Exercise # 5 

CULTURAL DIMENSIONS

MOVIE - OUTSOURCED

TABLE DISCUSSING CULTURAL DIMENSIONS FROM THE SCENES OF OUTSOURCED

Cultural Dimension	Character	Scene
Direct Vs. Indirect	Aasha and Todd	Aasha directly tells Todd in the first meeting that she was not comfortable with saying she was from Chicago; Todd on the other hand tried to indirectly tell her that Americans were unemployed due to outsourcing by say that “a lot of Americans are unhappy about outsourcing”.
Status achieved/ ascribed	Aasha and Todd	Aasha and Todd later in the movie begin to have an affair. When Todd insists to Aasha to come in for tea, she refuses saying she has been engaged to a family friend named Aashok since she was 4 years old, this is the perfect example of status ascribed. Later Aasha tells Todd that she fought to go to college with her parents and she fought to be able to work at the call centre, whatever she is today is because she wanted to be there, this is the perfect example of status achieved.
Accountability: Individual/ Group	Todd at the team	At first, Todd was trying to get the number down by concentrating only on himself saying I need to get them down. Later he got the entire team on board by giving them incentives and changing the “I” to a “we”.
Planning: People Vs. Time	Todd	At first when Todd moved to India, he was governed by his own day to day timely based scheduled. Later, when he started to mingle around with people, he began to plan less of his daily activities.
Decision Making: Rules/ Relations	Todd	When Todd first started off in India, he was just focused on getting the numbers down. Later on, he made the decision to provide the employees with incentives to give them free products of the company without asking his own boss.
Expression: Reveal/ Conceal	Todd	When Todd’s boss called him from the US and told him until his target was not met, he wasn’t moving anywhere, Todd arguing the target to be unrealistic got into an argument with his manager and instead of screaming in frustration, Todd left the office for a walk with a heightened temper.
Connecting: Inclusive/ exclusive	Todd	Since the very beginning, Todd stayed pretty much aloof and on his own, excluding people and his team members. Later on, on the day of Holi, he begin to blend in with the rest of the members, including his assistant and host Puro; creating a more in depth relationship.
Content: Informal/ Formal	Todd	When Todd moved to India, he was operated in a very formal manner. All the employees had to come in a western dressing, tables has to stay clean. Later, he bended the rules by allowing the employees to dress the what they want and bring any sort of personal item, like family pictures, small idols etc for their desks, making the place and culture slightly bit informal.
Relationship: Universal/ Situational	Todd and Puro	Since the start, Puro has been extremely friendly to Todd. Taking him to good places, thinking what is best for him from the place he should stay to him not feeling well and bringing in clean hygienic food for him. Todd on the other had kept himself at a distance, online maintaining relationship for professional basis until he gave in to becoming friends with Puro.
Outlook: Traditional/ Innovation	Dave	From what I noticed, Dave, the manager in this movie has always been eager to jump into trends. Within a few weeks he moved operation to India, a few weeks later, moved them to China, going on with what is happening around without much research.

SELF-REFLECTION

Todd, a telephone sales person, was asked to pack his life in the US and move to India to manage and train a team they had hired since his entire department in the US was outsourced to India. Having been performing well, Todd was allowed to keep his job in but only in India while the rest of his department was laid off. Depressed, unhappy and unsatisfied, Todd packed up and left for India only to experience a world like he has never imagined. From the people to the culture to their unfamiliar traditions and festivals, Todd was in for a life changing experience. In India, he found himself jumping on trains, travelling in mini taxis, becoming a pure vegetarian against his will, learning to use a squat toilet without toilet papers, eating with his right hand and living with a woman who truly took care of him better than his own mother. Initially, Todd was fighting it; the place, the food and the people. He was a mess until he went in hunt of a cheeseburger and came across another American fellow whose department was outsourced to India just like Todds’. This fellow American advised Todd to stop fighting the country and let it all in and accept the way things are to make his life easier. Surprisingly, Todd did as advised. He began to merge in with the team members, celebrated the Holi festival with his host Puro, and began to love the place he despised only a few weeks ago.

