Cultural Comparison: France and Australia in a Global Context

This essay provides a comparative analysis of the cultures of France and Australia. It begins with an introduction highlighting the diversity of cultures worldwide and the impact of macro-environmental factors on cultural norms. The essay then delves into the specifics of French culture, discussing its history, language, religion, values, cuisine, art, and celebrations. Following this, it explores the culture of Australia, focusing on its demographics, language, socio-cultural values, and influences. A detailed comparison and contrast of the two cultures follows, examining similarities and differences in areas such as wine production, population origins, art, religion, tourism, sports, and education. The essay also touches upon social issues like divorce and domestic violence in both countries, and concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding cultural nuances in a global context. This essay, available on Desklib, offers valuable insights for students studying cross-cultural management and international business.

Running head: CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
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Thesis Statement
In this essay, comparison is made between France and Australia to understand the
cultural similarities and differences of these two countries.
Introduction
There are one ninety five countries in the world. The culture and sub-culture of one country
varies widely from that of another country. The customs, social behaviors, norms of inhabitant of
one country is very different from that of another country. The cultural norms of inhabitants of
one country are hugely influenced from the traditions and values of their ancestors. In some
countries only one language is spoken for example, French is spoken in France and people in this
country are mostly French. Most European countries practice their native language. However in
countries like the United States of America, different dialects are spoken like Chinese as the
inhabitants of the country come from different nations like China and India. Some countries
follow an individualistic culture like the United States of America while other countries like
China and Japan practice a collectivistic culture where more emphasis is laid on the concept of
family (Chanlat 2013). The way of doing business is also different in different countries. For
example, in the United States, a rational approach to business is followed while in Japan business
is based on trust and Japanese first try to know the people well and develop good relationship
with them before doing business with them. The difference in culture can be attributed to the
different macro environmental conditions in each country, for instance, the political, social,
economical, technological and legal environment in each country is different. The countries that
will be compared here are France and Australia (Chhokar et al 2013).

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Discussion
The culture of France
The culture of France has been influenced by Celtic and Gallo-Roman cultures and the
Franks, a German tribe also influenced the culture of the country. The country is the international
hub for fashion, architecture, art and literature and the popular French cuisine and wine. France
came under the western region of Germany and it was known as Rhineland. Later during the Iron
Age and Roman era the country was known as Gaul (Gaffney and Kolinsky 2014).
Languages
The country is the home for seventy million people and French is the language that is
spoken officially in the country. There is evidence that three percentage of the French population
speaks German and in the northeast region of the country there are some Flemish speakers. The
third largest minority language that is spoken in the country is Arabic. The country shares its
borders with Italy and people living in the border region of Italy often speak Italian. France also
shares border with Spain and Basque is the language spoken in this border region. Other
languages that are spoken in France are Catalan, Breton (the Celtic language), Occitan, Kabyle
and Antillean Creole (Halls 2014).

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Religion
The religion that is practiced in France is Catholicism. The French Institute of Public
Opinion, that is, IFOP conducted a survey and according to the survey sixty four percentage of
people in the country, that is, around forty one million of people claimed that they were Roman
Catholic. Islam, Buddhism and Judaism are the other religions that are practiced in the country
(Tackett 2014).
Values
The French people are extremely proud about their historical background, art and
literature and their rich heritage and culture. They are highly patriotic and often they refuse to
hear any negative comments from outsiders about their culture. The visitors from other countries
often misconstrue this strong patriotism of French people as rude and obnoxious. The French
people are highly sophisticated and equality, liberty and fraternity are of prime importance in the
country which is often known as "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité in the country. The country follows
a secular culture and children born to unmarried couples are common in the country. Also the
country follows an open attitude towards sexual behaviors and extramarital affairs as revealed by
France’s National Agency on AIDS (Scriven 2016).
French Cuisine
The French people often socialize while organizing lavish dinners and food and wine are an
integral part of the society. The French cuisines often have complicated recipes and are
associated with usage of butter, cheese and heavy sauces. Red wine is often used in French
cuisines and beef, pork, rabbit and many other meats are consumed in the country.

