Intercultural management case study: cultural building insitutions in Iran

Résumé du document

Intercultural management case study: cultural building institutions in Iran: As future managers working in an international environment, we have to think about how to build relationships, especially at work, with colleagues from other cultures. Thanks to respect for the diversity, we must be interested in other cultures, and make an effort to understand what differences exist and how it is possible to cope with diversity in the everyday life at work. Globalization has underlined this way of thinking because cultures are interacting more and more nowadays, thanks to business of course but also thanks to other factors such as tourism. At a time where more and more people worldwide share the same values, it is important to understand the source of the difficulties when they occur.

Extraits

[...] To be a good manager working internationally it is essential to have cultural curiosity, to be tolerant for ambiguity and uncertainty. It permits to wonder the right questions regarding the other's reactions. It is necessary to be flexible and patient, and to show important sign of respect. We are going to work on the case study: culture-building institutions in Iran, which will give us the opportunity to identify the nature of the Iran's culture and its evolution when facing external cultures. [...]

[...] The subject of culture is very difficult to deal with as it exists in each culture, in each country: subcultures. The nuance can be really strong when saying that every one of us is building its own culture, regarding to the influence someone is able to choose and the principle we decide to follow. We can already say that such consideration defines a culture: to have a choice in considering self-expression and the right to have access to happiness 3. [...]

[...] Firstly because it refers to deep values and believes that are the roots of the people's culture and secondly because this part of culture is sometimes really far from the person's basic assumptions who tries to understand. Scientists and people who are familiar with the culture subject agree to say that culture is not something people born with. The culture is built in our every day life from our first days on earth in living in a family (each member of this one has learned cultural values and beliefs thanks to the same process before in a local community and from important stage such to go to school. [...]

[...] This king of non respectful behaviour is an example of the western culture toward other cultures. We are going to explain the main characteristic identified attributed to Western culture. We insist on the fact that American and European cultures are western cultures. These cultures are really different on many points but we will deal with the common ones regarding the relationship with third part represented by other culture. It's important not to forget that the following description hasn't to be understood as a definition. Cultures are multiple and can't be precisely defined. [...]

[...] The Iran culture is an embedded one. In organizing its life regarding the Sacred Laws, the society is highly defined by the respect of its social order, the respect for tradition which are a guarantee for its security and its wisdom. This characteristic of the Iran culture has been chosen through its history. Although the Iran population had the opportunity to build relationship with external western culture and in the same time with the western values, the population is back to strong opposed ones, defined by the embeddedness to Muslim Sacred Laws. [...]