Religious Implication for International Business



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In todays entry, I will be chaging my methodology; instead of talking about a certain topic, i will focus on answering 4 questions proposed as an exercise by our organizations and culture teacher, Gina D´Amato.

These questions are centered, as you will see ahead, on RELIGION.

1. How can we create an ethical relationship between religion and business so that they may cooperate towards a more sustainable and respectful development of life?
   Maybe im thinking a concept from an utopia, but maybe it might be feasible. Maybe main leaders of all the religions (or at least those that are more influential) could participate in an international forum (like some type of UN, for example) where they could create, according to each partys point of view, a manual, an instruction guide for business practices according to religions. This manual would include of course, an ethical aspect, which teaches ethics in business.
   Maybe another, more extreme option, would to be to impose in each country (that is, each government), the ethical practices described in the main religion of the population. Although this would be unfair to many, its for the greater purpose (seeing it from an american point of view).
2. Can you imagine a world without religion where everyone would be trying to get immediate satisfaction to their individual needs?
   In my opinion, there WOULDNT be a world if this were to happen; people would probably lose hope inmediately, would hano no self control, would go back in evolution and act as animals and would finally end the human race. I think that the belief that there is a god (which ever god you believe in and which ever religion you follow) gives people a sense of inferiority, where an almighty supreme entity watches over us and in a certain way, is constantly watching what we do on earth. Without a religion, a set of rules or an all supreme god, people would probably feel absolutely free to do whatever they want and that would bring chaos and destruction to humanity.
3. Religion can create networks of trust and familiarity that facilitate economic transactions. Can you name other positive aspects of this relationship?
• Group well being and personal growth inside the business world.
• Protection and refugee from persecution.
• Guidance, spiritual partnership and companionship.
• Benefits and bailment.



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4. Do you think that stereotyping based on religion has been influenced by economical or political interests? why?
   In my opinion, YES. Why? because we can see for example how the US has not only declared the war on one person or group (Bin Laden-Al Qaeda), but they have also declared the war on muslims (although it has not been done directly, wee can see it through their actions). Another political interest is seen when Sarzoky (president of France) stated that he would not allow women to wear burkas and that sort of behavior wasnt welcomed in the country, but why? because he knows that women following these practices (mainly muslims) would not accept to take it off (probably because of their personal beliefs or religion) and that eventually, they would not go to France.
   On the other side, in my personal life experience in New York, I saw a very curious practice: people would always stereotype Jews as the best bankers, but why? Because many american banks have their foundations on Jewish followers, so this type of stereotyping was for them as publicity.
   Whose interests?
   Mainly politicians, poweful guilds and religious leaders opinion in the country.
   What is the role of The Media in this issue?
   They play very important role because they have strong influence (it not all) on what people say and think. People are based on what they hear on the news and what they read in newspapers to argument their facts. But as we know it, the media is nothing else but another type of business, which we have seen over the years how some are influenced, obliged to say whats convenient to those who have the power and are propense to being bribed.

Images

1. Retrieved on 15/05/2011. http://blog.beruby.com/beruby-contents-es/files/2011/03/Religi%C3%B3n.gif.
2. Retrieved on 15/05/2011. http://www.cuttingedge.org/News/earth7.jpg.

Communication

Before we begin, lets have some laughs and try to conclude what will be the topic I will discuss today, according to the following video. Viewer discretion is advised.

As we can see in the video, cultural differences DO exist, even in the least expected context. When we move our eyes, when we speak, when we look, whenever we do anything related to communication, each culture can interpret a different thing, varying from acceptance to rejection.

In todays topic, I would like to point out which are the main cultural differences in non-verbal communication.

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• Gesture: some gestures or certain movements can be both offensive and neutral in many cultures. Depending on on the behaviors of each culture, according to the interpretation of Hofstedes cultural dimensions, one can note that some cultures are more picky to gestures than others. For example, Brazilians tend to touch, hug and kiss people they just met (when I meen touch, I refer to hand contact like shoulder patting and so on), while in Asia, a certain distance must always be kept even when people have known each other for a long while.
• Touch: when one thinks that it is appropriatte to salute a person from the opposite gender with his/her hand, another one sees it as inappropriate and feels uncomfortable. It is common for us as Colombians to shake hands with someone from the opposite gender when we first meet them, but for muslims, this kind of act can even be punishable. Another example is patting one on the head: while many see it as a normal gesture (for example, us colombians), asians see it as disrespectful, given that the head is considered touching a sacred part of the body. Muslims believe that the left hand is only used for hygiene (for example, after going to the restroom, one would clean himself up with the left hand), so it is not used for anyhing else.
• Eye contact: to some, eye contact shows respect to what that person is saying; to others, it can meen sexual desire. A good example is americans, whom aprreciate eye contact when spoken at, while in many countries in Asia, too much eye contact can be offensive, and low eye contact can mean that one is paying close attention.
• Other acts: muslims tend to not show the sole of their shoes (this applying while sitting especially) because it denotes the filth of the land.
• Speech volume: talking to loud or talking to quite can denote many things. In latin american countries, talking to loud (in men) can translate into manhood and courage; in Japan, it is a clear sign of disrespect.
• Dress: how one looks and dresses can be seen in many ways. In North America, dressing right is almost an obssesion, where it indicates that one is clean and cares for himself; in some African countries and Australia, people dress according to the climate, where it is appropiate to dress comfortably according to weather standards.
• Posture: to bow to someone in Japan for instance, can denote that that person has a higher rank or status; to do it in North America can be even seen as asskissing.
• Pointing: very common to point someone in all cultures, although all differ on how they do it. For example, in the US it is done with the index finger, in Germany with the little finger, in Japan with the entire hand and in Colombia it is rude to point someone out.
• Paralanguage: tu burp or or belch in India meens that one is satisfied with what they just ate; to Western countries it is very rude, and even when done with no intention, one should be embarrased.

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As a final idea, it is important to know how other people communicate (verbal and non verbal) before interacting with them; serious problems and arguments can come from misproper communication. Knowing what we do right, but knowing what the other sees as right can avoid us troubles.

Bibliography

• Cultural differences in non-verbal communication. Vermont department of health. Retrieved on 15/05/2011. http://healthvermont.gov/family/toolkit/tools%5CF-6%20Cultural%20Differences%20in%20Nonverbal%20Communic.pdf.
• Non verbal communication modes. Andrews University. Retrieved on 15/05/2011. http://www.andrews.edu/~tidwell/lead689/NonVerbal.html.
• Leba, N. (2010). Understanding cultural differences in non verbal communications. Associated content from Yahoo. Retrieved on 15/05/2011. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5568614/understanding_cultural_differences.html?cat=16.

Images

1. Retrieved on 15/05/2011. http://www.1000ventures.com/design_elements/selfmade/ccd_example_ok-gesture.gif.
2. Retrieved on 15/05/2011. http://www.wbfn.org/Mosaic/Mosaic-FY09/November-2008/Images/Cultural-differences.jpg.

Videos

• Video provided by JdaSilva06. Youtube. Retrieved on 15/05/2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_N1Cmt_QB0