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Ethnocentrism is generally defined as viewing one’s own culture as superior to all others. However, quite often, it is not quite that obvious. Whenever we encounter something that seems strange or different, we will feel some degree of discomfort. How we respond to that feeling is a gauge of how ethnocentric we are about it. Let’s suppose that you are entertaining a business client from France. You take him to a very fine french restaurant where he looks over the menu very carefully, then asks the waiter if he or she, by chance, has cheval available. The waiter shakes his head and explains that it is not served in America. Your client becomes somewhat upset and tells you that a truly fine restaurant would serve “proper” cuisine, and that he was very disappointed with American hospitality so far. He eventually settles for the prime rib, but is ill-tempered for the rest of the evening. The next morning, he leaves for France without consummating the expected business deal. Your boss asks you what happened, and you explain that the client was upset because the restaurant didn’t serve something called cheval. Your boss nearly chokes on his morning coffee and asks, “You mean he actually ordered horse meat?” How much ethnocentrism is at work? Discuss what and how a better understanding of cultural differences in food preferences by all parties could have prevented the unfortunate incident. What was your response to learning that the client wanted horsemeat? What was your response to his anger that he couldn’t get it?
Discussion 2
Your company is in need of someone to fill a new position. The spot calls for some very specific skills, education, and experience, but you happen to have an old friend who exactly fits the bill. In addition, he has mentioned to you that he feels it is time to make a change and has been contemplating looking for a new job. You give him a call and he says that he is very interested, so you call the head of the department in question and tell him about your friend. The department head is very excited and tells you to have him call for an interview. You do and everything seems fine. Several weeks pass and your friend calls you and asks if you have any idea what happened with the job. He interviewed and everything went well, but he never heard back and just learned that the position had been filled with someone who has no experience and a much different background. You call the department head and relay the question. After some hemming and hawing, the department head makes some vague statement about your friend not being a “good fit.” He was afraid that your friend’s “accent” might make it difficult for him to be understood, and he was concerned about his work ethic since he came from a cultural background that has a more “laidback” work ethic. You hang up and think about it. Your friend is from Jamaica and does have an accent and very relaxed personality, but is certainly not lazy. Then you realize that he is also a minority and that this particular department not only has no minority employees, but never has had one. What do you do? Is the department head being ethnocentric or prejudiced? Do you tell your friend what you were told? Do you call someone higher up and express your concerns? Do you do nothing at all?
DQ 1
I mentioned in the week’s introduction that culture was a lot like air. It is all around us, but we really don’t pay attention to it unless it is absent or smells odd. The same is true about our culture. We don’t think much about it, and we go through our lives feeling that things are the way they are because that’s the way they ought to be. This week, start sniffing the cultural air around you. What do you learn about our culture? Identify some things that are distinctively “American.” Don’t just use material culture (objects and physical symbols), but include non-material culture such as language, values, ideology, ethics, behaviors, and the like. What is it that makes us distinctive in the world?
DQ 2
A cellphone company once ran a television ad touting its call reliability, in which a young man is talking to his future father-in-law, who is telling him to address him by his first name and consider him a friend. The young man launches into a series of variations of the first name. Unknown to either party, the call is dropped and the young man does not hear any response from the father. He becomes very nervous and disconcertedly reverts to “Mr.” and “Sir.” The ad’s message is clear: Use our service and this sort of thing won’t happen.
Why do you think the ad agency chose this power relationship for its commercial, and is it one to which you can relate??Have you had any kind of similar experience (not necessarily on a cellphone)?
week 3
Let’s start this discussion by sharing public observations. Spend time either walking around or sitting and watching people in a very busy public place. Look for things that you associate with people from race/ethnic, cultural, gender, and social-class backgrounds that are different from your own. Look for the kinds of common interactions or behaviors between different groups and those like your own. For example, do they acknowledge the other’s presence if eye contact happens to occur? Do any behaviors change in the presence of other groups?
Consider what you expect to see based on your assumptions and understandings about persons of different backgrounds (how you expect them to dress, walk, talk, interact with each other, interact with others, etc). Make note of those things that catch your attention. Pay special attention to what you don’t see as well nd, share your observations with the class.
When traveling to other countries for business, it is important to know the male/female roles in each country. Not knowing these roles could cause problems in discussions and negotiations. If you were traveling to Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Brazil, Thailand, the Czech Republic, Russia, or Rwanda, what would you need to know about the traditional male/female roles? Search the Internet for one or more of the above countries to find out about male/female roles. Share your findings with the class.
Triggers are ethnocentric responses to differences and defensive reactions to ethnocentrism. Any number of things can serve as triggers, but they generally fall into the following categories: voice, appearance, attitude, and behavior. Describe a trigger that you have responded to in the past, even if it was only a fleeting mental thought.
If we look at the term diversity as different groups, we can include groups such as Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y. What are some differences between the Baby Boomer group and the Generation Y group when it comes to the work force? What are some of the major differences between these groups, and how can any obstacles be overcome to create a successful organization?
Do a Library search for an articles about Robert Merton’s Structural Strain Theory. This theory talks about the kinds of responses that one might expect when the “normal” legitimate means to acquiring the “good” stuff in life is blocked. The block can be deliberate or the result of social structure. What advice would you have for any individual who exhibits these responses?
We often hear about the “glass ceiling.” Does it still exist? Are there invisible barriers to advancement that impact some groups more than others? Use examples from the course reading to support your points, and feel free to share your own experiences with the glass ceiling.
Research is fundamental in the social sciences. A common data collection method is the survey. Let’s look at the survey as a social scientist.
