EFFECTS OF MULTICULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

• Culture

First what is culture, it is an interwoven system of customs, morals, traits, traditions

and values shared by a group of people or a society. It provides people with a common
heritage, and it links them through shared experiences and joint learning. Cultures exist on
scales both large and small, extending from countries and regions, such as the American
culture or Middle Eastern culture, to such small and distinct cultures as that of Amish
communities in Pennsylvania to the Basque culture in southern France. Moreover, cultures
provide people with a sense of self-identity and community, and they greatly influence
actions within the workplace.

Some cultures operate on a more low-context level than others. People raised in low-
context cultures tend to be very literal -- focusing on the spoken word -- and they’re more
often analytical and action-oriented. Low-context employees also tend to use linear logic in
the workplace -- for example, proceeding from point A to point B to point C and so on.
Additionally, business managers raised in low-context cultures strive to be efficient and
professional, and they treat time as a very limited commodity. North America and Western
Europe are examples of low-context cultures.

High-context cultures tend to be more contemplative and intuitive, and people raised
in such cultures often treat time as an endless resource. Spiral logic is more common in
such cultures, with individuals circling indirectly around a topic, considering it from all angles
and viewpoints. Whereas Americans may be very literal, high-context workers pay attention
to more than just the spoken word, believing that all aspects of communication -- including
body language and facial expressions -- carry as much meaning as the actual words.
Examples of high-context cultures include Far Eastern, Middle Eastern and Hispanic
cultures.

In today’s global economy, people from both low-context and high-context cultures
are interacting in multicultural workplaces as never before. As people are affected both
visibly and invisibly by their cultures, conflict can result from the inevitable
misunderstandings. For example, employees from high-context cultures such as China,
Mexico or Japan may prefer to imply "no" with body language rather than speaking the word.
Literal Americans and Canadians, however, often overlook these subtle implications and
may fail to understand. To overcome multicultural misunderstandings, smart business
managers take the time to learn about and understand the differing cultures represented
within their workplace and train employees from different cultures on how best to
communicate with each other on the job.

• Multicultural

What is multicultural, it is something that incorporates ideas, beliefs or people from

many different countries and cultural backgrounds. Multiculturalism is a term with a range of
meanings in the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and in colloquial use. In sociology
and everyday usage, it is a synonym for "ethnic pluralism" with the two terms often used
interchangeably, for example, a cultural pluralism in which various ethnic groups collaborate
and enter into a dialogue with one another without having to sacrifice their particular
identities. It can describe a mixed ethnic community area where multiple cultural traditions
exist or a single country within which they do. Groups associated with an aboriginal ethnic
group and foreigner ethnic groups are often the focus.

In reference to sociology, multiculturalism is the end state of either a natural or

artificial process (e.g. legally controlled immigration) and occurs on either a large national
scale or a smaller scale within a nation's communities. On a smaller scale this can occur
artificially when a jurisdiction is created or expanded by amalgamating areas with two or
more different cultures (e.g. French Canada and English Canada). On a large scale, it can
occur as a result of either legal or illegal immigration to and from different jurisdictions
around the world.

Multiculturalism as a political philosophy involves ideologies and policies which vary

widely, ranging from the advocacy of equal respect to the various cultures in a society, to
policies of promoting the maintenance of cultural diversity, to policies in which people of
various ethnic and religious groups are addressed by the authorities as defined by the group
to which they belong.

Multiculturalism that promotes maintaining the distinctiveness of multiple cultures is

often contrasted to other settlement policies such as social integration, cultural assimilation
and racial segregation. Multiculturalism has been described as a "salad bowl" and "cultural
mosaic"[4] in contrast to a melting pot.

Two different and seemingly inconsistent strategies have developed through different
government policies and strategies. The first focuses on interaction and communication
between different cultures; this approach is also often known as interculturalism. The second
centers on diversity and cultural uniqueness which can sometimes result in intercultural
competition over jobs among other things and may lead to ethnic conflict Controversy
surrounding the issue of cultural isolation includes the ghettoization of a culture within a
nation and the protection of the cultural attributes of an area or nation. Proponents of
government policies often claim that artificial, government guided protections also contribute
to global cultural diversity. The second approach to multiculturalist policy making maintains
that they avoid presenting any specific ethnic, religious, or cultural community values as
central.

