Cultural Dilemma in the US Postal Service Essay

There be many ethnical differences in our societies as a prove of the many diverse glosss that lot belong to. distributively finish has its own paths of doing things with assorted ethnical norms, values, perceptions, as wholesomespring as behaviors. commonwealth from certain(p) cultures pass on pr exerciseice the values, norms and perceptions that their cultures belief in and hence go away end up having difficulties when interacting with the great unwashed from opposite cultures who go forth learn differing pagan norms, values and perceptions.These heathenish differences atomic number 18 manifested in the prepargon transport as different heap from different cultures come together to piss together for the common goal of the institution or governing body they practise for. Since our pagan values and norms modulate our psyche understandings and perceptions, lot lead react differently towards payoffs and circumstances that could occur in spite of appe arance us and in the purlieu. These differences in perceptions will affect how employees at bottom an governing will interact with each separate and work in harmony so as to run across the needs of the governing bodys s employholders.As much(prenominal), pagan differences argon a major concern for managers within organizations as they could economic aid the organization achieve its objectives or hinder it from achieving them. The objectives of an organization atomic number 18 set in place by its s comebackholders who submit invested in the organization in whiz way or the separate and expect to gain from such an investment in future. It is therefore the province of managers to find a way in which the employees within an organization can work together in a seam little musical mode despite their differences in culture so as to visualize the organization operates continu in ally for the common secure of all stakeholders.The coupled States postal suffice The Postal p rocess is an agency authorized by the physical composition of the unite States and is responsible for the provision of postal function to the whole of the United States. Established in 1775 in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin by dint of the enactment of a decree passed by the second continental congress, it see minimal growth and was later transformed in to its current form as an independent organization through the signing of the postal reorganization act of 1970 by President Nixon.As an independent organization, the postal function is self sufficient and does non avow on taxpayers m maveny for its operations. The Postal dish ups mission is to offer the American tidy sum with trusted wide-reaching postal emoluments that are at afford adequate to(p) prices. As such, the Postal assistant is the barely preservation service within the United States with the responsibility of providing all of the several(a) features of a universal postal service at reasonably priced ra tes. The Postal Service conveys about 660 million mails to about 142 million de go throughry spot around the United States.Although the postal service enjoys a monopoly as contained in Article I, (8), (7) of the authorship that grants the Postal Service with the special right to fill de diery of letters in addition to the agency to emitrict the access to mailbox that are whole meant for mail. Its major competitors are United Parcel Service and FedEx. The postal service manages 32,741 post offices within the United States with a labor top executive of about 656,000 employees. heathen differences of management and how they affect the US Postal ServiceThe United States is a country that is full of cultural diversity with different cultural practices ground on the numerous ethnic groups that live in the United States. The employees working in the postal service are drawn from these different cultural groups. As such, managers at the postal service have to rush with these diffe rences effectively so as to ensure continues success of the organization. In doing so, managers need to be aware of and understand the cardinal dimensions of culture developed by Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner detailed in their book Riding the Waves of Culture intellect alteration in Global Business.Below is a intelligence of these seven dimensions. Universalism v/s Particularism This dimension is found on the collect of how a culture grasps rules and relationships. Cultures that comprehend universalism hold the belief that general rules, values, codes, norms and standards take perceptiveness over a nonher(prenominal) particular needs, claims of friendship and other relations. In a society that is universalistic, the rules commonly leave equally to all of the members of the universe (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1998).Exceptions to these rules are deemed as to weaken them. Universalism is ground on finding rules that take a broad and general picture. In t he event that there overleaps a rule that fits for accomplishing something, universalism advocates for taking the option of establishing the most appropriate rule. Cultures that embrace Particularism perceive the model culture as unrivalled that is based on human friendship, and intimate relationships . People in these cultures view the spirit of the righteousness as being more significant than the letter of the law.This has the effect that when the rules within a culture take a perfect fit, batch in such a culture will judge the case based on the advantages of the law instead of attempting to force the rule to fit. Rules and regulations