Cross Culture Business Bereavement Leave
Judy Sheats
ETH/316
October 14, 2013
Dawn Chisholm

Cross Culture Business Bereavement Leave
It has been said, ‘the only sure things are death and taxes.’ Though taxes may not always apply to global businesses, death of an employee is a global occurrence every company must deal with. Death is a permanent loss and is dealt with differently from culture to culture, mostly based on religious beliefs or traditional rituals. A global company must consider these cultural differences when initiating bereavement leave policies. According to "Studymode.com" (2008), “Grieving and funeral rituals vary greatly across cultures and, in most cases, are associated with religious practices and beliefs. People tend to look at the death phenomena through the scope of their religious beliefs and often relate their personal experiences with death to cultural norms and traditions” (para. 2).
Death to a Salesman
“When managers consider whether or not to develop a business relationship with those from a different culture, their decision may be affected by actual differences in ethical profiles, but potentially even more so by their perceptions of ethicality in the counterpart culture” (Gift, Gift, & Zheng, 2013, para.1). A worldwide company for instance, has corporate facilities around the globe, which employs Americans and those raised in the country where the business resides. Everyone has their cultural traditions they must follow when a death occurs to an employee or their family member, whatever the case, leave from work is required to deal with family matters during time of loss and grief. Americans traditionally, are allowed 5 working days off if death of loved one occurred in different city than where the employee lives. Belief systems also dictate the time frame necessary for the bereavement based on religious beliefs, cultural traditions, and practices.

Cross Culture Bereavement Practices Business Should Consider Asian Bereavement
According to Yick and Gupta (2002) “Ancestor worship, for example, entails praying for the lineage on the male's line of descent. These dead ancestors are believed to play a role in a family's wealth, health, and success, and therefore, paying the proper respect means that the ancestors will bless the family. For the Chinese, it has been said the term "reverence" rather than the term "worship" of ancestors is more appropriate.”
“During traditional festivals, such as the Spring Festival, families would set out tablets of the deceased family member and burn incense to express their respect. In Chinese culture, grief and bereavement are not necessarily private, time-limited, nor does it give the appearance that the grieving family member "lets go." Funerals are usually a public affair, and the degree of elaborateness symbolizes the family's social status and their respect for the deceased (Lee, 1991). However, mourning rituals currently last 49 days.”
Muslim Bereavement
Christine Baker states, “Theoretically, the earliest Muslims tried to follow the example of the Prophet Muhammad in establishing rituals for burying and mourning the dead.” Muslims also pray several times daily as a part of their worship and preparation for the deceased. They have their purification rituals which can last several days.
Christian Bereavement
Americans themselves have various rituals in dealing with bereavement as well. Atheists, Catholics, Protestants, Christians, Mormons and other religions have their individualized practices. Christians come from many denominations who have special practices based on a personal preference of the individual family. Funerals are a time to bring family and friends of the deceased together to celebrate their life and console one another in dealing with grief. Some employees of businesses have their personal needs to get through the grieving process and those needs can be worked out on as needed basis.
Conclusion
These are just a few situations where cultural differences play an integral part in employee and employer relations. With American Businesses, bereavement leave is offered in respect to the family to deal with the loss of a loved one. The accommodations for the employee to be off work are based on company policy and individual needs on case by case basis. Cross cultural global business practices will face religious and cultural traditions in bereavement and must decide how to handle those situations with sensitivity and honor, and most importantly, equality. Ethically, a business should allow equal rights for all personnel no matter their beliefs or traditions. This is the challenge to prevent favoritism without insulting individual beliefs and culture.

Reference
Gift, M., Gift, P., & Zheng, Q. (2013). ). Cross-cultural perceptions of business ethics:
Evidence from the United States and China. Journal of Business Ethics, 114(4), 633-642. Para. 1. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1709-z
StudyMode.com. (2008). http://www.studymode.com/essays/
Death-In-Cross-Cultural-Perspectives-1149953.html (para. 1-2).
Yick, A. G., & Gupta, R. (2002). Chinese cultural dimensions of death, dying, and bereavement: Focus group findings. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 9(2), 32-42. http://search.proquest.com
Baker, C. D. (2009). Muhammad's grave: Death rites and the making of Islamic society. Journal of World History, 20(3), 453-455. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com