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.The Muslim tradition tends to be strongly patriarchal,which means that the status of men is higher than women, and older men are more highly regarded in thefamily and the workplace than younger ones.In this, Muslim cultures are no different from those of East Asia,India, or non-Muslim Africa.In fact, you can say that the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Northern Europe are theexceptions in their encouragement and ready acceptance of the whiz kid boss who may be intelligent andhighly educated but, inevitably, does not have a lot of experience.The assumption in Turkey is that age bringsboth status and wisdom.This makes it hard, for example, for an older manager to report to a younger one, asthis might cause the older employee to lose face.However, as you are from Sweden, you will inevitably find yourself in the role of outsider in Turkey and will notbe judged by local standards.Also, as you come from the home of the parent company, you will automaticallyhave a high status, and as a manager you will be seen as having the weight of headquarters behind you.Thisdoes not mean, of course, that you can afford to ignore local traditions and values, so be particularly tactfulwhen dealing with older employees.Make an effort to build good relationships with them, and listen to whatthey have to say, because they will have a lot of valuable information and insights that will be useful to you.Bydemonstrating respect for these older individuals, you will also indirectly be showing respect for the Turkishculture as a whole.LETTERS 122 124How respect is shown varies greatly.In Asian and African cultures respect for age is particularly marked.Showing respect? Letter 122FROM AUSTRALIA ABOUT SOUTH KOREAI will be visiting a small South Korean firm next month and will be meeting the family who owns it.I knowI m supposed to show special respect to older people there and want to know how to go about doing it.It s certainly important to observe hierarchy, for this social order is what holds society together and defines theposition of the individual within it.When meeting older people, address them by their title plus surname (e.g., Managing Director Kim or MadamLee).Bow, unless they extend their hands first.The rules of conversation are mostly common sense and applyeven in societies where old people do not have such an elevated status.In fact, when you were a child, yourparents probably ran through similar rules before taking you to visit your grandparents.Listen politely to whatever older people have to say, defer to them, don t contradict, don t ask difficultquestions (although questions about health are acceptable), and don t speak too loudly.When eating, elderswill be served first, and most Koreans will wait for them to begin and will not leave the table until they have finished.You shouldn t smoke in front of older guests unless invited to do so.Finally, if you are drinking infront of an older person, turn your head away as you drink to demonstrate respect.Can t treat people like this Letter 123FROM HUNGARY ABOUT MULTINATIONALSA large U.S.American multinational took over our production plant six months ago and now it hasstarted to lay off large numbers of workers, myself included.I have worked loyally for this company forthirty-five years, and I am losing my job while young kids with less than five years experience arestaying.This is a sad but unfortunately common story repeated in many countries of the world.Most largemultinationals, wherever their headquarters are located, are ruthless about keeping costs down, and if thisinvolves cutting jobs, so be it.These are impersonal institutions and they don t give any consideration to howlong an individual has worked for the company (especially if there are new owners) or how much he or she hasleft to contribute.The ties of mutual loyalty that may bind employer and employee in a small family-run firm, orthe political ideology that determined how organizations were run in totalitarian or communist states (Polandand Russia, for example) do not apply here any longer.Instead, the interests of efficiency and productivity areparamount, and measuring performance by these yardsticks means that older people may be at adisadvantage.This is particularly hard to accept in cultures where traditions of employer-employee loyaltyhave been or remain strong, such as Japan, China, South Korea, and Latin America
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Tematy
IndexJason A. Edwards Navigating the Post Cold War World, President Clinton's Foreign Policy Rhetoric (2008)
Joel Fleishman The Foundation, A Great American Secret; How Private Wealth is Changing the World (2009)
You Can't Get Much Closer Than This Combat with the 80th Blue Ridge Division in World War II Europe
Sharon J. Smith The Young Activist's Guide to Building a Green Movement and Changing the World (2011)
William Blum Killing Hope, US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II (2003)
Michael Wintle, Menno Spiering European Identity and the Second World War (2011)
Peter Stearns Consumerism in World History, The Global Transformation of Desire (2006)
Magic in the Ancient Greek World by Derek Collins
Christopher Priest The Inverted World (epub)
Coulter Catherine Baron 03 Szalony baron