Power and Inequality in a Cultural and Linguistic Anthropolistic View Essay

Centuries have passed and the different relationships of power and inequality are still present. Power and inequality have always been an issue and a topic of discussion among many different people in different cultures. Although much has changed throughout history, the struggle between power and inequality is still inevitable. There are many different types of power and inequalities ranging from gender to race and culture. Anthropologists can investigate issues surrounding power and inequality by submerging into different cultures and studying how power and inequality play a role in their society. Power and inequality still play a role in modern human cultures as seen by different struggles of cultures as well as the differentiation of linguistics. Cultural anthropologists can investigate issues surrounding power and inequality in modern human populations as they immerse themselves into understanding the different circumstances of different cultures of today and of the past as well. Throughout the years, there has been a struggle of power and inequality between many, including gender and race. Gender has been an issue in many different cultures, and continues to be a struggle even today. In the past, gender issues have resulted in many problems. For example, after China passed the one child law, many parents wanted to have sons rather than daughters because of the thought that sons were more worthy. This however, has resulted in an imbalance of the male and female ratio as it has reached 144:100, in the rural areas of China (Peters-Golden, 2012). In modern society, it is evident that in most cultures, the male is still the dominant gender. In some cultures, including some in the Middle East, women are looked down upon, mistreated and are not treated as equals. Even in the modern Western culture, there is still evidence that the women are at a disadvantage compared to the men (Feminist Economics, 2003). Along with gender, race has also been a reoccurring issue of as well. Previously, the Western worlds perceived themselves as having more power and were more superior to any other culture. Culture today, according to cultural anthropologists, is learned and is subject to modification meaning that the modern population can adapt to new races and cultures as well as their own. Different societies should be subject to his or her own culture rather than perceiving that one race or culture as superior to any other. Cultural anthropologists believe that â€Å"how people have been accepted and treated of a given society of culture has a direct impact on how they perform in that society† (American Anthropology Association, 1998). Thus concluding that not everybody can see themselves as superior, as it affects the society as a whole as well. The United States is an example of many different cultural prejudices, and its affects are apparent in their everyday lives including the media. Cultural anthropologists have been studying different cultures of the world, and many of them have different opinions of power and inequality as can be seen by the ways the cultures interact. In the modern world, there are many pieces of evidence that power and inequality are still present and is still an issue in modern human populations. Power and inequality have much to do with cultural studies, but can also be interpreted in a linguistic anthropological view as well. Linguistic anthropology studies how language influences social society in cultures. Although not necessarily seen as inequality, many different languages have different words categorising between gender, age, and status among others. Linguistics is also an important part of cultural anthropology as well. In many different languages, the use of words reflects the cultures status on both power and inequality (University of Washington, 2004). For example, in many languages, including French, Spanish, and Persian, noun classification is sorted by gender. In Thai, there are around 13 ways to say the pronoun â€Å"I† each one used in different circumstances, depending on who and what is being said. In both cases, the use of language is separated by power and could be thought of as a social inequality because different people are referred to by their gender or social status. As well as words that play a role in cultures, the different languages does as well. According to Mary Bucholtz and Kira Hall (1995), linguistic anthropologists, they say that power is linked with markedness. Markedness is a process where â€Å"some social categories gain a special, default status that contrasts with the identities of other groups, which are usually highly recognisable† and is evident in some countries (Bucholtz & Hall, 1995, p. 372). An example of this is in Zambia, a country that speaks a total of 73 languages, however, only around 7 are considered the ‘dominant’ language as they are positioned above the others, while English is the official language that is unmarked, and considered to be the most important (Spitulnik, 1998). Linguistic anthropology is an important part when studying the different power and inequalities of cultures. Linguistics can show how cultures can interact by languages and determine who is ‘dominant’ or can differentiate people by status or gender. In modern human populations, the existence of power and inequality is still present. Anthropologists, both linguistic and cultural, investigate the presence in struggle of balancing power and inequality. Different times represent different mindsets, however, both power and inequality have been present for basically all of human existence. Prejudice is inevitable in both the past and current human population, ranging from race, gender, different individuals, and cultures, among others. Anthropologists can investigate issues surrounding power and inequality by submerging into different cultures and studying how power and inequality play a role in their society. Studying the language of other cultures by linguistic anthropologists can also determine many aspects of power and inequality in not only the different cultures of today, but also of the past as well.

