Imaged Retried from https://www.topdeck.travel/tours/europe/france

The French culture and their social structure are fascinating. The French believe that social status is upheld by the level of education, a beautiful home, and knowledge of literature and fine arts (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, Pg.478). Social stereotypes are common with the French, and it’s not easy getting rid of them. Because France Is highly articulate and has a sophisticated culture there are some social issues with employment.

One social issue is the wage gap between women and men. The average wage gap is about 24 percent overall (Roux, Kim & Laboris, 2019). There have been movements to fix this issue. President Emmanuel Macron has committed to gender equality for women in the workplace by setting new obligations in the workplace. These obligations were created through “Freedom to Choose a Professional Future Law” which was published on Sept. 6, 2018 (Roux, Kim & Laboris, 2019). With this law, it forces employers to measure and publish five indicators relating to gender pay gaps. There is a point system in place that indicates whether the company complies.

Here is a description of how the point system works from the following website: https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/employment-law/pages/global-france-gender-equality-obligations.aspx

• The pay gap percentage between women and men calculated on the average remuneration of women and men in the same age group and job category (scale from 0 to 40 points).
• The gap in the rate of individual salary increases between women and men (scale from 0 to 20 points or 0 to 35 points for companies employing between 50 and 250 employees).
• The gap in the rate of promotion between women and men (scale from 0 to 15 points; this does not apply to companies employing between 50 and 250 employees).
• Percentage of women benefiting from a salary increase in the year following their return from maternity leave (scale from 0 to 15 points).
• The number of employees of the underrepresented sex among the 10 highest-paid employees (scale from 0 to 10 points).

The overall score is the sum of the points obtained for each of the five indicators (four for companies between 50 and 250 employees). The minimum required total score is 75 out of 100 points. Failing this, the employer must implement corrective measures.

Overall, the French are taking corrective measures to fix these issues. Sometimes it is easy for us to forget about some of the inequalities in the workforce because a lot of progress has been made. The French aren’t the only ones trying to improve gender equality in the workplace. The U.S data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that in 2019 women earn just 79 cents for every dollar men make and men typically start at a higher pay rate (Elk, 2019). I found this subject to be interesting because it shows how different countries are handling gender inequality in the workplace.

Resources:

Moran, R.T., Abramson, N. R. & Moran, S.V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences. Ninth Edition. Abingdon: Routledge.

kathleen_elk. (2019, April 2). Here’s how much men and women earn at every age. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/02/heres-how-much-men-and-women-earn-at-every-age.html.

Roux, M. L., Kim, J. E. K., & Laboris, I. (2019, October 29). France: New Gender Equality Obligations Established. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/employment-law/pages/global-france-gender-equality-obligations.aspx.

Imaged Retrieved from Pinterest-Geri Lavrov / Photographer’s Choice RF / Getty Images

Growing up in Taiwan, I was always fascinated with receiving a Red envelope from my parents, aunts, uncle, and grandparents. The Red envelope would contain money, and I would receive them on special occasions, certain holidays, as a reward when I did well in school, meeting a friend of my parents for the first time, etc.

In Western culture, receiving a gift is a relatively simple process. One would thank the individual giving you a gift, express your gratitude, states something like “Oh you shouldn’t have” or “you didn’t have to do that, thank you” and you both go on your merry way. In Chinese culture, it is far more sophisticated or complicated. When offered a gift, one is expected to reject or push away the gift, expressing that the gift giver is far too kind. After minutes of “pushing and shoving,” then you may finally accept it. But this doesn’t end there. It is tradition and part of the culture to offer a gift in return, the next time you meet again.

In Asian culture, the etiquette of receiving a gift is to reply with another gift in return, a sign of respect but also out of obligation. This often creates an endless pattern of gift-giving. However, In Western culture, while there is no obligation to reply with a gift, it is not uncommon to do so. However, in this case, the reciprocal action of responding with a gift is often because of gratitude.

In Korea, gift-giving etiquette can often create a problem with westerners, especially in the business world. “Western businesspeople who often regard it as a corrupt practice, every gift expects something in return, and one rarely gives an expensive gift without purpose” (Moran, Abramson, and Moran, 2014). It would appear the gift-giving has an underlying intention of expecting something in return, or it is being perceived as bribing.

Furthermore, there are some gifts that are strictly prohibited in the Asian culture. For example, because of superstitions, one should never gift someone an umbrella, by giving someone an umbrella, you are suggesting that you want this friendship to end or separate in Chinese Culture. Gifting a clock carries a connotation of death because of the similar-sounding in the Chinese world in the word “clock.” In Japan, you should never gift in sets of four, because the number four is pronounced as the same word as death. In fact, there are many countries that do not like the number four, which includes China, Taiwan, Hong Kung, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.

In conclusion, you may feel very conflicted about gifting to Asian culture after reading this blog, but I want to make you aware of the cultural differences between Eastern and Western world when it comes to gifting. So, if you ever travel to east Asia and you are thinking about gifting then you should do some research about it to prevent any misunderstanding or confusion in the future.