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Clothing
France and Paris is the international center of fashion and is the home of world renowned
fashion brands of premium and luxury segments like Dior, Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Chanel.
The French people dress up in a sophisticated meticulous way and popular clothing in France are
dresses, suits and long coats. The term haute couture is a term used in France by Paris Chamber
of Commerce to describe tailor made garments that are handmade (Okonkwo 2016).
Art
The Louvre museum in Paris is the home to famous works like Mona Lisa and is a famous
museum. The French culture is rich and Gothic, Romanesque Rococo and Neoclassic culture is
reflected in the architecture of France in buildings and churches. The famous artists like Claude
Monet, Edgar Degas, and Camille Pissarro were motivated by French culture and the beauty of
Paris.
Holidays, Festivals and Celebrations
The French celebrate holidays during Christmas and Easter. May 1 is celebrated in the
country as labour day. Bastille Day is a renowned public holiday in France. On this day
revolutionaries stormed the Bastille fortresses to make the commencement of French revolution.
The end of cruelty in Europe during World War II is celebrated as Europe Day on May 8.
Comparison and contrasting of French and Australian Culture
France has the Batille prison and criminals from England were sent to Australia. So both
the countries have a criminal background.

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Wine
Both Australia and France are famous for wines but the culture of winemaking is very
different in both the countries. In Australia, people are encouraged to learn the science of
winemaking and they have to go to universities to learn the science while in France wine is
prepared in the same way in all the regions of the country.
Inhabitants
The inhabitants of France are recognized as French while most of the inhabitants of
Australia are born of foreign nations. French people are original in their culture and are not
influenced by any other country but the customs of Australia and law and order of the country
are influenced by the British as the ancestors of the country were mostly British prisoners. The
Australian population also has a huge percentage of Aboriginal people who are not properly
educated and intimidated by the Western culture.
Visual Art
France is a country that gave birth to modern art during the twentieth century art
revolution. The country is the homeland of world renowned artists like Paul Gauguin.
Modernism has not reached Australia to a great extent with the exception of Dot Painting.
Religion and Language
The French are mostly Roman Catholic while the Australians practice Christianity and
due to large number of immigrants, different religions like Hinduism and Islam are spoken in the
country. It can be seen that French is the official language of France while in Australia there are
different languages that are spoken including European languages (Lescarbot 2013)

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Tourism
Tourism is France is a billion dollar industry. The famous attractions in Paris are the
Disneyland, Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum. The Mediterranean beaches and the mountain
ranges of the Alps attract a huge set of tourists in the country. Paris, Nice and Chamonix are
famous cities in the country. The country attracts millions of tourists every year, however there
has been several attacks by the Islamic State terrorist group in the country due to which the
revenue earned from tourism has suffered in recent years.
The Australian tourism is also a billion dollar industry. Sydney, Perth, Canberra,
Melbourne and Brisbane are famous cities in Australia and these cities are known for their
pristine coastal landscapes, beautiful beaches and serene wildlife. The famous Queensland, The
Great Barrier Reef and the Gold coast attracts millions of tourism from different parts of the
world in the country every year. Domestic tourists also contribute widely to the tourism industry
and this industry is a huge contributor to the Gross Domestic products of the country.
Sports
The most popular sports in France are Rugby, cycling, basketball and football and tennis.
Sports are highly encouraged in Australia. The most popular sports of the country are
Cricket, Football, horse racing and rugby. The Melbourne Cup and the Ashes are the sports
events that are conducted in the country. Unlike the huge promotional effort which is taken by
the sports league in the European countries, the sports league in Australia do not incest much
time and money in promotional events.

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Education
Most of the Universities for higher education in France are often public universities and
are funded by the government. Popular university in the country is École Normale Supérieure
(ENS).
Australia is the home of famous universities like Australian National University,
Queensland University, University of Sydney and University of Melbourne which attract many
foreign students in the country (Wiewiora 2013).
Culture
Both Australia and France are the developed countries of the world and people living in
both the countries have people with huge high disposable income .Quality of life and purchasing
power of people are high in both the countries and people invest in fashion. France is the home
of world’s renowned fashion brands like Dior and Channel while in Australia beach and nightlife
influence the fashion sense of the inhabitants. Both the countries are technologically advanced
with modern infrastructure like high speed trains. The countries generally follow a liberal and
unorthodox culture. Open culture like homosexual relationships and extramarital affairs are
common in both the countries. Divorces and domestic violence are social issues that are required
to be addressed in both the countries and this is the reason Government in the countries have
taken several steps in empowerment of women and stricter laws are practiced to protect the
rights of women in both the countries(Kingsley et al 2013).

