Advantages of Individualistic Cultures

Western countries are marked by an individualistic culture, including United States, Australia and in Europe, England and France, among others. These countries have adopted several centuries of liberal ideas promoting individual initiative, and the success. These liberal ideas was supported by the Church, dominant in the West, which emphasizes the responsibility individual. The East, including China, Japan and India, is marked the collectivist culture, too, is rooted in history. For one found collective dominance of the teachings of Confucius and the major religions like Buddhism and Hinduism.

The individualistic culture allows people to raise outstanding resources so vast that they have no precedent in history. We found in their ranks, personalities who gave their name to illustrious institutions, John Davison Rockefeller, Matthew Vassar, Leland Stanford... Many brands have their origin directly to their founders: Henry Ford, J. Paul Getty, Richard W. Sears, Roebuck Alvah, Clarence

Birdseye, W. K. Kellogg, Philip Danforth Armour, W. R. Grace. Henry Ford is particularly interesting because it provides innovation, both technologically and socially. After Reading Emerson's essay entitled "Compensation", he doubled the salaries of workers, which allowed them to buy the Model T which he had by

also cut the price.

One result of American individualism is that the system of philanthropie United States is among the most innovative, the richest in ideas and the most exciting in the world. It gives meaning to the formulas: "Helping people help themselves" and "No a gift, but a boost ».

CH. 4

In Chapter four it covers how to manage relationships across cultures. In this chapter it discusses about understanding cultural differences in a very interesting high-context and low-context distinction. A high-context cultural distinction relies on cues when perceiving and communicating with others. These cultures include, “China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Mexico, and Arab cultures.” Nonverbal cue4s are more powerful than spoken words in these cultures. A low-context cultural distinction is when there is shared meaning between written and spoken words. These cultures include, “Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia, North America, and Great Britain.” These low context cultures have more written rules and specific details. In high-context cultures trust has already been built and agreements can be made on a handshake level unlike a low-context culture sees this handshake as only a greeting.

Ethnocentrism

In Chapter Four I read about ethnocentrism. I also learned about ethnocentrism in speech and rhetoric because it is one of the worst qualities or mindsets that one can walk into a room with. Ethnocentrism, as defined by the book is, "the belief that one's native country, culture, language, and modes of behavior are superior to all others." Many cultures and people as a whole have gone through hell because of people believing and thinking their culture was superior to other cultures they encountered. Some cultures that will immediately appear on the list, or at least mine, are African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, Muslims, and Jews. History has shown us that these cultures practically were to an extent pushed close to the brink of extinction and/or barbaric and inhumane treatment. In the book is states that having an ethnocentrism mind set is bad in a business setting according to extensive research conducted globally, and it leads to many problems within an organization. Most recently we have seen an utmost contempt to people who are Muslim or whom have ties to the Middle East due to the events of 9-11, and I personally believe that this is an injustice that the multitude have to pay for the sins and atrocities of a select few. However, this just goes to show how people can be easily influenced by the government whom had much propaganda of getting people to feel animosity towards Muslims. While many people would like to believe that the government is objective to the matter the truth is that they are not, and of course they will show us the things they want us to see, and they will conceal images, and information they do not wish for us to know. My personal view on this is that there are good and bad people alike in every culture and we must all be aware of this fact and accept this truth, and not be so quick to judge and point fingers.

Chpt 4

Chapter 4 discusses leadership attributes universally liked and disliked across 62 nations. The liked attributes are important to maintain for those people who work in international organizational leadership roles. Preparing employees for international work is of utmost importance in regards to management and leadership roles. GLOBE researchers defined leadership as "the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members." If training can create effective global leaders, it should be much more hard pressed among corporations sending members abroad. Expatriates success rate is still less than 70% according to a recent study, and by improving training for corporate employees, successful leaders in this field can be molded.

http://www.grovewell.com/pub-GLOBE-intro.html

Kreitner, Robert. Organizational Behavior. 9th ed. Vol. 1. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2010.