Community Health Nursing Essay

Course Description: Continued study of nursing models and application of relevant theories to guide nursing practice as it pertains to health promotion and risk reduction. Using the family as the essential unit of care across all environments within the community, critical thinking and clinical decision-making processes will facilitate the design, management, and provision of care to modify risk factors. It promotes engagement of healthy lifestyles among individuals and families within the community. Specific clinical activities are related to prevention and reduction of health disparities across the life span through the conduct of community assessment and the development and implementation of culturally appropriate nursing strategies reflecting professional values and behaviors. Prerequisites or Co-requisite:NURS 3000, NURS 3020, SOC 2100 Course Objectives: At the conclusion of the course, the student will be able to: A.Describe the current focus of state, national and global health objectives. B.Define health promotion and population-focused nursing practice. C.Utilize principles of public health core functions and health education to formulate population focused health promotion interventions that address the goals of state, national and international objectives (outcomes). D.Function as patient/family advocate by designing, coordinating and managing the provision of nursing care focusing on health promotion and risk reduction in and across all environments. E.Demonstrate knowledge and sensitivity in the care of diverse populations in regard to age, gender, culture, race, religion, socioeconomic status and lifestyle preference. F.Facilitate active family participation in health assessment and the promotion of health lifestyles and health care decisions. G.Conduct comprehensive community assessment to determine family health risks/strengths. H.Demonstrate effective use of information-based technology in planning health care promotion with families in the community. I.Design and implement an appropriate curriculum for health promotion of families in the community. Program Assessment Plans are located at the following link and can be accessed by clicking on the link in the first column for each program.

A girl named Maria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

A girl named Maria - Essay Example It has been believed that certain individuals have specific roles to play in society. During the ancient times, males were already considered as the providers and protectors of their families and their tribes. Females had the role of taking care of the children and the home.Patriarchy, which was the setup during the olden days up until centuries ago, is the sociological condition wherein the males are considered to be more dominant than the females. More often than not, in this particular type of social setup, males are those in positions of power and enjoy more rights than the females. The society is said to be reigned by either a single male or a group of males. Females, including children, as a result of this type of social organization, are then forced to assume subordinate roles.In Latin America, the culture has been influenced by several other cultures, mainly by the Europeans and the Africans. Nonetheless, just like any other society and culture, which have the tendency to evo lve through time, patriarchy in Latin America has already experienced a decline, giving females much more power and responsibility, somehow offering them a more solid stand as to their place in society.On the other hand, another pressing issue worldwide, which also takes place in Maria's story, is political corruption. In its very sense, political corruption is the improper use of government or political power, usually for personal gain. No form of government is safe from corruption. Though it may display itself in different manners, the most common manifestations are "patronage, bribery, extortion, influence peddling, fraud, embezzlement, and nepotism" (Wikipedia, 2006). When a country is experiencing political corruption, it will be much more difficult for the country to progress, including its citizens. Not only does it compromise the general development of the country, but its development in all other aspects as well. With the political and economic status of Colombia, it is imminent that its citizens will suffer the consequences of other people's actions, with Maria being one perfect example of such an individual. Living in a patriarchal society, she is unable to exercise her rights in the fullest sense, as women are not given that much power, voice, and opportunities. Coupled with the kind of poverty that Maria and her family are experiencing, it is not surprising that she will want to look elsewhere for other opportunities, in order to give herself, her future child, and her family a better life than what they have at present, and something that they most definitely deserve. Just like any other person who is under extreme poverty, Maria made a quick life-changing decision without weighing the consequences and understanding the possible risks involved. She was only focused on the goal of earning more money through a seemingly easy job in order to uplift herself and her family's status in life. The film Maria Full of Grace gives an initial impression of the movie being of a religious sort. However, when one takes a second look at it, realizations of the real meaning and the true story come out. Maria Full of Grace is a story of a young woman who embarks on a journey from her present life at Colombia to the possibility of a better life in New York. Maria Alvarez, the heroine of the story, is a newly-pregnant 17-year-old who lives with her family in Colombia. With her job removing thorns off roses in the farm, she supports those in her family who are financially dependent on her, what with her meager wage. However, just like any other person who is experiencing poverty, she wants more out of life. She wants to be able to escape the life that she is currently experiencing and move on to greener pastures, so to speak. Not only for