Navigate to the DeVry portal ( http://my.devry.edu). At the student portal, enter your DSI# and the password used to log in to the student portal and navigate to the End of Course Evaluations and Student Satisfaction Survey directly from the home page. Locate the Quick Links section on the left side of the home page, scroll to the bottom of the page and select the link for Surveys.
Now, let’s discuss the merits and flaws of this survey instrument. Which questions would you add? Which would you delete? What questions would you change? What questions would you keep the same?
We have been talking about the importance of understanding our own attitudes and prejudices in order to appreciate cultural differences. In light of this topic, why is it important? How have you dealt with situations in which you did or said things that you later learned or realized might have been offensive, or at least misunderstood?
From Understanding and Managing Diversity by Harvey and Allard.
An important part of our course is researching information on diversity and multiculturalism and its social, cultural, and ethical impact upon individual citizens, groups of people, and society at large. In the twenty-first century, Web sites are an important channel of communication between organizations and their external stakeholders. If an organization is serious about its commitment to diversity, one would expect that this would be reflected in the design, content, and graphics of the Web site. Potential employees, customers, suppliers, etc., often turn first to a Web site before initiating interaction with an organization. If diversity is really integral to the mission and values of an organization, information on diversity should be easily accessible, informative, and well integrated into the Web site.
You will select a specific company in an industry such as healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing government, education, sports, etc. Then, prepare a report on the following:
Age
Gender
Mental/Physical abilities
Race
Ethnic Heritage
Sexual Orientation
Geographic Location
Military and Work Experience
Family Status
Income
Religion
First Language
Education
Organizational Role
Level Communication
Work Styles
You will submit the report in three sections throughout the course, with a due date for each section. These due dates are posted on the Course Schedule.
The Course Project should be 6-8 pages in length. Your 4 relevant scholarly/peer reviewed sources may include your textbook and books and articles obtained through the DeVry library. Credible articles from news, government (.gov), or academic (.edu) websites can also be used; acceptable examples include NPR, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Business Week. Do not use Wikipedia and similar encyclopedia websites, such as about.com or “cheat” websites like coursehero or chegg.Please review the detailed instructions for each phase of the project, which you can find in the Assignment tab for that week. Your project will be graded as follows.
APA Style Tutorial
TutorialAPA Guidelines for Citing Sources Click on the link above to view the video. This video will give you a quick introduction to APA guidelines for citing sources. Highlights include purposes of citing, guidelines and examples of how to cite sources in text and at the end of a paper, and how to format a reference list or an entire paper.
The assignment must be placed ONLY in the Dropbox. E-mailed submissions will not be accepted.
Dropbox
Submit your assignment to the Dropbox, located at the top of this page. For instructions on how to use the Dropbox, read these step-by-step instructions.
See the Syllabus section “Due Dates for Assignments & Exams” for due date information.
Week 2: Project Proposal
Week 4: Reference List and Outline
Week 8: Final Paper
Submission is in correct APA format, including a numbered Title page with running head, a body of text that uses an introduction, a conclusion, headings and subheadings, and a reference page that is double spaced, alphabetized, uses hanging indents and includes four relevant scholarly/peer reviewed sources
The following are best practices in preparing this project.
A Kansas City based supplier of health care information technology (HCIT) solutions has recently hired you as a Human Resource Manager. You are in charge of hiring new medical consultants for the sales division of this organization. Due to the competitive marketplace, sales and revenues are at an all-time low. During your interview, you stated that you could serve as a valuable asset to this company. You noted your long-standing history of selecting the best candidates for a variety of positions and stated that you could bring the sales division back to its place as the leading resource of your organization. You want to perform well at this job because it is a big career move for you. You know that if people trust your judgement about the quality of the people you hire, that they will trust your judgement about other matters as well. Also, the more successful HR managers in this company tend to move to higher positions within the organization.
Your job is to hire a medical consultant to assist with sales of your latest HCIT solutions to a global marketplace. This job requires that the consultant be articulate, sophisticated, and knowledgeable about medical terminology and technology. The job requires frequent travel Monday through Friday in order for the consultant to work with those in the prospective company. This job also includes spending some leisure time after 5:00 P.M. with prospective clients.
Required: Read the case summary and accompanying character descriptions, then answer the following question:
Please state and explain your decision in a one-page summary. Make sure to include a title page. In your summary, be sure to reference course material (readings, lectures, or concepts from the flash cards).
Ren Sanspit, Changing Careers
As my resume states, I was a dentist before arthritis made that career too painful. My physician says that my condition would not interfere with this position. I think working with people in sales would be more interesting than taking bite-wings and placing rubber dams. I am an empty nester and want to devote time to my new career in order to be successful.
Angie Gram, Medical Technologist
As my resume states, I was an engineering major and I designed medical devices. I am very good with people and I am working on improving my English-speaking skills. I graduated first in my class and I wrote a paper on the use of qr codes to monitor patient medication that was recently published in a peer-reviewed journal. I am a leading expert in the medical technology field.
Medica Seles, Informatics Consultant
As my resume states, I have been in a medical sales consultant for five years. I have been awarded the Sales Consultant of the Year at my last company. Currently I am relocating to Kansas City because I will be getting married next month. My credentials are stellar and I graduated at the top of my class in Healthcare Informatics.
Karen Comfort, BSN
As my resume states, I have a BSN and have been employed in various positions in a variety of medical specialty practices. I have worked for M.D.s, D.O.s and hospital administrators. Having worked in so many different specialty practices I am extremely well versed in medical terminology. I am single, therefore I am available to travel and work long hours.
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