Essay Sample on Culture and Values

Introduction

Different societies identify to various cultures. These cultures have an influence on the values of its members and thus their behavior and relation with one another. Different nations are associated with various cultural dimensions. Institutions and platforms such as the Harvard Business Review have come up with the mechanism of evaluating one's cultural dimensions. The results portrayed by such systems may not be accurate. However, it shows an overview of one's cultural principles and obligations. The HBR assessment is based on communication, disagreeing, evaluating, persuading, scheduling and deciding.

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Communicating is measured in low and high context communication. In high context cultures, the information is a bit sophisticated. The language is complex and requires one to read in between the lines. It, therefore, requires one to be of a sharp mind. In relation to the score, the system reflects that my communication is not deeply anchored to the culture. This is to mean that my statements are not complex but then requires some keen listening. My culture is usually associated with high context cultures. Another point that the system highlights is the evaluating activity. It is described as being either direct negative feedbacks or indirect negative feedbacks. Normally, my cultures are associated with the indirect negative cultures. The system reflects a high score on the same. In a real sense, I am more likely to give indirect negative comments. This means that the second party is not likely to be offended as they information won't be digested with ease.

On the other hand, my culture is associated with consideration of applications over principles. Most customs will take into consideration the facts behind a particular issue. From the system, it is evident that I am in line with the cultural norms. I tend to put applications first and then principles latter. On the same note, my culture calls for a top to down mechanism of making decisions. This is the point I differ with the cultural settings. I prefer the consensual way of making decisions. This is likely to bring some harmony. Individuals who prefer the opposite are dictators and tend to influence other peoples thinking. At the same time, flexibility is a critical value that defines my culture. The flexibility ensures that one can adjust to issues soonest they emerge.

Amazingly, the system shows an accurate reflection of my life. I was brought up in the suburbs thus I understand all the aspects of the culture. In the assessment, the majority of the features favor the cultural side. At the same time, I am not an extremist. I find myself balancing the cultural aspect and the real world issues. For example, when it comes to scheduling, my culture calls for flexibility, but then it does not have to be all the time and thus the reflected score. There is a direct relationship between culture and the way we communicate.

Conclusion

As evident in the assessment, I am in between and high context communication. At the same time, I don't have to engage in confrontations as my culture requires me to avoid these unnecessary confrontations. The communication is soft, but at the same time, one has to be keen to read in between the lines. If for example, I say 'let's meet when the sun goes down.' It may mean let's meet in the evening or let's meet when or done with our activities. It is upon the second party to read in between the lines and obtain the right translation.