Xenografts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Xenografts - Essay Example Infants born with this condition usually have a lifespan of two weeks or less. Doctor Bailey and his team found out that a baboon’s heart is very similar in physiology to the human heart thus deciding that they might be able to successfully implant the baboon’s heart in Baby Fae, giving her another chance at life. Anencephaly is the condition when a neonate is born without a large part of the brain and skull. It is a neural tube defect which affects the tissue that grows in the brain and the vertebra. This defects starts very early in pregnancy when the upper part of the neurtral tube does not close. The causes of exactly this occurs have not yet been scientifically proved but research has shown that it is influenced by toxins in the environment the mother lives and poor nutrition including lack of folic acid which is essential for the development of the embryo. (Adam Medical Encylopedia) Anencephalic babies are born unconscious and they usually die within the first few days of life. Since the brain is not developed it is not capable of doing anything except keep the lungs and the heart working. For the last couple of decades, there is a shortage of organs like livers, hearts and kidney in the United States so doctors have started using anencephalic babies for their organs before they are officially pronounced dead. (Kolata, New York Times) The debate remains that whether it is morally right to use such babies for organs to save other lives and or should they be given medical care and kept barely alive. The term organ donor is misleading in this case because none of these babies are actually given a chance to live while donating their spare organs by free will and nor do they write it in their wills. Organ donor are actually people who donate a kidney because they have two, or let their loved ones know to donate their

Ernest Rutherford and Nuclear Physics contributions Research Paper

Ernest Rutherford and Nuclear Physics contributions - Research Paper Example His father was a wheelwright, his mother a schoolteacher (Campbell). He moved once or twice, though staying in New Zealand the entire time, and attending different schools when he moved (Campbell). Though Ernest as a boy liked tinkering with clocks, and loved to make models of the wheels that were used in the mills, he did not show any real passion for science during childhood (Mahanti, 2011). Most of his education came through the winning of scholarships, first to Nelson College in 1889, then on to Canterbury College at the University of New Zealand, where he first developed an interest in electrical science, running experiments that would determine whether or not iron was magnetic at a high magnetizing frequency (Campbell). After failing in three attempts to secure a teaching position after university, and briefly considering medicine, he took odd jobs tutoring students to help make ends meet while continuing to experiment in electrical science. In 1895 he won a scholarship to Camb ridge University to work with instructor J.J. Thomson (Campbell). Thomson, who was quick to realize Rutherford’s exceptional ability as a researcher as he had already designed several original experiments involving high-frequency, alternating currents, invited him to become a member of the team to study of the electrical conduction of gases. The pair soon became not only researcher and student but also good friends, and Rutherford was able to take Thomson’s theories and improve on them, breaking the ground to make a lasting impression on nuclear physics today. Rutherford developed several ingenious techniques to study the mechanism Thomson was using, whereby normally insulating gases became electrical conductors. In studying this matter, Rutherford commented that when a high voltage is applied across them, a clear view was given of the mechanism of the transport of electricity through the gases by the means of charged ions (Rutherford 1904). He also worked jointly with Thomson on the behavior of the ions observed in gases that had been treated with X-rays (a recent discovery), as well as the mobility of ions in relation to the strength of the electric field. It did not hurt in any way that Thomson was the one to discover that the â€Å"atom†, then known as the smallest unit of matter, was not in fact the smallest, but made up of even smaller particles, giving yet another area of interest for Rutherford to experiment with (Mahanti, 2011). When the Macdonald Chair of Physics at McGill University in Montreal became vacant in 1898, Rutherford left for Canada to take up the post. He promptly made a name for himself by discovering the element of radon, a chemically inactive but extremely radioactive gas (Campbell). While at McGill, he also did the work that gained him the 1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry by demonstrating that radioactivity was the spontaneous disintegration of atoms. With the help of a young chemist, Frederick Soddy, he began to un ravel the mysteries of radioactivity and contributed directly to nuclear physics as we know it today by proving that some heavier radioactive elements spontaneously decay into slightly lighter atoms (Mahanti, 2011). In this, Rutherford noticed that in a sample of radioactive material, it invariably took the same amount of time for half the sample to decay - its â€Å"

