Introduction
In my experience as a Human Resources Manager at a pickle factory, I found myself to be very unaware of the differences in the cultures at first. I viewed all middle easterners as being similar in their mannerisms and their way of life. The workforce in this factory consisted of 10% American, 15% Hispanic, 5% Asian, 40% Arabic, and 30% Chaldean. I viewed the Arabic and Chaldean as one culture, and boy oh boy was I wrong.
Some of the difficulty that I experienced in this work setting would be conflicts between the Chaldean’s and Arabic’s with American leaders having difficulty influencing or leading these two different cultures. Also, the Chaldean’s were singled out more frequently in this environment as the company was Arabic owned, which I thought was weird. I always would coach the supervisors on the Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, pointing out the differences in the areas of power distance, individualism, and indulgence between the USA and Syria (Hofstede, 2019). This was facilitated in hopes that it would help the supervisors and leaders improve their abilities to work with their teams. This post will elaborate as to why these leaders would have difficulties leading the Chaldean and Arabic team members.
Muslim Religion and Leadership
The Muslim religion is a religion that is common amongst those that are categorized as Chaldean. Muslim religion is a religion that is known as Islamic. Islamic religion classifies working as being an act of god or praise to the lord, as the religion heavily focuses on taking care of ones’ family. An Islamic leader is not defined by the methodology in which the person applies, but is more so focused on the idea of how the individual can influence, enthuse, and create desires amongst others (Moran, p.304, 2014). However, it has been said, “Muslims are not to take Jew’s or Christian’s as close allies or leaders” (The institution of Islamic studies, 2019). Which could be seen as to why the American Christian leaders were receiving so much push back in the work environment. In this week’s readings it is said, “Islamic leadership is similar to western leadership in resting on either power or positional authority” (Moran, p.307, 2014). This can be seen in the workforce in which I am referencing, but there still appeared to be a favoritism or separation between the Muslim faith and those that are Christians.
Christian Religion and Leadership
The Christian religion is a religion that is common amongst those that are within the Arabic culture and many others including Chaldeans. The Christian religion is very prominent throughout the USA, but for this post we are going to examine the Arabic and Chaldean Christians. Just as with the Islamic Muslim faith, it is said that the religion of Christianity focuses on the personal character more so than unique competence of that person (SAU, 2019). While there is this commonality between the two different religions, there is also a commonality amongst their specific cultures. They are both from the country of Syria, and there for their measures of individualism, power distance, and indulgence will be similar (Hofstede, 2019).
The Separation
These cultures are similar in that they both value their leadership definition as more of a coefficient of whom that person is and their personality. They do not just focus on the philosophical aspects to define that person as a leader. The issue is not with the leadership style, but it is on the religious differences of these two different religions. For the American leaders within this workforce, it was more of a cultural separation that created their difficulties. The article “Syria’s Beleaguered Christians” on BBC News states, “Christians have been ordered to convert to Islam, pay jizya (a religious levy), or face death” (2015). This causing many of the Chaldean Christians to flee the country and to come to the United States. In which many of these Syrian’s would take on positions in America with an income that made them live at poverty level.
Summary
It can be assumed that the reason for the American supervisor in this work setting experiencing frictions or insubordinate behavior by those that are either Chaldean or Arabic is definitely a cultural issue, but has some degree of reference to their religion as well. Being that both of these religions focus on the person and not philosophical leadership attributes, it can be said that perhaps the supervisor was not respected in the workplace and there for was not a leader in the eyes of the Arabic’s or Chaldean’s. Whatever the reason was, it was a multifaceted issue that did not have just one simple answer, but could be assumed to be both culturally motivated and religiously motivated. Perhaps it was more heavily based on religious views of those of the Muslim religion, as they are not to view those of the Christian faith as a leader or friend (The institution of Islamic studies, 2019).
Work Cited
Hofstede, G. (2019). Compare countries. Retrieved October 6, 2019, from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/product/compare-countries/.
The Islamic Institution of Studies . (2019). Academic Article. Retrieved October 6, 2019, from https://iis.ac.uk/academic-article/muslim-jews-and-christians-relations-and-interactions.
BBC News. (2015, February 25). Syria’s beleaguered Christians. Retrieved October 6, 2019, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-22270455.
Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., Moran, S. V., & Harris, P. R. (2014). Managing cultural differences. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.