One of the strange psychological effects of multiculturalism as a doctrine or ideology

is that it renders people peculiarly uninterested in or insensitive to the ideas or feelings of
people of cultures other than their own.

Anyone who has tried to understand another culture, or even just master literature in
a foreign language, knows that it requires great effort and determination and not just an
occasional tasting of a different cuisine. It is most unlike that anyone could master both Pali
Buddhist scriptures and the ninth century Arabic of Moslem philosophers. An abstract
commitment to respect other cultures is not the same as the effort to understand just one of
them.
 There is a connection between multiculturalism as a doctrine or received wisdom and
the behaviour of numbers of young western tourists in far off lands in Asia. There is a
fashion among them of photographing themselves naked or near-naked there at temples or
other sites of cultural or religious significance.

According to a report in the French newspaper Le Monde[1], it is a kind of epidemic.

It reports the case of twelve young tourists who posted photographs of themselves on
Facebook, nude or nearly nude, on the summit of Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, against the
advice of their guides who told them that to take such photographs would been offensive to
the local people.

It so happened that five days after they took the photos there was an earthquake in
which eighteen tourists, including seven Singaporean schoolchildren, were killed. The local
people, who have a religious reverence for the mountain, attributed the earthquake to the
previous desecration. The Chief Minister of the Malaysian state of Sabah said, ‘Whether or
not others believe it, we, here, believe it.’

Four of the young desecrators were arrested by the Malaysian police and then
sentenced to three days in prison and a fine of a little more than $1000 each. The young
man presumed to be the instigator of the prank, a Canadian young man called Emil
Kaminski, escaped arrest and then posted the following comment on the internet: ‘How can
you be a minister and not know about plate tectonics?’ Another of his comments (here I
translate from the French, which is itself a translation from the English) ‘He’s a real
cocksucker.’

Nowadays, of course, not many people in the west would concur with the local
people that the earthquake was caused by the desecration. But here it should be noted that
it is not an eternity ago that many people in Europe, and not just the uneducated, believed
that natural disasters were the consequence of ad punishment for, Man’s wicked conduct.
After the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, in which much of the city was destroyed and 30,000
people were killed, a considerable body of literature was written, not just in Portugal,
claiming that it was God’s vengeance on the unregenerate people, and as a warning to
others. It would probably be true to say that more people throughout history have believed
this kind of thing than not believed it; and while I am personally glad that we have escaped it,
I cannot simply look down on more than half of humanity because I happen to have been
born in the time and place that I was.

Second, the local people were not trying to impose their beliefs on others as
indisputable truth. They were not evangelising for their beliefs; on the contrary, they were
welcoming strangers to come to their place that they regarded, superstitious as we may think
it, with reverence and awe. Surely common courtesy should have been enough to suggest to
these young people that they should not act in this fashion? How much does one need to
know to act inoffensively in a foreign land? One can sometimes make mistakes through
ignorance of subtleties, but this behaviour was gross in its offensiveness.

Moreover, it was far from an isolated case. On the contrary, it was only the most
publicized. Such conduct, or a lesser form of it, is far from uncommon. The conduct abroad
of tourists from my own country is notoriously disgusting and disrespectful of local mores.
Why?
 Multiculturalism means that all cultures are to be respected – with the logical
corollary that so is one’s own. If we must respect others, others must respect us. And if our
‘culture’ happens to include taking and publishing nude photographs of ourselves in temples
and elsewhere, others must just grin and bear it, otherwise they are being retrograde,
primitive and (worst of all) intolerant. We must be tolerant of them, we agree; but that means
they must be tolerant of us. And, as it happens, they also need our tourist dollars, so they
should just shut up. Who is the boss round here?

Multicultural Society

A multicultural society includes people from several different cultures. People of

different colours, nationalities, languages live together in one community. A multi-ethnic
society has many advantages, because it allows people to experience different ways of life,
for example other peoples languages, art, traditions and behaviours.

Multicultural education aims to prepare children for living in a multicultural society by

giving them and understanding of different cultures. It works against racism and racial
disadvantages in schools. When people learn about different ways of life, they can better
understand different cultures.

