So many religious holidays, so little time off

Many companies struggle with the diversity of religions now found through the world. The difficulty revolves around how to properly handle religious observances and holidays.

In the southern US state of Tennessee Tyson Foods has grappled with this issue as it has been working out a new contract with its union.

Originally there was an agreement in place to exchange Labor Day for Eid al-Fitr, the end of the Muslim holy month of fasting.

However amid much public attention, the company changed the agreement. During the first year of the contract Eid al-Fitr will be a paid holiday in addition to Labor Day, a US holiday marking the formation of the first major union formation. Beginning next year Tyson Foods will no longer close for Eid al-Fitr, however all employees will receive one floating holiday to be used for any observance of their choice, pending a supervisor’s approval.

Although this solution seems amiable, critics point out that Christians do not need to use a personal holiday for their major observances because the plant closes. Therefore Christians are getting a benefit from an extra day off to schedule at will for recreation while other religions must use that day if they are to join family for religious observances.

There seems to be no easy answer given the thousands of world religions.

USSR Rebirth? Russian culture of aggression

Reports of the death of the aggressive culture of the former Soviet Union may be premature. As Vladimir Putin sat among world leaders watching the opening of the Olympic games, his armed forces were invading the sovereign nation of Georgia.

Russian ground and air forces have moved, according to the United Nations, beyond the provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, a separatist region within Georgia.

Russia is claiming a nobility position saying they are moving into Georgia for humanitarian reason. However the mighty Soviet government has not sought United Nations authority to enter a foreign nation.

Russia has also criticized the United States for entering the dispute by airlifting Georgian forces from Iran (note to America’s critics – Georgia was part of the United Nations multi-nation coalition rebuilding Iraq, in United Nations sanctioned activities there).

Many cultures die hard when the sons and daughter of those made successful by a former culture dream of the visions of greatness handed down by parents and grandparents.

In the case of Russia’s latest moves, it is evident that the Soviet culture remains.

The good news in this is that the western world can once again have a common villain for the James Bond and Mission: Impossible entertainment franchises.

Culture Clash costs jobs

Unable to bridge the French and American cultures, two top executives of Alcatel-Lucent are resigning at the end of the year.

Patricia Russo, chief executive in New Jersey, USA, and Serge Tchuruk, chairman of the French portion of the newly merged Alcatel have not been able to make the transition from two smaller companies to an international telecommunications equipment giant.

Unlike when the famous joint venture between IBM and Apple which derailed several years ago after the two organizations could not form a new corporate culture, this time it seems the problem was national cultures. Ms. Russo could not speak French, providing a huge handicap in top meetings.

Another problem was a series of job cuts designed to streamline te company. Job cuts are not acceptable in the French culture.
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Cell Phones on airplanes? a generational divide

Whether or not to allow cell phone usage on airplanes was the focus of a recent survey. The survey revealed that the tech-challenged Traditionalists and the Baby Boomer generation clearly want to keep the devices turned off and stowed during flights. However the Instant Messaging Generations X and Y are ready to end this ban.

Cell phones are banned on airplanes in flight due to the impact they would have on cell towers. With a high altitude plane a single cell phone could hit bounce it’s signal off hundreds of towers. However once a plane is in the final stages of landing their is no danger for their use according to many expert. The major pilot unions have continued to ask government authorities to ban there use anytime the plane’s door is closed is related to safety, not cell tower impact. They provide a distraction to the flight crew preventing the passengers, who are always riveted to any announcements being made, from clearly hearing them.

Generation X and Y, according to industry sources, will continue to have to sneak the IMs when the flight attendants are looking the other way.

Culture Clash: LA and PR

If you have ever been to Puerto Rico you know that after midnight street lights are considered to be little more than yield signs. It’s not illegal to proceed even when a light is red. Consider this comical piece the next time you are caught off guard when your local culture differs from the prevailing culture.

Don’t say “fanny pack” in Australia

While visiting Australia's beaches, John wanted something to help carry his stuff. He found a small variety shop and went inside.

When he asked the clerk to see what she had in a fanny pack the manager threw him out of the store.

Why?

For the answer, click here.

Cracking down on boxers

Police in Flint, Michigan, and Lynwood, Illinois, are finally cracking down on crack. No, they are not attacking the illegal drug culture -- they are launching an all out war on generational cultures.

The Traditionalists are absolutely applauded by low pants. Baby Boomers also frown on the practice of showing boxers in public. Yet the Millennial Generation’s obsession amounts in their view to nothing more than a fashion statement.

In Lynwood anyone showing more than three inches of underwear is subject to a $25 fine. There is no mention of how sting underwear will be handled as it is often less than three inches in its entirety. Nor is there any indication of whether or not the normal folds or drape of the underwear is measured based on the drape or if it is stretched before measuring. If two officers are making the same observation, does one make the final call on the measurement or do they both, in which case we’d have a split decision.

In Flint it is more serious. Showing underwear is a warning. If the pants are below the, shall we say highest point of the crack, a ticket is issued that carries a fine. If starch was not used or the elastic is limp, the matter becomes much more serious as the police make a misdemeanor arrest, which could involved jail time.

