Cross-Cultural Management Skills in a Business Environment Research Paper

Cross-Cultural Management Skills in a Business Environment - Research Paper Example Culture changes or evolves over time, defined and altered by interactions amongst those who make up human society Culture is not monolithic because the human agents or actors who are imbued with intelligence and freedom give culture its dynamism through interaction and co-operation, giving rise to sub-cultures that add to societal diversity (Charon 2004, pp. 158-160). Culture is, therefore, a feature of a human society shaped by the behaviour of everyone in that society who learn and share that culture with future generations, affecting behaviour and outlook on life and determining how they think, feel, and act. Culture can be analysed using several perspectives and frameworks since it is visible to observers. Schein (2004, pp. 25-27) argued, in the context of business organisations, that these cultural manifestations range from the very tangible and over that one can see and feel: artefacts like organisational structures and processes, products and symbols of rituals, or architectur e and art, to the deeply embedded, unconscious, basic assumptions such as beliefs, perceptions, thoughts and feelings that form its essence. In between are espoused beliefs, values, norms, and rules of behaviour that members of the society use to depict the culture to themselves and to others. To understand the culture of any group and/or to change it, one has to get at its underlying assumptions and understand how such basic assumptions came to be. The best way to change a culture is to change the basic assumptions, but this is difficult, time-consuming, and highly anxiety-provoking.