Theories of Culture: New Zealand versus Hong Kong
Introduction. Culture is one of the most important factors in doing good business with any organization or company. With the continuous and dynamic business environment nowadays due to the changes in science and technology, changes also happen in terms of the development of culture in an organization. In addition, the development of a particular culture is also dependent on the culture of a particular country, which is affected by the cultural development of that particular society. The development of such culture also influences the way individuals extend their organizational culture to other members of the organization with a different type of culture. As such, this essay aims to describe the importance of culture to organizations, with a particular emphasis on the different problems that could be encountered due to the presence of cultural diversity. Personal experiences would also be provided in order to support the arguments of the essay.
Discussion. A specific individual works as an expatriate businessperson in a particular organization with a different culture. This particular individual is from New Zealand, and works for an international company based in Hong Kong. In this particular situation, the working environment, culture, and the problems that might be encountered by that particular individual can be assessed. Primarily, the culture and the business environment of both countries must be regarded and evaluated. Both New Zealand and Hong Kong have been colonized and highly influenced by the British culture. However, both countries have developed and flourished differently because Australia has more influence to New Zealand and China has larger influence to Hong Kong. In this regard, the differences of two countries in terms of culture are evident. In terms of language, although the British were able to successfully impart the English language, both countries were able to retain their native languages. Majority of the citizens in Hong Kong speak Cantonese over English (“Culture of Hong Kong”, 2007), while most of the citizens in New Zealand speak both English and Maori (“New Zealand – Culture, Etiquette and Customs”, 2007). In terms of religion, citizens of New Zealand are more Western-inclined, being Anglican, Presbyterian or Catholics (“New Zealand – Culture, Etiquette and Customs”, 2007), compared to citizens of Hong Kong, who are into Confucianism, Buddhism and other Eastern-influenced religions (Williams, 2007). However, although torn apart due to the influences of Western and Eastern cultures, both New Zealand and Hong Kong are inclined in paying particular importance to their cultures, most especially in terms of customs, beliefs, values, and practices.
In terms of customs and culture, citizens of New Zealand are reserved, friendly, polite, hospitable, casual, conservative, environmentalists, social, respectful, honest, direct, and egalitarian (“New Zealand – Culture, Etiquette and Customs”, 2007). On the other hand, citizens of Hong Kong are persevering, tolerates uncertainty most of the time, expressive of opinions, implements a collectivist approach, culture-conscious, gives particular attention to respect, conversation among groups are close in terms of space, patient, direct, loyal, and recognizes social inequality in terms of the distribution of wealth and power (Williams, 2007).
Being an expatriate businessperson in a different country with a different culture and society, it is important for the person to observe the role of language attitudes and motivation on the social and cultural adjustment, and the job performance (2006) of other individuals in the organization. To be able to do so, the importance of cross-cultural or intercultural communication must be emphasized. Although both concepts are slightly different from another, both are important in the peaceful and successful business ventures and negotiations between the business expatriate from New Zealand and the specific Hong Kong organization. It has been reported that cross-cultural involves the comparison of communication across different cultures, while intercultural communication refers to the communication between people from different cultures (2003). In this regard, the common denominator of both concepts is culture, which pertains to a complex whole that includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, laws, customs, and other capabilities acquired by man in the society (2007). As such, in both concepts, both culture and communication must be able to interact successfully in order for an individual to function effectively in the society. In this sense, both culture and communication must be given emphasis by the business expatriate to be able to function effectively in the organization. Aside from cross-cultural or intercultural communication, another important factor that must be given emphasis in the effective and successful interrelations of the business expatriate is non-verbal communication. In giving emphasis to cross-cultural communication, verbal communication can be used, which refers to the direct conversation of the speaker and listener, and the sending and receiving of messages through speaking and listening. On the other hand, non-verbal communication involves the communication of feelings behind the message itself, thus, dependent on different modes, such as the environment, interpersonal distance, postures, gestures, facial expressions, voice quality, pitch, tone, and personal appearance (1967). As such, to be able to express effective communication in the workplace environment, both verbal and non-verbal communication must be used. However, because the business expatriate belongs to a workplace environment with a different culture, practices, beliefs, and values, he or she would be able to effectively and successfully relate to his or her colleagues with the use of non-verbal communication.
