Cultural Intelligence Reflection: Personal Experience and Analysis

This report is a reflective journal by a student detailing their experience of moving to Australia, incorporating the Gibbs Reflective Cycle to analyze their feelings and actions. The student discusses their experiences working in a petrol station, including observations about cultural differences, such as instances of theft and aggression. The report explores mixed feelings of homesickness and the helpfulness of colleagues, leading to improved performance. It evaluates the positive aspects of workplace unity and the surprising aspects of Australian culture, such as the behavior of some children, and contrasts these with the student's Indian cultural background. The analysis section delves into cultural theories by Rees and Smith, Brewster et al., and others, examining cultural shock, the importance of adaptability, and cultural synergy. The conclusion summarizes the lessons learned, including insights on customer interactions and education. The student also outlines an action plan to work in Singapore with NGOs to gain further cultural insights, using Gibbs cycle for future reflection, and assessing the cultural shock and synergies. The report incorporates references and a bibliography related to cultural intelligence and human resource management.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Cultural intelligence
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Table of contents
Description.................................................................................................................................2
Feelings......................................................................................................................................2
Evaluation..................................................................................................................................3
Analysis......................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................5
Action plan.................................................................................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................7
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................8

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Description
In this reflective journal, I am going to talk about my experience about coming in
Australia as a student. I think my reflection would be valued through the incorporation of
Gibbs Reflective Cycle, which is based on my feelings regarding the actions committed
towards achieving the development. I started job in Australia in the petrol station as a retail
assistant. I found it to be surprising that kids stole things from the store. I am interested to
learn about the culture of the people, which somewhat subsided by finding that aggression is
a common characteristic. I can mention one incident where a guy punched me, as I was
preventing him from stealing.
Feelings
My stay in Australia provided me with mixed feelings. At some times, I felt very bad
and missed my home. Homesickness hovered around me, acting as an obstacle towards
mixing into an entirely new environment. At other times, I felt dominant towards the people
with whom I work. Usually, they are very friendly and cooperative, which boosts my morale
and confidence. All of my colleagues try to help me, which, I think, reduces the instances of
knowledge inadequacies. As a result of this, my performance has improved from the time I
joined. I think that helping each other enhances adjustability skills. At the initial stage, I was
nervous about how to handle the job, however, with the support and motivation of the seniors
and experts, I have regained my confidence. I think regular practical experimentation helped
me to undertake challenging and enduring tasks for expanding the scope and arena of my
knowledge, skills, competencies and abilities.

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Evaluation
Overall, my experience at Australia seemed to be mixed. The people at the workplace
are very helpful, which is one of the prime supports in terms of completing the tasks
according to the requirements. The unity and coordination, which prevails in the culture,
makes me feel proud for being a part of it. The coordination, which I got from the other staffs
helped me to improve my performance. On the contrary, the aggression, dwindled my
confidence at the initial stage, compelling me to think about the ways in which I can improve
my performance. The instance of kids stealing things and quarrels surprised me about the
education, which these kids are getting. This makes me feel that the Indian kids at least are
provided with the basic and elementary education, which adds flexibility into their
development at the budding stage.
Caste system is one of the prevalent aspect in the Indian culture, which I personally
disapprove. This aspect contradicts equality, which is slowly and gradually improving
through the enforcement of the Equality Act. Diversity prevails in the language, which is
missing in case of Australia, as English is the official language. The way of expression
reflects multiculturalism, shaping the identity of the people. The accent varies, which is
exclusive to the subcultures. I take pride in being a part of India, where multiculturalism
enhances the diversity.
Analysis
According to the arguments of Rees and Smith (2017), culture is entirely dependent
on the values. Studies on culture is based on the theories describing the attitudes, approaches
and beliefs of the people towards preserving cultural elements. Stereotypical notions on
culture is exclusive to one’s culture, however, it is an obstacle towards establishing equality
in terms of formulating norms for a group of people. In this context, Brewster et al. (2016)

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mentions about the global leadership competencies, which needs to be catered for preserving
the cultural elements. These competencies are adventurer, setiser, insider, judge and
synthesizer. Capability to adopt is one of the essential qualities, which shapes the identity of
people.
In the opinions of Tenhiälä et al. (2016), culture shock is also important in terms of
removing the uncertainties, which prevail in the business culture. Variance in the social
norms is another of the component, which establishes contradiction with the unified form of
the class groups. The four major stages of the cultural shock are honeymoon, frustration,
adjustment and acceptance. The experience at each stage is difference, which is concretised
through the application of cognitive learning. Learning about the specifications of the stage
enhances the awareness of the people regarding the adaptability towards the new cultures
(Zhong, Wayne and Liden 2016).
According to the arguments of Nancy Adler, conglomeration of two cultures enhance
the skills and strengths regarding adapting to the new cultures. I affirm with the propositions
of Nancy Adler, as my current situation aptly matches. Adjusting into a new culture is not at
all easy. Moral support, motivation and assistance is needed. Rode, Huang and Flynn (2016)
is of the view that cultural synergy holds special significance in terms of diversifying the
culture. The main aim in this context is that of improvising on the perceptions, insights and
knowledge of the people regarding cultural insights. Cultural synergy concept helps me to
portray the identity of the people on the basis of perceptions, attitudes and beliefs to the
cultural norms. I think that application of the Nancy Adler’s propositions assists me to place
the Australian people into subgroups according to their perceptions regarding the cultural
norms and its compliance. In this context, with the arguments of Kontoghiorghes (2016), I
can relate the aspect of sequential vs synchronous as suggested by Tropmpenaars. I can also

