Intercultural Competence in Business

COMPETENCE IN
BUSINESS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Cultural Autobiography..............................................................................................................1
Cultural Autobiography of Classmate.........................................................................................2
Cultural Frameworks...................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7
APPENDICES.................................................................................................................................8
Appendix 1..................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Competence in business refers to a combination of all the skills and abilities of an
individual which is necessary to ensure success and growth in personal and professional career of
a person. Furthermore, an aspect which influences the competence of people within businesses is
culture, which refer to beliefs, attitudes and norms that shape up mindset of an individual. Hence,
in this context, the report below is based on development of cultural autobiographies. The
assignment covers a detailed identification of different value and belief systems within different
cultures, along with demonstration of several cultural frameworks and strategies used in
intercultural communication, through application of several theories.
MAIN BODY
Cultural Autobiography
My name is Alex Miggs and I am 21 years old, completing my education in United
Kingdom. I was born and brought up within this country and hence, I realise that culture is one
of the most important and crucial elements that a person must adhere to and function
accordingly. However, I was born in a place where individualism is preached and practised and
each person is very much responsible for their own decisions, family and priorities. Though
community holds a special place in my family, the religious practices and communal teachings
hold significantly lower place than personal experience and education.
There are certain effective and essential aspects that hold very high value within my
culture and belief system. For example, I value my personal education and experience in a way
which refrains me from being succumbed to authority. Though I can work effectively in
hierarchy, but I still have issues in taking orders. Another thing which is highly valuable to me is
time, as I believe in being punctual and completing each assignment in an effective time period.
This is because I fairly believe that time is one of the most important assets that people have. As
for my working environment, I like competition and I foster in a competitive environment quite
well. Moreover, I am a good team player, as I don't have any problem in working with both the
genders effectively, as well as communicate openly to everyone.
In my culture, flexibility is very much involved in pretty much each of the activity
performed by the people. I personally do not believe in indulging my time onto planning and
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prioritising the task, rather I keep my work flexible enough to keep up with the changes in the
environment and further function as per the emergence of new information.
In terms of dealing with people, my culture holds professional relationships as important,
as British culture fosters harmony and unity amongst masses. However, they are not heavily
dependant upon to achieve personal or academic objectives as personal performance and hard
work is treated at a higher notch. Moreover, in context of individuals only, my culture is inclined
toward being achievement oriented. This means that performances within this culture are
recognised and rewarded effectively. While values and principles within a person is important
for me to be aware of, their achievements are denoted by me on the basis of material successes
owned and experienced by me.
Cultural Autobiography of Classmate
This biography belongs to my classmate Rashid, who has been born and brought up in
United Arab Emirates and is currently completing his studies in the UK. He belongs to a highly
religious and conservative household and the same is reflected in his belief systems and values
preached by him. Both of us are very different as our cultures are quite distinct, which
differentiates our mindsets and behavioural patterns as well. For example, Rashid's culture
respects and facilitates hierarchy effectively and he is very much accustomed in submitting
towards authority and works effectively within the same. In addition to this, his culture has also
provided preference to males to be authoritative and providers of the family, which allows them
to exercise higher power over the other gender. Rashid too feels comfortable in working under
males more than females due to this predetermined mindset. In addition to this, he is very much
comfortable in taking up instructions and feedbacks from his seniors in an effective manner.
Due to being inclined towards several religious practices, they value individuals in an
effective manner. In relation to the same, the decisions taken by Rashid are based on the values
and agenda which is taught too him through his religious and communal teachings. He has been
brought up in a highly collectivist society which reflects in his actions and preferences towards
other individuals and his performance.
However, one aspect in which his culture aligns with that of British is that punctuality
and time management is properly adhered to within the society. He reaches within each lecture
on time and completes his assignments even before the deadlines. The reason for the same is that
he plans and prioritises his tasks, which helps him in completion of his work appropriately.
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Within the Arabic Culture, there could be a balance witnessed between achievement and
ascription, however, Rashid is more achievement oriented as he also believes that material
success is very crucial and important in an individual's life. Moreover, he also values planning
and development of contingency plans it allows him to deal with risks effectively and manage
uncertainty quite effectively.
Cultural Frameworks
According to the above analysis, both the cultures are very different from one another
and there are several distinct characteristics that are required to be analysed in order to develop a
better understanding of these cultures in an effective manner. Furthermore, this would also
enable in determining the parameters which could lay down the basis for differentiating the two
cultures.
Therefore, in this context, there are certain Cultural Frameworks that determine the
differences as well as similarities between the organisation. Hence, these cultural frameworks are
very much explained below:
Hofstede Cultural Dimensions:
Geert Hofstede provided this framework which describes that each country is fairly
different from one another based on the culture prevailed within these nations. There are several
determinants upon which the British as well as Arabic Culture is evaluated in this model that are
explained below:
 Power Distance:
This deals with the fact that people of every society are not equal and they do no possess
same level of power. There are inequalities in culture in relation with power they give to people.
Distance refers to the level of inequality accepted by individuals in and the extent they can
handle less powers. The United Arab Emirates has high score in this section, which denotes that
population works and accepts hierarchical order and are very comfortable with it. Rashid accepts
this fact and he feels comfortable in reporting to their superiors. On the other hand, UK scores
low in power distance in overall comparison. I am not comfortable in reporting to others as I
believe in myself and have skills and competencies and do not consider to completely work
under someone. I need to have some level of power and authority for working more efficiently.
 Masculinity and Feminine
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Masculinity states that the society is more controlled and focusing on competition,
success and achievements. All these factors will define the winner as best in the field having
more authority and decision making power. Feminine society's characteristics is where quality of
life leads to success rather then the factor that who have more authority. The main difference
here is masculine society focuses on what motivates people to be the best on the contrary
feminine society focus on liking what they do instead of under which gender they are working.
