Instructions
Please include the discussion answers in the attached two page written document to each of the following questions.
What are the benefits of on-boarding a cultural island with an organization?
What are the challenges that the organization or group will encounter?
Highlight one organization that is currently utilizing this concept of cultural islands in the workplace and identify its impact.
Provide examples and explain how they are doing it
Cultural Islands
In-Class Exercise
Intercultural Business Communications
MSPM1-GC1020
Zuleika Cuevas
Who is Edgar Schein?
Edgar Henry Schein born in 1928 is a renowned professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management who has studied extensively in the field of organization management.
Edgar Schein model of organization culture
According to Edgar Schein – Organizations do not adopt a culture in a single day, instead it is formed in due course of time as the employees go through various changes, adapt to the external environment and solve problems. They gain from their past experiences and start practicing it every day thus forming the culture of the workplace. The new employees also strive hard to adjust to the new culture and enjoy a stress free life.
Schein believed that there are three levels in an organization culture.
1. Artifacts
The first level is the characteristics of the organization which can be easily viewed, heard and felt by individuals collectively known as artifacts. The dress code of the employees, office furniture, facilities, behavior of the employees, mission and vision of the organization all come under artifacts and go a long way in deciding the culture of the workplace.
2. Values
The next level according to Schein which constitute the organization culture is the values of the employees. The values of the individuals working in the organization play an important role in deciding the organization culture. The thought process and attitude of employees have deep impact on the culture of any particular organization. What people actually think matters a lot for the organization? The mindset of the individual associated with any particular organization influences the culture of the workplace.
3. Assumed Values
The third level is the assumed values of the employees which cant be measured but do make a difference to the culture of the organization. There are certain beliefs and facts which stay hidden but do affect the culture of the organization. The inner aspects of human nature come under the third level of organization culture. Organizations where female workers dominate their male counterparts do not believe in late sittings as females are not very comfortable with such kind of culture. Male employees on the other hand would be more aggressive and would not have any problems with late sittings. The organizations follow certain practices which are not discussed often but understood on their own. Such rules form the third level of the organization culture
Corporate Culture is no longer the relevant topic. The relevant topic is macro culture, nations, corporations, corporate culture (where all these nationalities and occupations play out), and micro cultures where you have problems in the operating room and in teamwork because you have multi-nationals, people from different occupations that cultures, all interplaying.
We have already recognized that a doctor views the world different than a nurse; that a manufacturing engineer looks at the world different than a finance person.
We need to understand that these are occupational cultures very strong. Leaders have to become much more humble and learn how to seek help, because the subordinates under them will be much more knowledgeable than they, and secondly leaders will have to create cultural islands where people from differently occupational and national cultures can spend suspend some of the rules and talk to each other more directly, for example, about how they view trust, how they view authority, or how they deal with bosses that make mistakes. If leaders cant create those kinds of cultural islands, they wont be able to create teams that can actually work.
Please include the discussion answers to each of the following questions.
What are the benefits of onboarding a cultural island with an organization?
What are the challenges that the organization or group will encounter?
Highlight one organization that is currently utilizing this concept of cultural islands in the workplace and identify its impact.
In this assignment, you will be articulating an understanding of the use of the concept (cultural islands). Discuss the benefits and challenging that companies will face implementing this concept and process.
Each written assignment will be reviewed for accuracy, relevance, and its relationship to the lecture, the discussion, the group exercise, assigned readings, and any of the associated resources and reading briefs on the on the course homepage.
An exemplary score (10 of 10 points) will reflect a foundational understanding of the diversity factors plan for managing cultural diversity; it should be focused from the perspective of a manager and include a discuss ion of the three key factors of this process. An effective score (8 of 10 points) will reflect an understanding of the essentials of cultural diversity management in an organization, and how it is executed. An ineffective score (0-7.9 points) will reflect a paper that is poorly organized and difficult to read; one that does not flow logically from one part to another; one that does not discuss the assigned topic. If the paper is late, does not follow the required format (please see below,) has spelling and/or grammatical errors, includes technical terms that are not defined (or poorly defined,) and/or has a lack of clarity and conciseness, then the paper will be subject to point reductions.
Submission Format:
Written Assignments: All written assignment must be word processed, with a 12pt font size, be double spaced, include page numbers, submitted on the scheduled due date, saved using the appropriate file naming convention, and delivered as an MS Word file (not as a .PDF) to the appropriate Assignments drop box on the course homepage.
Reports and/or papers that are submitted after the due date will be automatically reduced in score by twenty percent (20%) before they are read. All written reports must be submitted with a cover sheet; Failure to include a cover sheet will result in an automatic reduction in points. The cover sheet must include the following information:
EXAMPLE:
Jane Doe
Intercultural Business Communications
MSPM1GC1020
Cultural Islands
xx/xx/xx
Delivery Channel:
Upload the completed Individual Report to the Assignment (INDIVIDUAL) drop box on the course home page.
File Naming Convention:
The following naming convention should be used when submitting, Individual, Group, or Team assignments:
Course Number Assignment Name Individual/Team Name Semester Abbreviation
Individual Example: MSPM1-GC1020 Cultural Island Your Name xxxx
