Skip to main content

Why cultural strategic thinking is important?

Cultural Strategic Thinking:
            In some of the organizations I have worked, cultural strategic thinking has played a part in bringing harmony within these organizations, however unless you begin to think about it, may be it is because I have not worked in much culturally diverse organizations, but  cultural intelligence is not something that has always outrightly been at the forefront of the organizational operation, it seems to be left to individual employees to figure out how to relate with each other, having been brought-up from a culturally diverse environment, my cultural intelligence happens subconsciously.
            So far, I have observed at least some cultural strategic thinking techniques being used in one or two of these organizations, they include: -
Peer Learning:  Peer learning is a widely used strategy in cultural strategic thinking, however like I mentioned it seems to happen subconsciously, I am not sure if corporate events, like quarterly performance celebrations are partly organized for this purpose, since these offer a better and conducive opportunity for organizational employees to relate with each other, explore cultural interactions and resolve cultural problems.
Being an observer: learning to be an observer is the best way to develop cultural strategic thinking, through observation and active listening you pick up what you normally do not see, (cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012), personally I have developed cultural intelligence through this technique, my assumption is that many do the same, I have been approached by someone before and asked me why I did what I had done after she observed me making a greetings sign to a fellow African, and if it meant something within my culture, this is a clear indication for me that people are always watching to enrich their cultural intelligence. It takes a conscious decision to be open alert, paying attention to both verbal and nonverbal cues of various situations. (cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012).
I have observed in an organization, where people of the same race grouping together during shift breaks, I don’t think this helps to break cultural ties, and vague assumptions we make about each other, I would think that the willingness to adapt, learn, live and work with others from different cultures would increase anyone’s’ cultural intelligence, hence eliminating the vague assumptions we make about different cultures.
Reference:
Cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012, Saylor Academy. Creative commons by-nc-sa 3.0,           retrieved September 14, 2018, from                                                                                    https://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/325629/mod_page/content/5/BUS5211Textbook.            pdf

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What are the Cultural Makeup We are Unaware Of?

          Having a thorough understanding of cultural influences and components is a prerequisite that helps employers and the human capital managers tolerate and better manage individuals and employees with cultural differences to avoid misconceptions and altercations due to “cultural misunderstandings” (Lynch, 2017).           In as much as there are tangible aspects/elements of culture such as dressing, language, food, etc., the biggest components of culture are actually hidden beneath the surface. This comprises of the invisible values and rules that differentiate one culture from the other (Penstone, 2011). It is always difficult to use the rule of culture to interpret the components of another culture. Crucially, the tangible and visible aspect of a culture is usually influenced by the hidden components, such as values, notion, attitudes, and assumptions (Penstone, 2011). Edward T. Hall in his 1976 theory de...
Post a Comment
Read more

how can HR Managers help raise the cultural intelligence of an organization.

I will start by saying that, I have worked for 2 employers so far in my 12 years career and I do not think the HR took any substantial step to raise cultural awareness. Saying that I will share my thoughts on what the HR can do.             I have always worked in multinational companies with people from various national backgrounds. While working regardless of cultural differences you are supposed to know your work and deliver. So, there is no bonding or cultural exchanges happen. But someone like myself who worked in multiple geographies can easily distinguish between work culture in India, USA, and Australia.             So, first thing, HR can do, before sending employees in foreign assignments they can train them about the countries culture and people. Along with any other training that is useful. In fact, I would say, learning the language and being able to follow accent i...
Post a Comment
Read more

What is Acquire, Build, Contemplate, and Do ?

          According to our reading text Cultural Intelligence for Leaders (2012), to acquire knowledge has to do with the cognition and developing the understanding of the different aspects of culture. It is important that we understand and are able to identify the cultural elements and their relations such as the channels of communication and their impact on behaviors and attitudes of the people (Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, 2012).           Metacognition comes to play when we build our strategic thinking that explores the knowledge we acquired in an unfamiliar culture. A person should be able to analyze the data collected in the previous step to detect patterns or causes. Doing this analysis helps us to understand the behaviors and attitudes of people (Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, 2012).           Because of the possibility that we may encounter difficulties while trying to become familiar with...
Post a Comment
Read more