Throughout the movie we have seen mega cultural differences. From the office to the house, people in both countries are worlds apart. In India, people seem to connect more with each other at a personal level where Puro absolutely loved and cared for his boss Todd which was unimaginable for Todd. Towards the end of the movie, we can see how Todd’s personality changes. Indians cannot imagine living far from their parents whereas Todd rarely ever saw them back home. When he lands back in the US, we can see he is preparing himself to go meet his mother as he learns the value of a parent. He learns to respect himself and leave the work he finds no pleasure in at all.

To conclude, for Todd, the life changing experience worked best in his favor as he learnt to be more empathic, grateful in life and to learn to stop doing things that make him miserable.

Answer 1:

As Todd exited the airport, he seemed confused and slightly bit frightened.  He had just entered a strange city, unfamiliar with the people and the place; failing to locate the driver the company had sent for him, he exited the airport planning on getting a cab to get to the train station. The driver had his name spelled wrong as in Hindi, given their different accent; Todd’s name is pronounced as “Toad”, therefore the confusion. Once out of the airport, Todd was surrounded by anxiously eager drivers, all wanting to sweep away this potential customer for themselves. Wanting to escape the crowd of taxi drivers, Todd ran towards the first driver he saw waiting in the corner mistaking him for a taxi driver where he was a “rickshaw” driver. Rickshaws are tiny, 3 seater, door less taxis placed on a motorcycle.

Answer 2:

As Todd was walking toward beside the train, looking for a less crowded train cabin, when suddenly the train started to move. The friendly stranger caught up with Todd and asked him to run towards the nearest door and jump in. We can note Todd’s expression here to be shocked and slightly horrified and he yelled that the cabin had no space. The friendly stranger helped him with taking his luggage and throwing it towards the people standing at the door of the over flowing train cabin and told him that the space was not a problem and helped him jump towards the overflowing door where the people from inside the cabin helped him to come in.

Answer 3:

When Todd gets inside the train and is unable to find an empty seat, a young boy around 10 years old who was seated at the corner of the aisle seat, got up and gave his place to Todd. Having a place to sit after such a horrifying experience of getting onto the train, Todd gladly took the seat only to realize that the kid comes and sits on Todd’s lap. It was understandable that Todd was shocked and not at all at ease. In the States, when you do not have a seat to sit on in a crowded train, you are expected to stand. Certainly, a strange young boy sitting on your lap is the last thing you would ever expect while seated in a crowded train cabin. This is a major cultural difference that should be noted here.

Answer 4:

Outside the train station, Todd ate something similar to an ice lollie known as “Golla” in Hindi. A few hours later, when he was at the call center, his stomach started to act and sound funny. A bad stomach pain got him running to the place his was residing in known as the “Auntie Jee Guest House”. A cultural change we can see here is that the washroom did not have the modern toilet seat, instead a floor based tradition squat toilet. Also, Todd was unable to find a toilet paper like he is used to using, instead, Indians use water to clean themselves better and is considered to be more hygienic.

 

Answer 5:

Todd’ host, Peru, describes the city as “very clean” comparing it to Bombay which according to him was terrible.

 

Answer 6:

Not knowing that Puro is the person Todd has come to India to train, Todd accidently calls in a Schmuck while explaining what he does for a living. Unfamiliar with the American slang word Schmuck, Puro asked Todd it’s meaning. By this time, Todd had read Puro’s business card and realized he is the guy Todd is here to train. To cover up, Todd gives the meaning of the word Schmuck as a really nice guy.

 

Answer 7:

Puro says that Todd would become very lonely at the Gharpuri Palace Hotel. So he decide to take him to Auntie Jees Guest House where she has a very beautiful garden and good Indian cook and is very hygienic and that she will take care of him better than his own mother.

 

Answer 8:

Auntie Jee begins to ask him personal questions such as what Todd’s father does for a living, what Todd’s current salary is and whether or not he is married or has a girlfriend. When Todd said that he broke up with his girlfriend a few months ago, she interrogated further asking why he didn’t marry her and why he wasn’t ready to settle down when he is old enough to become a grandfather. No in US, generally people do not ask about your parents and most definitely never ask about you salary. All these question pouring from Auntie Jee were just a shock for Mr.Todd.