Applying Cultural Capabilities: FRIENDS Episode Analysis Report

This report analyzes the application of cultural capabilities in a workplace scenario, focusing on an episode of the sitcom 'FRIENDS'. The report begins with an introduction to cultural intelligence and its significance in creating safe and productive work environments, emphasizing elements like self-awareness and cultural safety. It provides a summary and observations of the chosen episode, highlighting the interactions between characters and their display (or lack thereof) of cultural intelligence. The analysis section delves into the dialogue and relationships, examining instances of workplace politics, communication gaps, and cultural shocks. The report then offers recommendations for fostering a more culturally aware and safe environment, advocating for ethical leadership and employee support. The conclusion summarizes the key findings, reinforcing the importance of cultural intelligence and safe spaces in professional settings, along with the importance of cross-cultural communication.

Applying Cultural Capabilities
Title: FRIENDS: The one where they’re going to a
party (S4, Ep.9)
Assignment Name: Applying Cultural Capabilities
Student Name:
Course Name and Number:
Professor:
Date
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Applying Cultural Capabilities
Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................2
Summary and observations....................................4
Analysis...............................................................10
Recommendation.................................................12
Conclusion...........................................................13
References............................................................16
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Applying Cultural Capabilities
Introduction
1.1 Background
Cultural intelligence is a way to effectively
manage situations that are culturally diverse. It is
one of the established ways to assess the scenario
and provide a solution to it accordingly. It is the
ability to manage and relate the cultural diversity
at work (Brislin, Worthley & Macnab, 2006). The
employers, as well as organizations, should
possess cultural intelligence in order to provide
better outcomes and positive results.
1.2 Aim
This report focuses on cultural intelligence in
the workplace. Further, the analysis of the safe and
processes is done and recommendations are
provided to improve the safety of space. The
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Applying Cultural Capabilities
elements like self-awareness, cultural safety, and
cultural intelligence are vital in creating safe
spaces. In addition, the report provides
observations and analysis on a particular episode
of popular sitcom ‘FRIENDS’ with regard to
cultural intelligence.
1.3 Scope
In this assignment, the main aim is to elaborate
on the cultural intelligence with special focus on
an episode of the famous TV series ‘FRIENDS’.
The video presents workplace issues. The scene
depicts the Boss’ unwillingness to let Rachel go
and in order to do that Joanna (the boss) makes her
look so bad in front of the interviewers for her
newly applied job. The video clip clearly portrays
the unfair tactics used in organizations to retain top
talent without any appraisal and retention
strategies. Such politics and unethical behavior on
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Applying Cultural Capabilities
part of the employers is a barrier to the employee’s
growth and success. It portrays the selfish motives
of the employer and the willingness to ruin the
growth opportunity for the employee just for her
selfish gains (Bruhn, 2005).
Summary and observations
2.1 Summary
In any organization creating a safe space is
the technique to help employees be more positive
and productive. It helps people get more
comfortable with the existing environment (Holley
& Steiner, 2005). The cultural diversity often
disrupts the functioning of the organization due to
cultural differences and thus cultural intelligence is
important (Wangombe, Wambui & Kamau, 2014).
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Applying Cultural Capabilities
A safe space is crucial in a peaceful working
environment. A workplace that is full of cultural
issues hinders the personal as well as
organizational growth. Therefore, avoiding unsafe
spaces is very important for the betterment of the
individual. A common example of maintaining a
safe space is using antivirus while surfing to keep
the malware away (Çelik, Körcük Yapıcı & Keser,
2018). If there is an absence of this safe space the
individual is at risk.
2.2 Summary of the video clip
The video clip that is chosen for the report
is taken from famous sitcom ‘FRIENDS’, season 4
episode 9. This episode is titled “The one where
they’re going to a party”. The episode aired in
December of 1997. The character shown in the
video Rachel is one among many protagonists of
the series. She applies for the job of an Assistant
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Applying Cultural Capabilities
buyer, but her present boss Joanna is unhappy with
her decision. She likes Rachel as her assistant and
does not want to lose her. Instead of letting her
know that she is a valued employee, Joanna makes
presents Rachel as a bad employee (Spencer-
Oatey, 2005). As a result, she couldn’t make the
cut and get the job. The remarks made by Joanna
made Rachel fail the interview. However, Rachel
wants to quit her existing job, but Joanna tells her
that she doesn’t want to lose a good assistant
(Stretch, 2006). Joanna admitted that it was the
only reason she slandered Rachel’s reputation in
front of the interviewers.
It was no surprise that Rachel was agitated
at the whole mess Joanna created. In order to
pacify her and stop her from leaving the job,
Joanna offered the position of the assistant buyer
to Rachel in her department (Ozgen, Nijkamp &
Poot, 2015). Moreover, she was offered a raise and
an office of her own and on Rachel’s word a
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Applying Cultural Capabilities
personal assistant as well. It was also observed that
Joanna was quite mean to her other assistant
Sophie. It portrays the type of person Joanna is and
reveals the selfish side of her nature as a boss. In
fact, she sabotaged the opportunity that Rachel had
though the position of Assistant buyer was offered
in her own department (Friends, 1997).
2.3 Observations
It is vital for every employer and employee
to be culturally self-aware. It lets the person know
how the culture has been influencing him. Most of
the times, people are unaware of the cultural bias
they have inside of them (Martin, 2014).