Community decency standards are important, butt which crack is more important for the police to spend their time combating?

The "N" Word

Much controversy has been generated this past week throughout North America concerning what has commonly been referred to as “The ‘N’ Word”. A debate ensued with the cast of ABC’s “The View” (see the video below) following a leaked tape of Civil Rights leader Jesse Jackson using the word. Jackson had called for the word to be banned after an incident at the Comedy Factory in Los Angeles where comic Michael Richards had used the word (click here to see the Associated Press article).

As you can see from the debate emotions on this issue are high. People obviously have strong feelings that seem to be well thought out. Yet one must ask if this is a healthy debate.

It is probable nobody has the life experiences to fully understand both sides of the issue. However history tells us that allowing different rules for whites and blacks is divisive. How are arguments justifying use of the word by blacks while banning it from the vocabulary of whites any different from the argument that whites and blacks be assigned seats in different areas of a bus?

Granted, the word is extremely hurtful to people – we do not want to distract from that aspect of the issue. But isn’t defending its use by one class of people only continuing that hurt? Does it not cause us to dwell on the negative? Does it not keep the word in the common vocabulary for future generations?

We have seen what separate rules have gotten us in the past. Separate water fountains, separate schools, separate rest rooms, separate employment and housing opportunities, and more “separates”. Could creating separate vocabularies lead to more “separates”?

This posting is designed to spur dialog. How about joining us with you thoughts?

Shirtless calendar excommunicated

Chad Hardy has been excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ, Later Day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church.

Hardy created the “Men on a Mission” calendar featuring a different shirtless Mormon missionary each month.

The website for the calendar has been removed, potentially because the high volume of hits following release of the story.

Hardy claims to have no bitter feelings toward the church but says that because the calendar was strictly men he does not see how it has a negative on the Mormon culture.

North Carolinian refuses to lower flag

In direct opposition to the order of the Governor of North Carolina, L. F. Eason III decided to retire rather than lower the U.S. or state flag to half-staff in remembrance of long-time State Senator Jesse Helms.

Governor Easley issued the order, which is traditional and customary following the death of notable public figures. However Eason, an employee of the North Carolina Standards Laboratory, was told to lower the flag he sent memos to his employees forbidding such an action to occur.

Eason’s reason: he feels the senator had a doctrine of “negativity and hatred”.

It sounds like Eason is filled with his own negativity and hatred.

The flag was lowered soon after Eason retired.

Read more details from the Charlotte Observer.

Riots highlight immigration problems

Almost every industrial nation is experienced new, heightened levels of immigration. North America’s United States and Mexico are seeing record numbers of new people from the nation directly to their south. Likewise, South Africa is experiencing a fluid movement of Africa’s population.

Rioting has broken out in South Africa as protesters are targeting foreign owned businesses. Assaults, looting, and murder are becoming too common as long-term local residents show their displeasure with immigrants whom they see as taking jobs in poorer areas of the country from the North West province to Johannesburg and Pretoria.

As with much of the world, the problem exists largely because of a separatist mentality. Immigrants need to get involved with a community and build relationships. This is not to say they must act, dress, eat, worship, or in anyway try to be “like” local residents. However the bonds of friendship will trump immigrant status almost every time.

In other words, immigrants should keep their original culture while integrating with their new neighbors.

Careful OPEC: High prices are changing cultures

Steeply rising crude prices could be severely hampering the future of the traditional petroleum industry as global cultures deal with alternatives. From Detroit to Cambodia more employees are turning to biking as a way to get to work, with many forming bike clubs to travel together.

Four-day workweeks are being introduced as a way to get drivers off the road, reducing oil consumption and road wear. Many institutes of higher learning are also cutting their schedule to four days by taking Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes to Monday-Wednesday only classes using the twice-a-week model already used for Tuesday-Thursday classes.

The move to smaller vehicles and alternative fuel vehicles is also becoming a part of regional and economic cultures.

Once the thinking of cultures has changed, they have difficulty reverting to older, abandoned ideas. This could mean OPEC will see a decline that will be difficult to offset without substantial population growth.

Saudi Arabia offers cultural training for migrant workers

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia challenging organizations, companies, and nations to provide migrant workers with education about Saudi work laws. Although training on cultural customs and/or history is often provided the training does not extend into labor laws.

Ahmed Abdulraham Al Mansour, Saudi Deputy Minister for Labour, issued the challenge to provide extended training at the Saudi-Bangladesh Joint Economic Commission, held during the first week of April, 2008.

Ahmed said workers need to know Saudi culture, social norms and values, and labor laws. “Lack of knowledge about the rules and regulation creates problems”, he said, noting the problems cause embarrassment for Saudi Arabia and the nation sending the workers.

Agencies recruiting workers to Saudi Arabia have allegedly cheated workers from Bangladesh that did not understand worker requirements and regulations. He offered his government’s resources to assist in the worker training program, providing a model that all nations importing skilled workers could follow.

Culture Class: Student, faculty, and Skittles

By Guillermo

The health-conscious culture has come in conflict with the Millennial Culture in New Haven, Connecticut, over a bag of Skittles.

