Category: Culture and Communication

Canada is the country where multicultural immigrant people have helped to build the country. In Canada, there are various cultural group and culture people who live and work. According to 2018 annual report of Canada, Canada has offered residency to more than 286000 newcomers in year 2017 and they are planning to reach to 340000 by 2020 (Hussen, 2018, p.44). Canadian government and other organizations help immigrants and refugees with languages training program, information about of Canadian health care and community program, refugee services, services for senior and employment services etc. There are many organizations which provide services to immigrants and refugees of Canada such as COSTI, Skill for Change, Arab Community services, African Community services, Cross-Cultural Community services Association, Ottawa Community Immigrants Services Organization (OCISO), Newcomer Centre of Peel, Polyculture Immigrant & Community Services etc. This paper will discuss about one of the articles of African Community Services of peel’s services/initiatives, how it related to Canadian rights, Act and how it relates to cultural identity.

About African Community Services of Peel Organization

The institution is non-profitable which help to settle newcomer African people in Canada. The agendas are to improve the life quality of newcomer by providing support and services. The organization was started in 1993 by community members and 1994 it was turned into non charity community organization where all services provide to newcomer are free (African Community services of Peel, 2018). They have helped newcomers in settlement process, employment, overcome language barrier, healthcare and other Canadian systems.

Services/ initiatives

The African Community Services of Peel Institution help newcomers and refugees in settling and engage into Canadian societies. They have provided different services such as settlement services, language services, senior program, youth program, social and economic services, employment services and refugee services, sponsoring group program etc.

1. Immigrants settlement program: the institution helps newcomers by providing specific information and education about settlement in Canada. They also helped with government application and requirements by providing appropriate knowledge about culture, language, environment. They provide information regarding accommodation, about employment, language courses, and community services and other programs.
2. Education and Employment support: by providing services like helping in making resume, help to look for job, and help to improve employment skills. For education, they help student in enrol in school or college, help with application process etc.
3. Community development program: this program helps to promote general wellbeing in African Canadian community, help to engage in activity which help to improve their health and wellness in community, help to access community information to engage in other communities and programs.
4. Violence Prevention: this program helps to bring down the rate of crime in African Canadian community by providing education, workshop regarding crime prevention, counselling, participation in volunteer activities, by providing employment services.
5. Mental Health and wellness: this program provide awareness and education about client who are experiencing anxiety, depression. This program helps to reduce those experience by providing the information about the causes and preventive measures like providing services to newcomer, education, employment and involvement in cultural activities.
6. Senior support Program: the program help senior to improve physical, mental, emotional health by proving information and service which help them to involve in community programme. This will enhance the wellbeing and health in senior African Canadian population.
7. Other Services: other services like language programme to overcome the language barrier, helping women and children by providing information to settle, education, employment, community programme, workshop on women health and social skill, child development workshop, youth development programme such as young African achiever club, youth art and heritage programme, youth leadership programme, summer activities, Christmas activities, cultural event programme etc.

African community service of Peel helps African people to get the just and equal Canada according to Charter Rights and Freedom, Ontario Human Right Code and Multiculturalism Act. African community services of Peel help to follow their religion and belief, they also help to get freedom in thoughts, put their ideas into world and share in social media. This institution helps their people to give equal rights in participate in voting system, help them to get status in Canada in any province and help with legal rights such as help in security of person. The African Community services of Peel help to get equal status and rights according to Charter of rights and freedom. About language, African community services of Peel help people to learn English so they get equal rights and privileges in community, help to get right for their children get their education in English or French language, protect the right of women and families through activities and information, help in employment offences, help to reduce racism other crime relate to ethnic. They are providing help to get accommodation and job which include in Ontario Human Right Code.

The African community service of Peel provide equal treatment according to Ontario Human Right Code. They are giving equal services and facilities such as employment facilities, help to settle newcomers, help with disability people and senior people to get just and equal rights. The institution helps women and children against violence and abuse, help to follow their religion and beliefs.

According to the Multiculturalism Act of Canada, every person can protect their cultural value, belief and heritage and follow their religion in Canadian society, participate in any other culture, religious activities and belief, receive equal treatment and protection under law and respect culture diversity. According to Act it helps to build social, economical, by respecting multiculturalism, communication an interaction with other culture people, use and preserve official languages English and French, equal opportunity in employment, activities and program which in respect to multiculturalism of Canada (Canadian Multiculturalism Act, 2020). The African community services of Peel help to get to those rights to make equal and just right Canada. As this institution guide people to follow their religious, belief and respect others cultural value and belief through various a programs and activities, by providing help in learning official languages, help to participate in other cultural activities, help to get status in workplace so they get involve in Canadian societies and make equal and just right multicultural Canada.

