cultural difference between india and us
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TITLECultural Difference Between
USA & India
Agenda/Topics To Be Covered
• What is culture?
• Why cultural differences are important?
• American culture
• Indian culture
• Some Important cultural differences
• Some solutions
“master of destiny” viewpoint
So what is culture?
What are different types of culture?
A lens – a frame of referenceThrough which we view and interpret human interaction
90% of communication is nonverbalNonverbal communication is heavily culturally influenced
“A dynamic mix of national/geographic, organisational, and professional or disciplinary elements in constant interaction with one another”
(Heaton, 1998)Example
“Those are my principles – if you don’t like them, I have others”
Types of culture
• Organisational Culture
• National Culture
• Company history and tradition
• Leadership
• Technology
• Missions, visions, resources
• Values and beliefs
• Procedures and policies
Organisational culture
National culture
“A shared set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, values, and behaviour organized around a central theme and found among speakers of one language, in one time period, and in one geographic region”
Why cultural differences are important?
Why cultural differences are important?
Speed: fast and slow messages
Context
Space
Information Flow
Time
WELCOME TO AMERICA
How many number of states are there?
50
Salient Points On America ……Salient Points On America ……
The US has long been known as a “melting pot” - because many of its people are descendents of settlers who came from all
over the world
The American people are always on the move
Today three out of four Americans live in towns, cities or suburbs : over 57 million live in rural areas.
New York City is America’s largest city.
Chicago is the second largest city, Los Angeles is third, and Philadelphia is the fourth largest.
Salient Points On America ……Salient Points On America …… Each city has a downtown and suburbs.
- Downtown is where the largely affluent and yuppie crowd stays. It is more expensive than living in the suburbs though the suburbs have large bungalows.
Which is National Capital of America?
- Washington D.C is seventeenth in population. Specially planned and built as a national capital, Washington was laid out by a French architect in the 18th century
What is current population of America?
- Population : 306,747,000 (3rd most populated, 4.5% of total)
- Area : 9629091 square km (3rd most sized, 6.5% of total area)
Who Found America?
America was discovered in 1492 by Christopher Columbus
The British pilgrims colonized America in 1620
The United States was formed in 1776
Standard Time Zone
Standard Time Zone
Daylight Saving Time (DST) DST - is the convention of advancing clocks so that afternoons have more
daylight and mornings have less
Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and adjusted backward in autumn
Start: Second Sunday in March
End: First Sunday in November
Time: 2 am local time
Ex: In 2009, it starts on March 8 and will end on November 1 at 2am
WORK CULTUREWORK CULTURE
Work Culture
In US, the work environment is both professional and causal as well
- Don’t be surprised if you see people bring their pets to work!
Schedules are flexible, and the atmosphere is informal
- There is no apparent hierarchy between managers and their subordinates
- Employees are treated as equals, and independent views are welcomed
American work culture involves a lot of meetings
Normal office timings go from 8 AM to 5 PM. You do need to maintain a minimum of 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week.
Americans are very particular about time-management
- They come to office early and leave on time. You will rarely find them working late hours, or on weekends
American Behavior
Generally, Americans are very polite, friendly and helpful, but have no patience with interference in their private lives
You may find it difficult to discuss everything with an American friend, at least, when you are getting to know each other
Exercising is important, and they usually go for aerobics, swimming, tennis or a jog a few times during the week
Don’t be surprised if strangers greet you. Be polite and greet them back
They are particular about their leisure time, health and hygiene
Living standards
Americans spend money freely and make purchases on credit when necessary to buy things they want
- More money is being spent on education, medical care, services, travel and recreation while a smaller percentage of income goes for food, clothing and automobiles
Clothing Styles
US HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
US Festivals and Holidays
Some of US holiday customs were brought here from other countries
Other holidays and festivals are related to the history and the culture that developed in the United States itself
How many National Holidays are there in America?
- Constitutionally, there are no "national holidays" in the US, as Congress only has authority to create holidays for federal institutions
Currently, there are 11 U.S. Federal holidays, most (but not all) of which are also State holidays
US Festivals and Holidays
List of US holidays
Date Holiday Name
1st January New Year's Day
20th January Inauguration Day
3rd Monday in January Martin Luther King Jr Day
3rd Monday in February Presidents' Day/Washington's Birthday
Last Monday in May Memorial Day
4th July Independence Day
1st Monday in September Labor Day
2nd Monday in October Columbus Day
11th November Veterans' Day
4th Thursday in November Thanksgiving
25 December Christmas Day
Sports and Games
Sports and Games
American Lacrosse
Answer
Bulls Chicago
Cowboys Dallas
Phillies Philadelphia
Lakers Los Angeles
Blue Sox Los Angeles
Redskins Washington
Raider Orlando
Celtics Boston
Magics Chicago
WELCOME TO INDIA
Salient Points On India ……Salient Points On India ……
World’s first university in Takshila –700 B.CWorld’s first university in Takshila –700 B.C
Ayurveda- earliest school of medicine known to humansAyurveda- earliest school of medicine known to humans
Sanskrit Language –most suitable for computer softwareSanskrit Language –most suitable for computer software
Yoga- Made in India
5,000 year old civilization
325 languages spoken – 1,652 dialects
Indian Railways ,the biggest employer in the worldIndian Railways ,the biggest employer in the world
Salient Points On India ……Salient Points On India …… 18 official languages
28 states, 7 union territories
3.28 million sq. kilometers – Area
Population-1,166,079,217 (July 2009 est.)
