Running head: ANALYSIS OF A CULTURE 1

Analysis of a Culture

Author’s Name

Institutional Affiliation
ANALYSIS OF A CULTURE 2

Abstract

Culture is a big part of the human beings lives as it determines their worries and fears,

loyalties, hopes, values, behavior and thoughts. One needs to recognize that people from various

cultures have different viewpoints. When working with people, understanding their cultures will

help in boosting the growth and development of long-term relationships. People have diverse

views about what constitutes a multicultural community, workplace or society. The modern work

environment is diverse, and people must live and work together as teams.
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Analysis of a Culture

The modern-day workplace has changed as employers continue to support diversity and

inclusion efforts. The modern workforce represents people from across diverse races, religions,

ethnicities and backgrounds, and this brings about many cultures forced to work together and

attain common goals. An individual’s culture is what determine his/her viewpoints and

worldviews. People might have different points of view about a particular matter. A leader needs

to be aware of the cultural differences so that one can lay down plans that will eliminate the

emergence of conflicts. This essay will highlight the leadership style, motivation techniques,

cultural stereotypes, and the use of gestures, words and ideas that can positively or negatively

affect a Chinese-Singapore employee.

Leadership Style

The most appropriate leadership style for a Chinese-Singapore employee would be moral

leadership. A moral leader is one who aims at serving the people and uses motivation,

persuasion, and self-awareness (Guo, 2002). The main difference between a moral leader and

other leaders is that he/she prioritizes the needs of the followers first. Through moral leadership,

one must possess a pleasant personality and effective communication skills. By prioritizing the

needs of others rather, than using power to control them is what makes the moral leadership style

different from ordinary styles. The essential factor in moral leadership is having ethics while

making decisions and in leadership (Hegarty & Moccia, 2018). Ethical traits and judgments

enable a leader to have dignity and respect for others. In a high Confucian society, it emphasizes

on the leader’s ethical and behavioral character. A leader must be one who bears virtuous

attitudes and characteristics, and thus one must observe positive moral values and higher-order

needs of the followers.

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Similarly, the high power distance score is an indication that there are inequalities

amongst people. In China-Singapore, the notion of “guanxi” offers a platform for carrying out

business and social activities (Geigenmüller, Gao, Knight, & Ballantyne, 2012). The concept of

guanxi exists on the principles of building mutual obligations and trust, and if someone does not

trust you, it is unlikely he/she will follow you or do business with you. According to Lau (2012),

through moral leadership style, one will be able to trust and mutual relationships with the

follower as one puts the needs of the employee first.

Motivational Techniques

Recognition is the most effective motivational technique for a Chinese-Singapore

employee. Recognition will offer the employee a clear means to receive and give mianzi (face).

The Chinese-Singapore culture is highly collectivist, and this indicates that the employees must

have an awareness of their work’s context within a broader picture of shared team objectives for

them to be engaged. The Chinese-Singapore society is one that sees its members taking a lot of

time to build trust, co-operation and relationships. The people from China-Singapore prioritize

building relationships over schedules, as they do not view time as being restrictive. In China,

mianzi, “face logic” is all about inviting other people to share common goals and thus builds and

strengthens relationships (Teon, 2017). Therefore, recognition is the best motivational technique,

as it will help in giving mianzi to the employee. Recognition is supported by making it a social

phenomenon within an organization as it will enable the other employees to see the recognition,

and this gives one mianzi and boosts their image in front of other employees. The Chinese-

Singapore society is highly collective; therefore, the recognition should also be one that will

show the link between the recipient’s hard work and overall organizational goals.
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Stereotypes

I consider the people from the Chinese-Singapore culture as being very corrupt due to

their guanxi nature, which states, “you scratch my back I will scratch yours”. The institutional

and structural frameworks allow corruption to spread in the country. It indicates that in case an

individual from the society assists me, I will have to repay the favor, and one cannot assist you in

case you are not willing to assist back. The people from the culture are rude and very arrogant as

they lack politeness and manners.

However, Chinese-Singapore people are hardworking. The people from the culture try

very hard to ensure that they support their families and friends. The people from the culture are

also brilliant and highly educated. It indicates that the Chinese-Singapore employees will have an

awareness of what she is doing when given any project or assigned any work to handle.