To Round it off, with their Services and initiative African community service of Peel institution help to make just and equal Canada through flowing the rights and codes of Multiculturalism Act, Ontario Human Rights, Charters Rights and Freedom.

Impact African community services of Peel on culture and cultural identity of African people

Culture is everything that we make our lifestyle to our societies. Culture is not something we possess it something that we are immersed in and continue follow it. Culture include religion, belief, food, clothing, symbols, values, language etc. Culture Identity is the way we define and see ourselves. The different elements of cultural identity are nationality, ethnicity, gender, class, cast which help to identify ourselves. The cultural identity which is shaped by someone’ culture. By having a same language use to communicate in group shows cultural identity, by following similar cultural belief and values show a group as a culture. So, Cultural identity help to reflect our own culture and identity has a huge impact on culture.

As a personal example, we follow a religion called Hindu which have its own value and belief, tradition etc. This characteristic of religion will not change in different parts of worlds and that shows our identity as Hindu. Another example would be language as we speak Hindi language as a main language which show our cultural identity that impact on our culture. Some other example would be nationality and ethnicity, clothing, food etc. These cultural identities which have high influence on our culture.

The services/imitative which is provided by African community services of Peel have impacts on their culture and cultural identity. As this organization help support African people in multicultural country and help to server their cultural identify and they help to follow their cultural value and belief in other country. They encourage to speak their language in their culture community to show their cultural identify, protect cultural heritages. By arranging cultural programme and activity help to follow their cultural identify. By providing community information and chances in volunteer community program, social work, community gardening activities help to keep their cultural identity alive in other country. By engaging children and youth in their cultural activity help to understand the importance of cultural and their identities such programme are Youth and community engagement activities, mentoring program, summer camp, History month event etc.

In summary, African community services of Peel serves people to improve their quality of life by providing information and support to settle in Canada. This organization help their community to follow and maintain cultural values, beliefs and identify in Multicultural Canada and help to make just and equal Canada.

Executive Summary

In this report we want our readers to first understand what are the key ingredients that go into the making of a global organization. For us to understand the, we delve into the nuances and issues that may arise due to cultural diversity, different principles of working in different countries and how we can tackle each of these challenges effectively.

For a global company to function as a single entity, communication channels need to be set up so that there are no communication gaps. Goals of the organization is understood by all and everyone is always on the same wavelength. Moreover, we need to be aware of certain cultural differences that may result in conflicts and deal with them before they become unsolvable issues and result in breaking of the communication channel. As Monash Inc. investigates offshoring some of its responsibilities and expand into a global force, its advantage relies upon its capacity to organize information and assets that are spread across different countries. Today there are heap organizational instruments that global companies can use to incorporate scattered task list across geographies. In any case, the best apparatus is the global team: a cross cultural group of people of various nationalities, working in various societies, organizations and capacities, who meet up to arrange some part of the global activity on a global premise.

It is essentially unthinkable for a global company to exploit economies of worldwide scale and degree, augment the exchange of information or develop a worldwide mentality without comprehension and acing the administration of global teams. That, in any case, is quite difficult. One of the best ways to tackle these issues of formulation of a global team to function properly lies on the shoulders of executives to provide explicit and detailed agenda and scope while conducting business. Moreover, companies’ policies should be formulated in such a manner that it accounts for cultural interests in different areas as well. These things may sound easy, but many a times is forgotten by global businesses.

1. Introduction

In an increasingly globalized economy, people from different cultures and backgrounds find themselves working together more and more frequently. Even when people are willing and eager to work together and cooperate, they may unintentionally confuse or even offend each other because of their different ways of doing things. Remaining aware of differences and being patient with each other can help minimize problems. The issues at global workplace can be

2. Intercultural communication

2.1 Language

At the point when individuals who are working speak in various dialects, it can exhibit a noteworthy deterrent to progress. Learning another dialect is a difficult endeavour and is more troublesome as a grown-up than as a kid. Answers for this issue may incorporate continuous workplace language classes, multilingual interpreters fused into a group and innovative arrangements, for example, translation software [1]. At the point when colleagues see an assorted variety of dialects as a chance to gain some new useful knowledge instead of an impossible issue, they will all profit by the communication.

2.2 Communication Styles

Techniques for correspondence that are typical for one group of individuals may seem insufficient or improper to another group. For instance, Australians will in general be casual contrasted with numerous different societies and may appear to be unnecessarily cordial to somebody, especially a more seasoned individual, from India or China. An individual from a culture where uproarious voices and interrupting are not intended to be forceful may threaten somebody from a culture that shows an increasingly reserved way of articulation. Learning ahead of time about the way of life of colleagues before you take a shot at a group with them can enable you to comprehend their techniques for correspondence.