On the negative side, cultural differences can divide a society. This can be a
prejudice and discrimination. There will be always people who think, that their religion and
culture is the best and other cultures are wrong. Ethnic minorities way suffer racial
disadvantage on a multi-ethnic society. In education children from ethnic minority groups
may not perform as well as they could simply, because they are in an unfamiliar
environment.

People who have gone abroad to work or to live, they are called expatriates. They
never really become part of the society. They spend their time with other expatriates. There
is a special ethnic group - Romanies. They are originated from India. They typically don’t live
in one place, they are always travelling. The Romanies do various fobs, and they and they
are thoughts of as musicians and fortune tellers. The other interesting group live in the
Western US are Mormons. They have strict rules, and don’t use tobacco, alcohol. They go
from house to house trying to persuade people to join the Mormon Church. In the past,
Mormon men were allowed to have more than one wife.

• Effects of Multiculturalism on Job Performance & the Workplace

Multiculturalism brings together a diverse set of cultures and ethnic backgrounds in

the work environment. Whether people are from various socio-ethnic backgrounds or
different countries, employers should seek a diverse business culture because it offers many
advantages. As a business owner, consider how you can incorporate more diversity and
multiculturalism into your recruiting efforts and management style.

◘ Encourages Creativity
 Different cultures have different ways of approaching problems. When you have a
group of diverse cultural backgrounds, everyone is looking at situations through a different
lens, a unique perspective. The wealth of viewpoints brings in a wide array of ideas that
benefit any team. Encouraging employees to provide input or feedback during meetings
empowers them to be part of the process and develops an engaged workforce.

◘ Builds Respect Among Employees

People often say things or do things that are disrespectful of others out of old-school
beliefs and ignorance. When employers hold diversity training and teach team members
about diversity, positive things can result. Role-playing puts workers in one another's' shoes
to provide perspective. Potluck lunches use the love of food to engage employees in a
dialogue about family or cultural history. These small things lead to increased conversations.
The resulting communication leads to respect among employees who have a better
understanding of appropriate interactions and an appreciation of their co-workers and the
viewpoints they bring to the team.

◘ Innovation

In a 2011 interview in "Inc." magazine, personnel consultant Barbara Annis said that
the key to developing a competitive edge through diversity is understanding that cultural
"groupthink" is outmoded in the modern global economy. Looking at things from the variety
of ◘ perspectives that multiculturalism brings to the workplace inspires innovation. It is the
manager's job to make employees feel comfortable about expressing those new ideas.
Annis suggests that a good first step is establishing the company as a place where there's
more than one way to do things

◘ Good Business Sense

In 1999, "Fortune" magazine listed "America's 50 Best Companies for Asians,

Blacks, and Hispanics," based on the companies' minority-friendliness in such areas as
training, promotions and hiring. The article also reported that these companies, individually,
were among the Dow's top performers and, as a group, matched or beat the Standard and
Poor's 500 over the preceding five years. The magazine's 1998 "America's Best..."
demonstrated the same edge for diverse companies. Tony Burns, CEO of Ryder System,
told "Fortune" that he launched the diversity-oriented initiatives because "it was the right
thing to do," but quickly found, along with other CEOs, such as Bell Atlantic's Ivan
Seidenberg, that diversity makes good business sense.

◘ Ethnocentrism

The enemy of a productive, happy multicultural workplace is "ethnocentrism" --- the

attitude that one's culture is the correct, sensible one, and that other cultures are inferior and
wrong. According to conflict specialists the Aviary Group, if ethnocentrism is allowed to
infiltrate a workplace, the result is often intragroup conflict fueled by favoritism, exclusion and
cliquish behavior. When conflict is rampant, performance and productivity in the workplace
suffer. To avoid ethnocentrism and resultant conflicts in the workplace, Aviary suggests that
managers and employees objectively analyze their own culture and biases, learn about other
cultures, and always strive to maintain open channels of communication.

◘ Cultural Sensitivity

Management and sensitivity training consultant Bill Walsh says it is important to bring
the issue of cultural difference in the workplace into the open, and that ignoring differences
among cultures is not only counterproductive, but also leads to such performance-killing
attitudes as "disgruntlement" and the impression that management implicitly supports
discrimination. As the immigrant population in America grows, the importance of cultural
sensitivity in employees who deal with the public will grow, as well.