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The culture of Australia
The Australian population comprises of the Caucasian 92%, Asian 7%, aboriginal and
other 1%. The Aboriginal community in Australia stays in rural areas and they do not have
access to proper health, education and employment. This community is often intimidated by the
Western people staying in Australia (Thomas and Peterson 2017).
Language
The language that is officially spoken in the country is English. Other than English two
fifty Aborginial languages were also spoken in Australia in 1788 out of which twenty of these
languages are spoken today. Immigrants of Europe, Middle East and Asia speak their native
language which influences organizational culture (Sultana et al 2013).
Socio-cultural Values
Australians are known for their modest, humble nature and good sense of humour. The
country has a small population. People in the country value relationships and behave amiably
with each other which creates a win-win situation in negotiating and business deals. Australia
has a multi-cultural background with huge immigrants from all over the world including Britain,
Europe and South-East Asia who were attracted by the liberal immigration laws of the country to
boost the labor force (Tjosvold 2017).
The Australian culture encourages exchange of gifts among family and friends like a
bunch of flowers or a box of chocolates. The people of the country invite each other over dinners
where they carry their own bottle of wine. Barbeque party is very popular in the country.

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The country follows democracy with British system of governance. There are many non-
governmental institutions in the country working for social awareness.
The Australian culture is influenced by the culture of Britain. Women in Australia have
been traditionally involved in professions like teaching and nursing (French 2015). Hetero-sexual
marriage is often practiced in the country. Education is given high importance in the country and
primary and secondary education has been made compulsory by the government among children
of age in between six to fourteen years (Fiske, Hodge and Turner 2016). There are many
government schools in the country but parents prefer to send their children to non-governmental
schools for the quality of education. The government of the country funds most universities and
colleges and higher education in the country is highly encouraged by the government which
provides several employment opportunities (Ang and Van Dyne 2015).
Business etiquettes
Australians get directly into business without building a strong inter-personal
relationships and small talks are not encouraged. They prefer to exchange business cards and
decision is taken by top hierarchy of the society (Bird and Mendenhall 2016).
Religion
There is prevalence of religion freedom in the country and most of the people of the
country practice Christianity as their religion. Since there are a lot of immigrants in the country
inhabitants from different religion co-exist peacefully like the Buddhists, Muslims, Jews and

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Hindus. The Aboriginal community considers places of worship holy in nature and there are
several Aboriginal holy sites in the country.
Art and culture
The country encourages literary works and there has been ample of famous publications
which depict the multi-cultural background in Australia (Walton et al 2014). It has been found
out that huge section of the Australian society spends their money on books and there are many
famous Australian authors of international repute. Theatre and performing arts are encouraged in
Australia (Carter 2013).
Conclusion
The world is a global village today. It is of paramount importance for us to imbibe within
us the ability to work and live in a multi-cultural background. Universities of a country often
collaborate with foreign universities to allow students to participate in student exchange program
so that they experience the cross-cultural aspects of education. In this essay, France and Australia
are the two countries which are compared and contrasted (Bermingham and Brewer 2013).It can
be found out that multi-cultural factors are higher in Australia than in France due to huge number
of immigrants in the country. The language that is spoken in France is French while English and
other European languages are spoken in Australia due to the large presence of immigrants from
all over the world. The French are mostly Roman Catholic while people living in Australia
practice multiple religions like Jews, Buddhism and Hinduism. It is of prime importance for
each country to respect the culture of another country to survive in today’s competitive world.
That is why cross-cultural phenomenon should be imbibed in the education system of a country
from early childhood. This can be done by adopting modern teaching practices in the society like

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educational curriculum which depicts the multi-cultural stories and images. Cross- cultural
values should be instilled in childhood because in most companies there are people from
different cultural background who work together in a team and so it is important to develop
tolerance for the caste, creed, race, religion of other co-workers.

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