Therefore, both cultural, as well as cross-cultural
awareness, is important. The person’s values and
beliefs make up his culture and perceptions. In an
organization, cultural safety is of utmost
importance. It means having an environment that
makes a person feel socially and emotionally safe
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(Kim, 2018). The society is unsafe and
unpredictable. The boss dies the very next day and
nobody knew of the offer she made to Rachel. The
accident of the boss is an example of cultural
shock. The promotion might not be possible
because of the boss’s untimely death. In fact, the
video shows that nobody knew of the deal that
took place and it indicates the lack of
communication between the employer and the
employees.
Rachel appears to be culturally intelligent
because she was willing to leave the office and
change her job. Also, there is a hint of workplace
politics as displayed by Joanna just to stop Rachel
from changing her job (Hutchinson & Hurley,
2012). At first, Rachel couldn’t understand
Joanna’s motive, but later she realized it from her
tone and speech that she is trying to undermine
her. The communication gap is visible in this
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Applying Cultural Capabilities
instance. The death of the boss came as a cultural
shock.
Scene
description
time in
sequence
Physical
Factors
Body language Cultural
intelligence
and self-
awareness
FRIENDS
season 4
episode 9
(3 minutes
38 seconds)
-The
surroundings
seem
comfortable and
formal.
-Rahel is sitting
in front of the
interviewers in
- Rachel’s
body
language
seems
confident.
- The
interviewers
are in their
usual
Rachel is
culturally
intelligent
to change
her job and
her
intelligence
is also seen
when she
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Applying Cultural Capabilities
a confident
position.
-The scene is
presented well.
inquiring
self.
- Joanna
seems
restless.
observes
Joanna’s
remarks
that made
her look
bad.
Table 1: Table of observations
Analysis
The main part of this particular episode is
the dialogue and relationship between Rachel and
her boss Joanna. The episode depicts that Rachel
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Applying Cultural Capabilities
wants to apply as an Assistant buyer in a company
(Friends, 1997). Joanna shows that she is happy
about it but her body language was quite the
opposite. During the interview, it was observed
that Joanna tried to undermine Rachel in front of
the interviewers and made them second guess her
abilities (Deb S. & Carlos Tasso, 2016). Although
Joanna informed Rachel that she will be present in
the interview panel and it made her calm thinking
that her boss will put in a good word for her. The
scene at the interview table is quite the opposite.
Instead of supporting Rachel, her boss tried to
raise questions about her credibility (Darden,
2012). This behavior and attitude that Joanna
portrays are very unprofessional and unethical at
the same time. She tried using Rachel’s personal
life incidents to define her as incompetent for the
job.
Rachel confronts Joanna and then comes to
know that her boss did this because she didn’t
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Applying Cultural Capabilities
want to lose a good assistant and she was also
offered the same post in the existing department.
Rachel felt humiliated at the incident that took
place at the interview table but as soon as Joanna
offered her the deal she seemed to forget all about
it. Rachel asked for Joanna’s permission before
she applied for the new job which shows her
culturally intelligent attitude. However, a cultural
shock came to her when the boss started to ruin her
chances to get hired instead of supporting her
(Crowne, 2013). The emotional shock can be seen
in Joanna’s office when Rachel broke down in
tears.
This video is a fine example of what a boss
should not be. There are certain professionalism
and dignity that is to be maintained, which Joanna
clearly didn’t. Her behavior towards her
subordinate was inappropriate and in some ways,
unethical.
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Recommendation
In this video, the attitude Joanna presented
is totally unacceptable. The employer should not
destroy the credibility of his subordinates in any
way. Such type of behavior from leaders is a
reason for disrupted culture. Thus, employers
should be caring towards their employees and
motivate them to do better instead of damaging
their chances of growth. It would help employers
create more loyal employees for the organization
(Cocodia, 2014). The behavior of the boss was a
cultural shock for Rachel and in a real-life
scenario, it could ruin the career of an employee.
Therefore, it is recommended that employee as an
individual must be attentive towards cultural safety
and should also have cultural intelligence. While
engaging in social activities at the workplace or
outside, they must consider being culturally secure
(Bean, 2012).
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Conclusion
The main focus of this report is on cultural
intelligence and safe places. The video though
short presents a lot of points to consider, such as-
workplace politics, cultural safety, cultural
intelligence, and cultural shock. All these elements
were found in the video. The factors in the episode
clearly portray the unsafe society and
communication issues between the employer and
the employee. It is a sitcom and therefore the
portrayal was quite comic, but when observed
closely it depicts the bitter truth of the world. This
assignment provides a complete picture of cultural
intelligence, cultural safety, safe space,
capabilities, etc. Cross-cultural communication is
also observed to be a vital attribute.
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References
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Intelligence Studies. Intelligence And
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BonerBonerz, P. (Director). (1997, Dec 11). Friends, The One They’re
Going to a Party (Rachel’s Boss Doesn’t want to lose her), Season
4 Episode 9. (Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions in association
with Warner Bros. Television). Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuyGLDvve-A
Riley,
Brislin, R., Worthley, R., & Macnab, B. (2006).
Cultural Intelligence. Group & Organization
Management, 31(1), 40-55.
Bruhn, J. (2005). Culture-brain
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Behavioral Science, 40(4), 243-254.
Çelik, M., Körcük Yapıcı, Ü., & Keser, A. (2018).
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and cultural intelligence: a cross-cultural
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Intelligence Paradigms, 1(1), 1.
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Darden, D. (2012). Diversity in the Workplace. SSRN
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Friends. (1997). Friends: The One Where They're
Going to Party!. Retrieved from
http://www.tv.com/shows/friends/the-one-
where-theyre-going-to-party-426/
Friends. (1997). Watch Friends season 4 Episode 9
English subbed - Watchseries. Retrieved from
https://www4.gowatchseries.co/friends-
season-4-episode-9
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Kim, H. (2018). Cultural Intelligence in Workplace
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