Public administration-politics dichotomy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Public administration-politics dichotomy - Essay Example His intension was to protect administration from political interference. He further indicated that administrations and politics are two distinct disciplines. His main concern was the influence that politics had on administration (Wilson, 1887). He argued that the plans of the government are not administrative and so the two should be kept apart. He later realized that the two cannot be kept apart and embraced dichotomy and agreed that they should be used to improve policies. Public administration dichotomy means that public administrators should be involved in policy processes and politicians should also be involved in administrative processes (Wilson, 1966). Other authors of public administration like (Yang and Hozler, 2005) agreed that administration should be used to protect politics and democracy from its own excesses. Another public administration proponent of the separation of public administration and politics was Goodnow who was of the opinion that politics had a strong effec t on public administration. Separating politics and public administration has not been achievable and the debate to keep the two apart continues. However the reality is that they influence each other. According to (Overeem, 2005), the dichotomy between public administration and politics mean that public administrators be politically neutral. Public administration should be impartial and not get involved in politics and its controversies. The insistence on the separation of public administration and politics lays emphasis on specialization and order in policy making and government administration. Since public administration and politics cannot be kept apart, they can be dichotomized in five ways; there has to be a distinction between policy and management, extend it from the inner workings of the government to the political body, keeping administration from political control, call for

Analysis of Organizational Change Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Analysis of Organizational Change - Term Paper Example Change is, therefore, often considered as a reaction to external threats in volatile environments or as a proactive attempt to grab wider opportunities (Thompson, 1993, p. 697).   Theoretical aspects of Change and Change Management According to the management perspectives, change is a process. For a business that proposes to introduce and implement a change, it is an opportunity as well as a challenge, because the management may have to face varieties of obstacles like resistance to change but the outcome will be more or less profitable to the company. Change is a powerful tool and strategy that can be used as a managerial technique to achieve organizational goals in more effective ways. Change management is a systematic process that encompasses and incorporates different managerial functions such as planning, direction, coordination, supervising, organizing and controlling. As Palmer, Dunford and Akin, (2009, p. 24) argued, change doesn’t occur as an automatic process, but rather it involves strategic activities, people, process, techniques and many other managerial functions too. Strategic change has been defined as an informed and participative process that results in newer ways of doing business that leading the organization to its main goal, ultimate success (Jacobs, 1997, p. 22). Strategic change is a managerial process in which the present state of strategic approach gets altered to another state in order to make the organization able to compete with rivals and their differentiated functions. This would enable the organization to obtains greater adaptability and viability in the organizational environments. Strategic change may be of different kinds such as down-sizing, reengineering, outsourcing, redesigning and realigning the product, product differentiation, product development etc. As Dobson et al (2004, p. 122) denoted, an organization can be said to be excellent if it is able to change through continuous innovating, gearing quick actions a nd conducting regular experimentations. Change management is simply the process of helping a person, group or organization change. As it is a management process, it comprises various managerial functions like planning the change, coordinating among the change activities, directing, supervising and controlling them as well. Change management is an ongoing process of aligning an organization with its marketplace and doing it more responsively and with greater effectiveness than how competitors do (Rothwell, Sullivan and McLean, 2005, p. 17). The change management process thus includes a set of concepts, principles, techniques, strategies, and tools that are applied  to human aspects in order to execute change within the organizational setting.   Change management has also been viewed as a multi-disciplinary activity that the people or team responsible for executing the change are expected of possessing certain skills, supports, experiences, and knowledge.

Private Enterprise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Private Enterprise - Essay Example Many private enterprises partner with the Department of Homeland Security to make sure that mitigation of threats is achieved as well as to defend themselves against threats. The same department is responsible for minimizing risks like terrorism attacks. Department of Homeland Security maximizes the ability where they are able to strongly respond to terrorist who attack the states or local governments (Kamien, 2006). Additionally, the department is concerned with prevention of disasters that may occur. Through the effort that is provided by the Department of Homeland Security, strong foundations with other department that are concerned with security matters are able to protect communities in the entire United States. Additionally, terrorism and treats of all kinds are minimized for the purpose of safeguarding the key rights of all the United States residents. Since the private sector in the United States operates approximately 85% of Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources (CIKR), this makes the Department of Homeland Security to engage measures to safeguard the infrastructure and resources that are owned by private sector. In addition, the protection of critical infrastructure is the work of the government and other security agencies. This ensures that CIKR are safeguarded so that the public and private sector may partner together thus making the economy to be stable. When the partnership is effective, collaboration is achieved where the Office of Infrastructure Protection (IP) is concerned with all the critical infrastructure and key resources. The department of the Infrastructure Protection (IP) will have to play a role where effort to reduce the risk of destruction or threat to the sector is emphasized through Critical Infrastructure Protection Program since it is the country’s most productive sector (Bullock and Haddow, 201 2). To protect the private sector, government