2.3 Hierarchy

The significance of authority fluctuates significantly between cultures. A few group pay extraordinary regard to individuals in places of authority, while individuals from different cultures are feel it is their right to scrutinize an executive decision if they see an executive accomplishing something incorrectly [1]. Idea of authority depends on various criteria in various societies. A few cultures worship more seasoned individuals, while others present a bias dependence on an individual’s achievements. The idea of a group ought to be clarified to all members at its commencement. A few groups are agreeable, with an even structure and no leaders, while others have plainly characterized levels of leadership. [1]

2.4 Conflict

When conflict does occur within a team, members from different backgrounds may react to it in dramatically different ways. Some people will repress their reactions to an insult or slight, while others will fight back. These reactions are based on individual personality to some extent but are also conditioned by a person’s background. Resolving conflict between co-workers effectively requires an understanding of everyone’s view of what caused the conflict. Reconciling warring parties is difficult enough when dealing with people of similar backgrounds; when working with multiple cultures and national traditions, maintaining smooth relations between everyone on a team can become a major challenge.

At the point when there is a conflict inside a group, individuals from various backgrounds may respond to it in drastically various ways. A few people will stifle their responses to an affront or slight, while others will battle back. These responses depend on individual character somewhat but at the same time are molded by an individual’s experience. Settling struggle between collaborators viably requires a comprehension of everybody’s perspective on what caused the contention. Accommodating warring gatherings is troublesome enough when managing individuals of comparative foundations; when working with various societies and national customs, keeping up smooth relations between everybody in a group can turn into a noteworthy test.

3. Managing team work in global teams

Many businesses rely on successful teamwork to reach company goals and objectives. While more organizations have gone global, good teamwork has become increasingly imperative, since employees with differing skill sets and ideas may be scattered on different continents. Circumstances may call for these global employees to share what information they have in each location to strategize, innovate and bring to market a company’s products or services; teamwork, therefore, plays a variety of important roles in a business.

3.1 Organizational Effectiveness

Teamwork plays a vital role in organizational effectiveness, which determines how effective a company can be in its many facets. These facets can include internal communication, communication with investors or shareholders, new product launches and customer service. Depending on the nature of your business, you may depend on different teams working together to ensure that these facets are conducted successfully. This way, a single employee or poorly functioning team will be unable to guarantee an organization’s effectiveness.

3.2 Shared Knowledge

The more employees an organization has working together in a team toward a common company goal, the more likely that goal will be met successfully. With varying skill sets, strategies, education levels and past work experiences, a team of employees can bring more shared knowledge to the table in terms of innovation, ideas and solutions. This may result in better products, earnings and company operations.

3.3 Faster Results

With a team of employees that can benefit from shared knowledge, decision-making can become more streamlined, since each team decision will be more well-informed over one that is made by an individual who may lack a complete team’s skill set. This can translate to faster solutions to problems that may arise within an organization, better response time when rolling out new products and alternating marketing strategies, depending on the economic and retail environment.

3.4 Common Purpose

The strength of many teams is the coming together for a common purpose. In a corporate atmosphere, this purpose is most often the success of the corporation, which drives employee morale and wages. This recognition of common purpose and the daily striving of working together for the greater good of the organization plays a vital role in the health, vitality and agility of a well-functioning company.

4. How do we set up effective communication channels between global teams

Global virtual teams are the virtual teams whose operation is in global scale and whose members are globally distributed. Compared with virtual teams whose members are sitting and working in the same country, a global virtual team faces bigger challenges in cultural difference, language barriers, information sharing, social context, etc. A global virtual team is commonly formed in high tech sector, and they are normally rapidly formed, changed and dissolved due to the dynamic changes in market Most global virtual team members are spread among several projects with competing priorities, which drives all team members to seek for effective communication with each other

4.1 The Impact on the Global Business Environment

To understand the need to learn more about intercultural communication, we need to examine the impact of intercultural communication on the global business environment and its implications for success or failure for the global enterprise. However, the impact of intercultural communication on global business has seldom, if ever, been successfully measured. Unsuccessful joint ventures, marketing gaffes due to inaccurate translations and failed forays into new markets are rarely attributed solely to ineffective cultural understanding and communications. It is unrealistic to expect that a single aspect of a global business environment could be isolated and measured to any degree of accuracy. For this to happen, research and business case history would need to intersect in a systematic manner, using a pre-determined scorecard.

4.2 Applicability to the Global Project Manager

Much of the expansion within the global business environment takes the form of projects, for example, an acquisition, an outsourcing of a product or service, or the testing of a new market. After the initial project, the outcome of the project may be the permanent implementation of the product, service, organisation or new market into the enterprise’s ongoing operations. These initial temporary endeavours—i.e., projects—are most often managed by project managers, referred to here as global project managers.

