Understanding Cultural Meanings

Knowing, and understanding, the culture you are encountering is imperative to success both personally and professionally. I firmly believe that whenever you plan to visit or work with a different culture, you should take the time to learn what is appropriate and what is not. Learn what is considered offensive in their culture. Learn how to say “hello” and “thank you”. Learn how to tip at a restaurant. All of these vary from culture to culture. Culture impacts our relationships and business operations and if we are not prepared, chances are, we will fail (Moran, et al., 2011).

Moran, et al. states that some of the most complex and unstable issues are a misunderstanding of cultures. “At the root of the issue, we are likely to find communication failures and cultural misunderstanding that prevent the parties from framing the problem in a common way, and thus make it impossible to deal with the problem constructively” (Moran et al., 2011). In our text, they talk about the Vietnam war and how different the outcome could have been if, at the beginning of the conflict, “the military leaders and negotiations of the respective countries had used sophisticated problem-solving skills and dug deeper to understand the cultural meanings and the implications of their actions and behind their public statements about the war” (Moran, et al., 2011).

This made me think of the fighting in Istanbul that is going on today. On one side, the anti-government group says they are fighting corruption of the Turkish politics. On the other side, the President of the country is overly religious and trying to push his religious beliefs onto the country. Just like our text states about the outcome of the Vietnam War, the outcome in Istanbul could be very different. I believe that Istanbul could come to a civil agreement, without the violence, if the two different sides problem-solved together and understood the cultural meanings and implications of each side (Moran, et al., 2011). When I was in Istanbul, my husband and I found ourselves in the middle of a protest. We didn’t even realize what was happening until it was too late. Luckily, they were not very active when we were there. It was two weeks after we left the country that the anti-government protests turned violent.

While we were there, we also noticed that Istanbul is a giant melting pot of people who have different beliefs, different religions and different backgrounds. Although the fighting is happening within Turkey, it is still very important to know the different types of cultures within the city that causes such a divide when it comes to the civil unrest. “Change is also a part of our daily lives, and impacts all” (Moran, et al., 2011). The civil unrest in Istanbul started with the President wanting to make many new changes. Many people disagree with his changes and are now speaking out through violence. Again, if both sides were able to work together and get to understand each other’s cultural meanings, I believe this unrest could be resolved without violence.

Moran, R. T., Harris, P. R., & Moran, S. V. (2011). Managing cultural differences: Global leadership strategies for cross-cultural business success (8th ed.). Oxford: Routledge.

Lowen, M. (2015, January 7). BBC News – Turkish Marxist group claims Istanbul suicide bombing. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30707871

Photo Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bomb-found-outside-istanbul-shopping-centre-131849331.html