Chapter 4

Ethnocentrism is a topic I learned about in International Marketing last semester. It was very interesting hearing examples of this close minded way if thinking that unfortunately most of us do subconsciously. Ethnocentrism, if you are not familiar, is the "belief that one's native country, culture, language, and behavior are superior." This thought has been around for centuries, in just America the Natives Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, and now Muslims went through this misrepresentation or prejudice. In the small exert of our text book on Organizational Behavior, "Muslim-American's Feel the Sting of Ethnocentrism," a number of statistic were listed that even though I do not have any personal animosity toward Muslim American due to my own beliefs of 9-11, I was still surprised.
I have two major problems with the way people view other cultures and how they are addressed in relation to this small exert. The only information we know about 9-11 was posted by government agencies who showed us what they wanted us to see and depicted this race in a negative manner making the sponge-like American brain believe every word fed to them. Then you wonder why there is so much prejudice. Another problem I have is in the example of this car dealership in Ohio. Due to the fact that Keith Dennis is a single standing American making these racist comments he is looked down upon but if this type of joke were posted in Time magazine as a political cartoon it would get a different reaction. Ethnocentrism will never stop if we continue to allow these misrepresentations occur. It is obvious you cannot know a person solely on their nationality so why is it that we judge so much on what we see?

Chapter 4

Avoiding Culture Collisions

Chapter four discussed how there are differences between cultures and this can sometimes cause misunderstandings or miscommunications. This can sometimes become a problem when dealing with international business. For example, most US businesses like to get to the point right away and don't like any fluff in reports they write or read. Latin American businesses, however, like to write out long explanations on why a decision is being made and take their time in getting to the point. This can become a problem but by using some of the following tips it can be avoided: people on both sides of the context barrier must make adjustments, a new employee should be welcomed by his/her boss, colleagues that will be performing similar duties, and an individual located near the new employee, background information is essential, give explicit instructions on how you want things done, and foreign workers must learn to become more self-reliant.
I found an article that talks about the experience of consumers reactions to a surprising event and how it differs across cultures. It looks at the differences between East Asia and Western emotional reactions to unexpected incentives. When given an unexpected gift, east Asians reported less surprise and less pleasure than Westerns. East Asians' displeasure is explained by their motivation to maintain balance and emotional control, which leads to a reappraisal of perceived likelihood. However, when the gift given represented good luck, then East Asians reported greater pleasure than Westerns. This would be a piece of information to know if you were going to exchange or give a gift to a East Asian business manager.

VALENZUELA, ANA, BARBARA MELLERS, and JUDI STREBEL. "Pleasurable Surprises: A Cross-Cultural Study of Consumer Responses to Unexpected Incentives." Journal of Consumer Research 36.5 (2010): 792-805. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 1 Feb. 2010.

Culture in The Global Economy

Nowadays we hear about global economy a lot. This is a sign that the economy is working together as one in which governments sign free trade agreement between two nations. This movement towards global exports and imports has been really important to increase the economies of all nations involved. With this unification of the global economy managers have to operate their companies in their own country as well over seas. This requires that managers have a good understanding of the culture were the company is operating in order to increase their sales and expand the company.
According to Justin Martin, a writer for findarticle.com, “The global CEO: overseas experience is becoming a must on top executives' resumes, according to this year's Route to the Top.” In this article Mr. Martin talks about how important it is to have the cultural experience to have a high position in a company so that they better understand the consumer’s needs which is an important factor for success in this global economy.
I had the opportunity to live in other countries and I learned about their cultures, their similarities and differences. From these cultural experiences I learned how businesses are run in different culture as well as the different regulations, social graces, and etiquette that made the business successful within the specific culture.

Martin, Justin. “Business Services Industry.” Findarticle.com (2004)
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4070/is_195/ai_114050442/

Managing Across Cultures: A Personal Look

As I read through this chapter, I couldn't help but associate some of the content in this chapter to my personal experiences. So instead of reiterating and breaking down some of the chapter's content, I'll just go ahead and write about an experience I had.

A couple years ago, I went to go vacation and visit a small part of my family in Guangzhou, China (located about an hour away from Hong Kong). Now keep in mind, culturally, I'm pretty Chinese. I was born in China, I speak Chinese (Cantonese) and both my dad and mom are Chinese. So naturally, I thought I was going to blend into the masses when my plane arrived in Guangzhou. Except I wasn't.