within particularistic cultures merely codify how people are alleged(a) to relate to one a nonher. identity v/s Communitarianism This dimension is based on the view of how members of a culture functions, whether in groups or as individuals. Individualism has a basis on rights that appertain to an individual.This is commonly experienced in c ommunities that have loose ties connecting their members resulting in an expectation of individuals to look after themselves. Individualism is aimed at giving individuals the right to personal space as well as the freedom of doing things as per individual liking (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1998). It permits each individual to develop or fail on an individual basis, as well as perceiving group-focus as striping the person of their dogmatic rights. Individualistic cultures are more egotistical and lay out emphasis to their personal goals.People resulting from individualistic cultures have a propensity of thinking only on personal basis. Communitarianism or collectivism is based on rights that appertain to a group. Collective cultures commonly place a lot of emphasize on groups and are more touch with the whole quite a than on the single individual. Harmony as well as loyalty within a group are very imperative and ought to be maintained everlastingly (Trompenaars & Hampden-Tur ner, 1998). Confrontations of any good- personalityd are full(prenominal)ly avoided with people using expressions and phrases that would describe an argument in less negative behavior.Saying no to others is selled to be ill-treat and deemed as a way of destroying the harmony set up within these groups. sluggish v/s ruttish Emotional or neutral persuasions are utilize in the description of how cultures render their emotions. Emotional cultures articulate their emotions in a natural way (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1998). This is witnessed in reactions that occur instantly through verbal and/or non-verbal means such as mimic as well as body signals. Members of the emotional culture unlike those in the neutral culture reveal a tendency of overreaction creating scenes.Emotional cultures are unremarkably focused on the individual and rarely on the object or position of discussion. It is considered to be fine for one to use emotional intelligence when fashioning decision s. It is also okay for people to try motley forms of physical contact while in humans and during the confabulation process. The neutral culture tends to avoid displaying emotions publically. This is based on the fact that neutral cultures do not reveal what they are thinking in a way that is more precise as well as direct (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1998).This is an face that has the likelihood of direct to misunderstandings. This is because emotions of a certain kind may not necessarily demonstrate a certain situation. Neutral cultures usually appear to be rather reserved, an aspect that cannot be viewed as an indication of their disinterest or boredom. This appearance of reservation is based on lack of emotional tone. On a general perspective they harbor feelings of discomfort over contact in public resulting in a mode of communication that is more subtle thus making it onerous for members of another culture to understand. proper(postnominal) vs. diffuse Specific cultu res are those that usually have a underage area reserved for concealing and its separated from the public life. People in these societies have many interactions with the international world and are regularly involved in such activities such as socializing in different areas that involve many people. People from these cultures have a rather small amount of privacy preferring to share there interests with others who are within their groups of socialization (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1998).People from such a culture deal with specifics and will view the whole as a sum of these specific move. The life of an individual is change integrity into several specific parts and one deals with one part at a epoch. Conversely, diffuse cultures are usually concerned with maintaining peoples privacy. People in these cultures will avoid any kind of confrontations in the public and have a high degree of privacy preferring to share just a small amount of their private life with other peopl e oddly strangers (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1998).People from diffuse cultures usually start with the whole before going conquer to the various parts that make it up. Each of the parts is viewed in the viewpoint of the whole total with all of these parts being related to one another. These people prefer attributes and behaviors that help build trust and ingenuousness fostering the building of strong relationships. Achievement vs. attribution This dimension is concerned with the location accorded to individuals within cultures. In cultures that are achievement oriented, the post of an individual is based on the accomplishments that one has achieved and accomplished.Individuals from these cultures gain their status from the various things that they have accomplished on their own (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1998). A person with such a status has to show prove of what he or she is worth with the various powerful positions within the culture being accorded to people who hav e certain accomplishments. In cultures that are ascription oriented, the status of an individual is based on the groups that one is associated with. In ascriptive societies, individuals gain their status mainly through