Book Summary Preview : Riding the Waves of Culture

The Big Idea
There are many factors to be considered in the operation and management of business. Capital and investment, employee performance, system efficiency and effective employee-employer relationships are just some of the many essential considerations in doing business. However, a lot of people dealing with business forget one important aspect that is deemed essential in business: culture.

Culture, as an interconnected system of meanings shared by one group, greatly affects the way people do business. Cultural orientation may vary depending on the ideas, meanings, and beliefs held upon by a group of people living together in a certain locus or situation. Hence, culture affects the way people do business in a particular location.

This book discusses the effect of cultural diversity in the way people do business. Since culture is not easily felt unless one is immersed thoroughly in the lives of the people around, it is important for businesses to carefully understand how the culture of partners and the location may optimize the operation of the business, and similarly enhance the way of interaction in business.

Culture in General

What is Culture?
A group of people understands and interprets the world, thus sharing these modes of understanding with one another. Thus, culture is a network of meanings that a particular group of people shares and understands together. Culture comes in various forms, which ranges from external products that are readily available to anyone, the norms and values believed and upheld in a society, to the fundamental assumptions about human existence.

Culture as a Side Dish?
More often than not, most businesses overlook the relevance of culture in the success or failure of their operation. Culture thus becomes a side dish, or worst, a minute part in the considerations made by managers and executive officers in managing and running their business. Since culture supervenes every feature of human existence, it must then be understood, appreciated, and applied to the various facets of a business.

Culture’s Impact in Business
An understanding of culture, of how and why individuals and organizations act and think as they do, would only be possible if one will consider the cultural background of the environment, particularly the way people attribute meanings to the environment where they belong. Through this, businesses will foresee the differences between their native cultures and in turn reconcile them, which in turn would maximize every opportunity present within their situation.

Dilemmas from Interaction of Cultures in Business
Culture is a paradigm by which a group of people operates and lives in their environment. An interaction of cultures may point out difficulties and even conflicts in the understanding and action of each party involved in business. . .

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