Guangzhou is a pretty big place; nine million people reside there. It possesses just little enough of attractions/monuments to draw away tourists. Because of this, Guangzhou is not too exposed to diversity. The first and immediate culture shock I had was greetings. Here in the States, we greet each other with a smile or a hug, depending on time elapsed since last encounter. It seems as Chinese culture is more reserved as my relatives greeted me with joy but with distance too. Later I found out it wasn't as though they weren't glad to see me, it's just that they express emotions differently. Another big thing was vocal volume. Everywhere I went, people spoke loud. It doesn't matter where you were, restaurants, strip malls, bathroom stalls, you would hear people talking, but with the volume of yelling. It was as though everyone there was half-deaf at one point; so I decide to ask my relatives why it was like this. "There's so many people here that you have to yell to be heard. It's not like were fighting, it's just our way of talking. If you don't speak loud you won't be heard."

Perhaps the biggest disbelief I had was how Chinese people were able to tell I was American before I told them. Maybe it was the way I dressed and talked, or maybe I radiated Democracy and burgers. I still don't know. However, I do know that people treat you differently when they know you're a foreigner, regardless of the way you look. But I guess that's every country.

Culture Shock

Imagine yourself in an environment where everything around you seemed foreign. The people around you acted in a way far different from your own and even wanted you to join in the same lifestyle. This a brief example of what culture shock would feel like. Culture shock is "anxiety and doubt caused by an overload of new expectations and cues" (Kreitner 116). Chapter 4 touches on the topic of culture shock and how if not handled carefully can lead into a serious dilema in the workplace. Unlike in Chapter 3, Chapter 4 discusses how cultural differences can affect companies and their employees. Colleen Ward, author of The Psychology of Culture Shock, discusses how culture shock has become an an issue of importance at the workplace. Ward states "As travel has become easier, cheaper, and faster many people have taken the opportunity to live, study, and seek employment in societies very different from their 'points of origin' (Ward 14). I find it very interesting that such an abundant amount of people have traveled to a foreign nation to receive employment. Culture shock can be addressed in several ways in order to keep it from becoming an issue. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)came up with their own definition of culture shock as well, "Culture shock is the physical and emotional discomfort of being in a foreign country, another culture, an unfamiliar place, or all three" (Culture Shock). The USAID even supplies information on how to recognize symptoms along with ways of coping with culture shock.

This issue is one that will slowly become more and more important as the United States and its lifestyle spread across the globe.


Ward, Colleen K. The Psychology of Culture Shock. 2nd ed. Vol 1. Philadelphia: Routledge, 2001.
Kreitner, Robert. Organizational Behavior. 9th ed. Vol. 1. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2010.
"Culture Shock." USAID.United States Agency for International Development: 2010.

Chapter 4: Avoiding Culture Shock

I’m sure many people, if not all, have been in an unfamiliar situation, and felt disoriented ( Kreitner, Kinicki 116). This is how the authors of the book in chapter four introduce the idea of culture shock, which is the anxiety and doubt caused by an overload of unfamiliar expectations and social signs. We can experience cultural shock when we travel to a foreign country or we begin a new job. As a result, many employees or visitors of a foreign country cannot deal with the unfamiliar. Therefore, they panic and go home or back to their country.

Kara Godwin discusses and brings up the idea that the need for U.S. schools, especially private colleges such as Dominican University, need to incorporate cultural understanding when providing assistance to international students and instructors. There is not enough aid that is placed in these exchange programs such as study abroad. This is causing international students and teachers to be faced with the idea of culture shock. Her article also notes that U.S. institutions continue to ignore the impact of cultural differences on teaching and learning despite the increase in enrollment of foreign students. It cites that most international students are not comfortable with the more interactive and informal style of U.S. education. If we were to try to avoid this idea of cultural shock then our program such as study abroad would be more successful and our international students and teachers would be satisfied with our style of education. They wouldn’t feel as disoriented or perhaps frightened.

Source: GODWIN, KARA A. "Academic Culture Shock." New England Journal of Higher Education 23.5 (2009): 30. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 1 Feb. 2010.

Universal Attributes

" In phase 2, the GLOBE researches set out to discover which, if any, attributes of leadership were universally liked or disliked. They surveyed 17,000 middle managers working for 951 organizations across 62 countries ... Visionary and inspirational charismatic leaders who are good team builders generally do the best. On the other hand, self-centered leaders seen as loners or face-savers generally receive a poor reception worldwide" (Kreitner 109).

