Pygmalion?

Totally different things...

Had you ever heard that word before? Pygmalion? well, to me it sounded like a pigmented chameleon. But the name actually comes out of Greek mythology. Here:

The Pygmalion effect, therefore states pretty much the same as the self-fulfilling prophecy, and even some more known prophecies like "The Secret". Basically, if you think possitive, good things come along, and if you think negative bad things will come.

you are the ruler of your own destiny... yeah right!... But this one also states that you also have an impact on the people that surround you.

You see, there`s something called the Implicit Personality Theory (Inamori,2009) and it states that certain behaviours tend to be associated with certain kind of individuals.

At the same time, these individuals reflect what they feel in their groups or outside their groups ( In-group, out-group homogeneity) , again ( Inamori, 2009). And they attribute the behaviours to themselves and not to what surrounds them. (But they do affect what surrounds them.)



Lets imagine for a second there`s a person working for an enterprise. This person ( could be you) arrives angry every day to work and does not say hello to anyone. People who intended to say hello to him are going to have thoughts of why this person did not say hello to them and will start getting angrier and angrier. The cycle is then closed. The first person`s expectations were bad and they got transmitted to the people around him, turning into losses for the company`s human capital, social capital and probably organizational and business capital ( because of the errors people may commit when they are distracted, angry and bothered.)

Next time think better on how you can change the world with your own pygmalion effect.

References.
Google. (s.f.). Google Images. From http://www.google.com.co/images?hl=es&gbv=2&q=difference+sign&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=vi&biw=1419&bih=699
Inamori, F. A. (2009). Beyond Pygmalion effect: the role of managerial perception. Bradford, UK: Department of Development and Economic Studies, University of Bradford.

Dealing with Cultural Differences/ Some words of wisdom

Considering the conference "Dealing with Cultural Differences" by Nick B. Meyer, and also this website: http://www.geert-hofstede.com/ we can see, that according to Mr. Hofsteade there are 5 D`s ( or 5 Dimensions)on which we can describe the ´National Culture´ of nations.
We, as humans, and as part of a society, are raised to believe that our culture is the normal one, and that foreigners are strange. This vision may be the only thing all the cultures in the world are completely equals in.

What is culture really? though question to answer. If we dig really deep on our brains (rather than searching in wikipedia) we might define it as ´what characterizes a country´ and so our brains would be partially right. It is important to state though, that culture is so vast, that it always has a way of leaving it vestiges behind. An example of that are the broken pots and other artifacts of ancient people that archeologists discover.

To not make this explanation too extensive, culture always remains, just like cofee leftovers once you finish drinking a cup of it...( as told by Andrés Velez Calle, professor of Intercultural management on our university)

To describe then National Cultures, Dr. Geert Hofsteade came up with 5 different ways:

Power Distance Index (equity of distribution of power in a nation) , Individualism ( individuals work by themselves rather than in groups) , Masculinity(assertiveness and competitiveness rather than caring and procuring) , Uncertainty Avoidance (certainty and rules opposing uncertainty and tolerance) and Long-Term Orientation ( also called Confucian work Dynamism) why the sudden change of name? is it so hard to process? We are going to solve these and more questions, and since that last dimension is going to be my focus today.

This last dimension is said to deal with virtue regardless of truth; and it carries out values such as thrift and persevearence. Countries that are short-term oriented tend to focus more on the meaning of the truth, in respecting certain aquired values and fulfilling social obligations.

Negociators require patience and a wide comprehension of these issues in order to arrange their deals. To put all this phylosophy into context, imagine you are an already working International Negotiator and you have made a deal with a chinesse firm for the purchase of 100 million pesos worth of... lets say rice.

everything`s going well on the negotiation, and you come to an agreement for certain tons of rice on the mentioned price.

On the date of the purchase, the chinesse firm shows up with a smaller amount of rice, arguing that the crops had a problem because of the weather.

you are likely to believe that they are joking. They aren`t. To them, the truth is relative. their truth is that one and you are the one who has to deal with it... how will you?

Another example of this is that long term oriented traders cannot take the risk of unintentionally reselling low quality products for high quality products. They do not easily trust new relations.
Trust has to be earned. So beware! be patient with your asian clients, don`t try to rush the deals in and let them sniff a little on every single detail of the business.

The moral of this dimension may be then to be preventive with your neighbors, the long-term oriented ones. Always look for the quality of the merchandise and of course, always look at the other side of the coin... as our friend, Dr. Hofstede said: "Culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and often a disaster."

Thanks to http://www.google.com.co/imghp?hl=es&tab=wi for the pictures

Acclaration

Why talk about them when you can dive onto them?
Im sorry if I didn`t write a description of the blogs listed below as my first comment... but what is it really there to say? isn´t it better just looking at them?

If the subject interestes you, most surely the blog will too.