Cultural Capabilities

The report outlines the problem of cultural capability and safe spaces taking place among individuals of different cultures. The diverse cultures possibly have different language practice. In this way, the communication barrier occurs between people. So, to evade such hindrances, people need to embrace a safe space to continue the peaceful relationships.

Running head: CULTURAL CAPABILITIES
Cultural Capabilities
Name
Student Number
Date

CULTURAL CAPABILITIES 2
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Background............................................................................................................................3
1.2. Scope.....................................................................................................................................3
1.3 Aim.........................................................................................................................................3
2. Summary and observations..........................................................................................................4
2.1 Summary of the Video Clip:..................................................................................................4
2.2 Observations...........................................................................................................................4
3. Analysis.......................................................................................................................................5
4. Recommendations....................................................................................................................7
5. Summary and Conclusion........................................................................................................7
References

CULTURAL CAPABILITIES 3
Introduction
1.1 Background
The report outlines the problem of cultural capability and safe spaces taking place among
individuals of different cultures. The diverse cultures possibly have different language practice.
In this way, the communication barrier occurs between people. So, to evade such hindrances,
people need to embrace a safe space to continue the peaceful relationships.
1.2. Scope.
The report mainly focuses on the misunderstandings resulting from language differences
among two people. The problems get displayed in the video of Fawlty Towers – communication
Problems, Handling Complaints, Season 2 Episode 1 of BBC Television Program. For instance,
here the episode focuses on Mrs. Richards, the hotel guests from Brighton. The better part of the
conversations between Polly, Mrs. Richards and the waiter Manuel. There is clear
communication difference between the English-speaking lady and Spanish speaker waiter. Then
the manager Basil tries to correct Manuel, he finds this hard and feels tired, the instance shows
an unsafe space among the people involved.
1.3 Aim.
The report aims to define the situations of cultural difference in workplaces. There arise
problems to both visitors and workers due to language differences. The report will also analyze
the reasons the location is very unsafe among people with ethnic barriers. Furthermore,
appropriate recommendations to improve the safety of the space will get provided. The
commendations will enhance the fixing of such issues and make the setting engaging to deliver
service to clients conveniently.

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2. Summary and observations
2.1 Summary of the Video Clip:
The name of the TV show is Fawlty Towers – Communication Problems, Handling
Complaints. It got released on Feb 19, 1979, Season 2 Episode 1. The TV program got based in
an unsafe workplace setup, the hotel, where Mrs. Richards the most unfriendly guest come in
Fawlty Towers. Mrs. Richards thinks that the hotel staff Polly should drop what she is doing to
attend to her. She rudely interrupted while Polly was amid assisting another visitor. Further
problems, come in since Mrs. Richards is almost deaf and declines to fit the hearing aid which
had run out of charge. The demand and rude response came from her missing to hear all that
Polly says to her and takes it as the staff's fault. Almost immediately, Polly sends her to talk to
Manuel whom she experiences communication barrier due to the difference in language. Manuel,
a Spanish-speaker finds it hard to respond to Mrs. Richardson and rephrases the statement. He is
not able to comprehend the further what Polly says (Quappe & Cantatore, 2005).
2.2 Observations
The video shows that Mrs. Richardson who noticed Polly was attending to another client,
she rudely interrupts and demands her attention. Polly, in turn, sends her to Manuel, a Spanish
speaker who fails to listen to what Mrs. Richards says. Therefore, he rephrases her words by
saying “CK Watt? Who is CK Watt”? Basil tries to converse in Spanish, but Manuel still does
not understand since the language he uses was never appropriate (Brislin, 2006). The set-up
shows that persons of different cultures, like Spanish and English talking to another will find it
hard to understand (Crowne, 2013). The distress from Basil, the manager, shows that the