In our ongoing quest towards globalization, it is appropriate to understand what works for everyone on a larger scale so that we can work together accordingly.

In the article, "Globalization is What We Make of It: Contemporary Globalization Theory and the Future Construction of Global Interconnection," Brown focuses on trying to provide a new answer to whether or not globalization is good or bad. Through series of examples regarding the past, Brown mentions that it has not worked in the past because people were trying too hard to highlight one single trend or example to live by. He suggests that we move away from that singular thinking and adopt a more pluralistic thinking of life and acceptance.

Though we may agree on a certain type of leadership quality, it does not necessarily mean that we would agree on a single leader who quote on quote " is charismatic or inspirational." Having that one leader could just lead us back to a dictatorship. When you think about it, globalization is more than just leadership or management skills. It is about an interconnectedness between mankind; globalization is what we make of it (Brown).

Source: Brown, Garrett Wallace. "Globalization is What We Make of It: Contemporary Globalization Theory and the Future Construction of Global Interconnection." Political Studies Review 6.1 (2008): 42-53. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 1 Feb. 2010.

Chapter 4

Each culture has different ways of interacting and training employees. In Chapter 4, it addresses the training needs to fit the local culture. As an employee looking for work, you must look into how each different culture interacts. In the book, they address what is important in the workplace in Brazil, China, and France. You must learn to handle certain situations that you might find peculiar in the workplace. For instance, In Brazil what may seem like fighting or yelling to a trainer during group discussions is normal communication behavior. Being aware of this different behavior will allow you to not feel threatened or off guard.

In the article, “Understanding Cultural Differences in Business” by Susan Brown, she explores the reasons to “how differences in culture affect business communication and conduct.” When people get involved in international business, they must indulge themselves in the cultural differences. The article touches on some of the terms in the chapter that they suggest to follow if you get involved in international business. People must identify if the culture is monochromic v.s polychromic, explicit vs. implicit, individualism vs. collectivism, and masculinity vs. femininity. Also, they must look at power distance and uncertainty avoidance. This article grabbed my attention and stresses the importance to learn and adapt to culture in order to not fail. Having a well-rounded understanding of cultural differences will allow you to grow as a business person and have the ability to be sensitive towards them.

Sources
Brown, Susan. "Understanding Cultural Differences in Business: How Differences in Culture Affect Business Communication and Conduct." Globalization. Web. 28 Jan. 2010. .

A Look Into Re-Entry Shock

As a previous exchange student to Germany, I know what re-entry shock is first-hand. However, I did not know that there was a word for it until reading chapter 4. It took me 9 months to get used to the United States again. That period of time was almost as difficult as adjusting to Germany’s culture. I knew that people change after spending a period of time overseas; however I was unprepared for re-entry, which entailed much more than I could have imagined and I wished I had prepared myself for it as much as I did for Germany’s culture.

Some of the major symptoms of re-entry shock are boredom (from a lack of new and exciting places and things around you), feelings of being insignificant (realizing you are not so special because people back home aren’t in awe of your accent, etc.) and feeling isolated from family and friends (who did not change while you were gone or did change so much, it is hard to catch up with them). The study abroad page of Wesleyan University offers this insight as well, “While there is always an element of excitement at getting back into things and seeing old friends, returning students are also keenly aware that they have missed out on what has been going on at home, at school, and with their friends for the past semester or year. This can all prove very disconcerting and sometimes downright depressing. If you couple anxiety about coming home with missing the new friends and the new way of life you found off campus, coming home can be emotionally quite difficult. The more you invested personally in your off-campus culture, the harder you may find it to return.” This is more or less what happened to me because I was so intent on fitting-in in Germany and only speaking German (yes, I even came home with a weird accent) that it was a lot harder for me to go back to being an ‘American’ so-to-say.

People are people, but their views on life and what is important are different depending on their culture. It is important to travel with an open mind and to not judge foreigners in your native country by assumptions based on their culture (like all Germans are uptight). Likewise, it is important to return home with an open mind and to not judge America’s ways by the culture you have just left. No one culture is better than another, just different.

Source:

"Wesleyan University: Office of International Studies." Web. 31 Jan 2010. .