Ethics in the Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ethics in the Media - Essay Example The concept of free speech and freedom of the press is therefore the glue that holds the country’s hard-fought-for freedoms intact. Political correctness is a term used to refer to the care in speaking that emerged in the 70s, gained strength in the 80s and remains an important topic in media relations today. When it first started being used, â€Å"Folks on the left used the term to dismiss views that were seen as too rigid and, also, to poke fun at themselves for the immense care they took to neither say nor do anything that might offend the political sensibilities of others† (Bliefuss, 2007). This half-joking sense of sensitivity in communication has since blown up into a very serious threat to our rights of free speech and free media. When considering whether we truly want political correctness as a guiding principle in our media, it is important that we take the time to more definitively define the term and its application. The importance of free speech and free media is highlighted in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution which states â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.† (â€Å"The Constitution†, 2006). The Founding Fathers of America considered a free press one of, if not the most, important aspects in the formation of a free and democratic society. A great deal of their emphasis on this point stemmed from their perception that the media channels that then existed in England, after whom they patterned much of their legal code, was rigidly censored. Journalists who questioned the King’s decisions were often jailed or worse. The Founders knew that if the press were not free, the country would not be either.

Consider William Blakes presentation of love in the poem The Clod and the Pebble Essay Example for Free

Consider William Blakes presentation of love in the poem The Clod and the Pebble Essay (b) Paying close attention to language and form, write a critical appreciation of the following poem, considering William Blake’s presentation of love in the poem ‘The Clod and the Pebble’. The Clod and the Pebble Love seeketh not itself to please, Nor for itself hath any care, But for another gives its ease, And builds a Heaven in Hells despair. So sung a little Clod of Clay 5 Trodden with the cattles feet, But a Pebble of the brook Warbled out these metres meet: Love seeketh only self to please, To bind another to its delight, 10 Joys in anothers loss of ease, And builds a Hell in Heavens despite. The ostensible cuteness of the poem The Clod and the Pebble perhaps masks a more morbid and deeply cynical assessment of love by the poet William Blake. Initially, the contrast between the clod and the pebble’s speeches on love might encourage a positive response to the clod’s optimism about how love can rescue us from even the most hellish position. The pebble’s pessimism about love, on the other hand, is unpleasant and unsettling, but it’s also a more accurate reflection of the brutal nature of the world as it is depicted in the poem. Blake’s presentation of love, then, is ambivalent. While the ideal that love is able to overcome any circumstance is appealing, it might not be a realistic assessment in the context of the world’s cruelty. Blake’s personification of the clod and the pebble captures two very different human experiences. We are told that the clod is â€Å"trodden with the cattle’s feet.† With the word â€Å"trodden† Blake captures the experience of continual hardship, and being repeatedly downtrodden, subjugated and abused. There is also tactile imagery of weight and pressure from the â€Å"cattle’s feet,† restricting the clod and forcing it into a new shape. In this way, the clod is described as though it experiences human suffering. It makes us think about someone who has had to become flexible to fit the continual hardship of their circumstances reflected in the physical properties of a soft clod of clay. It is then pleasantly surprising that the clod sings about love in the most optimistic way. On the one hand, the clod’s optimism concerning love is deeply admirable, and the parallel structure used to present this speech alongside the pebble’s emphasises that optimism in the most appealing way. The clod states that love â€Å"builds a Heaven in Hell’s despair,† while the pebble states that it â€Å"builds a Hell in Heaven’s despite.† The clod speaks from the context of a hellish existence that entails pain and suffering, and endows love with the capacity to transcend such an experience and create a heavenly existence of joy and happiness. The pebble, on the other hand, speaks from a comparatively heavenly existence and instead endows love with the capacity to corrupt that existence with the pain and suffering suggested by the word â€Å"Hell.† Our feeling that the clod is admirably optimistic ten evolves into a feeling that we too want and even believe that love will rescue and provide solace to this figure. Conversely, the parallel structure also helps to emphasise the pebble’s pessimism. The clod declares that â€Å"love seeketh not itself,† while the pebble answers that â€Å"love seeketh only self.† The phrases â€Å"not itself† and â€Å"only self† create a clear juxtaposition here of the two views of love. The first underscores it as essentially selfless, while the other underscores it as absolutely and solely selfish. Moreover, while the clod sings happily about how love â€Å"for another gives its ease† the pebble responds with how love â€Å"joys in another’s loss of ease.† The clods words suggest an action of willing self-sacrifice, while the pebbles words suggest a selfish acquisition that leaves another diminished. Of course, the pebble’s view means that there is no hope for the clod and that love in fact provides no Heaven. Furthemore, the pebble’s assessment of love is deeply cynical and ugly. It is, however, true to both its own experience and that of the clod. The clod is â€Å"trodden† upon while the pebble is â€Å"of the brook.† We imagine a gentle and tranquil existence within the soft current of a stream. Traditionally, however, rivers also symbolise a journey from innocence to worldliness. The water represents the experience that flows over us during life, leaving us more aware. This experience has left the pebble implacable. We imagine someone who has become hardened from experience and this is reflected in the physical properties of the pebble. Now the water is forced to bend around the pebble, just as the clod must bend around the feet of the cattle. This is a depiction of the world’s harshness and cruelty, and we cannot help but appreciate that it is the pebble’s assessment of love that more accurately reflects it. To conclude, perhaps the poem is as much about idealism and realism as it is about love. Love, after all, is subject to our tendency to be both idealistic and realistic. Ultimately though, it seems that the depiction of the world as harsh and brutal confirms a negative view of love as equally harsh and brutal. At the very least, the poem encourages us to be ambivalent of love and not suppose it to be a kind of saviour capable of transcending all.