CULTURAL CAPABILITIES 5
employees are in a culturally unsafe location due to inability to convey their messages among
themselves as supported by Ang and Van Dyne (2015).
Scene
description time
and sequence
Physical Factors:
Size and layout
of space,
Proximity and
position other
Communication
Factors
Body language,
Voice Words
Signs of
Inclusion or
Exclusion
Display or lack
of cultural
intelligence
Scene 1 Moderate size
and space,
proximity is
closer with Sybil
and visitors
checking in and
out.
Sybil has an
empathetic voice
when talking to
the client over
the phone.
Sybil shows
inclusion by
telling Polly to
handle the needs
of the client.
Polly displays
cultural
intelligence and
professionalism
by assisting the
visitor who are
checking in
Scene 2 Moderate size
and space,
proximity is
more between
Polly and Mrs.
Richards
Mrs. Richards is
demanding and
not patient.
The way she
talks to Polly
Polly shows sign
of inclusion by
introducing Mrs.
Richards to the
other visitor
politely.
Polly displays
cultural
intelligence by
maintaining the
same language
in
communication

CULTURAL CAPABILITIES 6
Scene 3 Space become
larger between
Mrs. Richards
and Manuel
Mrs. Richards
says she is not
understanding
what Manuel
says.
Manuel: “CK.
CK”. (Spanish
rephrase)
Manuel shows
sign of exclusion
to Mrs. Richards
regarding the
sentences and as
a result he
rephrases
Lack of cultural
intelligence from
Manuel
3. Analysis
The first scene of the show has a Mrs. Richards coming to Polly for change. Both are
English speakers, but since Polly was handling another visitor, she requests Mrs. Richards to
wait shortly. Since Mrs. Richards is hard of hearing, she shouts, and Polly gives redirects her to
Manuel. Mrs. Richards is an English-speaking visitor, and she explains to the waiter Manuel
what she wants (Bhui, Ascoli & Nuamh, 2012). On the other side, Manuel originates from
Spanish culture, without cultural intelligence. He tries to restate Mrs. Richards’s words with a
Spanish dialect. The words annoy Mrs. Richards but open her mind to be culturally aware of
their differences. She turns to Polly and Manuel could still not understand, and he brings another

CULTURAL CAPABILITIES 7
implication of Polly’ statements. The incapability to adapt in the cultural differences, Manuel is
not explained to what the guest wants (Brislin, 2006). However, things are not right, Manuel was
unable to understand both Polly and Mrs Richards statements even and nothing got done. Lack of
cultural intelligence makes Manuel not culturally capable of adapting in the English words setup.
So, there is an imbalance in the entire scene creating unsafe space worth cultural respect.
Mrs Richards did not wait for a clarification on the difficulty in communication with
Manuel from Polly. She shouted back at Polly seeking to know what Manuel means, and in turn,
received a lot of frustration. Polly was aware that Mrs Richards would not consider patience at
all to facilitate a relaxed conversation with Manuel (Spencer-Oatey, 2012). She was not willing
to get Manuel to explain himself further or cooperation. Realising the cultural difference in
capability, Polly went to facilitate and explain to Mrs Richards about Manuel. She thought she
had no time to wait for him to understand her statements. Polly though knew clearly if she had
the chance to serve as waiters, like Manuel, so there would be no similar challenges happening.
But rightfully all these resulted from the cultural barriers among Mrs. Richards and Manuel.
The unsafe exiting place brings the reality that Manuel and the visitors cannot withstand
another to maintain professionalism. The impatience from Mrs. Richards show disrespect to
everyone’s culture (Brislin, 2006). The problems of inability to understand Manuel's language,
and the failure to minimize her ego make Mrs. Richards unable to compromise the behavior in
him. Such a huge lack of cultural intelligence always results in greater social incapability to the
people looking to create better change. If Mrs. Richards adopted the cultural self-awareness
towards Manuel cultural characteristics, there would be no disappointment (Ang and Van 2015).
So, incorporation of self-awareness, cultural intelligence, and capabilities leads to a safe space
for individuals of diverse cultures.

