Analyzing Cultural Capabilities: A Report Based on a 'Friends' Episode

This report explores the application of cultural capabilities through an analysis of a scene from the TV show 'Friends,' specifically focusing on an interview scenario where Rachel seeks a promotion. The report summarizes the video clip, observes interactions related to cultural capabilities, and analyzes the safe and unsafe aspects of the scenario, including the physical location and interactions between actors. It discusses communication breakdowns, cultural shock experienced by Rachel, shifts in dynamics, body language cues, and cultural awareness demonstrated by Rachel's boss. The report provides recommendations for creating or sustaining a culturally safe space, emphasizing the importance of understanding others' mindsets to navigate challenging situations effectively. It concludes that safe spaces are crucial for maintaining mental balance and fostering a positive organizational environment, highlighting how Rachel's initial experience lacked this, while her boss later demonstrated cultural intelligence to retain her.

Running head: APPLYING CULTURAL CAPABILITIES
APPLYING CULTURAL CAPABILITIES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note
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Executive Summary
The given report throws light on the applied knowledge of cultural capabilities. It tends to cover
the various topics that have been learnt throughout the course like cultural awareness, safe
situation, cultural shock and others. In this report, a clip from the classic show `Friends` has been
examined and the cultural capability has been applied. The report begins with a brief
introduction and proceeds with the concept and background of the clip chosen. It then analyses
the clip scenes and recognizes if any cultural intelligence or related subject appears. It has also
provided recommendations on the same. The report gives a brief summary of the scenario at the
end of the case.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................3
1.1 Bakground..............................................................................................................................3
1.2 Aim........................................................................................................................................3
1.3 Scope......................................................................................................................................3
2. Summary and Observations......................................................................................................3
2.1 Summary of the Video Clip...................................................................................................3
2.2 Observations..........................................................................................................................4
3. Analysis....................................................................................................................................4
3.1 Communication......................................................................................................................5
3.2 Cultural Shock.......................................................................................................................5
3.3 Change in Dynamics..............................................................................................................5
3.4 Body Language......................................................................................................................5
3.5 Cultural aareness....................................................................................................................6
4. Recommendations....................................................................................................................6
5. Summary and Conclusion........................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8
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1. Introduction
1.1 Background
Globalization and education has made the world an extremely small place whereby the
different cultures tend to mingle with one another. Students attending universities and expats
going to other countries to settle have increased the importance of understanding the other
cultures. Hence, the cultural capability of a person is extremely important o make him survive.
The given report throws light on the application of cultural capabilities in various situations.
Cultural capabilities refer to the capability of a person whereby he is able to adjust to the
changing cultural aspects of different situations (Van Dyne, Ang & Tan, 2017). A safe space can
be described as an environment whereby the people are emotionally safe and away from any
harm.
1.2 Aim
The report aims to understand the concept of cultural capability with the help of an
example. It will analyze a conversation in a video and discuss the possibilities and methods of
cultural awareness. It will analyze the scenario shown in the given scene and thereby make
statements and relate the theories discussed in the course.
1.3 Scope
The report will focus on the selected video from the TV Series Friends, discussing the
scene from Season 4 where Rachel goes in for a higher post interview (Ang & Van Dyne, 2015).
The given example depicts an unsafe space as the interviewer was exposed to mental harm.
2. Summary and Observations
2.1 Summary of the Video Clip
The summary clip which was chosen for this assignment was that of the classic TV show
Friends. The show portrayed the life of 6 friends living in the city of New York and going
through various problems relating to different aspects of life (Erez et al., 2013). The chosen clip
is based on the Season 4, Episode 9 titled the one where they go to a party. Rachel, one of the
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characters in the clip, gets a chance to gain a promotion at her workplace and hence the scene is
one of an interview round. Her Boss, Joanna does not want to lose a talented assistant like her
and therefore she makes the interview an unsafe space for Rachel and sabotages her image in
front of the Interview panel. The season released in 1997. The second half of the video reflects
that Rachel is visibly upset and her Boss later tries to make it u to her by creating a space for her
in the organization.
