Cultural awareness Essay

Although the emergence of a global economy and the proliferation of multinational corporations seem, at first glance, to indicate an evolution of cultural awareness in contemporary societies, the need for vigilance regarding the increase of cultural awareness both in the corporate sector and without is still an important challenge and priority of the twenty-first century. In terms of international corporations themselves, cultural diversity has emerged as both a highly productive and robustly challenging aspect of modern business. Because cultural diversity offers a wider variety of ideas, talents, skills and knowledge, businesses that are culturally diverse and display constructive communication will have at their disposal a wider range of talents, skills and ideas. Vigilance regarding cultural awareness is an important aspect of modern productiviy. Cultural awareness remains a key factor within the running of extant multinational corporations. The bottom line regarding communication in the culturally diverse twenty-first century is that providing for successful communication is one of the most vital and important aspects of any business or organization. A recent investigation â€Å"of employees from 33 different organizations across 12 industries found that some organizations have cultures of injustice. † (Pinder/Harlos, 2001, p. 346). Obviously, any organization which is afflicted with a culture of injustice will function, at best, only somewhat efficiently; at worst, such an organization will not only fall short of matching its stated goals or pragmatically driven needs, but may actually foster a climate which is counterproductive to its stated goals or purposes. (Bonczek, and Menzel) Beyond the corporate sphere, cultural awareness remains the single most important aspect of conflict resolution between nations and nation-states. Because â€Å"Human nature and human institutions are flexible, and levels of violence vary from one cultural setting to the next, with some cultures expressing extremely low levels of violence† strategies can be learned through cultural awareness for stemming the tide of war, as well as stimulating the global economy. (Fry & Bjorkqvist, 1997, p. xiii) References Bonczek, Stephen, and Donald Menzel. 1994. â€Å"Achieving the Ethical Workplace. † Public Management Mar. 13+. Fry, D. P. & Bjorkqvist, K. (Eds. ). (1997). Cultural Variation in Conflict Resolution: Alternatives to Violence. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Pinder, Craig C. ; Harlos, Karen P. 2001. â€Å"Employee Silence: Quiescence and Acquiescence as Responses to Perceived Injustice†. Research in Personnel And Human Resources Management, Volume 20,p331-369.