Culture and Communication in IBM India (Essay Sample)

Table of Contents
TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction2
Culture and communication in IBM India2
Indian culture and its characterization4
Indian business culture 5
Indian culture perception by the world5
Reflection of my cultural identity6
Understanding cultural diversity: Cross-cultural theory6
Lessons learned from the study7
Conclusion8
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc404112264" References9
Introduction
Every society possess its way of doing things that are passed from one group to the other as time passes. This way of doing things or running activities is what we refer to as culture. Culture is the set of beliefs and practices held by group of individuals living in a certain area, most of the cultures are unique from others. In a working place, culture and communication go hand in hand as the pattern followed by the workers in the organization is the communication of the culture. For long organizations chose a way of running things smoothly and effectively by adapting to a certain manner of performing the different activities in the company. This two concepts, culture, and communication, are very crucial in any setting as they relived every second.
Culture and communication in IBM India
Culture part
Working for IBM India has made my experience on culture and communication expound in a unique way. Culture surrounds the organization and shapes processes and job relationships in the organization. There is a certain routine followed in the organization by every employee that keeps us all as one and avoids colliding or having faults in the processes of the organization tasks. The culture in the organization has been useful in solving of issues affecting the company either internal or external. IBM has become more adapted to the external patterns as well as internal integration as there is a shared pattern of performing duties by the organization workers (Dasgupta, & Sahay, 2009). Culture is a key factor in the organization as the crucial parts of running the organization are met due to the following of the patterns or organizational culture. It has helped in the achievement of customer satisfaction and financial development of the company. Culture is the biggest tool of change in the organization, when implementing change IBM uses culture oriented approaches to make the process bearable for the workers as well as making it easier for them. Culture protects change plans from failing as the workers are acquainted with the change process easily and do not feel the pressure of change (Aguirre, 2014).
Culture is believed to build a platform of innovative and creative workers in the company. When workers get to believe in a certain routine and pattern of doing things their behavior changes to a motivated one and innovation becomes the motto for everyone. Workers can go beyond the roles assigned to create innovative ideas and products, and this action is highly related to the culture of an organization (Andreas, 2006).
Communication part
As seen every organization requires a culture to proceed and the company, I am working for respects that very much. Culture in an organization is defined by how the people communicate and interact with each other. Also, it is defined by the means in which people share information and make decisions. Communication has been an important part of decision-making and sharing information to the realization of the company’s goal. Communication helps the company ran its internal processes smoothly helping in the maintaining of positive relations among the people operating inside the organization and those from outside. Clear communication has helped greatly by having the worker productivity improve as there is always a positive work culture (Lotich, 2013).
Indian culture and its characterization
India is one of the countries said to hold dearly its traditions even today. The Indian culture recognizes the elderly and the dominant groups giving them control over the minority group. There is a large barrier between groups from a lower caste and one from a higher caste. The caste system is dated many years back, and every person understands their position making them do as required to avoid complicating matters or going against the traditions. The culture of India is regarded as rich and diverse in the activities carried out. There is a high tradition of liveliness and generosity among the Indians. The culture is regarded to have never been rigid, the reason it is still surviving with pride in the modern era Indian Culture (Tradition & Continuity, 2002).
The commonly known practices in the Indian culture are the flower garlands used for welcoming people or during marriages. The way of greeting with both palms held together and the use of the word "Namaste”, this shows their respect for other people. The Indians are known to value the ethnic but contemporary dresses still. The Indian marriages are also very common; they are usually marked with celebrations full of dance, music, and food. The world is full of art; everything they make is an artistic one of the traditions that have been in the land for a very long time (Ganeri, 2013).
Indian business culture
In workplaces it is expected that those in the lower caste respect those in the higher caste and even if one is offered a higher position he/she should not issue instructions to an employee from a higher caste. Hierarchy is highly respected, and those in the upper or top ranks select being referred to with the word "sir" and "madam”. Most of the women stay at home after marriage as the traditions require them to take care of the children as the husband looks for food to feed the family. The tradition has been broken by some individuals though; some still uphold it (The Times of India, 2013).
Senior people like giving orders and never accept opinions from the subordinates as they believe they are always right. The orders given should be followed without delay. It is required for the young employees to be respectful to the elderly. The culture says that they are not supposed to issue orders to the elder people even if they have the power to, something that is known to complicate the command chain. The is a culture of the staff members and the assistant managers being eager to prove themselves to the executives by accepting to handle tasks that they are well aware they cannot handle easily. They may not even request extra assistance or resources as they want to show their superiority in handling tasks (Ganeri, 2013).
Indian culture perception by the world
India is perceived as a diverse country with a unique culture which holds the traditions and still lives the modern life. The country is seen to hold many cultures, languages and religions making the people living there a unique group, and they draw much attention to the tourists who visit the country regularly. The Indian culture is known to uphold and value art as everything they design is artistically modeled the reason there are so many beautiful objects in the country. Indians are innovative people and their quest to perfect is known and reported in the news sector. The Indian population has been known to be the best doctors and in the computer engineering sector they are also highly respected.
However, there are things that trend about the Indian culture that are negative. The media and the whole world hate and condemn the Indian caste system as it is regarded as dehumanizing or unequal treatment of people. The Indian culture of planned marriages is widely known, and the news channels pass the information regarding the traditions. Plays aired on TV with that information are several showing how bad and unfair the practice is. There are some groups that have accepted partners to choose marriage partners independently, but some still hold onto the traditions making sure the traditions are observed (David, 2014). This few cultural beliefs and practice makes the world see India as a country left behind by civilization and modernity as today there is freedom for individuals to act as they like. India is perceived as a country exercising an imbalance among the genders or gender inequality as for quite some time women were not allowed to work rather they were asked to remain back home. The trend is changing, but the number of women working is very small.
Reflection of my cultural identity
I happened to be share one of the most diverse country in the world due to its different communities. The diversity comes from the different groups and societies from all corners of the world living in America. The groups include the Native Americans, Asians, Latin’s and African Americans among others. America holds my roots; I was born amongst several groups of people with unique cultures but what I have come to capture is equality among individuals. My culture believes in the freedom of self and people do not get restrictions especially when they reach the legal age they can choose to do anything they want. The culture has different views of the world, like the conservatives and the liberals also it is an age of religious and scientific competitiveness, free expression and materialistic elements. My culture believes in the equality and empowerment of minority groups; people exercise democracy in different ways as it is allowed. The issue of marriage is different as there are free-associating and marriage of gay and lesbians something most countries has refused to follow. There are no discriminations of any kind in America, and much of the traditions have been forgotten and people have embraced modernity as the immigrants continue to stay in the country.
Understanding cultural diversity: Cross-cultural theory
Cultural diversity is the capability of an individual to study and understand other types of culture. This process helps one become cultural competence as they study and consider the dif...