Chapter 3 and 4

Chapter 3:
One of the most interesting information I found from Chapter 3 was the idea of mentoring. Mentoring is the process of forming and maintaining developmental relationships between a mentor and a junior person. For me, the one factor about mentoring that I always wondered about was the dynamics between the mentor and the mentee. How did they make a relationship that could actually benefit one another?

For one thing, I learned that mentoring was a great way for companies to build trust between its workers. One article from Inc. Magazine even talked about how a mentor can benefit a worker and how to make that relationship work. “They had us think in ways we had never thought before, about the big questions, such as how big do you want to be?” He also said, “The trust factor is all-important. Our mentors showed us from the start that they wanted to make a commitment to our business.” (Macht) When the mentors were asked, on the other hand, their replies matched with what the mentees said. They also emphasized the idea of being open to new situations and the fact that having a good relationship with their mentees has helped them work harder. (Macht)

The one thing that I have learned from all this is the importance of give and take. When I thought of the word mentoring, I thought of the mentees just depending on the mentors for everything. After reading that article, though, I realized that a mentor-mentee relationship is more that just dependence, but a partnership.

Chapter 4:

One thing that I truly found interesting in Chapter 4 was the idea of the Globe Project. From a standpoint of a person who is very interested in the distinctions between the different of cultures of other countries, I really wanted to find out more about it. The aim of this project was to define the term “leadership” worldwide. It was said that the objective of the project was “To determine the extent to which the practices and values of business leadership are universal (i.e., are similar globally), and the extent to which they are specific to just a few societies.” (Grovewell) Also, the definition given of the word leadership was "...the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members". (Grovewell)

The Globe project studied 62 different countries across the world. From these 62 countries, a CLT was formed. CLT, also known as “Culturally Endorsed Leadership Theory Dimensions”, was represented “the ultimate result of the team’s statistical grouping of leadership attributes into common dimensions.” (Grovewell) These six included: Charismatic/value based, team oriented, participative, humane oriented, self-protective, and autonomous. The results that came up were fascinating. There were some that really made me think about how businesses function in those specific regions. It also made me think about the different interactions between people living in those countries. Here are some interesting results that I found:

Team oriented: “At the level of the 10 societal clusters, the Latin America cluster most positively associated the team oriented CLT with outstanding leadership.” (Grovewell)
Self protective: “Incidentally, the Middle East cluster also rated the self-protective CLT in an almost neutral manner. Nordic Europe, with a mean of 2.72, associated this CLT with the inhibition of good leadership.” (Grovewell)

Sources:

Grovewell, C. Grove. Dare to Be WorldWise: Overviews of the GLOBE Research Project Worldwide. 2007. 30 January 2010 .

Macht, Joshua D. Inc. . 2 June 2001. 30 January 2010 .

chap 4

In the section, “Understanding Cultural Differences,” the topics of high- and low-context cultures, cultural perceptions of time, and interpersonal space interested me. In high-context cultures, such as, China, it is customary to bow when greeting someone or to use both hands when presenting your business card to someone. High-context cultures tended to have more respect and therefore react to different statuses accordingly. In low-context cultures, a simple hand shake or greeting already establishes trust, where as in high-context cultures trust is gained through time. In Leeds (2008), high-context cultures require presentation styles that are characterized as indirect, relational, story telling, group oriented, and trust building. In low-context cultures, their presentation styles are more direct, data driven, has a logical flow, confident, and answers the question of “What’s In it for Me.” Low-context cultures view time monochronically, where being on time is important. However, high-context cultures view time polychronically as something that is flexible and casual. According to Leeds (2008), in most Middle Eastern countries, time is associated with their religious beliefs which makes them regard time in a more relaxed manner. Timing is also reflected in the way different countries’ economies operate, where some value fast economic growth, while others prefer a slow, stable growth. Interpersonal space is also important because negotiations and presentation styles need to be altered to fit the cultural situation. North American and Norther European countries prefer the personal zone, while Asian, Latin American, and Arab countries prefer a more intimate zone. In Effective Communication through Presentations¸the intimate zone is defined as less than 18 inches apart, the personal zone is 18 inches to 4 feet, the social zone is 4 to 12 feet, and the public zone is over 12 feet. Also, the importance of eye contact is also discussed by Leeds (2008) saying that countries, such as, Asian, Latin American, and Caribbean cultures view eye contact as something to avoid because it is considered rude. North American, European, and Arab cultures, on the other hand, view eye contact as an acceptable gesture. By knowing what to do and what to avoid, people can be better informed of the cultural differences and make accomondations when they’re in situation that requires them to do so.

