Thailand Vs France - Cultural profile

Résumé du document

Originally known as "Siam", Thailand is situated in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered in the North by Laos and Myanmar (originally Burma), in the east by Cambodia and in the south, by Malaysia. The East coast is bathed by the Gulf of Thailand, and the West coast by the Andaman Sea. The surface of Thailand is almost equivalent to that of France: 514 000 km2. Thailand is a true meeting-point of people, languages and cultures. Today it has around 60 million inhabitants today, among which 75% are Thai, (of whom about 6 million are from Chinese origins), 11% Sino-Thai, 3.5% Malays, several minority groups speaking their own dialect: Khmer, Môn, Vietnamese, Laotian, Indian, Persian, and diverse native mountain tribes from the South of China and Tibet. Thailand is considered as a developed country. It is particularly competitive in the food industry, tourism and electronic products. It also attracts numerous multinational companies which use their Thai subsidiary as base of regional or even worldwide export. Establishing the cultural profile of Thailand will enable us to understand how to behave with Thai people in the everyday life and also in business.

Extraits

[...] The higher Power Distance Index is the less equal is the society in terms of power and wealth. Thailand has a score of 64 on the scale of Hofstede, which is lower than the Asian average of 71, but still high. Thai people accepted power relations that are more autocratic and paternalistic. Power distance regulate the whole system as social relationships are defined as one person being superior to the other; Parents are superior to their children, teachers to their students, and bosses to their subordinates. [...]

[...] Une difficulté souvent observée dans la communication interculturelle est que deux interprétations peuvent être vraies en même temps, ce qui peut poser problème. Nous définirons l' interculturalité plutôt que l'interculturel –comme un lieu de rencontre, une plate-forme, où se confrontent plusieurs manières différentes regarder le monde, donnant des sens différents à une même manière d'agir et de penser. En partant de ces différences, on peut construire ensemble de nouvelles manières de travailler et créer un langage commun. Sources Hofstede, G. (1928, 2001) Culture's consequences: comparing values, behaviours, institutions, and organizations across nations. London: Sage Publications. [...]

[...] They are thinking as individual. France regarding Trompenaar's dimensions Thailand and France seems to have more visible differences with the Tromperaar's dimensions. ( Universalism vs. particularism: The French demonstrate a universalism outlook when faced with conflicts. Indeed, laws are the same for every people and the founder of the Declaration of Human Right are advocating this equity. For example, the ex-president is presently jugged for fake employment affair; the fact that he is famous only makes him be in the newspaper but the judgement is going to be as severe as for an anonymous. [...]

[...] The surface of Thailand is almost equivalent to France: km2. A real crossroads of peoples, languages and cultures, Thailand counts 60 million inhabitants today, among which of Thai (of whom about 6 million are from Chinese origins) Sino-Thai Malays, several minority groups speaking about their own dialect: Khmers, Môn, Vietnamese, Laotians, Indians, Persians, and diverse mountain tribes native from the South of China and Tibet of the population adheres to Buddhism. The Malays of the South ( of the inhabitants of Phuket) are mainly followers of the Islam. [...]

[...] Il suffit d'avoir été en Thaïlande pour se rendre compte de toute l'importance de ces facteurs indirects de la communication. cadre expatrié, 1997) Meeting confrontation ( The greeting: The first contact may be complicated; these nations have 2 completely different way of greeting. For France, hand shaking in a first meeting is essential; depending on how strong and determined the way you shake hand is, it enable to feel what kind of businessperson you are. Whereas for Thailand, physical contact is not well perceived; Thai people will rather use gesture than touching. [...]