...Culture clash: Opportunity or conflict? By - Judah L. Ronch, PhD We talk a lot about culture change, but what is it about the culture that needs to be changed, and which culture are we talking about? In all community care settings, there are actually a few cultures that come together and, sometimes, collide. We have examined culture before and used Edgar Schein's definition, which we have loosely summarized as “the way we do things around here.” 1 This definition applies to both the culture in the community where we are giving care and to the culture of the family from which this person has come, and sometimes these are the cultures that clash. 2 CONFLICTING CULTURES The culture of many healthcare environments, including residential care for elders, often follows traditionally hierarchic models in which the patient's schedule is determined by the schedules of the workday and shifts, task lists and power structure. In contrast to this, many families follow a more collaborative style of care, where family members consult with each other about how best to meet the needs of the elder. When the family member comes in and, because of a prior caregiving relationship or simply because they know and are concerned about the elder, assumes he or she is part of the care team in the community, we sometimes find ourselves with a problem. Perhaps we bristle at having a professional opinion questioned; perhaps we assume the family member is an adversary, taking time from our...
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...a mud pot. NB, “drumstick” is a type of edible radish. - Muni and the American meet by chance and their inability to understand each other results in a misunderstanding wherein Muni sells the village’s horse statue for 100 rupees, thinking he is, in fact, selling his almost worthless goats. Two very distinct lives are clearly expressed via the men’s conversation (with themselves, so to speak), however one similarity does arise (women). - the third person omniscient narrator reports clearly and objectively on the characters' words, actions, and memories, and does not comment or judge. This is the writer trusting the reader to notice how absurd the conversation is without having to point it out, thus ruining the humour. It can also be a reflection of the same passivity seen in Muni when it comes to him accepting his fate. The narrator does nto have to explain how foolish or ironic the conversation is, it’s stronger if we see it ourselves. - The main conflict of the story is their inability to understand one another. The climax can be said to be “the truth dawned on the old man” – there seems to finally be understanding between the two. However, we then get the twist, which shows that there is no understanding afterall (Muni misinterprets the American’s wish as for the goats). Characters: The American - He typifies the "Ugly American": he speaks only English, but is surprised and a little annoyed to find that Muni can speak...
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...Running head: Self Reflection 19 ones influence; love of all humanity means respect for the dignity of and sensitivity to the needs of others; and humility is the acknowledgement of our own limitations (“the more we know, the more there is to learn). (Cathcart, 2000; Welfel, 2010) Emerson said, “Desire is possibility seeking expression.” If a person truly wants something, the possibility of achieving or attaining it surely exists. Problems arise when people confuse probability with possibility and when they decide that we already know everything required to perform a task; far too many variables exist for people to really „know‟ everything required to resolve any one situation. As professionals, we must proceed cautiously and judiciously based on what we have learned about ourselves, our core beliefs and values, and the standards and guidelines of our professional associations; while listening to the messages the world is sending us from within, being realistically optimistic, and realizing that there is no limit to human possibilities and human potential. The ultimate power to achieve lies within each individual and can only be actualized by Self -exploration, Self -discovery, Self -motivation, Self -discipline, Self -mastery, Self- confidence, Self- understanding, Self- acceptance, and Self- realization. Without a set of values, these actions will lack direction and focus. Measuring them against a set of values requires that we, as professionals...
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...mainstream, yet you need to be “Edgy” un-mainstream to succeed. Live fast, die young Jazz is cool. It started as a marginalized expression that the dominant culture romanticized but once mainstream it lost lots of its coolness. “outsider as an insider” To define what is supremely “American” is to be a living contradiction. Cynicism is American Prude sexuality Ephemeral: catch it and it dies Talking shit is American Cause controversy is cool, but it is also cool to be above the controversy Cool is relative and ever changing. Satire is the new cool. Satire is a type of comedy, the use of irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and critique people’s stupidity or vices. Food of all mixture and availabilities Will the Clash of Identities Consume Us? “The cult of identity is a selfish and brutal vision of the world that can lead to the most terrible crimes” National vs. ethnic vs. religious vs. global identity “Culture means diversity… there is no definite truth” Without diversity, people fall on likemindness which narrows the culture “We have to create conditions for a world wide culture...
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...culture quite fast and we become used to perceiving our group of people as the only thing that is "good." We fear wanting to assimilate or broaden our knowledge to other cultures, for it is our natural instinct to shut out anything unfamiliar to us. In her essay, "Arts of the Contact Zone," Mary Louise Pratt argues for importance of understanding the point where two cultures clash, the contact zone, and that it can be powerful to engage in one's culture by expanding our grasp of knowledge and wisdom in the diversity we live in today. Pratt introduces three major concepts in her argument that exemplify the objective of her essay: the contact zone, autoethnographic texts, and transculturation. Upon viewing two other pieces by Richard Rodriguez, “The Achievement of Desire” and Gloria Anzaldua’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Rodriguez and Anzaldua demonstrate Pratt's argument by supporting her concepts about the influence of contact zones between two juxtaposing cultures. In her argument, "Arts of the Contact Zone," Pratt introduces the theme of her argument, the contact zones: the point where cultures clash and come together in unison. Where one culture has a lot more power than the other. A contact zone is the root of how every race and ethnicity should come under a consensus as to understanding the underlying meaning of each other's differences and looking at perspectives in order to break down unnecessary barriers people put up. Pratt demonstrates an example of this when...