Reference:

Moran, R.T., Abramson, N. R. & Moran, S.V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences. Ninth Edition. Abingdon: Routledge.

(Natalis)

 

For this Blog, I decided to cover what Islamic looks for in the management and qualities of a good manager. I will also discuss the differences in Western vs Islamic leadership. From an Islamic perspective, “leadership must be seen from the perspective of the worldly mission a Muslim has to fulfill. In its simplest, it is to work for the collective well-being of society through the propagation of all that is good” (Mir, 2010) There are some fundamental differences between the Western and Islamic leaderships.” Goals, traits, styles, decision-making process, methodology, nature, and participants are not similar between these two types of managerial leadership” (Ather & Sobhani, 2009. Pg. 10)

For example, the goals in western leadership usually make decisions in groups, with no reference to divine or religious efforts, but in Islam, they typically seek their religion, Allah, for problem-solving.  From the methodology standpoint, in western, they set up meeting, conferences, reports, and case studies. On the contrary, in Islam, they do more consultation with the followers, especially with those with knowledge of their religion. The decision-making process in Islam also is based on Divine law and consultation with leaders who pray and worship Allah.

What I also find intriguing is the qualities Islam looks for in their managers. “Islam focuses its attention more on the individual people who manage or are managed. And less on methodologies and processes of management. This is because Islam believes that it is the individual people that guide and apply those management methodologies and practices through their motivations, enthusiasm, desire, and emotions” (Moran, 2014, Pg. 304) Some of ones that stood out to me are being optimistic, manage anger, always be truthful, admit mistakes; learn from them and avoid pride. (Moran, 2014, Pg. 305.)

In conclusion. I believe the leadership values from the Islamic perspective are all essential qualities that we should all look for in a leader. They aren’t always the main ones that We look for in western cultures such as communication or time management, but they are the skills we should look for in order to continuously improve and become a successful leader.

 

Sources:

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing cultural differences (9th ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

Ather, Syed & Sobhani, Dr. Farid. (2009). Managerial Leadership: An Islamic Perspective. Doi: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/250212209_Managerial_Leadership_An_Islamic_Perspective

Mir, A. M. (2010) Leadership in Islam. J Ldrship Studies, 4: 69-72. Doi: https://doi-org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1002/jls.20180

Natalis. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/set-of-muslim-men-and-women-vector-20665045

DJomas/Shutterstock. Image Retrieved from: http://discovermagazine.com/2019/july/ewk-body-language

What is communication? Most people think communication is the way you speak, how you speak, the tone of your voice, etc. People aren’t typically aware of body language, facial expressions, posture, eye contact, nonverbal signs, or signals during interactions. To put it in a broader perspective, different cultures, professions, and backgrounds can interpret body language and nonverbal communication differently. I believe that it is important for people to be mindful and aware of the variation of nonverbal communication, especially in this multi-cultural world. I picked this topic to write about because of coming from Asian culture. There were things I learned that were significantly different in the U.S than in Asia.

One of the most interesting nonverbal communication that I find very amusing is in Japan. In Japanese culture, you should eat noodle soup or ramen very loudly at a restaurant as a compliment to the chief. This means that the food was delicious. So eat away, loud slurping sound is highly encouraged in a restaurant in Japan! However, this would be considered rude in the U.S.

Another example, “In western culture, a person who does not maintain good eye contact is regarded das slightly suspect. Those who avoid eye contact are unconsciously considered unfriendly, insecure, untrustworthy, inattentive, and impersonal” (Moran, Abrason & Moran, 2014. Pg. 51) This sounds normal to you, right? However, this is quite the contrary in some other culture. “Japanese children are taught in school to direct their gaze at the regions of their teacher’s Adam’s apple. Japanese Adults lower their eyes when speaking to a superior as a gesture of respect” (Moran, Abrason & Moran, 2014. Pg. 51) There were various examples of cultural differences within International Communication in Chapter Two of this week’s lesson.

Personal space can also be an issue between cultures. According to the article Body language – a minefield for international business people. “Some cultures touch more than others; generally, those who do not mind the invasion of their personal space. The British and Japanese, however, will often apologize if their coat brushes against someone else” (Hurn, 2014.) Knowing the culture and personal boundaries are something to be mindful of during traveling and interacting with other cultures.

In conclusion, I believe it is important for business people is to be aware of their cultural body language. One must understand how it may cause misunderstanding or offend others with a different culture. Being self-aware would help people adjust their communication style to different cultures, especially when conducting International Business.

If this topic intrigues you, here is a link where you can see even more examples of body language and gesture around the world. Thank you for reading.

https://translit.ie/blog/body-language-gestures-across-world/#.XYWlAChKjIU

References:

Hurn, B. J. (2014). Body language – a minefield for international business people. Industrial and Commercial Training, 46(4), 188-193. doi: http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1108/ICT-01-2014-0004

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences (9th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Body Language and Gestures across the World and what they mean. (2018, May 8). Retrieved from https://translit.ie/blog/body-language-gestures-across-world/#.XYWlAChKjIU