aspects of education. In this essay, France and Australia are the two countries which are compared and contrasted (Bermingham and Brewer 2013).It can be found out that multi-cultural factors are higher in Australia than in France due to huge number of immigrants in the country. The language that is spoken in France is French while English and other European languages are spoken in Australia due to the large presence of immigrants from all over the world. The French are mostly Roman Catholic while people living in Australia practice multiple religions like Jews, Buddhism and Hinduism. It is of prime importance for each country to respect the culture of another c ountry to survive in todays competitive world. That is why cross-cultural phenomenon should be imbibed in the education system of a country from early childhood. This can be done by adopting modern teaching practices in the society like educational curriculum which depicts the multi-cultural stories and images. Cross- cultural values should be instilled in childhood because in most companies there are people from different cultural background who work together in a team and so it is important to develop tolerance for the caste, creed, race, religion of other co-workers. Reference Lists Ang, S. and Van Dyne, L., 2015.Handbook of cultural intelligence. Routledge. Bermingham, A. and Brewer, J., 2013.Consumption Of Culture. Routledge. Bird, A. and Mendenhall, M.E., 2016. From cross-cultural management to global leadership: Evolution and adaptation.Journal of World Business,51(1), pp.115-1 Carter, D., 2013.Always almost modern: Australian print cultures and modernity. Australian Scholarly Publishing. Chanlat, J.F., 2013.Cross-cultural management: culture and management across the world. Routledge. Chhokar, J.S., Brodbeck, F.C. and House, R.J. eds., 2013.Culture and leadership across the world: The GLOBE book of in-depth studies of 25 societies. Routledge. Fiske, J., Hodge, B. and Turner, G., 2016.Myths of Oz: reading Australian popular culture. Routledge. French, R., 2015.Cross-cultural management in work organisations. Kogan Page Publishers. Gaffney, J. and Kolinsky, E. eds., 2014.Political Culture in France and Germany (RLE: German Politics): A Contemporary Perspective. Routledge. Halls, W.D., 2014.Education, Culture and Politics in Modern France: Society, School, and Progress Series. Elsevier. Kingsley, J., Townsend, M., Henderson-Wilson, C. and Bolam, B., 2013. Developing an exploratory framework linking Australian Aboriginal peoples connection to country and concepts of wellbeing.International journal of environmental research and public health,10(2), pp.678-698. Lescarbot, M., 2013.The History of New France (volume III). Champlain Society. Okonkwo, U., 2016.Luxury fashion branding: trends, tactics, techniques. Springer. Scriven, M., 2016.Jean-Paul Sartre: politics and culture in postwar France. Springer. Sultana, M., Rashid, M., Mohiuddin, M. and Mazumder, M.N.H., 2013. Cross-cultural management and organizational performance: A content analysis perspective. Tackett, T., 2014.Religion, revolution, and regional culture in eighteenth-century France: the ecclesiastical oath of 1791. Princeton University Press. Thomas, D.C. and Peterson, M.F., 2017.Cross-cultural management: Essential concepts. Sage Publications. Tjosvold, D., 2017.Cross-cultural management: foundations and future. Routledge. Walton, J., Priest, N., Kowal, E., White, F., Brickwood, K., Fox, B. and Paradies, Y., 2014. Talking culture? Egalitarianism, color-blindness and racism in Australian elementary schools.Teaching and Teacher Education,39, pp.112-122. Wiewiora, A., Trigunarsyah, B., Murphy, G. and Coffey, V., 2013. Organizational culture and willingness to share knowledge: A competing values perspective in Australian context.International Journal of Project Management,31(8), pp.1163-1174.

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