For the global project manager, the importance of the ability to successfully interact with others outside his/her own culture is critical to the overall success of the project. The project manager achieves results by coordinating the efforts of others within a team structure. The team structure that the project manager crystallizes becomes its own culture, with a common identity. For the global project manager, the team typically comprises individuals representing different national cultures. Intercultural competence then becomes a key competency for the global project manager and can be directly assessed using a variety of assessment tools.

4.3 The Link between Culture and Communication

The link between culture and communication is important to understand because it is through the influence of culture that people learn to communicate. Children learn to communicate in the same way others in their national culture do, not just in language but also in meaning. Culture cannot be isolated from the communication process, because it impacts both the communicator and the receiver of the message.

There are many different definitions and basic concepts in the field of cultural study that are referenced in the body of knowledge. For example, culture is referred to as an onion or as the impact of gravity upon an individual or likened to the experience of a fish in water. The focus of this paper is to introduce and share some of the most significant concepts, including culture as a private world, culture as a pattern for living, culture as mental programming, culture as a shared mindset and the concept of world view.

5. Recommendations

Balance participation to ensure inclusion: It is important for Monash Inc. to improve participation by actively engaging every team member to participate in any ongoing activities. Since offshoring can lead to communication gaps with them not having complete view of the pipeline of every project especially when their deliverables are moved to onshore counterparts, it becomes important for executives to inform them about the outcome of each deliverable, share successes and also take regular feedback from them. This ensures that the team is proactive and feels included in every major decision taken by the managers

Encourage engagement between different cultures: Initial setup in offshore accounts will require team members from different cultures to interact daily to understand local and global market conditions. Setting up one on one meetings, team building activities like team outings which bring about an informal setup for all to interact more freely is vital. Different cultures may shy away from confrontational behaviour or more dangerously not share their ideas within the team if they have not interacted with other team members. There is a level of trust that needs to be instilled in the team before all barriers of communication can be addressed. It is the task of the management to create teams which are a mix of different cultures and if possible allocate work in different rotations, reshuffling the team every 6 months to ensure everyone is comfortable with each other. One more mechanism that can help could be celebrating events and festivals from different cultures so that people can engage with different communities specifically and try to understand them from their cultural perspective

Discourage dominant behaviour: When dealing with different cultures, one should be empathetic towards the other, understand from where the opinion is coming from. A great global leader is able to move past the cultural barrier and understand the ideas behind the team’s actions which is can sometimes be masked due to a communication gap. Rather than always delegating work directly, and enforcing your own opinion on the team, using I-statements and encouraging equal participation can help boost team morale

Encourage people to disagree with ideas: As a global leader, the project managers and account managers need to understand that even through all their experience, they may sometimes not completely understand the local dynamics better than the locales. Offering a chance to all team members to disagree with them enables the employees to feel more valued and appreciated in the workplace.

A key to success is awareness of the intercultural communication process. While global project managers understand the simple process of communications (sender, message, receiver, feedback), the process when two communicators are from different cultures can be more problematic. Potential barriers to effective communication in the intercultural communication process include the following:

• Cultural frames: Using the window through which an individual defines him/herself, others and the world
• Ethnocentrism: Evaluating another culture according to our own
• False attributions: Attributing our own meanings to behaviours in other cultures, which may not be correct
• Stereotypes: Using generalizations that do not allow for exceptions
• Etiquette and nonverbal behaviours: Understanding the meanings of gestures, facial expressions and body positions requiring specific knowledge of a culture
• Other elements: Including time and place, topic, status and power, and style
• Language: Knowing this can be a barrier even if individuals speak the same language

6. Conclusion

In this report, we have tried to understand the key ingredients that can help facilitate a smooth expansion of Monash Inc. in Bangalore, India and in Schengen, China. Formulation of global teams (teams consisting of an onshore counterpart and offshore counterpart), reward-based system, instilling trust through informal activities, breaking down cultural barriers are some of the most important aspects to consider while moving into another country. Many organizations end up with failed projects and delays in project deliverables due to the communication gap that is created due to distance, lack of understanding and sometimes lack of motivation. Effective and communicate appropriate channels, regular face time with onshore counterparts can go a long way into building long term relationships with the company and within one’s team. Lastly an organization with very clear goals and work ethics with a tinge of empathy can steer people to work for a single goal. When the objectives are clearly defined, language barriers can be minimized, and global team becomes a big reality.

Upon assessment of the essay question, (which I believe is double-barrelled) asks us to investigate the meaning of culture and identity independently and in doing so examine the way they each forge communication. Culture, identity and communication must be clearly defined within the essay with multiple examples and evidence, that provides reasoning to how one’s perception has evolved. The article “Culture and Communication Style. Review of Communication” provides detailed information on both culture and identity. It also includes multiple definitions on communication and clearly defines culture. Moreover, it asserts a strong link between culture and communication, which is related to impacting behaviour and language. This evidence, imperative in raising understanding.

