MODULE: BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY
SEMESTER: 2005/2006, YEAR 3
CULTURAL DIVERSITY IS A SOURCE OF INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE.
CRITICALLY EVALUATE
Today's businesses are more and more expanding into other countries and thus becoming global. Operating outside the "country of origin" means adapting to national and local aspects. Therefore, it is evident that companies, factories and offices consist of very different people with various attitudes and backgrounds. Doubtlessly it has become normal that people of different countries and needlessly to say of many different cultures are working together. It is evident that appreciating and knowing how to manage these different aspects is becoming more and more a part of international businesses all over the world.
There are various big cities that are inhabited by many people of different countries and cultures. Each culture possesses its own unique lifestyle which is "import" by the people. Singapore for example hosts four cultural and linguistic groups: Chinese, Eurasian, Indian and Malay. Switzerland has four ethnic communities: French, German, Italian and Romansh. (Adler, 2002, p. 137).
The world is constantly becoming smaller through globalisation. Communicating with people from other cultures has become essential. Cultures are mixing together. People dress differently, they have different languages and traditions, their food differs, otherwise would there be Pizza, Sushi, Doners, Burgers and Chicken Tikka in our country? This essay will attempt to examine the effects of cultural diversity on businesses.
People do not realize how much different cultures influence their lives, partly because they have become so used to them and partly because they simply lack ...