It has been mentioned that due to the dynamic and multi-faceted changes that continually happen to the society, cultural diversity and conflicts are highly-present in any business organization. Based on the previous discussion, cross cultural or intercultural and non-verbal communication are important concepts that must be given emphasis in the aim of the business expatriate to exist and function effectively and successfully in the organization with a different culture. However, before becoming successful and effective, several problems in the workplace could be encountered, which may contribute to the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the business expatriate in the new organization. One of the problems that can be encountered is ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism, in simple terms, is the belief of a particular individual that his or her culture is superior to the culture of other individuals or groups. Because the business expatriate could be better versed in the English language than his or her new colleagues could, he or she may believe that his or her culture is superior to the Chinese culture. In addition, although both countries were influenced by the British culture, the development of the culture of New Zealand turned out to be more westernized than the culture of Hong Kong, thus, giving the impression of being superior to his or her Chinese colleagues. Another problem that can be encountered is culture shock, which is the expression of anxiety, astonishment, or disgust with a certain cultural practice, value or belief of a person or group of individuals having a different culture. Culture shock may lead to xenophobia, or the phobia or irrational fear being developed through dislike of a certain culture. In this regard, both cultures may feel the same way, thus, contributing to conflicts or problems in the organization. The third possible problem to encounter is cultural dimension distance, which is dependent upon the five cultural dimensions emphasized by Hosted. In this regard, the power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation of both cultures are highly different from one another (Hosted, 1980). In comparison, inequality is less endorsed by New Zealanders than the Chinese do; are more individualistic than the Chinese, which are more collectivistic; are more masculine than the Chinese, which pay particular attention to the distribution of roles in the family and community; are less tolerant than the Chinese culture in terms of uncertainty and ambiguity; and are more long-term oriented compared to the Chinese, being more respectful for tradition.
Conclusion. From the discussion, it can be deduced that for one with a different culture and belief, to successfully and effectively function and work in a particular working environment, different aspects in cultural communication must be given emphasis and importance, such as cultural diversity, cross-cultural or intercultural communication, and non-verbal communication. However, the recognition of the importance and function of such concepts are not enough to provide solutions when cultural-related problems and conflicts arise in the workplace environment. Problems including ethnocentrism, culture shock, and cultural dimension distance can be recognized to be contributory to the problems of any organization with cultural diversity. Nevertheless, although the presence of cultural diversity can lead to conflicts, differences and other problems in the organization, the involvement of cultural diversity and cross cultures can also provide the organization with maturity, development and increased communication and teamwork. Thus, problems and conflicts must be provided with effective and efficient solutions for more effective organizational development and performance.
Recommendation. The general recommendation for providing solutions for the problems related to cultural diversity is the increase of communication among individuals. Increase in communication involves the expression of both verbal and non-verbal communication, thus, enabling the business expatriate and his or her Chinese colleagues to share and obtain information from one another, thus, reducing becoming anxious and disgusted with the cultures of one another. Increase in communication would also enable the business expatriate to learn the language of his or her colleagues. Learning their language is one of the most essential aspects in effective communication with members of a host community, as this would enable the business expatriate to develop his or her social and language skills, which are relevant to the culture of the host community, and inline with his or her cross-cultural transition (2006). Another recommendation would be the increase of group activities in the organization that would involve interactive activities for the business expatriate and his or her colleagues, to be able to increase interaction and communication, thus, gradually developing cultural relativism and appreciation for both cultures. In this regard, the key for lessening the negative effects of cultural diversity in the workplace is through effective and successful communication, which helps express similarities and differences of individuals efficiently.
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