Five primary characters have been shown in the season, Rachel, Joanna the boss, the
interview panel which comprised of two people and assistant of Joanna, Sophie
(Youtube.com.2018).
2.2 Observations
It can be seen from the given seen that Rachel is here for an interview for a higher
posting and the environment is that of a conference room. Hence, she is bound to be nervous.
She had expected that her boss Joanna, would be supportive of her but unfortunately, Joanna had
her own reasons and tarnished Rachel`s image in front of the panel (Chen & Lin, 2013). This
added to the stress on Rachel and the environment of the conference room became more unsafe
for the candidate.
Except Rachel, all other characters were in a high post and will more incline to the
comments of Joanna. When Rachel observed the change in the attitude of Joanna she became
increasingly nervous and could not respond well to the questions of the panel.
It seemed as if she was completely excluded from the conversation. In the latter half of
the video, she expressed this to her boss who later tried to make it up for her. Rachel failed to
show cultural intelligence in this case as she was unable to give a quick response to her boss’s
sabotages.
3. Analysis
The scene can be divided into two parts. In the first part Rachel is in a stressful situation
in front of the Panel where her boss changes sides to keep her. In this scenario, Rachel is in an
extremely disappointing place and it does not get her a job (Mor, Morris & Joh, 2013). The
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second scene sees Rachel in a dominating position whereby her boss is anxious to keep her and
reflects cultural intelligence by making Rachel calm and providing her with whatever she wanted
in order to retain her in the organization (Appadurai, 2013).
3.1 Communication
In the beginning of the scene, Rachel is seated in front of the panel and her interview
begins. Her interview begins on a good note but is soon going downhill because her boss began
to tarnish her image in front of the other panelists and started sabotaging her image. She begins
speaking how inefficient Rachel was. This put Rachel in a compromising situation whereby she
was unable to communicate well with the panelists. She was unable to discuss her side well. Just
like Russell (2011), stated in his paper that the environment became very unsafe for her well
being and she was in a shock. She could not adjust to the environment as she was being
emotionally tortured.
3.2 Cultural Shock
Rachel was in a state of cultural shock as she had been expecting different behaviour
from her boss than the one she was receiving. Being a good assistant, she was expecting that her
boss would praise her and support her in the panel interview, but she spoke against her and
portrayed her as an incapable assistant. This change in the culture and behaviour of the boss was
the reason Rachel was taken back. According to Quappe and Cantatore (2005), cultural shock
occurs when a person is overwhelmed in a situation which is quite different from the one the
person is used to and he or she tends not to take any concrete action just like in the given scene.
3.3 Change in Dynamics
When Rachel later confronted her boss, she stated that this was her intentional movie to
retain her. This made her extremely angry and she threatened to reign. This caused a shift in the
culture of the situation whereby Joanna understood that Rachel was in a weak state of mind and
would have taken a concrete decision and left the organization. She maintained a clear eye
contact with Rachel and spoke to her in a calm voice which then portrayed high level of cultural
intelligence on the side of the boss. She understood that such a situation was never faced by
Rachel earlier n that she was to be made to understand that she was not at loss. This proves to be
an excellent example of what Brislin, Worthley & Macnab (2006), said that a culturally
intelligent person adjusts to the surroundings fast and takes the situation to their advantage.
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3.4 Body Language
In the beginning of the clip, the body language of Joanna was very defensive and
confident. She was in a dominating position and this reflected in her behaviour of tarnishing the
image of Rachel. In the same situation the body language of Rachel was extremely nervous and
shocked. In the next act where the panelists rejected Rachel, and she figured out that Joanna tried
to sabotage her image, Rachel’s body language reflects that of a confident being who would
stand for the right. On the other hand, Joanna becomes the weaker unit then and would go to any
extent to persuade Rachel to stay with her Bruhn (2005), mentioned in his paper that body
language plays a key role in determining the well being of a person and their emotional state.