Study Of Culture And Globalisation Management Essay

Study Of Culture And Globalisation Management Essay Why does culture Matter? Globalisation creates one of the most important achievements in todays world; the ability to trade internationally. Understanding cultural differences will only increase the success of companies going aboard. Each country has different currencies and behaviour norms. When global companies are born the workforce becomes diverse. Cultural understanding is a key part to a successful business. Globalization provides better opportunities to companies investing in a new market. The internationalisation of business has exposed firms to a large range of norms for doing business. This essay will show how Wal-Mart, one of the biggest retail chains, deals with cultural difference when opening its doors to Japans Market. Wal-Mart cannot directly transfer its corporate culture of low-cost, high -bulk model, hugely successful in US, to Japan. Wal-Mart is moving into a completely new market, and as such they must enter the market as a blank canvas. Roger Mark clearly states that in order to have global success, its no longer enough to have a hot new product that will save time, or a novel idea that could revolutionize an industry. You also need to understand the cultural values, behaviour styles, negotiating techniques and business practices of the country where you are doing business. Wal-Mart and Japan have different habits. Wal-Mart is moving more to cutting the middleman and forcing stores to remain open for 24 hours. The Japanese culture is based more on fresh produce and has high demands for perishable goods rather than processed food. The Japanese are known for their high demand of quality goods and high income. Wal-Mart is trying to force their low cost high bulk and low quality products on the Japanese market. The company must wonder if their own corporate culture is enough to solve the problems with diverse cultures. If the company itself does not understand the cultural differences it faces can it reap the benefits? Culture is comprised of both value and norms. Culture is a social interest which clearly identifies people interest, thoughts and behaviours. In order for Wal-Mart to survive they must manage cultural diversity because this is in many stages of the internationalization of the business and in all form of the market entry. When entering a new market the business needs to adapt to the specific taste of local people. Wal-Mart cannot deliver the same layout of stores throughout the world, they must adapt to Japanese culture. According to Kurt Barnard It was a dumb thing for Wal-Mart to do. By not understanding cross-cultural influences and not changing the format of their stores to fit cultural differences, Wal-Mart will be unable to compete in foreign markets. Wal-Mart needs to move away from Ethnocentrism and adopt a Polycentrism approach when entering a new market. Fast franchise like McDonald learned their lesson in India. Today McDonalds has localized its products to suit its consumers taste and to recognise the local culture, t herefore creating regional flavours for particular markets. Culture plays an important part on how global companies operate. Wal-Mart needs to adapt the taste of its host country. If we consider the Japanese culture we can clearly see that their living space is much smaller than the average American house, therefore the high-bulk model will not relate to them. Wal-Mart must understand their behaviour first in order to respect the local culture of Japan. What do Japanese people consider as good quality in service and product? Once Wal-Mart determines this it can use the information to better sales campaigns and business interactions instead of using one approach that they believe works everywhere. The firm must determine the countries norms and values, and therefore have a cross- cultural awareness between the Japanese and American cultures. Japanese culture is based on community, family and being part of large group. This is not the same as the American way of life. Global companies need to know that half of business acquisitions fail because they do not input measures that deal with cultural differences. Wal-Mart acquired a Japanese business. Taking over a Japanese firm is the best way of understanding the culture of the Japanese. Why did this not work to Wal-Marts advantage?Companies must require the knowledge of the local culture and the way of doing things. People respond differently to gestures and signs. One of the issues Wal-Mart faced was language barriers in Japan. Wal-Mart is using English-speaking executives to run a retail operation that heavily depends on a detailed understanding of domestic culture. In Japan Harmony is the key value in Japanese society, so when they communicate with each other they use non-verbal expression. Global companies must understand that languages can influence the business in so m any ways. Language is the most important aspect to the business success because this should unlock local societies. Wal-Mart knew full well that entering markets like Japan through acquisition brings together employees from Seiyu with employees from Wal-Mart who speak different languages. They should have adopted a language that can be related to local people. Ideally the international managers in Wal-Mart should be