In order to write a cohesive essay, research into the broader concepts stemming from the issues of culture and identity must be explored; The many forms of identity, types of cultures, as well as communication and the meaning each provokes. The webpage “Your Interpersonal Communication preferences” places a strong emphasis on identity types and forms of communication and in doing so introduces the idea that the perception of one’s identity will stimulate communication. Having broad knowledge will allow for a more thorough response. Furthermore, examples and evidence must be a central to your argument to provide an educated overall judgement of the essay question, and to enhance understanding of the issues presented. The article “Culture and communication: Cultural variations and Media Effectiveness” through the example of Media defines social culture as well as the complexity of communication and its development. Furthermore, stating that the understanding of culture is important for the transmission of information.

Regarding initial research in response to the essay question, I explored concepts and ideas such as culture, identity (personal, social, cultural), communication, cross-cultural communication, individualism, collectivism, and representation etc. These ideas I believe would be central to my furthering my understanding. The book “Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying” incorporates many concepts relevant to answering the question and was instrumental to consolidating my research. Overall, Hall et al. whilst focusing on the concept of representation, highlights that understanding all facets of culture and identify allows for better communication. They also explain that identity and culture are intertwined.

An Investigation of a wide variety of sources are needed to create understanding and refine research properly. Initially, I used the internet to achieve a generalised understanding of the concepts within the essay question and generates ideas in how to respond. Later, to progress and advance my research, through using Multi-search, I specified my investigation to articles, books and peer reviewed essays to gain a more thorough judgment of the question.

Introduction:

We are living in a transition point of history where dynamics of human communication, social system and demography is changing due to rapid development of technology, human migration and globalization. At present invention of information sharing technologies has enabled people of different geographical location, background, culture and race to work together which the world has never seen before. Due to those changes. international business has reached to a new Hight and leaving impact on economics, culture, communication and business management. New challenges are emerging for the business leaders and senior officials to deal with different people in business meetings and forums.

Australia in a country in southern hemisphere with an emerging economy. Open economy policy of the Australian Government and rapid emigration of people from all over the world to Australia is become a new opportunity for business expansion. On the other hand, Bangladesh is also developing its economic strength and day by day increasing it ability to export to different foreign territories. Other than that, a vast number of young students and young professionals entering Australia to fulfill their endeavor. Thus, it is become a challenge for Bangladeshi professionals involved in international business with Australia and those who are emigrating to Australia to understand and know the business and communication culture of Australia.

In this paper we have tried to provide short overview on Australian culture and business communication along with a comparison with Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension and basics of Australian business etiquette for the better understanding of the reality we have also provided some basic information like – history, geography, demography, economy and business environment.

History:

The Europeans came to Australia in the 17th century and territorial claims were made form 1770 after Capt. James COOK started colonialization in the name of Great Britain over the existing prehistoric settlers, who came from Southeast Asia 40,000 years before the Europeans. The that time it was a penal colony. But in 1851, gold mine was discovered near New South Wales and the event contributes the population boom. Later in 1901, with six states, Commonwealth of Australia was created unified under a constitution.

Geography:

Area: The country is in Oceania continent surrounded by Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean. Geographic coordinates of Australia are 27 00 S, 133 00 E. The total area of the country is 7,741,220 sq km where 7,682,300 sq km is land and 58,920 sq km is water bodies. (Central Intelligence Agency, 2019)

Topography: The country is mostly low plateau with deserts; fertile plain in southeast. It is considered as world’s lowest continent. The mean elevation is 330 meters. Mount Kosciuszko has the highest peak which is 2228 meters above sea level. (Geoscience Australia, 2019)

Climate: Australia is in the southern hemisphere. It is a large continent and different areas have different weather conditions. The country has four seasons. The north of Australia experiences tropical influenced climate.

Season Months

Summer December to March

Autumn March to May

Winter June to August

Spring September to November

The southern areas of the Continent are generally are cooler, sometimes rainy winters. The mountains in this region have a typical mountain climate, the highest peaks are usually covered by snow year-round. (Weather Online, 2019)

Demography:

Population: Australia is enjoying relatively consistent population growth. The population has reached 25 million in 2018 with an average 1.6% of growth rate and density of 3.14%. Country’s east and southeast parts consist highest concentration of people. And the population has a balanced sex structure, with a male female ratio of 99:100. Because of the improved living condition and decreasing death rate the country’s life expectancy has gradually increased, which is now greater than 82 years. (Census of Population and Housing: Nature and Content, Australia, 2016 , 2015)

Ethnic groups: In both, colonial era and post federation era, mostly European settlers migrated to Australia. During World War II a large scale of European migrants’ swamps Australia and the population become more than double at the end of the war. Due to White Australia policy non-European migrants were discouraged till mid -1970s. After that a significant number of non-Europeans migrated to Australia. According to countries census published in 2016 the common ancestries were –