Works Cited
Leeds, Christopher. Effective Communicatioj through Presentations. Acton, MA: Copely Custom Textbooks, 2008.

Chapters 3 and 4

I found it strange that chapter four, which was about cross-cultural management, immediately followed the chapter about organizational culture and socialization. Nevertheless, there is valuable information locked in these chapters. I took away a few simple lessons from these 2 chapters...

In chapter three, I was impressed by the figure on page 73 of the competing values framework. To put is simply, this simple four-part framework shows there different kinds of organizational culture within a group of competing values. The four "categories" of competing values break down into:
Clans- "A culture that has an internal focus and values flexibility rather than stability and control"

Adhocracy- "A culture that has an external focus and values flexibility"

Market culture- "A culture that has a strong external focus and values stability and control"

Hierarcy- "A culture that has an internal focus and values stability and control over flexibility"

By utilizing this information, decision-makers can, in effect, set up the organizational culture of their choosing depending on what their organizational VALUES are. If they would prefer to be rigid and focus internally, then a hierarchy is the smart move for those values.

Chapter 4 brings me back to my days in international marketing. I can see it like it was just last semester (it was), and a lot of this information is a simple recap of what I learned in that class. We learned about high-context cultures, where context-sensitive language situational cues dominate interaction (many Asian countries), and low-context cultures, where written and spoken words have shared and common meanings (lazy countries like America). There are so many cultural differences that affect how business is conducted all over the world. For instance, in the Middle East, it's not only common, but considered good practice, to bribe officials to get your concerns handled faster. Unfortunately for us, U.S. law prohibits any employee of a U.S. based company to engage in bribery anywhere on the planet (regardless of which side of the bribing you're on). In the 1990's, the Iraqi Oil For Food program (which mandated that some of Iraq's oil revenues be deposited into UN accounts in order to purchase approved humanitarian goods) was the center of an enormous bribery scandal, when it was discovered in 2004 that 2,000 companies and about 40 countries had paid nearly $1.8 billion in illegal bribes to Saddam Hussein. While I don't want to play the devil's advocate here, and I never supported Mr. Hussein or his totalitarian regime, I do get the impression that, to him, he was simply conducting business.
(http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bribe/2009/03/interactive-map-the-business-of-bribes.html)

People here would probably say that those Middle Eastern officials are corrupt despots who want nothing but money; but, in those Middle Eastern countries, it's simply the way business is done, and to them we're all a bunch of prudes for being up in arms about bribery. Cultures do business in very different ways. Differences abound, from gender equality to the spread of power. No one country does business "right." We all just have our own way.

Culture and Organizational Behavior

I found chapter four to be one of the more interesting chapters which we have so far. I really enjoyed the section which compares our culture to others, and shows how this can cause tension in the work place. For example, Filipino women relate over friendly to prostitution, so their management style may come off to Americans as cold or stern. Every culture has a characteristic which we might find odd, rude or disrespectful. We must understand that it is not in any way, shape or form a personality flaw on their part. What we might find rude other cultures might view that behavior as normal. When addressing the situation, the key is to explain the cultural differences rather than make a personal attack.
I remember in elementary school we has a student move to California from Taiwan, one day on the black top another student was talking to the foreigner but was invading his personal space. The boy became extremely frustrated and offended and wanted to fight. Later that day our teacher explained that in his culture, it is rude to get into someone’s face and invade their space. It’s not that either of the boys were behaving in an ill mannered way, it’s just that they were not mature enough to deal with the culture clash. In the corporate world, the two would have been expected to handle the situation with a respectful discussion.
Ohio State University did some research on diversity in the work place and found several interesting facts. The main point that they made was to look at diversity as a positive asset to your work team. Every culture might have a characteristic which one may view as odd, yet on the other hand every person has strong points. Celebrate the diversity in the work place and combine everyone strengths in order to increase productivity
“Working With Diverse Cultures”. Smith/Miller.
. http://ohioline.osu.edu/bc-fact/0014.html