Bi-multilingual. Most American firms tend to slow down their English rather than study the language of Japan The American companies that have succeeded in Japan have done so by using Japanese executives and allowing a significant amount of autonomy. Wal-Mart however seems to be making the same mistake it did in Germany, relying too much on American executives, and not enough on local control. We can clearly see that all Global Companies are faced with many problems which range from language, pricing and culture collisions because cultural differences shape the use and in terpretation of words. Edward hall drew a useful distinction between low and high context cultures. Many Asian countries are seen as high cost cultures. Japanese culture finds it difficult to say no compared to the Americans who are straight forward. Business needs to be aware that problems will naturally arise when high and low cost culture businesses get together. The model is useful in understanding why different cultures might communicate differently because High context south Asian culture companies differ so widely from their low -context western cultures. When companies go global their main objective should be to handle any difficulties to do with culture because once mistakes are made they are hard to fix. This will only destroy the global company operation in the host country. All corporations must have multicultural awareness because it is a vital aspect to a successful business, and you must know the particular industry you are entering. If you do not do this the success of the business is slim. Wal-Mart must HYPERLINK http://www.filination.com/blog/2009/03/14/china-business-strategy-walmart-chinese-culture/localize and do things the Japanese way by encouraging local branch decision making, building local supplier contracts and using local promotion schemes on the other hand Wal-Mart was more focus on doing things the American Way. Wal-Mart did not consider the taste of Japanese people. HYPERLINK http://www.filination.com/blog/2009/03/14/china-business-strategy-walmart-chinese-culture/National culture has a powerful influence on peoples interpretations, understandings, and assessments of those with whom they work-Cultural values can affect decision making, managerial style, interpersonal trust, teamwork, and the role of women in the workplace, among other issues. In order to have successful entry Wal-Mart needed to collect correct and accurate information. Managers in Wal-Mart should undertake An intercultural training course such as Managing Inter national Teams or Managing International Mergers and Acquisitions will give international managers involved in a merger or acquisition the insights they need to develop an effective working culture that plays to the strengths of their multicultural teams and maximises the cultural benefits of their companys acquisition. Japanese Culture is completely different to the Wal-Mart American culture. Cultural dimensions can provide details allowing global companies to deliver the best cultural system with a great outcome. Identifying the main cultural dimensions groups through attitude, values and norms can influence companies success. Geert Hofstede (1984) clearly stated that culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another. Wal-Mart adopted a management style that did not sit well with the Japanese people. Wal-Mart persuaded Seiyus management in 2004 to dismiss 25% of headquarters staff, including 1,500 employees and managers. That kind of mass firing happens rarely in Japan, which places a premium on social harmony. And when the firing is done at the behest of foreigners, it takes on added negative connotations. Wal-Mart should determine the cultural attitudes of the employees. Research shows how national culture can also affect the workfo rce in an organisation. Wal-Mart did not use the Greenfield Investment, which involved entering a country without a partner from the host country. Wal-Mart did the opposite so it should be fully aware of the effect of the Japanese culture. It is up to the managers in a corporation to understand culture. Hofstedes research looks for sub cultural and regional differences, industry differences and differences arising from the organisational culture. Power distances generally mean people will accept unequal distribution of powers. In the Case of Wal-Mart you can see that it is more homogeneous compared to Japan, therefore they need togive more power to local managers and their supplier-network. Japanese power distances are lower so Management should decentralise. Americans do not accept power distances so the American workers in Wal-Mart at the Japanese branch should input empowering systems. Japanese hold harmony as a social ideal, patience as a personal virtue, and hierarchy as an ess ential organizing principle. Americans, in contrast, hold freedom as a social ideal, action-orientation as a personal virtue, and equality as a fundamental organizing principle. We have seen that the Hostede model such as individualism versus collectivism and feminine versus masculinity help categorize as well as identify cultural differences. If we take individualism versus collectivism you will know that Americans are more independent and have self -determination compared to Japan where the workforce work in groups. In order to solve this issue