Cultural Differences Between Poles And The United States

Have you ever wondered how High Schools are in other countries? Despite sharing some minor similarities, the differences between Nicaraguan and American High School education are clear. Such as, note-taking methods, grading system, classroom environment.

Working in an industry with so much legislation has taught me to watch the news. In my five years of regular news watching I don’t once recall hearing Poland’s economy mentioned. Though rarely mentioned Poland certainly deserves a round of applause. They were the only European county to avoid the 2008 recession and were 5th in overall European economic growth last year coming in at 3.5% (Myers, 2016). In comparison the United States came in slightly behind at 3.12% (“US GDP growth rate by year,” n.d.). With their economic success and a variety of internships available Poland is an attractive option for those looking for international employment opportunities. If you are fortunate enough to find yourself in employed in Poland you will notice a significant difference in culture and management styles than that of the United Sates.

Since the inception of human civilization there have been countless cultures and societies which have helped shape the current world today as we know it. The modern human race dates back more than 200,000 years and in that time frame many cultures have risen to great virtue and success only to deteriorate or cease to exist altogether. First before examining one of these cultures we must know what culture truly means. The Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Culture Center defines culture as a “dynamic social system,” containing the beliefs, behaviors, values and norms of a “specific organization, group, society or other collectivity” learned, shared, internalized, and changeable by all members of the society (Watson, 2010). In

In school, I had to understand differences and prevent misunderstanding in order to work with others effectively. “Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s Seven dimension of Culture” helps me to relate and explore my own situation. From my experience, I have realized that people differ from one another in specific ways; this is all due to the fact that we have our own beliefs and values due to different factors. When trying to distinguish people from different cultures, I automatically consider the seven

Based on my experience in Eastern Europe and in North America, I fully embrace both Serbian and the different cultures that are in Canada. In the summer, I try to go to as many Serbian events as possible and at these events, there is traditional music, food and dancing which I enjoy so much. Unfortunately, I have not gone to many events of different cultures but I do like to educate myself about different customs and traditions in order to build on my awareness and knowledge of different types of cultures. I am Christian Orthodox in which I celebrate Christmas on January 7th and I always enjoy going to the church services for this Christmas celebration. Also, I fast where I do not eat dairy or meat products for a few weeks before Easter and

Every person who participates in a religion of their own will, whether Hindu, Buddhist, Christian or other, believes it to be ‘the truth’. Christians and Muslims, Muslims and Jews, Catholics and Protestants, atheists and theists have almost always been in conflict. In light of these realities, is a long-term, peaceful, pluralistic society possible? Religion aside, is it possible for people who are not united under one belief to coexist peacefully in the long run? Are not all wars a result of conflicting beliefs? USA and Canada have many different coexisting religions, yet there was segregation and slavery in the US, as well as assassinations and wars in both countries.

Culture impacts an entire nation: depending on what culture deems as acceptable, has the impact on a particular gesture; an example of this is in Japan, showing your teeth is regarded as rude and aggressive. In universities, the diverseness of the students is great, however, with this diversity, the level of expectation of a particular thing differentiates. Regardless, numerous people/groups believe they are superior to others, in this case the males in the dentistry program feel like they are superior to women. The reason behind this could be physical differences, such as strength and agility. Although their strength may be greater at times the punishment is shaped by one person’s perspective which can result in a lesser punishment to what

Differences are what make us special, but in many societies these differences are hidden and forgotten about. It is true that differences can make you special, but differences can also hurt you. The United States has fluctuated with their acceptance of differences, but the 2000s decade was definitely a time of acceptance. An individualistic woman at her core, Ellen DeGeneres shot to fame during this decade with her day-time talk show Ellen. DeGeneres, an openly gay woman, promoted a sense of homosexual recognition across all of America. With her face on the TV, it was clear that America had grown into a very open nation, welcoming of all citizens no matter their race, religion, or sexuality. Lending her voice to the animated box office hit

In multinational workplaces understanding how important the significance of cultural differences is larger than we might think. Organizations that are diverse have to work together because their functionality impacts the productivity of the workplace. It is vital to have an understanding the different cultures to develop a strong organization. Certain principles will help you acknowledge that different cultures exist within the organization. As a manager, you have to analyze the reasons for the development of the differences and

7. What are the shortcomings of Hoftsede’s criteria for assessing differences on a global basis? Do you consider that his fifth factor adequately caters for the underlying differences between Asian and Western cultural values?

Geert Hofstede developed the widely applied Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, which mainly focuses on how different countries with different cultural backgrounds handle different anthropological problems that occur in cross-cultural communication (Hofstede 1980). The first five Hofstede’s dimensions will be discussed in following paragraphs. It should be clear that there is no good and bad between two elements in each dimension since every culture has its unique features and ways to function.

Dr. Geert Hofstede created the first four dimensions of culture in the 1970’s after analyzing statistical data from IBM over the course of many years. In the 1990’s he created the fifth dimension after noticing specific cultural differences in Asian countries and their ties to Confucian philosophy. (www.mindtools.com) The five dimensions are as follows: Power/Distance (PD), Individualism (IDV), Masculinity (MAS), Uncertainty/Avoidance Index (UAI), and Long Term Orientation (LTO). I will only discuss a few of these as they seem more prominent to this case. First, let’s talk about the Power/Distance (PD) dimension as it pertains to Ms. Myers in South Korea.

When a business decides to venture internationally into different countries with its products, services, and operations, it is very important that the company gains an understanding of how the culture of the different societies affects the values found in those societies. Geert Hofstede conducted one of the most famous and most used studies on how culture relates to values. Hofstede study enabled him to compare dimensions of culture across 40 countries. He originally isolated four dimensions of what he claimed summarized different cultures — power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism versus collectivism, and masculinity versus femininity (Hill, 2013, p.110). To cover aspects of values not discussed in the original paradigm Hofstede has since added two more dimensions — Confucianism or long-term orientation and indulgence versus self-restraint (Hofstede, n.d.). Because of the way Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are given an index score from 0-100, it is easy for a company to get a general comparison between the cultures they are expanding into and the culture they are already in.

This essay will discuss the influence of cultural dimensions on behavior. A cultural dimension is defined as a perspective of a culture based on its values and cultural norms. In particular, Hofstede’s cultural dimension of individualism vs. collectivism will be discussed. Individualism vs collectivism is defined as the preference of a person only being concerned about oneself and looking after oneself, compared to a person who wants to remain in a closely knitted network. These are some terms with definitions which will be used in this essay: the Asch paradigm, which refers to the studies conducted by Solomon Asch, in which he showed his participants different lines and asked them to verbally judge and respond as to what the length of the

The United States and China boast the two largest economies in the world but, despite this fact, these two countries have very little in common. At first glance, this may seem very obvious to most people but, what exactly is it that makes these two countries so different? How is it that such different perspectives and approaches can both lead to great success? Hofstede’s six dimensions of culture are an attempt to answer these questions and more. Dr. Geert Hofstede, studied employees of the computer firm IBM in over fifty different countries. When he examined his findings he found “clear patterns of similarity and difference along the four dimensions” (Manktelow, Jackson Edwards, Eyre, Cook and Khan, n.d.). The fact that he focused his research on solely IBM employees allowed him to eliminate company culture as a differentiating factor and “attribute those patterns to national and social differences” (n.d.). He used his findings to originally identify four dimensions, later expanded to six, that could “distinguish one culture from another” (n.d.). The six dimensions all on a scale from 0 to 100 are: