SCHOLEDGE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS POLICY & GOVERNANCE

VOL. 2, ISSUE 3 (MARCH 2015) ISSN-2394-3351

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CULTURAL ADAPTABILITY- AN INDICATOR OF INCLUSIVE WORLD

GROWTH

Tim Seroy,
Visiting Fellow & Conference Speaker
NZ Work Research Institute
Auckland, NEW ZEALAND.

ABSTRACT geographies. The cultural acceptance and its

adaptability have the buzzword for recent
The culture is the most influential factor in the economic ties amongst the developing as well as
developmental agendas of the governments developed countries. The economic and cultural
worldwide. The culture has a direct foot print cooperation has been seen as a boost to the cross
over the policy frameworks and the general border ties and trade relations among nations
state of governance of a particular land or across borders. The adaptability to a particular
country. The recent times of high globalization culture without forgetting the own culture has
and advanced information and communication been an acceptable level among the masses of
technology has made it possible to travel and the sovereign countries worldwide.
communicate across cultures. Here comes the
cultural understanding and response to the CULTURAL ADAPTABILITY
local cultural behavior. This study paper puts
light on the cultural address and adaptability Cultural adaptability holds its own importance
across nations. It has been concluded as to how as far as cultural and economic integration in the
the cultural adaptability has been accountable high times of the globalization in the
to the world inclusive and sustainable growth. background of the advent of the information and
communication technology. The organizations
KEYWORDS: - Cultural Adaptability, Inclusive across the borders have re- mapped their
growth, Sustainability Development, Culture, cultural set ups and organizational structure.
Social Development The cross cultural customs and conceptions have
led to the cross border cultural participation and
DISCUSSION adaptability in order to do some fruitful business
or dealing with the overseas partners. The
The diversity in the local culture over the foreign
organizations have taken the inter-cultural skills
culture has always been the focal point of the
integrated in their workforce culture and
social policy and behavior across the
organizational structure.

SCHOLEDGE PUBLISHING WORLDWIDE- SCHOLARLY INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL

6 [Link]
The figure above clarifies the acceptance of the CROSS CULTURAL EVALUATION
importance of the inter-cultural skills across the PRACTICES
countries of Jordan, Indonesia, UK, South
Africa, India, US, UAE, Brazil and China. The The countries in the recent times of globalization
respective acceptance level of the inter cultural have adopted certain models and theories
skills in the country of Jordan is the highest at regarding the cross cultural management which
100% acceptance level , this acceptance level is shows the orientation of the countries towards
100% in Indonesia and 93% in UK ,88% in south the cultural integration and adaptability for the
Africa, 93% in India, 88% in US, 91% in UAE, mutual participation and growth. One of these
87% in Brazil and 69% in China. The figures in models/ theories, the common model which has
the percentage (%) are inclusive of the highly been adopted by the countries worldwide is
important and fairly important perceptions named as cross cultural management evaluation
regarding the acceptance of the inter-cultural model. The model prescribes for the certain
skills in the respective countries. The figure has criterias and activities which need to be
successfully concluded that the countries across addressed and looked after while going for
the borders are indulging in the economic, social overseas cultural participation and economic
and cultural adaptability and integration. integration.

SCHOLEDGE PUBLISHING WORLDWIDE- SCHOLARLY INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL

7 [Link]
The cross cultural management evaluation the decision whether to integrate or not. These
model has highlighted following criterias for the are the factors which are kept in mind while
evaluation of the cross cultural adaptability going for an international presence.
across the world:-
CROSS CULTURAL ADAPTATION
Cultural awareness PROCESS-EVIDENCES
Open minded approach
As far as cultural adaptation process is
Cultural flexibility
considered, there are various stages of the
Inter cultural knowledge
cultural adaptation and integration. In the
Respected acceptance for other cultures
cultural adaptation there are two periods knows
Respect and acceptance for other as arrival abroad and return home. Between
languages these periods of time the cultural adaptation
Inter personal relations process takes place.
Cultural rigidness
Job nature This cultural adaptation process starts with the
Organizational external look approach pre departure ups and downs and continues still
Task execution the adaptation of the foreign culture as figured
Executed performance out in the above figure there are following stages
of the cultural adaptation process:-
The above mentioned criterias are considered by
the countries for the evaluation of their cultural
adaptability and economic integration. The
factors from the cultural awareness to the
cultural rigidness have their own influence over
SCHOLEDGE PUBLISHING WORLDWIDE- SCHOLARLY INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
8 [Link]
 Pre departure ups and downs thought process of the individuals. These include
Honeymoon phase both the positives and negatives ones. The
Culture shock honeymoon phase shows the excitement coming
Mid adaptation to the foreign culture and this is followed by the
Pre return ups and downs home sickness or culture shock. After recovering
from the culture shock adaptation to the culture
excitement at returning home
start stage followed by returning home and
missing other culture
missing the other culture. Thereafter the
start adaptation
adaptation process starts to work.
In the pre departure ups and down stage there
are various notion and perceptions in the

SCHOLEDGE PUBLISHING WORLDWIDE- SCHOLARLY INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL

9 [Link]
CONCLUSION experiences and second language
proficiency on college students' cross-
It can be summarized that the cultural cultural adaptability. International
adaptation is something responsible for the Education Journal, 28, 5-25.
economic integration. The cultural adaptation VIII. Fan, X., Thompson, B., & Wang, L.
leads to the better involvement in the cultural (1999). Effects of sample size,
dealings as well as economic participation. The estimation methods, and model
cultural adaptation process brings two cultures specification on structural equation
together and avenues for the mutual modeling fit indexes. Structural
participation and address to the common Equation Modeling, 6(1), 56-83.
problems are generated. It has been seen that IX. Fukasawa, L. (1990). The effect of
the cultural adaptation is very critical for the multicultural counseling training on
framing of the economic policies and multicultural sensitivity of graduate
frameworks. The policy and framework designed students. (Doctoral dissertation, Indiana
by one country needs to be compatible with the State University). Dissertation Abstracts
other cultural accords and agreements. International, 51, 05A.
X. Kogut, B. and Singh, H. (1988), The
effect of national culture on the choice
REFERENCES of entry mode, Journal of International
Business Studies, Fall, pp. 411-32.
XI. Kraimer, M.L., Wayne, S.J. and
I. A Framework for Evaluating Cross- Jaworski, R.A. (2001), Sources of
Cultural Management; Retrieved from:- support and expatriate performance:
[Link] the mediating role of expatriate
ds/a-framework-for-evaluating- adjustment, Personnel Psychology, Vol.
54 No. 1, pp. 71-99.
crosscultural-management
XII. LeDoux, J. (2002), Synaptic Self How
II. Benson, J., & Nassar, F. (1998). On the
Our Brains Become Who We Are, Viking
use of factor analysis as a research tool.
Penguin, New York, NY.
Journal of Vocational Education
XIII. Lust, J.A., Celuch, K.G. and Showers,
Research, 23(1), 13-33.
L.S. (1993), A note on issues
III. Bentler, P. (1998, March 10). Kurtosis, concerning the measurement of self-
residuals, fit indices. Message posted to efficacy, Journal of Applied Social
SEMNET discussion list, archived at Psychology, Vol. 23 No. 17, pp. 1426-34.
[Link] XIV. Mattenklott, A. (1996), On the
803&L=semnet&T=0&F=&S=&P=14689 methodology of empirical research on
IV. Cross Cultural Living; Retrieved from:- suspense, in Vorderer, P., Wulff, H.J.
[Link] and Friedrichsen, M. (Eds), Suspense:
smart/modules/[Link] Conceptualizations, Theoretical
Analyses, and Empirical Explorations,
V. Cornett-DeVito, M., & McGlone, E.
Laurence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah,
(2000). Multicultural communication
NJ.
training for law enforcement officers: A
XV. Maynard, M. (1986), Measuring work
case study. Criminal Justice Policy
and support network satisfaction,
Review, 11(3), 234-253.
Journal of Employment Counseling,
VI. Dinges, N. (1983). Intercultural
March, pp. 9-19.
competence. In D. Landis & R. Brislin
XVI. Mitchell, T.R., Hopper, H., Daniels, D.,
(Eds.), Handbook of intercultural
George-Falvy, J. and James, L.R. (1994),
training (Vol. 1, pp.176-202). New York:
Predicting self-efficacy and
Pergamon Press.
performance during skill acquisition,
VII. Erwin, T. D., & Coleman, P. K. (1998).
Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 79
The influence of intercultural
No. 4, pp. 506-17.
SCHOLEDGE PUBLISHING WORLDWIDE- SCHOLARLY INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
10 [Link]
XVII. Mone, M.A. (1994), Comparative
validity of two measures of self-efficacy
in predicting academic goals and
performance, Educational and
Psychological Measurement, Vol. 54 No.
2, pp. 516-29.
XVIII. Research Findings: The Value of
Intercultural Skills in the Workplace;
Retrieved from:-
[Link]
/03/20/research-findings-the-value-of-
intercultural-skills-in-the-workplace/
XIX. Tsui, A. S. 1984. A role set analysis of
managerial reputation. Organizational
Behavior and Human Performance, 34:
6496.
XX. Tsui, A. S. 1990. A multiple-
constituency model of effectiveness: An
empirical examination at the human
resource subunit level. Administrative
Science Quarterly, 35: 458483.
XXI. Tsui, A. S., & Gutek, B. 1999.
Demographic differences in
organizations: Current research and
future directions. New York: Lexington
Books/Macmillan.
XXII. Van Dyne, L., & Ang, S. 2006. Getting
more than you expect: Global leader
initiative to span structural holes and
reputation effectiveness. In W. H.
Mobley & E. Weldon (Eds.), Advances in
Global Leadership, Vol. 4: 101122. New
York: Elsevier/JAI Press.
XXIII. Vandenberg, R. J., & Lance, C. E. 2000.
A review and synthesis of the
measurement invariance literature:
Suggestions, practices, and
recommendations for organizational
research. Organization Research
Methods, 3: 469.
XXIV. Williams, L. J., & Anderson, S. E. 1991.
Job satisfaction and organizational
commitment as predictors of
organizational citizenship and in-role
behavior. Journal of Management, 17:
601618.

SCHOLEDGE PUBLISHING WORLDWIDE- SCHOLARLY INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL

11 [Link]
Copyright of Scholedge International Journal of Business Policy & Governance is the
property of Scholedge Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple
sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission.
However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.