Things seemed to be going good for Michael Sheridan. He was vice president of his eighth-grade class and an honor student. Then it happened - his title was stripped from him and he was banned from attending the honors banquet.

His crime: he bought a bag of Skittles from a classmate.

In an attempt to make the district healthier, the school banned the sale of candy on school property in 2003. Although the wellness policy does not prevent students from bringing in their own candy, it does prevent them from buying candy on school grounds.

The case has made me think twice. What if we had the same policy her at MBC Global? At lunch today I was going to trade my bag of chips for piece of cake, but the cake was obviously worth more – so in effect it would be buying it. Certainly it would not be worth losing my cushiony MBC Global.

The school, apparently reacting to public outcry, did reduce his suspension from three days to one. However I bet the matter still on his permanent record.

Tragedy of not accepting your child's culture

by Guillermo, MBC Global staff

Dear Margo, an Internet advice columnist well known in pop culture, recently published a letter from a lady that married a man with a son. The lady rightfully accepted the son as her own. On the other hand the lady's mother refuses to accept her stepson.

What is wrong with this grandma? Her daughter met a man with whom she fell in love. Sure he already had a child -- therefore the boy is not a blood relative. But he is still her daughter’s son by a form of adoption that accompanies any marriage were already-born children are involved.

This is a horrible kind of prejudice -- an indifference or outright hatred that does not take into account the beauty of the individual. Instead of getting to know her daughter’s stepson she has chosen to exclude him from her life. Likewise many people exclude coworkers, neighbors, and strangers on the street from their lives on the basis of a cultural difference.

The only positive aspect of this granny's narrow-minded bigotry is that the boy will learn firsthand what it is like to be cast off for no apparent reason. Although this lesson can strengthen him and help him to be a better humanitarian later in life, it is unfortunate she must learn a lesson through someone that should be a loving family member.

Gen Y can drive and talk at the same time

by Guillermo, MBC Staffer

It seems popular for lawmakers to want to make it illegal for people to use their cell phones while they drive. With a war in Iraq, genocide in Darfur, starving children in every country on the planet, recession, the rising cost of education, global warming, healthcare, nuclear Iran, the declining US dollar, and rising crude prices – is this really what we should be working on?

Perhaps talking on the cell phone for older people is a problem, it isn’t for Generation Y or X. Gens X and Y are masters of multitasking. Remember, Generation X mastered IMing while playing NeoPets while checking out the latest video on You Tube. Gen Y can text message, create a FaceBook, update an iPod, and visit friends on Runescape – all at the same time. (Note: to Baby Boomers, get your grandchildren to tell you what these things are.)

Obviously doing all that at the same time is much more complicated than talking on the phone behind the wheel of a speeding car – so give Xers and Yers a break!

If you want to talk about driver distraction, ask a Gen Yer to drive while oldies music is playing on the radio. It not a distraction – it’s a sleep inducer for Gen Y. Maybe there should be a law about that.

Baghdad Zoo, a cultural blending spot

On the January 4 6:00 pm edition of Special Report, Fox News ran a one-time story about the Baghdad Zoo. They showed footage of how Sunnis and Shiites, from different sides of the river, are able to come together and enjoy the displays and safety of the zoo.

Some Iraqi families were torn apart during the Hussein regime in a Romeo-Juliet fashion. Someone in a Sunni family may have married a Shiite. Likewise a Shiite may have married a Sunni. With tensions high among these two religious cultures it has been difficult for the family members to get together. The zoo offers an excellent venue for outings as it is one of the safer parts of Baghdad.

Family members may join different religious cultures, which is an external dimension of cultural personality. They do not choose the family to which they belong nor their ethnicity, which are both internal dimensions of their personality.

Understanding people requires understanding the three aspects of personality: internal, external, and workplace. See MBC Global's Cultural Bridges to further understand the dimensions of cultural personality.

Why cultures clash: corn provides insight

The United States has passed legislation requiring a six-fold increase in the production of ethanol by the year 2022. The United States uses 19,650,000 barrels of oil a day, more than three times that of second place Japan according to Wise Geek. Because the US imports most of this oil, they are seeking to reduce their reliance on foreign sources of energy.

However, by requiring corn, in the form of ethanol, to replace foreign oil as a fuel source, they are creating several cultural clashes of note. Here are some questions that might show you how one decision can have an impact on cultures:

• How would you feel if you were a member of the crop-growing farming culture and saw prices rising for the crops you were producing?


• How would you feel if you were a cattle rancher and saw feed prices rising because of the increase demand for corn?


• How would you feel if you were part of a developing nation culture and heard this news while your nation’s citizens were dying of hunger each day?


• How would you feel if you are part of the blue-collar culture about seeing new, potential union, jobs being created at ethanol plants?

We know how the United Nations feels. According to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Jean Ziegler, turning fields capable of growing edible crops into fields growing crops for pure fuel production is a crime against demanding. He has asked for a five-year moratorium on such activity. He recommends the use of jatropha, a drought-resistant crop easily grown in developing nations. A field of jatropha is easy to establish, grows quickly, and has a lifespan of 50 years.

As you can imagine, the position of the United Nations further contributes to how cultures view the use of corn.