Exercise # 4

Q1 – How culture and dimensions influence

Life choices

Thinking

Sense of group

ANSWER

Every culture is unique in its values and beliefs as well as its expectations from the individuals who make part of it. The way people communicate, deal with each other in formal as well as informal meetings, and express themselves, are mostly dictated from the culture to which they belong. While being part of a certain culture gives people a sense of belonging as well as nearness to their roots, the global influence is permeating all cultures and making them change as they adopt Western values of freedom and choice. Some cultures are more open to adopting ideas from the other, while others are more conservative and closed in that sense.

How Culture influences Life Choices

Taking the Asian model, life choices are highly influenced by a need to confirm to the group. Asian cultures are not as independent as the Western cultures. They require the members to be closely associated to their families and work within the cultural values and beliefs. The Asian culture is divided into many sub cultures. All of them have varying degrees of interdependence and conformity, when it comes to life choices. While other Asian sub-cultures like the Indian culture allows children to select their careers, chose suitable jobs for themselves, and make career choices, the Arab culture is still male-dominated where females still cannot choose a profession for themselves. Similarly, the Japanese culture is highly authoritative where juniors at work or in family cannot go against the decisions of their seniors or elders. Thus in organisation meetings when a senior member takes a decision, it is not considered good manners to question or challenge his decision.

How Culture influences Thinking

In Asian cultures, thinking is also influenced by the cultural values. It is unthinkable to be an outlier when it comes to confirming to cultural values. Although the Asian cultures support innovation, we see that in the last century, all major innovations such as the Iphone have come from the West, which allows its citizens to ask questions and supports them in their quest for the things which may be new and unique. In the Asian cultures, the thoughts and expression are concealed and it isnot considered good if a younger person questions the beliefs and values which the elders have been following. Although the Western values are permeating this part of culture, there are still restrictions on expression that hinder innovation and challenging ideas.

The Arab culture, like most Asian cultures, is “collectivist” as compared to the more “individualistic” in nature. Thus decisions at home and at work are made not just on the basis of personal choice. There is no clear demarcation between family and work life. Thus they may even be overlapping at times, with family life taking preference even at work hours, where employees and even managers may be found leaving jobs early to attend to family issues (Whiteoak, Crawford, & Mapstone, 2006).

How Culture influences Sense of Group

In the Asian culture, there is a strong sense of accountability to the group. The Asian culture promotes interdependence and supports belongingness to group, may it be family or at work. Same is true for the Arab culture. There is a very strong sense of association in the Arab culture. The Arabs from ancient times, used to live in tribes. Being part of a tribe, or family, is still considered a matter of pride for the Arabs. Due to this, the Arab culture does not support individuality but rather focuses on collectivism. At work also, the Arabs tend to be closer to each other as compared to other expatriate workers (Samovar, et al., 2010). This is particularly true for the female workers, who prefer to form groups with other Arab co-workers. This is also due to the fact that they can talk in their own language, they share common backgrounds, and have similar values and belief systems (Whiteoak, Crawford, & Mapstone, 2006).

Examples from Emirati Society

The tribal society is still an important feature of socio-economic system in the UAE. Even today, all Emiratis can relate themselves to a certain tribe which forms an important part of their names (Al Abdi & Hellyer, 2001). Even today all Emiratis can be distinguished based on their tribes. Belonging to certain tribe, still can mean a source of importance and respect to the members, despite the fact that they are materially rich or not (Al-Kandari & Gaither, 2011).

Family System in Emirati Society

According to Bristol-Rhys, (2010) Emiratis prefer to move in their extended family circles and this has not changed even though there are so many expatriates in the country. Especially women do not go outside their close circle of Emirati family and friends when socializing. Unmarried girls, almost always accompany their mothers when visiting relatives. This can be thought of as a way to keep the unmarried girls in the eyes of relatives who might then ask for their hand in marriage for their sons or nephews. Thus the girls will remain in the family which is the best marital arrangement even in today’s modern Emirati families. Arranged marriages within the tribal units was the preferred pattern in the pre oil period, but this pattern has changed somewhat. Individuals now have greater choice, yet many nationals still prefer arranged marriages. Emiratis are strongly discouraged from marrying non-nationals however, with the oil money, Emiratis are more and more keeping more than one wives. This being said, the first wife still is an Emirati who lives in the family home along with the extended family whereas the other wives live separately in other homes and do not enjoy the same status as the first Emirati wife.

Q2- WRITE UP FOR THE BLOG

ARAB CULTURE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON LIFE CHOICES

INTRODUCTION

This paper will discuss how culture and its 12 dimensions influence life choices, thinking, and sense of group or accountability. For the purpose of this report, we choose the Asian model, with particular focus on the Middle Eastern culture. Although the Asian culture is unique and similar across the continent, there are some major difference between cultures in Japan and China from the Indian culture or that of the sub-continent. Similarly, the Arab culture is very different from other Asian cultures, not just in respect to the appearances but also in terms of communication, freedom of expression, as well as thinking, life choices, and conformity to the group.