• English 36.1% • German 4.5%
• Australian 33.5% • Indian 2.8%
• Irish 11.0% • Greek 1.8%
• Scottish 9.3% • Dutch 1.6%
• Chinese 5.6% • Vietnamese 1.4%
• Italian 4.6% • Lebanese 1%

Religions: Though the country has no official religion, but it was historically a Protestant country where the Catholics are a large minority. According to countries 2016 census the data on religious affiliation were –

• Christian 52.1% • Buddhists 2.4%
• No Religion 30.1% • Hindus 1.9%
• Not to Answer 9.6% • Sikhs 0.5%
• Muslims 2.6% • Jews 0.4%

Natural Resources:

Australia has a variety of natural resources like minerals, agricultural land, and natural land features which boost tourism. The country has world-leading mining industry, exports 29% of global coal which makes them the largest coal exporter. (Central Intelligence Agency, 2019).

Other than coal Australia is the world’s second largest producer of gold and zinc, also having large reserves of iron ore, nickel, aluminum, copper, silver, uranium, diamonds, opal, silica. The wine industry of Australia is fourth in the world in terms of total exports due to its large-scale production of grapes. (Bada, 2018)

Economy:

Australia practices an open market economy where restrictions on importation of goods and services are minimal. Which in terms increased the productivity, growth and economic flexibility. Australia plays an active role in the WTO, APEC, the G20, and other trade forums. Australia has free trade agreement (FTA) with China, Republic of Korea, Japan, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, and the US, and a regional FTA with ASEAN and New Zealand. Negotiation is going on with other countries.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Australia was worth 1432.20 billion US dollars in 2018. The combined value of exports and imports is equal to 41.9 percent of GDP. (2019 Index of Economic Freedom, 2019)

Business Environment:

According to 2019 Index of Economic Freedom Australia’s score is 80.9. This is due to well established labor freedom, trade freedom, fiscal health, government integrity and judicial effectiveness.

Companies attracted to invest in Australia because Government facilitates and encourages entrepreneurial development and readily available skilled workforce. Moreover, effective law and order mitigate the corruption, implementation Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights ensures protection of property rights and enforcement of contracts and 30% flat corporate tax also plays an important role. (2019 Index of Economic Freedom, 2019)

Other factors like such as efficient and transparent regulatory environment is very favorable to entrepreneurship. Government do not interfere with foreign investment and Foreign firms compete on equal terms with domestic banks and other financial institutions.

Culture and Communication – Relationship

Due to globalization of business and the differences between national and international business structure people need to learn about how to work with and maintain professional relationship with other people of different culture which is a complex relationship. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the relation between culture and communication.

According to sociologist Georg Simmel, culture referred to ‘the cultivation of individuals through the agency of external forms which have been objectified in the course of history.’ (Simmel & Levine, 1971). On the other hand Edward B. Tylor, the founder of cultural anthropology, came up with a classic definition of culture that most sociologists find acceptable: Culture, or civilization, ‘taken in its wide ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.’ (Turner, 2019). Meaning it is the way of life and the set of believes and norms and customs that people from different geographical location practices in a set time. All culture has some unique characteristics and are different from each other though the components are same.

On the other hand, “culture is the residue of the social communication. It is created from communication i.e., human interaction through which norms, customs and rituals are shared and vice versa.

1. Introduction:

Hello everyone. The main purpose for my speech is to let you know more about South Korea and its culture. According to former U.S. Representative Charles B. Rangel “Since the Korean War, the U.S. and South Korea have established an enduring friendship with shared interests, such as denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, combating aggression abroad and developing our economies.”

• Today, I am going to share with you about how conducting business in South Korea would be positive and unique for us.
• I have gathered some important information about South Korea with some research for the last two weeks.
• Firstly, I am going to talk about South Korea. Second, I will explain about South Korea communication behavior to the USA. Lastly, I will focus on the major business events happening in South Korea.

Let us start by giving some background information about South Korea:

• South Korea lies in the eastern part of Asia sharing the Southern Part of the Korean Peninsula: hence the name South Korea. South Korea has a temperate climate with four distinct seasons: long winter, very short summer, short spring, and autumn.
• The capital city of South Korea is Seoul.
• South Korea is made up of 17 first-tier administrative division – 6 metropolitan cities, 1 special city, 1 special autonomous city, and 9 provinces.

Talking about Current political structure and important persons in power:

• Korea has the political framework of a presidential representative democratic republic with Legislative, Executive and Judicial branch of the National Government.
• Moon Jae-In is the current president of South Korea.