3.5 Cultural awareness
Being in the industry for a long time, Joanna, Rachel`s boss understood what it was to
have a professional assistant. She was aware and understood what the panel was looking out for
and hence, to keep Rachel to herself, she said all the things opposite to what the panelists were
looking out for. She proclaimed that Rachel was an Alcoholic and irresponsible girl who had just
basic duties. According to Holley and Steiner (2005), this is a case of acute cultural awareness as
Joanna knew what points would have made the panelists doubtful about Rachel and she did
exactly those things. She applied her knowledge of awareness of different cultures and scenarios
to twist the scenario into her favor.
4. Recommendations
From the analysis performed it could be stated that the scene was one of unsafe place.
Rachel was subject to emotional and mental distress. As this is the case of an interview, she was
not expected to be comfortable but in the same way she did not need to undergo the torture she
did due to Joanna. Joanna’s behaviour portrayed disrespect towards Rachel and her capabilities
which angered Rachel.
Hence, the situation might have changed if Rachel may have applied cultural capabilities
in the sense, if she would have been able to sense what Joanna was trying to do in the very first
instance, Rachel would have reflected cultural intelligence and overcome the nasty scenario. She
could have taken the necessary actions
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Therefore understanding of the mindset of the other person is an important aspect of
cultural capability as it helps to bring the situation in one`s favor.
5. Summary and Conclusion
Therefore it can be stated that safe spacing play a major role in determining the mental
balance of a person. Safe space helps a person to feel valued and the environment in the
organization is a positive one. In the given clip there existed an absence of the safe place as
Rachel was made to feel like a smaller person and this brought down her morale. The latter half
of the scene reflects Joanna`s behaviour reflects cultural intelligence whereby she calms Rachel
down and makes her stay in the organization.
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References
Ang, S., & Van Dyne, L. (2015). Handbook of cultural intelligence. Routledge.
Appadurai, A. (2013). The future as cultural fact. Essays on the Global Condition. London and
New York: Verso.
Brislin, R., Worthley, R., & Macnab, B. (2006). Cultural intelligence: Understanding behaviors
that serve people’s goals. Group & Organization Management, 31(1), 40-55.
Bruhn, J. G. (2005). Culture-brain interactions. Integrative Physiological & Behavioral
Science, 40(4), 243-254.
Chen, M. L., & Lin, C. P. (2013). Assessing the Effects of Cultural Intelligence on Team
Knowledge Sharing From a Socio‐Cognitive Perspective. Human Resource
Management, 52(5), 675-695.
Erez, M., Lisak, A., Harush, R., Glikson, E., Nouri, R., & Shokef, E. (2013). Going global:
Developing management students' cultural intelligence and global identity in culturally
diverse virtual teams. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 12(3), 330-355.
Holley, L. C., & Steiner, S. (2005). Safe space: Student perspectives on classroom
environment. Journal of Social Work Education, 41(1), 49-64.
Mor, S., Morris, M. W., & Joh, J. (2013). Identifying and training adaptive cross-cultural
management skills: The crucial role of cultural metacognition. Academy of Management
Learning & Education, 12(3), 453-475.
Quappe, S., & Cantatore, G. (2005). What is cultural awareness, anyway? How do I build
it. Retrieved July, 17, 2008.
Russell, K. M. (2011). Growing up a third culture kid: A sociological self-exploration. Human
Architecture, 9(1), 29.
Van Dyne, L., Ang, S., & Tan, M. L. (2017). Cultural intelligence. Oxford University Press.
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Youtube.com. (2018). The One Where Rachel's Boss Doesn't Want to Lose Her - Friends Season
4. YouTube. Retrieved 19 February 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=LuyGLDvve-A
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