CULTURAL CAPABILITIES 8
Mrs. Richards could not wait for an explanation of the challenge since she feels frustrated
a lot. She, in turn, shouts at Polly asking about what Manuel means by the response. Polly got
aware of the disappointment and knew very well that Mrs. Richards was impatient and the
situation made her not to talk with gentleness to Manuel (Russell, 2011). She had lost interest to
allow Manuel to make further variations or even cooperate with Manuel acts. Polly on realizing
such inability about cultural difference went and explained to Mrs. Richards about Manuel. But
Mrs Richards was mad and not willing to understand the phrases or even give him a chance.
Polly, however, knew clearly that in case she got the responsibility of Manuel, the waiter, then
such a challenge would not have happened. The cultural barriers amid Mrs. Richards and Manuel
would not have gotten felt. The consciousness about culture turns out to be a problem of
dialogue when interactions get done with individuals from separate cultures. The scenes and the
events interpret in different ways, that is entirely diverse from each other. Every concern of
actions will be suitable in one culture but could be unfortunate in another other culture (Chen &
Worthley 2012). So, Mrs Richard needs to have a robust cultural intelligence to enable her to
adapt to Manuel's cultures. If space became created for Manuel, he would get the confidence to
express his thoughts and idea minus fear and but with a lot of respect to Mrs Richards culture
4. Recommendations
From the directly above analysis, the recommendations include;
Patience needs to get maintained to revere another’s culture. If Mrs Richards and Manuel
could display tolerance to another, both of their cultures could become respected. The whole
situation would become calmed leading to a healthy relationship amid both (Quappe &
Cantatore, 2005). The desired professionalism will get also maintained through the little
cooperation.

CULTURAL CAPABILITIES 9
Always keep the conversation with the language it got initiated. Since Manuel grasp
some small English dialect, he needs to continue the communication in English to Mrs Richards
when it began (Bhui et al., 2012). Manuel needs to avoid rephrasing her words in the Spanish
language to prevent hurt her thoughts which led in making the circumstances confused.
Trying to create a kind movement to show interest in what the other person thinks.
Manuel and Mrs. Richards need an appropriate gesture and body language to prove that he had
read Mrs. Richards mind. In this way, there will be an increased sense of importance for
everyone in other peoples mind. On the other hand, Mrs. Richards needs to consider what
Manuel says and not ask rudely what he means. The characters ought to be cool and calm
towards another.
5. Summary and Conclusion
The entire TV program involves the scene displaying the manner in which a cultural
incompatibility will result in an unsafe space among two people. The scenario began by Mrs
Richards interrupting Polly as she assisted another visitor and demanding for immediate help.
Polly, in turn, sends her to Manuel who tries to remain culturally capable by rephrasing her
statements in Spanish that Mrs Richards failed to understand. In the end, Mrs Richards became
impatient and called Polly again shouting. The whole scenario occurred because of the absence
of cultural intelligence in Manuel. He ended up rephrasing her words which is impossible.
Further, Mrs, Richards ran out of patience showing her cultural adaptation failure. Both
Mrs Richards and Manuel have an ego about their cultures making the space unsafe. So, the
situation can get enhanced by overlooking the exiting cultural barriers but respect another’s
culture when filled with patience to bring strong professional relations.

CULTURAL CAPABILITIES 10

CULTURAL CAPABILITIES 11
References
Ang, S. and Van Dyne, L., 2015. Handbook of cultural intelligence. Routledge.
Bhui, K., Ascoli, M. and Nuamh, O., 2012. The place of race and racism in cultural competence:
What can we learn from the English experience about the narratives of evidence and
argument?. Transcultural psychiatry, 49(2), pp.185-205.
Brislin, R. (2006). Cultural Intelligence: Understanding Behaviors that Serve People's Goals.
Group & Organization Management, [online] 31(1), pp.40-55. Available at:
http://gom.sagepub.com.ezproxy.cdu.edu.au/content/31/1/40.full.pdf+html [Accessed 14
Sep. 2015].
Crowne, K.A., 2013. Cultural exposure, emotional intelligence, and cultural intelligence. An
exploratory study. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 13(1), p
Quappe, S. and Cantatore, G. (2005). What is Cultural Awareness, anyway? How do I build it?.
1st ed. [ebook] pp.1-3. Available at: http://www.culturosity.com/pdfs/What%20is
%20Cultural%20Awareness.pdf [Accessed 5 Sep. 2015].
Russell, K. (2011). Growing Up A Third Culture Kid A Sociological Self-Exploration. 1st ed.
University of Massachusetts Boston: University of Massachusetts Boston, pp.29-41.