The Culture of a Society, Essay Example

The culture of a society is defined by its particular beliefs, behaviors, values, language, objects of value, and other characteristics common to the members of a particular group. Ultimately, a combination of these factors is responsible for defining what makes a society unique. It is important for international managers to understand what the culture of a society is because they typically have to deal with employees from very different cultures. To ensure that business plans succeed, it is therefore important to take note of these cultural differences and address them in a manner that allows efficient communication between all parties.

Even though understanding the culture of a society is important on an international level, it is important on a local scale as well. Cultural differences typically occur among co-workers or neighbors. These cultural differences are less obvious because on the local level, all individuals are at least living in the same country and have a cultural overlap to some extent. However, it is clear when co-workers or neighbors are from another country, and this is typically noticeable based on the way they speak or dress. Another clue that these individuals come from a different culture may be which holidays they celebrate.

On the local level, cultural differences impact the work environment because co-workers will behave in a manner that is respectful of these differences. For many individuals, this will include avoiding using certain phrases in the presence of people from different cultures to ensure that they are not offended. In neighborhoods, this may include observing holiday celebrations that others are not familiar with. In both cases however, people tend to try to learn about each other’s differences to enhance their knowledge.