The United Arab Emirates high score in this dimensions which means that Rashid will be more
comfortable and work with more efficiency when he is working under a man rather then a
woman. On the other hand UK, scores low which reflects that I do not have any problem in
working under female or male if they hold more experience and knowledge than me. In UK,
feminine and masculinity both culture are present.
 Uncertainty Avoidance:
This factor deals with the tolerance of society with uncertain elements as it indicates the
extent of cultural programme and defines that the members either feel uncomfortable or
comfortable in undefined situations. This dimension describes the way by which society deals
with facts which are might be controlled in future. It reflects the unknown situations which create
the beliefs and institutions to avoid the uncertainty. In terms of United Kingdom, I am quite
comfortable to deal with the chaotic situations as here, I am comfy working in the flexible and
dynamic environment because I like new challenges. Moreover, changes bring betterment in the
work and I do not carry backup plan to avoid the uncertain changes. On the other side, Rashid is
uncomfortable to work in the uncertain environment and for this, he always make contingency
plans or backup plan to deal with chaotic situations in an effective and efficient manner.
Seven Dimensions Framework:
This model was provided by Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner, which
describes there are several predictable ways in which each culture is different, that is reflected by
their preferences, values as well as beliefs. Certain parameters upon which the the differentiation
and similarity in both the cultures is to be evaluated is discussed below
 Specific and Diffuse:
This dimension describe the personal and professional relationship between the
employees and employers. As specific people, are those who keep their personal and
professional lives separate and for this, they believe that relationship would not influence their
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work. Here, I always consider the specific dimension because I think that personal relationship
among employees and employers does not impact the work and for this, I used few strategies
such as to be point, clear instructions about work etc. Meanwhile, in diffuse people mix their
professional and personal life because they believe that it would influence their work. For this,
they start maintaining healthy and good relationship with their employers. Here, people use
strategy like spending more time with their colleagues and customers. As here, Rashid and his
working style is more diffusive in nature as he relies on relationship with employer because he
thinks that it would impact his work and professional life.
 Sequential Time Vs. Synchronous Time:
This parameter is associated with adherence to factors related to time. While people
belonging in Sequential time spectrum are more likely to value punctuality, individuals within
synchronous time are flexible in their commitments and are often indulged in multitasking within
their assignments and projects. As per the responses of Rashid and me, it could be evaluated that
both the British as well as Arabic culture are quite effectively inclined towards sequential time
spectrum. This could be stated as both of us value punctuality quite effectively and work on
proper deadlines. Furthermore, both of us are indulged in just one activity at a time before
moving on to the other to ensure perfection in each of the task. Hence, this aspect highlights that
our culture is very much similar where time management is concerned.
 Achievement Vs. Ascription:
In this factor, individuals are valued on the basis of either their performance or
personality. In context of achievement oriented cultures, they recognise, as well as reward
effective performances. On the other hand, ascription oriented cultures show respect to
individuals as per their authority. In this context, my culture is very much inclined towards being
achievement oriented, as performance of these individuals sets up their roles in decision making.
Hence, as per my response, even material success which is gained through performance is
valuable to me. However, the Arabic culture maintains an effective balance between being
achievement oriented and ascription oriented. However, response of Rashid clearly denotes that
he too values success on the basis of achievements and performance, which highlights the
similarity between two cultures of how the success criteria is judged within the two nations.
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CONCLUSION
Thus, it could be concluded form the above report that competence in business is very
important for individuals to enhance their competencies in their academic and professional lives.
Moreover, it is necessary to be aware about cultures and different practices associated with the
same in relation to work with individuals belonging from different orientations. Additionally,
cultural autobiographies are very important in describing the beliefs, norms and value system
followed by different individuals. Lastly, cultural frameworks like the Seven Dimensions and
Hofstede Cultural Model is very important to be implemented in order to effectively evaluate
differences and similarities between cultures.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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APPENDICES
Appendix 1
Cultural Autobiography Questionnaire
Questions Myself Rashid
How comfortable are you with
submitting to a higher
authority?
I believe each person has their
own set of skills and
competencies for which they
are not entitled to defer
completely to a higher
authority.
I am quite comfortable with
deferring to a higher authority
as they surely have achieved
enough experience which
provides them to stand higher
in the hierarchy.
What is your preference of
having males or females as
your superior?
Generally, I do not have any
issue of working with either of
the gender if they have enough
experience in relation to
leading others towards
achieving their goals.
Though I do not have any
problem working under a
female colleague, I usually
prefer working with males as I
have always been in an
environment where males
handle the professional
conduct within the society.
How best do you deal with
chaotic situations?
I am quite comfortable in
keeping up with the flexibility
in my work which also
sometimes lead to changes in
plans to deal with this
situation.
I tend to make contingency
plans before every assignment
which have clear and precise
responses of dealing with
chaotic situations effectively.
Are academic and
professional relationships
important for you to achieve
work objectives?
I believe professional or
academic relations are
important, however, one must
not certainly make them a
In my perspective,
relationships within any sort of
work are highly crucial and
valuable to guide a person in
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strong basis for achieving their
objectives.
achieving their objectives.
Explain the importance of
punctuality in your
understanding.
I am highly punctual which is
reflected through the fact that I
complete each of my
assignments on the stipulated
time period.
I plan and prioritise my work
so that my work is timely
completed. Moreover, I attend
my lectures effectively by
reaching before time for them
as I value being punctual.
What are your criteria for
judging a person who has not
achieved material successes
yet?
I would be judging such a
person as being an individual
who is not disciplined enough
to dedicate themselves towards
achieving these successes yet.
Achievements are important to
me and according to me, this
person must indulge more into
hard work and consistency to
achieve success effectively.
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