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...acknowledged and almost sacred value amongst Native Americans. It is of utmost importance in Native American societies and culture that women be respected. Land of the Spotted Eagle again mentions women’s roles in Native American society when the book states, “The woman of the household had no ‘lord and master’...” The novel Sifters emphasizes the same topic and makes it known that women in Native American societies dictated most everything. Women set up their own tipis for their families, in the location of their choosing. Women helped with hunting via preparing and controlling all the food that was brought to the tribe. If a woman and her husband split, the woman had full custody of their children, as well as all of their land and belongings. It is easy to see...
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...Francis Fukuyama. The end of the Cold War as the end of history. Introduction. The specifics of the international situation after the Cold War. Since 1985, the world is going through an amazing evolution. The interdependence emerged and has become a reality of understanding of all processes in the world. Peace, freedom, human rights, social security, democracy have taken place of those values, because of which the major battles were unfold in the international arena and within countries. Overnight concepts collapsed that before seemed unshakable. In this case, not only the political picture of the world changed . At large numbers of people in different countries sense of global community, solidarity, public interest, human intimacy has been strengthened . Not surprisingly, that the rapid evolution of the global situation, the collapse of the bipolar system and fade into the background of ideological aspects confused scientists specializing in political predictions. Now, it is necessary not only to explain the reasons which led to the formation of new political realities after the "cold war", but also suggest new approaches and concepts on the basis of which it was possible to trace the dynamics of international relations in a changing world. Francis Fukuyama, his works and intepretations. Francis Fukuyama - known American political scientist and geopolitician. He received a bachelor's degree from Cornell University (New York), then - PhD in political science from...
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...Reflection Paper: “A Critical Analysis of the Chinese Thinking Process” What is repeatedly in the news and talked about at the universities during exchange semesters is the further development of the globalization and its consequences regarding the cultural diversity. The fact that different European or even North-American countries are visibly starting to merge their cultures is not what attracts the greatest attention, since “our” (western) thinking process works at least in its principles the same. The real difficulty for western cultures coming along with the globalization is the fact that we are merging also with a culture we do not understand intuitively. China with a current population of over one billion has shown an outstanding economic performance over the last years. Marting Jacques argues that the country that rules the world economically, defines the cultural basic principles. The performance of China over the last years leads to the assumption that the future dominating culture could not be the western, it could be the eastern (Helg, 2011). Therefore, we have to deal with the differences between these cultures as soon as possible to understand what potential change we could face in the near future. Within the Business area, the family area as well as in politics, China works differently than western countries. Whereas in the western business is about winning and pityless negotiation, the Chinese businessmen value honor and not letting someone loose his face as...
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...Self-reflection – the key to effective leadership Most authorities on leadership development understand the importance of assisting managers and leaders to engage in self-discovery and self-reflection. Recorded statements from philosophers about the need for self-awareness and reflection for those in leadership positions goes back thousands of years to ancient philosophers and teaches like Confucius, Socrates, Plato, Jesus and Mohammed. However, research has shown that self-reflection is possibly a manager’s least favourite activity. While much has been written on the need for self-reflection and for selfunderstanding by managers, little is available that points the way forward for managers on how to commence self-reflection, what are the processes involved and how one commences on the road to self discovery. In this short article, I will endeavour to assist you to commence learning about yourself. There are two good reasons why managers and leaders should be concerned about learning about themselves. First, while some people, because of personality flaws, like narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychological personality disorders should never be allowed to lead others, most people can improve their leadership potential and performance by engaging in self-reflection. Second, research has shown there is no better bedrock for effective leadership than a secure understanding and sense of oneself. Self-understanding also provides a sound basis for understanding ...
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...stages of their lives. Aging involves biophysical changes and challenges, senescence and health issues, Pharmaceutical interventions, and closer monitoring of health and wellness. As an individual age they begin to experience Wisdom: Ego vs. Despair, This stage marks a considerable reduction in productivity and is when a person enters the retirement phase. During this stage, adults tend to look back upon their lives to figure whether they have led a successful life. If so, a feeling of contentment and what Erikson called Integrity vs. Prevails on the adult. This reflection; if not positive, leads to a state of despair where nothing can be done to turn back time and change. This stage and reflection can also be marked by regrets if the aging adult is left to feel unaccomplished. A prominent aspect of this stage is also the fear of death, which contributes to the hopelessness that becomes apparent at this stage. An adult's values at this stage are set and firm nothing can alter or change the thought process or the perception with which she/he now views the world. Late adulthood can be marked by menopause and osteoporosis, a reduction in bone density, grey hair, less skin elasticity, and a loss of muscle mass resulting in an increase of body fat. Cognitively, during late adulthood verbal skills such as vocabulary and broad-spectrum knowledge are still intact. However, memory and mobility tends to decrease. Social and personality development can be affected by many variables during...