Use of Words, Gestures and Ideas

Nonverbal communication is an integral part of the language, and in most cases; there are

very many cultural differences arising from the use of gestures. In the Chinese-Singapore

culture, one is not required to make excessive hand movements, as the people tend to be more

conservative. Physical affection and touchiness are also not common in this culture. Likewise,

the people consider hugs, kisses and handshakes as being too touchy. Similarly, in case one

wants to call or gesture someone, pointing them using the finger is not appropriate as one

considers it rude. Winking and whistling at an individual from the culture is also considered as

being rude. The Chinese-Singapore people consider chopsticks as essential elements of their

culture. The chopsticks are used when eating, and they should not be played with, left standing in

the plate or used in pointing people.

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Low/High Context Culture

The Chinese-Singapore culture is high-context. The Confucian values lay a foundation

for the existence, growth and development of the culture. These values make the people hold

high esteem blood connections and family ties that lay a foundation for the growth of

relationships (Gove & Huang, 2012). The culture pushes for the formation and observance of

good relations with one’s family, business and society. The culture also believes in providing

justice to all, and thus the people put the needs of others before their own. Being a high-context

culture one must provide a great deal of background information while communication and

therefore, relationships are built slowly and depend on trust (Yama & Zakaria, 2012). The

dignity of an individual is profoundly rooted in one’s culture, work or family. The use of non-

verbal communication is essential, and space is regarded as being communal. It is an indication

that as a team leader, I must build a good relationship with an employee from this culture and

during communication; my non-verbal cues such as facial expressions, eye movements, tones

and gestures should not be offensive.

Summary and Conclusion

Understanding one’s culture is crucial, as it will determine the values, beliefs, thoughts

and behavior of an individual. The modern-day work environment is highly diverse. It is

imperative for one to understand other people’s culture to avoid conflicts and reduced work

productivity. Different leadership styles allow for the creation of leader-follower relations and

from the case of a Chinese-Singapore employee, using the moral leadership style is the best.

Recognition is the best motivational technique for an individual from this culture as it leads to

mianzi. The people from the culture are stereotyped as being corrupt, rude and arrogant.

However, they are also hardworking, smart and highly educated. Rude actions include non-
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verbal cues such as excessive hand movements, physical affection and touchiness, pointing at

someone, winking, and whistling. Lastly, Chinese-Singapore culture is high-context nature.

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References

Geigenmüller, A., Gao, H., Knight, J. G., & Ballantyne, D. (2012). Guanxi as a gateway in

Chinese‐Western business relationships. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing,

27(6), 456-467.

Guo, X. (2002). The ideal Chinese political leader: A historical and cultural perspective.

Westport, Conn: Praeger.

Gove, M., & Huang, C. (2012). Confucianism and Chinese families: values and practices in

education. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2(3), 10-14.

Hegarty, N., & Moccia, S. (2018). Components of Ethical Leadership and Their Importance in

Sustaining Organizations over the Long Term. The Journal of Values-Based

Leadership, 11(1), 7.

Lau, W. K. E. (2012). A study of effective leadership in the Chinese context. Boston, MA:

Academy of Management 2012 Annual Meeting

Teon, A. (2017). The Concept of Face in Chinese Culture and the Difference between Mianzi

and Lian. The Greater China Journal, 1(3).

Yama, H., & Zakaria, N. (2012). Inference and culture: The distinction between low context

culture and high context culture as a possible explanation for cultural differences in

cognition. In Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society,

34(34).
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Appendix 1: Table
Power Individual/ Uncertainty Career/Life Confucian
Distance Collective Avoidance Dynamism
Egyptian (21) High Collective High Career low
female
Chinese- High collective low life High
Singapore
(51) female
S. Korea (27) Intermediate Collective High Life High
male
Iranian (32) Intermediate Collective high life Low
male
Indian (30) High Intermediate Medium-low career Intermediate
female
Irish (33) Low Individual low career Low
male
Japanese (25) intermediate intermediate high life High
male
Mexican (28) High collective high life Low
female
French (33) Fairly high individual high career High
male
Russian (40) High collective high career High
female
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Appendix 2: Chart

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
power distance individual collective uncertainity avoidance confucian dynamism

egypt chinese-singapore south korea iranian india Irish japanese mexican french russian