Population growth rate - 1.548% (2009 est.)
Birth Rate - 22.22 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
4th largest economy4th largest economy
Fastest growing IT super powerFastest growing IT super power
Salient Points On India ……Salient Points On India …… Death Rate - 6.4 deaths/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Literacy rate - 61.0%
Unemployment rate – 7.8 %
Religions - Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.8%, Buddhists 0.8%, Jains 0.4%, others 0.7%, unspecified 0.1%.
Parliamentary form of GovernmentParliamentary form of Government
Secular democratic constitutionSecular democratic constitution
Worlds largest democracy since 55 yearsWorlds largest democracy since 55 years
You can shake hands with people, or better still stick, to the traditional Namaste, the popular Indian style greeting.
Indian Culture The culture of India is one of the oldest and unique.
The South, North, and Northeast have their own distinct cultures and almost every state has its own cultural.
There is hardly any culture in the world that is as varied and unique as India. India - God’s own country, has more than 65 festivals
India is a vast country, having variety of geographical features and climatic conditions.
India is home to some of the most ancient civilizations, including four
major world religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.
Culturally Rich Inventions
The digit zero and the numbering system
Chess
Algebra, Trigonometry, and Calculus
The decimal system
The game of Snakes and Ladders
The value of “pi”
Noble prizes in Literature, Physics, Economics, Peace and Medicine
Indian Marriage
In Indian society wedding is treated as the most important social Function.
Wedding is a ceremony which celebrates the beginning of a marriage.
Wedding Traditions and customs are varied from culture to culture, religion to religion, society to society and place to place.
Arranged marriages are still very common in India
Most of marriages within cast
Indian Family Value
A young person should touch the feet of his/her elders
He/she should never speak in a high or rude tone to those who are older to him/her.
He/She should always give respect to elders and refer to them as 'aap'.
He should not consume alcohol and tobacco or smoke cigarettes.
He should respect women
He should always speak truth and try to engage in non-violent behavior
Treating guest as god
Important Cultural Differences
Can any one guess the most important cultural difference which we try to illustrate in most of our previous slides?
National Flag as a Indicator of Culture
Indian Flag
What saffron color indicates? - courage, sacrifice, and the spirit of renunciation
What white color indicates? - unity, purity, and peace
What green color indicates? - fertility and prosperity of the land
As a religious symbolism, Saffron represented Hinduism and green stood for Islam. White represented the minority religions
Also indicates unpolluted democracy, unbiased equality and uncensored justice
The wheel - "Ashoka Chakra" has 24 spokes and each spoke depicts one hour of the day, portraying the prevalence of righteousness all the 24 hour of it
How many stars are there in US Flag?
- 50, indicates 50 different states
The thirteen stripes - 7 red stripes that alternate with 6 white stripes
- started with only thirteen colonies that stood against the oppression of the British Empire
Stripes indicates proud beginning and freedom from British
The field of blue represents the freedom to expand and explore the world and beyond
The stars represent the hope and prosperity that exists in the fifty states that make up our nation
American Flag
Some Differences…..
Some Differences…..
Eating – US have their own plate of food, but Indians usually has all dishes on the table and every one shares
Business Lunch
- In US lunch, if you are late they find it insulting
- “Let’s go Dutch” : each person pays his own bill or one of the guest is paying the bill and gets money back
Openness
Personal Questions
More differences….
Marriages – arrange marriage or love marriage
Family bonding – Joint family
US people not like to be too close during interaction, especially of same gender
More differences….
Some Differences…..
Popular American Phrases
I hate that show-off, always shooting her mouth off
- She’s talking too much
After dinner the old man would just hit the sack
- Go to sleep
I think I goofed it up again!!
- Embarrassing mistake
Act your age
- Behave maturely
Ain’t that the truth
- I agree, Ain’t means it is not
Popular American Phrases
Beats me - I cannot figure out
Cut it out - Stop doing that
Don’t beat around the bush - Get to the important matter
Dig up - Listen carefully
Hang in there - Have patience things will work out
Popular American Phrases
I’m all ears - You have my attention
It’s on me - I will pay the bill
Let’s talk turkey - Lets get down to business
Just give me the bottom line - Don’t bother me with lot of details
That’s it, in a nutshell - That’s all there is to tell about something
It’s walk in the park - It’s something that’s easy to accomplish
Some Differences…..
Some Differences…..
Solutions Don’t judge culture
– No culture is more or less valuable or efficient than any other
Understand your own cultural framework
At work or elsewhere while talking, if you want to say Yes, just say "YES". Don't nod your head up and down. Moving your head side to side is found to be very confusing, and its mostly taken as NO
Never, ever talk in your native language in presence of Americans during a gathering
Don't say "The Phone was engaged", as engaged means getting engaged. Instead say "There was a busy tone".
Don't say "I'll ring you back." or "I'll give you a ring later". Here ring is the engagement ring, rather say "I'll call you, or buzz you".
Solutions…..
Solutions Don't offer chewing gum, or a breath freshener to others. It gives
them a message that they have a bad breath
“How are you? “Should not be taken too seriously. Just answer “great! “, because no one really wants to know
Be interested – study – the cultures you work with
Move slowly and softly– Ask, listen, observe
Be brave and have fun!
THANK YOU..