Arts serving political purposes in ancient Mesopotamia
Ancient Mesopotamia (the land between rivers) political government consisted of kings who were believed to be from the city of gods. The relation between arts and politics was mainly seen in architecture. This was the pictorial view of buildings and building practices of significant buildings such as; temples, city walls, and palaces. These buildings contributed to the political supremacy of Mesopotamia where even monumental buildings were elected (Van de Mieroop, p. 114). Temples and palaces were uniquely used to represent the political class and were done in special art designs. The palaces were huge and artistically decorated and functioned as socio-economic and power icons in the dynasty. Colored clay and beautiful reliefs were used to decorate buildings a good example of such a building is the palace which was the Khorsabad (Grimal, p. 65).
Arts expressing religious ideas in ancient Egypt
Unlike the Mesopotamians, the Egyptian kings were regarded as gods. They were polytheistic with the main god being the sun god; others were Isis, Horus, and Osiris. Religion was connected to the arts in the temples. They performed many rites for the many gods and they believed that that was to preserve the order of the world. The gods had been sculptured into idols and were placed in the temples for the people to worship them. Great reference and respect were accorded to the temples and the idol gods. This great tradition gave the religious ideas of the Egyptians which they used art as a means to support them (Grimal, p. 72).
Cultural differences between Mesopotamia and Egypt connected to geographic differences
The two ancient kingdoms shared many traits as much as differences. The culture includes; festivals, music, games, family life, burials, and religion. Egyptians were religious optimists who set up a bureaucratic government that was transmitted to the social society, whereas in Mesopotamia life is viewed optimistically and thus resulting in a diverse social system that had a decentralized political government. In agricultural views there were problems of flooding in the Egyptian side which favored an intense program of agriculture through irrigation (Grimal, 86) which was the case in Mesopotamia; though they practiced agriculture they never had an organized agricultural system. This agricultural system contributed to the religious perspective where they believed that life is orderly and beneficial. That’s why they made the afterlife easier by preserving the bodies of mummies. The Mesopotamians on the other hand believed that they had a role and duty to serve God and this made them attach religion to government (Van de Mieroop, p. 125).
The two ancient communities had a tri-system of society, which were; the royalty, the priests and officials and free land-owning; farmers and artisans; and the slaves/prisoners. And the males were dominant in both societies but the social systems were less significant in Egypt and the omen had more rights than in Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia had a culture of pottery which they made using the potter’s wheel, while in Egypt used simple machines in building monuments and pyramids (Van de Mieroop, p. 95).
Contemporary American views of death and the afterlife similar to and/or different from the views of ancient Mesopotamians and or Egyptians
The views of death and life in American and ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt are similar in that they all believed in supreme beings. They all have reference to God and believe that He is supreme and controls and rules over the entire universe (Van de Mieroop, p. 110). They all believe in the afterlife but the contemporary Americans and the Mesopotamians do not transform bodies to mummies or attach a great reference to those that pass on.
Works Cited
- Grimal, Nicolas. A History of Ancient Egypt. California: Blackwell Books. 1992. Print
- Van de Mieroop, Marc. A history of the ancient Near East ca 3000-323 BC. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. 2004. Print
Challenges Faced By MNC’s In Cross-Cultural Management
Current participation in the global market has brought with it challenges in terms of cross-cultural management. With an increase in the number of multinational corporations, people from a different cultural backgrounds are forced to work together under one roof despite the differences in beliefs and norms. The fundamental intellectual and technological dynamics within the market have made cross-cultural management a reality that every manager must face. As a result, one-way form of management which was Western-oriented cannot be accommodated in the current market. Researchers call upon approaches that employ both the Western and Asian cultures. Sadly, many managers and researchers have been able to critique the old approaches but failed to develop a solution. This paper intends to identify the key challenges faced by MNC’s in cross-cultural management and offer a plausible recommendation of how this issue could be solved.
In their quest to attain an industrial status and gain some competitive advantage, many countries have opened up their doors to international organizations. One such country is Malaysia. With an influx of these organizations, there is an increase in need for expertise. Expatriates are then imported into the country to offer the skilled manpower. The expatriates also offer professional manpower and skills in different fields of production. Precisely, Malaysia reported a total of 21,859 registered expatriates in 1999 0nly (Malaysia, 2000).
Aside from the quest for competitive advantage for countries, Organizations from developed countries like the United States move their headquarters to develop countries in order to reduce their costs of operation. Tahir and Ismail (2007) point out that an estimated 1000 companies in the United States of America would have relocated to other convenient locations around the world by the year 2008. They move to other locations in search of tax incentives, looking for raw materials and also searching cheap costs of labor. This clearly indicates that people from different cultures will be forced to move to new regions hence increasing diversities in working environment. Therefore, more and more instances of cultural challenges are expected as the world continually moves towards globalization.