THE ARAB CULTURE

The Arab culture is one of the conservative cultures where both family and organisational lives are governed by authoritarian leaders. At home, the father is the head of the family and makes major decisions regarding the education, spending patterns, and even when selecting life partners for the children. While boys in the family have more freedom of choice, girls find limited opportunities to make decisions for themselves. The Arab culture, although under influence of the Western cultures, still holds its identity and those belonging to it take pride in being part of the group. They do not wish to look different or act different. Like the broader Asian model, the Arab model focuses on maintaining harmony as well as gives strong support to family values. As is the case with most Asian cultures, the Arab culture is more patriarchal where the men not only control the state of affairs, they also protect the women and support them in every way. They provide for the women, give them utmost respect, and treat them well. However, the decision-making rests with the male members of the family. The culture is patriarchal to such an extent that even the younger boys in the family have more say in decision-making as compared to their elder sisters.

ARAB CULTURE AND LIFE CHOICES

In terms of the dimensions, Arab culture in more relationship-focused when it comes to decision-making. Being a patriarchal culture, the decision-making is centralised and authority vests in the head of the family. In the first place, most Arab families do not allow their women to go out and work with other men. One major issue behind this conflict is that traditionally Arab culture promotes segregation. Thus men do not freely mingle with women even at social gatherings such as weddings. Thus it is not considered good that women work in the same area where men are present and have frequent interactions with their male colleagues (Whiteoak, Crawford, & Mapstone, 2006). Thus, this mind-set is the root cause that makes men and heads of the families to stop the women in their families from going out and work.

 

Examples from Emirati Culture

Women from all social strata in the UAE wish to work and be an important part in the economic growth of the country (Bristol-Rhys, 2010). However, it is evident that the mind-set of the general Emirati men has not yet changed. Thus they do not allow their sisters or wives to enter in a field where they have to work shoulder to shoulder with men. Despite all encouragement, women participation remains low although it is growing at a very slow rate. In spite of new employment opportunities, most women opt for marriage and raising children. UAE society places a high value on those roles. Conservative cultural attitudes lead women to seek jobs that do not involve mixing with men or commuting far from home. Subsequently, most women are employed in education, health, and civil service. Large families are encouraged by the state as a national policy, and family size is six to eight children. With the changing times and increasing education and awareness among the women, the husband's authority in household affairs is declining, while the wife is gaining importance as a mother and the manager of the domestic unit (Bristol-Rhys, 2010). However, women still have not gained enough power to decide for themselves and their careers and mostly are left only managing their households and keeping away from mainstream jobs.

COMMUNICATIONS IN ORGANISATIONS

According to Whiteoak, Crawford, & Mapstone (2006) the communications in Arab organisations, particularly where women are employed, mostly public sector organisations, are mostly formal and rather than all male and female colleagues intermingling during breaks or after work, the jobs and even departments are segregated to certain extents. Thus a department head or supervisor normally talks with the females in the department and that meeting is also formal and work-related. Thus a propriety is always maintained in organisational dealings.

Formal Meetings

The Arabs prefer to meet with their business acquaintances over coffee, lunch, or breakfast (Samovar, et al. 2010). The business meetings in Arab culture are held in a relaxed environment and they do not like to rush through the meeting agenda. A person coming from the Western countries may find it strange but that is how the meetings in Arab culture are held. Refusing coffee or food to the Arab host can be considered as an offense and thus, not recommended in any business meeting. Furthermore, Arab meetings may not be conclusive in the first meeting alone. Many a times there is a need to meet again to finally be able to talk on the agenda. Since the Arab culture is collectivist, the Arab businessmen and managers prefer to work with others with whom they are acquainted. Thus making friends and being in a comfortable semi-formal environment is very important when it comes to business meetings in the Arab culture (Al-Kandari & Gaither, 2011).  

CONCLUSION BASED ON MY OPINION

Based on the above discussion as well as my understanding of the Arab culture, it is evident that Arab culture is collectivist, like most Asian cultures. However, Arab culture is more conservative as it still dictates what the men and women wear, how they interact with each other and the way communications are allowed or restricted between men and women. Furthermore, Arab culture is highly family or tribe-oriented and individualism has still not found its place in the Arab society. Being associated with a tribe is still considered a matter of pride in most Arab countries. Thus, while the dressing, particularly dress-codes at work, around the world have now moved to formal Western attire, the Arabs still wear their own cultural dress to work and also feel proud of it.

At work also, the organisational setting and departmentalisation is done keeping in mind the need for segregation. Just like in families, at work too, the seniors are given utmost importance. Their word is mostly the last word in any meeting or decision-making. The decision-making is also mostly centralised both at work and at homes.

The Arabs believe, and rightly so, that their closeness to their own culture and the “individuality” of their collective culture is the thing that gives them strength and keeps them united. Thus, although they may prefer to wear Western brands, they are still not influenced deeply by the Western culture.

REFERENCES

Al-Kandari, A., & Gaither, T. K. (2011). Arabs, the west and public relations: A critical/cultural study of Arab cultural values. Public Relations Review, 37(3), 266-273.

Al Abid, I. & Hellyer, P. (2001). United Arab Emirates: a new perspective. United Kingdom: Trident Press, 2001.

Bristol-Rhys, J. (2010). Emirati Women, Generations of Change. Hurst Publishers

Samovar, L. A. et al. (2010). Communication between Cultures, 7th Ed., Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 70

Whiteoak, J. W., Crawford, N. G., & Mapstone, R. H. (2006). Impact of gender and generational differences in work values and attitudes in an Arab culture. Thunderbird International Business Review, 48(1), 77-91.