Convergys offers dietary, cultural advice to its staff

NOT CONTENT WITH offering advice on the kind of clothes staff should wear, Convergys has decided to stray into the somewhat perilous area of culture and dietary habits, according to a memo seen by the INQ today.

Some will be reminded of the now rightly famous Intel's Guide to the European Press, which suggested that the British "dislike the Goliaths" of this world, while in Spain, eye contact is very important, "as are physical gestures".

You may wonder, as you read this memorandum, what a Fons Trompenaar is. We know we did. Google tipped up this page.

There's someone at Convergys that we seriously hope we don't bump into at a party, although the chances, from the content, are somewhat slim. Below you will find the latest emissive employees have received... µ

See Also
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Culture and Its Characteristics
"The essence of culture is not what is visible on the surface. It is the shared ways groups of people understand and interpret the world. Culture is the way in which a group of people solves problems and reconciles dilemmas. " Fons Trompenaars

Culture gives people a sense of who they are, of belonging, of how they should behave, and of what they should be doing. Culture impacts behavior, morale, and productivity at work as well, and includes values and patterns that influence company attitudes and actions.

The following ten categories can be a means for understanding global culture. It does not include every aspect of culture, nor is it the only way to analyze culture. This approach enables one to examine a people systematically. The categories are a beginning for cultural understanding. All aspects of a culture are interrelated, and to change one part is to change the whole. - Convergys Global Diversity Council

The comfort one has with self can be expressed differently by culture.

Self-identity and appreciation can be manifested by humble bearing in one place, and macho behavior in another. Independence and creativity are countered in other cultures by group cooperation and conformity. Some cultures are very structured and formal, while others are more flexible and informal. Some cultures are very closed and determine one's place very precisely, while others are more open and changing. Each culture validates self in a unique way.

The communication system, verbal and nonverbal, distinguishes one group from another.

Apart from the multitude of foreign languages, some nations have fifteen or more major spoken languages (within one language group there are dialects, accents, slang, jargon, and other such variations). Furthermore, the meanings given to gestures, for example, often differ by culture.

This includes the outward garments and adornments, or lack thereof, as well as body decorations that tend to be distinctive by culture.

We are aware of the Japanese kimono, the African headdress, the Englishman's bowler and umbrella, the Polynesian sarong, and the Native American headband. Some tribes smear their faces for battle, while some women use cosmetics to manifest beauty.

The manner in which food is selected, prepared, presented, and eaten often differs by culture.

Some cultures love beef, yet it is forbidden to Hindus, while the forbidden food in Moslem and Jewish culture is normally pork, which is eaten extensively by the Chinese and others. Feeding habits also differ, and the range goes from hands and chop sticks to full sets of cutlery. Even when cultures use a utensil such as a fork, one can distinguish a European from an American by which hand holds the instrument.

Sense of time differs by culture; some are exact and others are relative.

Generally, Germans are precise about the clock, while many from Latin America are more casual. In some cultures, promptness is determined by age or status, thus, in some countries, subordinates are expected on time at staff meetings, but the boss is the last to arrive. Some have their own time system of twenty-four hours - 1:00 p.m. or 1300 hours. In some cultures, promptness is rewarded, and in battles, the watches are synchronized. Yet, there are people in some other cultures who do not bother with hours or minutes, but manage their days by sunrise and sunset.

Cultures fix human and organizational relationships by age, gender, status, and degree of kindred, as well as by wealth, power, and wisdom.

The family unit is the most common expression of this characteristic, and the arrangement may go from small to large - in a Hindu household, the joint family includes under one roof, mother, father, children, parents, uncles, aunts, and cousins.

Relationships between and among people vary by category - in some cultures, the elderly are honored, whereas in others they are ignored; in some cultures, women must wear veils and appear deferential, while in others the female is considered the equal, if not the superior of the male.

The formalization of relationships is evident in some religious subcultures with titles such as "reverend", "guru", "pastor", "rabbi", or "bishop".

The need systems of cultures vary, as do the priorities they attach to certain behavior in the group.

Those operating on a survival level value the gathering of food, adequate covering and shelter; while those with high security needs value material things, money, job titles, as well as law and order. In some cultures, the greater one's status becomes, the more one is expected to give away or share. The globalization process and telecommunications are leading to the development of shared values that cross borders.

Possibly the most difficult classification is ascertaining the major belief themes of a people, and how this and other factors influence their attitudes toward themselves, others, and what happens in their world.

Western culture seems to be largely influenced by the Judeo-Christian-Islamic traditions, while Eastern or Asian cultures have been dominated by Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Hinduism. Religion, to a degree, expresses the philosophy of a people about important facets of life - it is influenced by culture and vice versa.

Some cultures emphasize one aspect of brain development over another, so that one may observe striking differences in the way people think and learn.

Life in a particular locale defines the rewards and punishment for learning or not learning certain information or in a certain way, and this is confirmed and reinforced by the culture there. For example, Germans stress logic, while the Japanese and the Navajo reject the Western idea of logic. Logic for a Hopi Indian is based on preserving the integrity of their social system and all the relationships connected with it. Some cultures favor abstract thinking and conceptualization, while others prefer rote memory and learning. What seems to be universal is that each culture has a reasoning process, but then each manifests the process in its own distinctive way.

Work has been defined as exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something.

There are a variety of terms related to produce or accomplish something. Some cultures espouse a work ethic in which all members are expected to engage in a desirable and worthwhile activity. In other societies this is broadly defined, so that cultural pursuits in music and arts or sports are included. For some cultures, the worthiness of the activity is narrowly measured in terms of income produced, or the work of the individual is assessed in terms of income produced, or the worth of the individual is assessed in terms of job status. In Japan, the cultural loyalty to family is transferred to the organization that employs the person and the quality of one's performance - it is expressed in work group participation, communication and consensus.

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