Cultural Studies By John Frow And Meaghan Morris

Culture is an observable, powerful force in any organization. “Made up of its members’ shared values, beliefs, symbols, and behaviors, culture guides individual decisions and actions at the unconscious level. As a result, it can have a potent effect on a company’s well-being and success” (One Page, n.d.).

Culture plays a paramount role in our lives. “It is what shapes who we are and how we view the world” (Thorp & Sanchez, 1998,

Similarly, The Building of Cultures (by R. B. Dixon in 1928) began with the “lengthy dispute” regarding how one explained “alike cultural traits occurring in geographically separate areas” (1928, Dixon: 33; also 182s). “It could not be denied that every cultural quality was discovered or invented first. There was always necessarily a beginning, a first for all.” (1928, Dixon: 35). In the chapter “Discovery and Invention”, he takes note to separate creation and discovery (conception) according to “purpose”, suggesting the two occur as a sequence: (accidental) conception, then (purposeful) creation. He then goes on to discuss the factors of each in detail. Conception is made up of identification, opportunity, and imagination that is appreciated. Invention is either “directional” or accidental, distinguished as being an improvement or entirely new(He borrows from the sociologists H. S. Harrison and L. Bernard). The responsible factors were available knowledge, needs, opportunity, and genius.

Beyond Culture examines on the importance of context and how man copes in the world as a culture being. Looking at the book from the first chapter to the eighth chapter one would realize that it explains culture from different perspectives ranging from man’s ethnical culture, to his organizational culture and his personal culture. In this book, Edward Hall uses his experiences to explain what frames the thinking and understanding of cultures outside the Western culture after having travelled the world and experienced culture shock, he boils it all down to context. Edward Hall explained contexting as the way man handles the complexity of human transactions so that the system doesn’t bog down in information overload (p. 90). He explained context into two dimensions; the low context and high context. Although context cannot be given a specific meaning, the meaning of communication is dependent on it. However one would notice these contextualized differences in cultures only when two cultures meet and experience what can only be explained as culture shock; as in the example of the Japanese hotel operations (p. 62). Man as a culture being is contextualized from the day he is born to the day he dies as he is born into a culture and dies with a culture but there are situations at which man needs to let go of his cultural thinking and accept a new understanding (p. 88). When this new situation arises, it is required of man to read into the context of the situation in other to be

All Organisations posses a distinct form of culture with some having more than a single culture. This culture is usually very difficult to measure, change and most especially change.

The definition of culture in this context can be deducted from Trompenaars (1998): “The essence of culture is not what is visible on the surface. It is the shared ways groups of people understand and interpret the world.” (p. 3). From this statement we can extract that people with different cultures see and interpret the world in their own way. Thus, to motivate employees with different cultural backgrounds it is necessary to understand the interpretation the employees have of certain norms and values.

Culture refers to a system of norms and values that are shared amongst groups of individuals and when they are taken together they represent a living system. In America there are different cultures. Each culture has its advantages and disadvantages. The current problem or issue is on the problem of race in American culture. The history and the effects of race, and analyzes why people think about race as a problem in American culture and why it has to be addressed.

Culture within an organisation is a system of shared values, beliefs and norms of individuals in the organisation and how the value consensus creates a way in which people behave. The shared values have a strong influence on the individuals in the organisation and dictates how a person acts, dresses and performs in their job. A unique culture is developed and maintained by an organisation which provides guidelines and boundaries, through informal means, for the behaviour of the people within the organisation.

In today 's society, culture is impacting our everyday life, experience and social relations; we are all categorized by our cultural “groups”, but this has changed rapidly throughout the years from one generation to the next. Cultural studies were developed in the late 1950’s, through the 1970’s by the British academic scholars. The British scholars were able engaged cultural analysis and the developed then transformed of the different fields, for example, politically, theoretically and empirically that are now represented around the world.

Culture is the what, why and how we do things. The Cultural Competence: Guidelines and Protocols document describes culture as being an interplay of multiple elements that include behaviour’s, customs, beliefs, values and

Have you ever viewed someone differently based on their culture? Or has someone´s culture ever informed you the way one views others and the world? In the following section there are three different aspects that can identify a person on how they see the world and others and they're going to change your perspective.

In Cultural Connections, An Alternative to Conflict Resolution, by Rosemary Traore, she discusses the conflict within intergroup conflict, where it stems from and how it can be beneficial. Intergroup conflict can occur when a group of individuals from different backgrounds work and live together. These conflicts can be caused by concepts such as prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination. In order to combat these conflicts, a diverse group of people should be formed with a diverse set of leaders, the group members should be given positive labeling to help encourage positive behavior, and members should have reinforced self-esteem. Programs that will help with conflict are diversity classes, conflict resolution classes, self-esteem counseling, and team building exercises. These programs will reduce conflict and create a more positive and trusting environment among group members. Similar to Marilynn B. Brewer article “The Phycology of prejudice: In-group Love or Outgroup Hate” intergroup discrimination and conflict is stemmed from the environment in which one participates in while growing up and identifying yourself as an adolescent. When groups devised of people from all different backgrounds and experiences come together, there is bound to be conflict from time to time. Is learning to deal with this conflict and the concepts that influence conflict the key to creating a more harmonious environment for everyone in the group?

The Hofstede Centre (n.d.) defines culture as the “collective mental programming of the human mind which distinguishes one group of people from another.” Chipulu, Ojiako, Gardiner, Williams, Mota, Maguire, Shou, Stamai, and Marshall (2014), note that “culture can be at once tangible and observable; latent and unobservable; or even an abstraction altogether” (p. 367). Culture therefore has many dimensions. Some aspects of culture can be observed by analyzing symbols, ceremonies, dress, and other aspects. On the other hand, some aspects are not observable from the outside, but have to be experienced. Looking only from the outside gives us only a glimpse into the culture values. A large part of culture is the unwritten rules of how things are done. This part of culture is not necessarily observable to an outsider. To fully understand the cultural values of an organization, you need to be inside the organization with access to those with years of work experiences.

Management researchers seem to agree that the things that companies do called "corporate culture" is an intangible concept and hence difficult to define. Among the attempts to define "corporate culture", the following definition is useful as a starting point:- "culture represents an interdependent set of values and ways of behaving that are common in a community and that tend to perpetuate themselves, sometimes over long periods of time" (Kotter and Heskett,1992,141) Peters and Watermann argue that changing a culture cannot be accomplished.

“Sociological conceptions of culture are typically interested in the instrumental values according to which organisation members coordinate their activity and through which they attempt to achieve their goals” (Dempsey, 2015, p. 322).