Country Economic Status:

• The economy of South Korea is the fourth largest in Asia and the eleventh largest in the world.
• According to the Economic Indicators from the UN Data, Service economy has the highest portion of the economy which is 59.2 % in the year 2018, followed by Industry 38.6 % and agriculture 2.2 %. Shipbuilding, automobile production, mining, construction, armaments, and tourism are the major industries in South Korea.
• Korea’s Vision 2030 Plan suggests that South Korea will lay the foundations to join the most advanced countries in the world. Vision 2030 focuses on three strategic themes to create a foundation for economic prosperity: A vibrant society. Creating a vibrant society, living in moderation and proud of its national identity, protected by caring families and supported by empowering social and healthcare systems. A thriving economy. Cite from: https://mep.gov.sa/KnowledgeBaseDocuments/MEP%20Documents/SaudiKoreanVision2030Committee.pdf

Now that I have given you some background about South Korea, I am now going to tell you about some of the culture and communication behavior with America.

I did research on some website, to get to learn more about the culture and communication of South Korea:

• The relation between the United States and South Korea have been extensive since 1950, when the United States helped establish the modern state of South Korea, also known as the Republic of Korea, and fought on its UN-sponsored side in the Korean War (1950–1953). South Korea and the United States agreed to a military alliance in 1953. Is was called “the relationship forged in blood.”
• According to the United States Trade Representative: South Korea is currently our 6th largest goods trading partner with $119.8 billion in total (two way) goods trade during 2017. Goods exports from the United States totaled $48.3 billion; Goods imports totaled $71.4 billion. The U.S. goods trade deficit with Korea was $23.1 billion in 2017.
• South Korea’s economy is high-tech and industrialized. Its main industries include electronics, telecommunications, auto production, steel, shipbuilding, and chemical production. Some of South Korea’s largest companies include Hyundai, LG, and Samsung. The recent popularity of Korean popular culture, often known as the ‘Korean Wave’, in these countries has increased tourist arrivals.

Now that I have told you about some cultural and communication relationship between the United States and South Korea, now I am going to talk about two current projects happening in South Korea:

• The United States is ranked second in the trading partners of South Korea after China. This economic and commercial tie will deepen if the United States–Korea Free Trade Agreement, also known as KORUS FTA, is enhanced more which would create more jobs, economic support and technological exchange between the countries.
• According to Korea’s national report, “As our special anniversary OECD Observer shows, Korea has come from being one of the world’s poorest countries half a century ago to now the world’s 11th largest economy. Home of the world-famous brands, from cars to smartphones, K-pop and fashion. Korea’s transformation has been dubbed ‘The miracle on the Han River’”.

Now that I have told you information about South Korea, let me conclude my speech.

• First, I gave you some background information about South Korea. Second, I told and compared you about the communication behavior with America. Finally, I told you about the current news that is happening in South Korea.
• I think conducting business in South Korea would be beneficial as the consumption behavior of the people living in Korea is similar to major developed countries and there is security for business with ease of getting into the market. Also, the aspiration to try out the foreign products and services in Korea provides the atmosphere to do well in business in South Korea.

Work Cited:

1. ‘South Korea.’ CultureGrams Online Edition, ProQuest, 2019, online.culturegrams.com/world/world_country.php?cid=149&cn=South_Korea&ctid=3. Accessed 06 April 2019.
2. Hofstede, Greet. “Country Comparison.” Hofstede Insights, www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/south-korea,the-usa/.
3. Gamel, Kim. “South Korean Parliament Ratifies Cost-Sharing Accord with US.” Stars and Stripes, www.stripes.com/news/pacific/south-korean-parliament-ratifies-cost-sharing-accord-with-us-1.575803.
4. UNdata. “Republic of Korea”, United Nations, data.un.org/en/iso/kr.html.
5. “Korea.” OECD, www.oecd.org/korea/.
6. “U.S. – Korea Free Trade Agreement.” United States Trade Representative, ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/korus-fta.

The topic for my informative presentation is the discussion of culture, personality, and experience. I want to examine more about our cultural identities and personalities that change our observations and how we have the inclination to interest others who display cultural or personal characteristics. Understanding more about our culture identities and personalities that impact our perceptions can aid us to become mindful and knowledgeable in concern to the influences and reactions we develop towards others. This was the topic I was interested in to present when we discussed from the previous lessons of perceptions, culture and communication, and identities in interpersonal communication.

