Cross-Cultural Interview Analysis

Cross-cultural Interview Analysis

This paper is an analysis of cultural differences and different business behaviors in the workplace based on the cross interview with Mr. Chris, a Travel Agent who just graduated from college and started working for Travelling company in Australia. From his perspectives, he gave a specific view of business behaviors and cultural differences of the Australia workplace, main ideas of which are focused on appropriate or inappropriate business behaviors in general, unethical behaviors, and special culture or identity main aspects. Furthermore, based on my different personal experiences, I made a comparison of the many cultural differences and behavior features between the Australia working environment and Cambodia working environment, main ideas of which is also described from the three aspects of business behaviors, ethical issues, and other related to cultural differences. Before addressing anything further about cultural and behavior differences within the workplace, it is important to first understand the meaning of culture and multiculturalism. Briefly, anthropologists define culture as an implicit list of standard operating procedures, which could be learned, shared, and transmitted from one generation to the next that forms organizations and interprets customs. Cultural diversity, in another term, multiculturalism, is “a system of assumptions, values and norms passed down by socialization”

In the business world, culture is always treated an important factor of success. There are two widely accepted ways to classify cultures based on differences in characteristics such as values, attitudes, social culture structure and so on. Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in facts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional ideas and especially their attached values; cultural systems may on the one hand be considered as products of action, on the other as conditioning elements of further action. Cross-cultural awareness is an opportunity for firms and associated stakeholders to adapt to life in the twenty-first century global village and integrate and communicate effectively with other cultures. Managers must know how best to communicate with individuals, and global business partners, on a cross-cultural basis. Cross-Cultural Interview was a graded classroom assignment that consists of an ethnographic interview, self-evaluation and reflection and discussion of personal experiences in comparison with published literature. The purpose of this analysis was to develop cultural competence through an understanding of the context of the individual's situation, including his cultural identity, experiences with his work and skill, environmental stressors and coping mechanisms. We can worked in pairs and were expected to conduct an ethnographic interview with a person whose cultural background (including religion, sexual identity, and disability status) was different from each of other people. According to his experiences and our critical thinking, globalization is a process of intensified interaction between communities and governments in various areas such as social, political, economic, and cultural aspects. Correspondingly, along with the worldwide growing interactive economy tendency, cultural differences within organizations has become a key feature in the current competitive global working environment. Cultural diversity can also be defined as a national theme: “significant distinctions include race, culture, religion, ethnicity, language, genders, nation of origin, sexual orientation, age, physical abilities, occupation, and class.” Within organizations, complicated cultural diversity could offer benefits, as well as problems and challenges: benefits of which include “.variety in ideas, styles, form of devotion, vision, creativity, innovation, histories, and lifestyles. Feelings and attitudes experienced are effect to the interview process that elicited many feelings from our group members, both positive and critical. Positive feelings were related to insight gained from his experiences. One said, “I felt fortunate to be sitting and listening to her words and I was humbled by my lack of knowledge in the