Respond to
The definition of culture has been argued throughout time, with many people defining it differently. Northouse describes culture as the beliefs, values, norms, symbols and traditions that belong to one group of people. As other classes I have taken here at Ashford, also define it as the beliefs tied to one set of people. People who were raised in the America’s versus people raised in the Indies will be of a different culture. Multicultural is when you have several groups or sub groups within a group, such as American culture is the existence of multiple cultures now. Diversity (in our case) is when there are sub cultures or ethnicity in one group or organization. My job is very diverse as there are people of different genders, race and nationality all working together.
Ethnocentrism is related to a group of people who prioritize their beliefs and traditions over anyone else. It reminds me of radical groups who tend to believe their culture is better and more correct over another. Though our text is correct in saying we are all ethnocentric to a degree as I learned in prior classes. Sometimes we will automatically say a group is morally wrong, but if they are following their beliefs, morals and traditions what makes them wrong, our beliefs?
Prejudice is more than racial it is also age, gender, financial or social status and even more. It is the belief someone has based on opinion or false information not on factual evidence. AS I stated, not only is there racial prejudice but can also be social based Even today, there are different financial classes of people and sometimes those with more are prejudiced about those with less, believing them to be inferior or not belonging.
Reference:
Northouse, P. (2018).Leadership theory and practice(8th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Respond to…
Although the definition of culture is often debated, it can be narrowed down to the learned beliefs and traditions that are commonly found in a certain group of people. It is a group of people’s norms, values and learned beliefs that are with other like-minded people, which makes it their culture. Two terms related to culture are multicultural and diversity. Multicultural refers to having more than one culture or subculture such as gender, race, age or ethnicity. Diversity refers to having different cultures within the same organization or group (Northhouse, 2018).
Ethnocentrism and prejudice are concepts of cultures that can influence leadership. Ethnocentrism is the when individuals have the mindset of their cultural norms to be better or more important than others and tend to make negative assumptions about them. Leaders need to be balances with their own beliefs and how others handle their cultural tendencies (Northhouse, 2018).
Prejudice is like ethnocentrism but is rather a firm attitude that one person holds against another for their cultural differences. This can be expressed through verbal comments or actions that are made towards another person solely based on their cultural beliefs. Almost everyone has some form of prejudice attitude towards another culture, but it is important to not treat them any differently because we just do not understand their culture completely, especially in leadership (Northhouse, 2018).
I work at a translation company where there is a very diverse group of employees with all different cultures. In some situations, onsite support is required to have someone travel to another country. There have been instances where someone has offended another, not on purpose, but because the other person did not fully understand their culture. Now, before onsite support we are made aware of cultural differences so that this doesn’t happen. In the last 30 years, researchers have been focusing on the many dimensions of cultures in hopes that having a better understanding of them, will strengthen the relationship and respect that others may have towards them.
Reference
Northhouse, P. (2018). Leadership Theory and Practice (8th Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.