birth, gender, wealth, or age (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1998).A person who has an ascribed status does not necessarily have to accomplish something so as to preserve his status since his or her status is accorded based on his or her being. Sequential vs. synchronised This dimension is concerned with the attitude of a culture towards epoch. People who are from sequential cultures tend to reach out out one thing at a time in a sequential manner . They examine time as distinct, and made up of consecutive divisions which are both tangible and dissociative (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1998).People from these cultures strongly prefer to plan for their time and will keep to these plans once they made them so as to aid in implementation. Any time commitments that o ne might have are usually taken seriously and staying on schedule is considered an consequential aspect of time management. Sequential people in particular place a lot of grandness on the value of completing of tasks. Conversely, people from cultures that are synchronic usually perform several tasks at a time.These cultures view time is a constant flow that allows many things and tasks to be carried out at the same time (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1998). era is perceived as a force that one can not be able to contain or control. Time is also regarded as flexible as well as intangible. Time commitments are often desirable but not absolute with plans that people could be having being considerably changed. Internal vs. remote control This dimension is concerned with the attitude of a culture towards the environment. In cozy cultures, people usually posses a mechanistic scene of nature.They perceive nature as an intricate implement and which can be directed if one has the se t expertise needed to do so. People from these societies do not believe in the existence of bunch or any form of predestination (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1998). These people are directed towards the inside as ones personal decision is usually deemed to be the starting position for each action that they will do. They also believe that one can live the kind of life that he or she wants to live if that are in a position to take advantage of the numerous opportunities that might come on the way.In addition, they believe that man is capable of reign nature if he wishes to do so. . In external cultures, people usually posses an organic outlook of nature. They perceive that mankind is one of the forces of nature and should therefore operate in one accord and harmoniously with the rest of the environment. These cultures hold the believe that man should subdue to nature as well as get along with the other forces existing within the environment (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1998).Thes e people do not believe in their qualification of shaping their own destiny but rather hypothesize that nature moves in rather secret ways hence one can not never know what is going to happen in the future. As such, their actions are directed externally to the environment and are adapted to the external circumstances border them. Conclusion Based on these seven dimensions, the American culture is individualistic, achievement, emotional, internal, sequential, universalistic, and specific.These dimensions have several implications that managers need to consider in order to make sure that the employees are able to work in a manner that benefits the organization as well as themselves especially in a large organization such as the postal service that employs over 600, 000 employees. In addition, due to the cultural diversity present in the United States and the growth of globalization, there are numerous citizens from different cultures in the United States that do not follow these se ven dimensions of the American culture and therefore follow different aspects of the seven dimensions.With the postal service being a national agency that offers enjoyment to all citizens irrespective of their cultural backgrounds, managers need to ensure that the employees are able to work in a manner that benefits the organization. This will require the managers to build cultural understanding through Building awareness of cultural differences. Educating the employees on the various strengths and limitations of different cultures within the body of work Educating the employees on the Building skills the impact of cultural differences within the workplace Educating the employees on various adaptive behaviors that could help them to realize valuable results within a backing with cultural differences. Building unity and consistency through team working Developing a share understanding and vision amongst the employees Establishing effective communication channels amongst t he employees to facilitate quality exchange of ideas between themselves Establishing feedback mechanisms aimed at reviewing and improving the employees awareness of cultural differences.In addition, the managers need to come up with strategies that will enable the postal service to compete effectively. This will require them to actively develop A shared understanding of the organizations goals and objectives An acknowledgment of the logical implication of diversity in contributing towards expertise. A conduct and shared comprehension of the role of professional pooling of skills and experience within the organization. Reference Trompenaars, F. , & Hampden-Turner, C. (1998). Riding the Waves of Culture Understanding Cultural Diversity in Global Business. tonic York McGraw Hill.