Wal-Mart should develop group goals and policies that relieve stress. The Japanese people also believe power should be controlled by society, even though this model does not present detailed analyses of individual cultures. This useful research shows the role of cultural differences which is useful for international management. These are challenges many managers will face in todays global markets because not managing culture effectively can stop growth as well as production. The use of the concepts of cultural dimensions such as those of Hostede and Trompanear provide the means to construct cultural clusters of countries or subcultures within and across countries. These clusters can be used to identify areas which need development in order to reduce problems caused by cultural differences. For example advertising can use this model to make adverts relative to certain cultural dimensions. Wal-Mart needs this because once Seiyu was taken over it became a whole new store. Yes Wal-Mart provided low cost products but the high quality products that the Japanese are used to disappeared. Wal-Mart should clearly see how different their culture is compared to Japanese. The bad thing about these models is that they assume that culture does not change and they develop serotypes. The cultural theorists base their research on the management of the company rather than the national culture. Wal-Mart must show consideration and care in dealing with cultural differences both inside and outside the organisation. Japanese people are willing to pay top prices for goods of high quality. Wal-Mart should ensure that their global company service as well as product meets the standards of the people living there. Care must take place amongst managers regarding the relationship between the home and host country in terms of working practices. Firms need to be sensitive to culture because if they dont it can cause failed joint ventures as well as misunderstandings. Their cultural differences need to be respected across borders. Employees in the organisation must be aware of norms and the general customs when entering the host country. Businesses need to understand the impact that cultural differences have on the career progression of their employees and on communication and decision-making, Firms can solve the problems of cultural difference by engaging in cross- cultural training. S ome researchers have stated that Wal-Mart is way behind the knowledge of the locals taste. One of the reasons that failed Wal-Mart internationally is when it attempt to transport the companys unique culture and retailing concept to each new country. Gilman (2004) asserts that in Wal-Mart overseas expansion, it has been trying hard to launch the supercenter concept, therefore the corporate culture does not match the national culture. Understanding cultural difference allows managers to develop policies to manage cross cultural activities. In this essay we have seen that internationalisation of a business has exposed the business to different norms when crossing cultural borders because more firms move away and enter new markets. A comparison between National cultures is important. We have seen the clash in the national cultures between countries as well as the corporate culture. We can clearly see that how culture plays an important role in the success of a global company. The theory clearly compares how companies like Wal-Mart try to impose the same norms on all its foreign markets. The approaches to solving cultural differences clearly assume that firms will be given advantages. Culture should be the heart of the organisation because we can clearly see that it determines the success or failure of the firm. It is up to the employees in the organisation who exist within the corporate culture to understand the outside environment culture because we must see culture as ever changing. In order to solve the problem with c ulture we must learn to adapt. The company needs strategy development in order to overcome the hurdles caused by cultural differences. We can clearly see that every country and region has their own culture; therefore global companies must have a good understanding. Culture is clearly the way of life for people so it is only natural that companies leave their ethnocentric culture where they basically see only their own culture rather than the Polycentric culture. This creates conflict as we have seen in both corporate cultures as well as national culture. In order to overcome such problems global companies need to acknowledge the diverse culture around them. No more assumption and judgment because people learn culture through what they are taught. It is only natural for global companies to put in effect strategies allowing them to adapt to the cultural changes. If we take the company Coca Cola strategy which changed the sweetness of their soda to meet the consumers taste buds in diff erent countries. They did not neglect the needs of the local people; they therefore have the full respect of their culture and history. We have seen how cultural theories like Hofstede can allow global companies to take into consideration the cultural cluster that effects society but the problem with this theory is more based on how the organisation can improve culture difference inside the global company rather than the environment outside the organisation.