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...Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), “His first novel - the groundbreaking Things Fall Apart, published in 1958 - dealt with the clash between Western and traditional African values - and how traditional norms and values had been undermined.”, “It stripped away the colonial scrim, gave authority to a voice arising from centuries of cultural tradition that predated European contact and served as the catalyst for postcolonial literature the world over.” The use of past tenses, long sentences and no cultural words are definitely the most noticeable differences. The use of synonyms and repetition are similar; however, in British English not as strongly and evidently as in African English. British missionaries brought English and “enlightenment” to Africa, established their own rules, built churches and used land, “The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.” However, Africa was able to regain unity among each other, the people’s strong inner believes and devotion to their country’s customs and traditions which were preserved for decades can still be seen and felt through their poetry, dance, way of talking and thinking which has a huge reflection on their language. ...
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...MGMT 591: Leadership and Organizational Behavior Course Project The Impact of the Lack of Generational Diversity within a Small Company 1.0 Introduction & Overview Edge Solutions, LLC is a majority woman-owned IT solutions provider delivering superior customer service and support for impactful IT solutions that meet our customers’ business challenges across the mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Edge’s corporate headquarters office is located at 7 Old Roswell Street, Alpharetta, Georgia. This company was founded in 2008 at the kitchen table of Julie & Michael Haley. Julie’s professional background is corporate and legislative law and Michael served as Vice President and General Manager for a Fortune 500 hardware distribution company. Within a very short time, Edge started receiving notary in IT industry and business awards and professional accreditations for its business growth, level of service and expertise. In June 2012, Edge was named the 3rd fasting growing company in the nation by Inc. 500/5000. And the URL for the online site is http://www.inc.com/inc5000/profile/edge-solutions. At Edge, our team is dedicated to delivering the right solution with specific expertise in data center management, server and storage virtualization, storage management, data protection information management, eCommerce procurement solutions as well as asset and services contract management to small and midsize businesses. I am Edge Solutions’ rising Chief Information Officer (managing...
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...This essay is based on adult case study two a 70 year old male patient called Mr James. All names have been change in this essay in order to comply with the NMC (2008). Code professional conduct on confidential. The case study highlights a number of principle, legal issues and professional value. These will be identified and some will be discuss in details. Ethics is concerned with the study of social morality and philosophical reflection of norms and practice (Burckhardt and Nathaniel 2003). These ethical issues are those based on basic and essential to social values that include respect for life, liberty and to be cared for. There will be a demonstration of understanding the theory of deontology while recognizing the importance of ethical principles in relation on the delivery of individual patient care. Informed consent will be highlighted in detail to provide validity and factors involved. A reflection will be provided to detail the understanding of how ethical theories contribute to the ethical decision making process in clinical area. Also a brief discussion will be given to show what has been gained from producing this essay. Consent can be defined as an agreement to allow something to happen based on full disclosure of facts needed to make an intelligent decision (Hazel 2002). This includes the knowledge of risks involved, benefits and consequence of refusal. Informed consent not only requires that a person be given all relevant information required...
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...Question: Rising tide of nationalism has been observed in many parts of the world in the last decades. Primordialism and constructivism have been used to explain this phenomenon. Outline the key arguments of both theories, and then proceed to answer the following question: which theory better explains the rise of nationalism? Illustrate your answer in the context of Macau, China or any one country that you are familiar with. Brief Introduction The word nationalism was created in the late 18 centuries, but it only got popular from the 1830s. It used to convey the idea of identification with a nation in which a group of people shares common ancestry in the early time, but later it began to link with patriotism and with aspirations to statehood. This concept became widely accepted by more and more people during twentieth century. Nationalism now is defined as a subjective feeling of a membership in a nation; a belief that a nation should form the state, or a belief that the identification with the nation should be above all other forms of identity. Nowadays Nationalism has set off a wave around the world. Primordialism and constructivism can be used to explain this phenomenon. We will see the key arguments of both theories. The first one is primordialism. Key arguments of two theories The emergence of the theory of primordialism was in the second half of the eighteenth centuries, in general, primordialism assumes political identity are innate and largely unchanged. It...
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...How to Adapt to a New Organizational Culture after a Merger/Acquisition Introduction The organization that I will be researching is Wachovia Bank. Wachovia is a diversified financial services company that provides a broad range of retail banking and brokerage, asset and wealth management, and corporate and investment banking products and services. They are one of the largest providers of financial services in the United States, with retail and commercial banking operations in 21 states from Connecticut to Florida and west to Texas and California, and nationwide retail brokerage, mortgage lending and auto finance businesses. Its retail brokerage operations under the Wachovia Securities brand name manage client assets through offices nationwide. Globally, clients are served in selected corporate and institutional sectors and through more than 40 international offices. Over the last several years Wachovia has always been in the position of purchasing smaller banks. And with most acquisitions, Wachovia has implemented their policies and procedures without taken into account how this would affect the existing employees of the company that was bought. Now for the first time, in company history, Wachovia finds itself on the other side of the table. I’m currently a Business Analyst at Wachovia. I’ve been with the company for almost 2 years, but I’ve been there long enough to understand and adapt to the culture, their policies & procedures, their implementation of diversity within...
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