From what can I offer in this presentation is more of an in-depth look of each of the subtopics and explain their roles in interpersonal communication. In culture, race, gender, sexual preference, class, capability, nationality, and age change the views that we make; and as we are socialized into several cultural identities, we suppress values, opinions, and ideals that are common in our cultural groups. Subjecting ourselves to and facing cultural differences in perspective doesn’t mean we have to change our identities just to match towards other cultural groups. Instead, it is a perfect opportunity to explore various cultural groups and understand more about how people express themselves differently. Nonverbal communication is implemented towards culture with high v. low context cultures. High context cultures depend on nonverbal communication with aspects such as the intimacy of relationships, meticulous social orders and deep cultural experience to express meaning; and low context cultures is more direct with communication, depending more on words and speechFor personality, it implies to one’s common way of feeling, thinking, and conducting centered on motivations and inclinations and it helps set up our personality traits. This can be based on the “Big Five” personality traits: extraversion (energy released or isolated when socializing), agreeableness (credibility/sociability), conscientiousness (self-organization/motivation), neuroticism (emotional level), and openness (consider new ideas/perspectives). The five personality traits are used to help recognize and calculate relationships between personality traits and accomplishment in social, educational, and qualified conditions.

And perception in interpersonal communication starts with information that comes in through our main five senses and how we perceive even basic sensory information is influenced by our culture. The five senses are sight, sound, touch, taste and smell; each are also inclined towards nonverbal communication. For example, two of the senses, touch and sight, are nonverbal signals that help develop communication towards others. Touch is given by a handshake, a warm bear hug, a kiss on the cheek, a high-five, or a restraining grip on the arm; and sight is eye contact, which is a vital type of nonverbal communication, like the way we look at someone which includes fascination, friendliness, attractiveness and antipathy. Overall, each of the subtopics explain more in complexity on their roles in interpersonal communication, as well as how nonverbal interaction is executed towards the subtopics. The one main difficulty I would have when delivering this presentation is properly explaining each of the topics and going deep into explicit details. I do have the tendency to ramble on and possibly go off topic when discussing about certain topics, in most cases that could affect me personal-wise. What I expect to learn from this presentation is that I can properly speak more fluently with the audience, and also be a little more diligent and comfortable with my topic of choice from interpersonal communication.

Introduction

In today’s interconnected world, media plays a significant role in shaping our perceptions, beliefs, and values. It has the power to influence culture, perpetuate stereotypes, and reinforce existing power structures. In this critical essay, we will explore the complex relationship between media and culture, analyzing how media representation can shape social norms, reinforce inequality, and perpetuate harmful ideologies.

Power Dynamics and Media Representation

Media has the ability to shape our understanding of the world by controlling the narratives and images that are presented to us. However, media representation is not neutral. It is influenced by power dynamics, including economic interests, political agendas, and social hierarchies. The dominant groups in society often control media production and distribution, which can result in biased portrayals of marginalized communities.

Media representation has a profound impact on how individuals perceive themselves and others. It can perpetuate stereotypes, reinforce prejudices, and marginalize certain groups. For example, the overrepresentation of certain racial or ethnic groups as criminals or exotic objects perpetuates harmful stereotypes and reinforces racial biases. Similarly, the underrepresentation or misrepresentation of LGBTQ+ individuals can contribute to the erasure and stigmatization of their experiences.

Consumer Culture and Commodification

Media plays a crucial role in shaping consumer culture and promoting materialism. Advertisements and media content often create desires and insecurities, leading individuals to associate their self-worth with the acquisition of material possessions. This consumer-driven culture perpetuates inequality and reinforces the notion that one’s value is determined by their ability to consume and possess certain products.

Moreover, media platforms often prioritize profit over cultural authenticity. Cultural practices and traditions are commodified and repackaged for mass consumption, leading to the erasure of their historical and social significance. This commodification can dilute cultural identities and contribute to the homogenization of global culture.

Media Literacy and Resistance

To address the negative effects of media representation, media literacy becomes essential. By developing critical thinking skills and media literacy, individuals can question the messages and images presented by the media, identify biases, and challenge dominant narratives. Media literacy empowers individuals to resist the harmful impact of media representation and seek alternative sources of information and perspectives.

Additionally, grassroots movements and alternative media platforms have emerged as avenues for marginalized voices to challenge dominant narratives and share their own stories. Social media has provided a platform for individuals to amplify their voices, challenge stereotypes, and mobilize for social change. These alternative forms of media enable the representation of diverse experiences and offer a counter-narrative to the mainstream media.

Conclusion

Media and culture are deeply intertwined, with media playing a significant role in shaping societal norms, beliefs, and values. However, media representation is not neutral and is often influenced by power dynamics and social hierarchies. It can perpetuate stereotypes, reinforce inequality, and commodify cultural practices.

To combat the negative effects of media representation, media literacy becomes crucial. By critically analyzing media messages, questioning biases, and seeking alternative perspectives, individuals can resist the harmful impact of media and cultivate a more nuanced understanding of culture.

Furthermore, the rise of alternative media platforms and grassroots movements provides hope for challenging dominant narratives and amplifying marginalized voices. Through these avenues, we can strive for a more inclusive and equitable media landscape that accurately represents the diversity of our society.

Ultimately, by critically examining the intersection of media and culture, we can foster a more informed and empowered society that actively challenges media’s influence and works towards a more equitable representation for all.