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bring into the context the dimension of individualism vs particularism, which demarcates the
difference between my perceptions and that of others.
Conclusion
In the duration of my stay in Australia, I got to learn about the ways of dealing with
different types of customers. I can say that this process acted as an agent in terms of
expanding the scope and arena of thinking skills and judgmental capabilities regarding
culture. I also got to learn about dealing with different and wide ranging issues. The instance
of kids stealing things surprised me about the guidance, nourishment and education, which
they are getting. Here, I can bring the difference with the Indian culture, where basic and
elementary education is provided to the kids from their developing stage. I am not saying that
Australian kids do not go to school, however, they lack the quality time needed from the
parents.
The support, which I got from the colleagues is worth mentioning, as it helped me to
upgrade the standards and quality of my performance. This support acted as a crucial
component in terms of improvising on the adjustability skills, reducing the knowledge
inadequacies. At the instance of a guy punching me for preventing him from stealing, I
lagged behind in terms of performance. During this time, I was physically injured and needed
work from home. I was allowed to work from home for 3 days. In these couple of days, I
received full support from the seniors, the major drive behind which was motivation, support
and encouragement. I regularly communicated about the issues, which I faced in completing
the allocated duties and responsibilities. I clearly communicated for the tasks, which I was
unable to perform. I think this clarity in communication averted the instances of confusion
and misunderstanding. The manager liked this quality of mine, for which I received
appreciation.

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Action plan
I think that no action is completed without proper planning. In case of penetrating into
a different culture, planning is of utmost importance. I have decided that after working for
more three months in this petrol station, I would shift to Singapore and would work as a
social worker. I would engage with NGOs, which would help me to learn more about
different other cultures and the perception of the people towards their cultures. This insight
would be effective for me to induce new insights regarding culture and the perceptions
related to this. Once I get a proper placement, I would apply Gibbs reflective cycle for
mapping the difference between my experiences. Along with this, I would also make use of
cultural shocks and synergies for assessing the feasibility of the perceptions amidst the
current culture.
At the initial stages, I would conduct research on the scopes, which prevails for the
aspiring researchers in the threshold of Singapore. I would conduct search engine
optimization for collecting information on the steps taken by the NGOs to enhance their triple
bottom line approach. As a sequential step, I would discuss the collected information with my
seniors regarding the feasibility of the plan for securing my future with professional
development. In this context, I would like to mention about the influences, which I would
face in terms of pursuing the plans. Adhering to these suggestions would compel me to divert
from my identified and specified goals. This diversion can be harmful for me in terms of
averting the delays in availing the prospects timely.
I also need to evaluate the plans consistently for seeking new insights, which can
concretize my learning experience. This consistency is needed for expanding the scope and
arena of my skills, competencies and abilities. Regularising the evaluation and audits would

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be effective for me in terms of upgrading the standards and quality of the learning
experiences.

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References
Brewster, C., Vernon, G., Sparrow, P. and Houldsworth, E., 2016. International human
resource management. Kogan Page Publishers.
Kontoghiorghes, C., 2016. Linking high performance organizational culture and talent
management: satisfaction/motivation and organizational commitment as mediators. The
International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(16), pp.1833-1853.
Rees, G. and Smith, P. eds., 2017. Strategic human resource management: An international
perspective. Sage.
Rode, J.C., Huang, X. and Flynn, B., 2016. A cross‐cultural examination of the relationships
among human resource management practices and organisational commitment: an
institutional collectivism perspective. Human Resource Management Journal, 26(4), pp.471-
489.
Tenhiälä, A., Giluk, T.L., Kepes, S., Simón, C., Oh, I.S. and Kim, S., 2016. The Research‐
Practice gap in human resource management: A Cross‐Cultural study. Human Resource
Management, 55(2), pp.179-200.
Zhong, L., Wayne, S.J. and Liden, R.C., 2016. Job engagement, perceived organizational
support, high‐performance human resource practices, and cultural value orientations: A cross‐
level investigation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 37(6), pp.823-844.

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Bibliography
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Jia, J., Yan, J., Cai, Y. and Liu, Y., 2018. Paradoxical leadership incongruence and Chinese
individuals’ followership behaviors: Moderation effects of hierarchical culture and perceived
strength of human resource management system. Asian Business & Management, 17(5),
pp.313-338.
Rurkkhum, S. and Bartlett, K.R., 2018. Organizational citizenship behaviour for collectivist
cultures: instrument development and human resource development implications. Human
Resource Development International, 21(2), pp.107-124.
Sparrow, P., Brewster, C. and Chung, C., 2016. Globalizing human resource management.
Routledge.
Stacho, Z., Stachová, K., Hudáková, M. and Stasiak-Betlejewska, R., 2017. Employee
adaptation as key activity in human resource management upon implementing and
maintaining desired organisational culture. Serbian Journal of Management, 12(2), pp.303-
313.
Welford, R. ed., 2016. Corporate environmental management 2: Culture and organization.
Routledge.