To begin with, the cultural diversity within MNC’s brings about the challenges for ethical culture to be adopted. In his analysis of ethics, Shakespeare clearly points out that there is nothing that can be curtly classified as good or bad. However, it is the constructed thinking of an individual that makes it acquire the quality of good or bad. On the other hand, different cultures advocate for different norms and hence differences in good or bad. This is a great challenge for MNC’s. While smaller companies and organizations depend mostly on employees from a more or less similar culture, MNC’s employ people from different cultures. The definition of good and bad becomes a challenge because, in one culture, an action might be good while at the same time it is bad in another culture. This forces the management to come up with a way that all these cultures are accommodated so that they can work together for the good of the company. There is needed to come up with an ethical code that is universal and relative in that the different cultures will not be ignored completely. This will assist the organization to compete favorably on the market (Fish & Wood, 1996).
Individuals’ actions and perception of the world are greatly shaped by the values within the society he grew. Consequently, the individual’s actions shape the dynamics of the organization with which he works. This means that MNC’s are greatly affected by the different cultures that are characteristic of the different backgrounds of their workforce. The perception of values might greatly differ from one employee to the other hence leading to misunderstandings between one and the other (Merriam, 1998).
Gender relations offer another great challenge in terms of cultural diversity. In a culturally diverse society, the expectations for women might differ from one employee to the other. For instance, it could be difficult for a woman to expect to hold a high position in management in some cultures. In male-dominated countries like Malaysia, male employees would find it difficult to accept a woman as the head of the organization. On the other hand, Western countries tend to incline towards equality. Women and men could hold any office provided their competency and educational ability allow them. This becomes a great challenge to the management of an organization that boasts of both cultures. While well-performing female employees qualify to have their statuses elevated, there could be forms of resistance from the male employees (Caliguiri & Cascio, 1998).
With these identified cultural challenges, what can an organization do to ensure that the cultural differences work for the best of the organization as opposed to destroying it? Bartol and Martin (1998) argue that culture and the self are one. Self-awareness cannot be separated from cultural awareness. It is therefore important that a person understands his culture in order to understand himself. How can this be achieved? This paper identifies two ways through which the management of an MNC can overcome the issue of cultural challenges. The first way is through cultural orientation and the second is policy formulation (Harrisons, 1994).
Literature points out that there are four types of orientation, ethnocentric orientation, polycentric orientation, regiocentric orientation, and geocentric orientation. However, this paper recommends that for a successful multicultural management, organizations should put much consideration on geocentric orientation. This is a form of orientation that calls for a global view in which an organization develops a culture that becomes accepted by the headquarters and the subsidiaries alike. This form of culture should try to put into consideration the differences in the cultural perspectives and develop a unique system that aims at removing any form of inclination. Approaches that put little of each value and belief system to the table and tries ensure that every individual is comfortable within the new system (Foster, 2000).
The second approach to assist organizations meet the multicultural challenges is use of policies. A business policy is a guiding procedure that enterprises or business premises utilize in order to help them achieve their set goals and objectives. Businesses that employ people from diverse cultures and have their branches located in many different countries will definitely require a business policy that will guide in when dealing with such people from immense backgrounds. Considering Hofstede (2005)’s analysis of culture, each individual has a way of contributing to the development of this company depending on what he or she sees is valuable, based on their beliefs and approach towards life. A business organization should therefore seek a policy that will be in a position to accommodate the different needs of these employees while at the same time finding ways of managing the differences that exist among them. The guiding principle towards the establishment of a policy to govern a company that is operating in various countries and diverse employees is its employees. Since this is the team that will help the business grow and expand, the management should determine what their interests and requirements are and find out how to fulfill them. It needs to ensure that each employee, no matter his or her background, is in sync with the system in Business Objects.
In conclusion, it is arguable that cultural diversity is an inevitable challenge that no organization working across boundaries can fail to experience. Countries try to sharpen their competitive advantage while organizations run towards regions that reduce their operating costs. This calls for differences in cultures as expatriates are called for to meet the skilled manpower and professional needs within the organizations. As a result, professionals from different countries traverse the planet as they offer their services. This means that cultures continue merging while causing challenges as a result. Cultural challenges come in terms of values and belief systems created by society. This can be evidenced in the issue of gender where male societies might have problems accepting women at management levels.
As a form of respite, this paper has offered orientation as one of the solutions to multicultural challenges. Secondly, multinational organizations need to develop policies that put into consideration the positions of every employee regardless of his or her position and rank. This is especially important because all employees of the organization are parts of the organization system and a failure in any of the parts would lead to failure of the whole organization.
Reference List
Bartol, K. M. and Martin, D.C. (1998). Using intra-national diversity for international assignments: A model of bicultural competence and expatriate adjustment. Human Resource Management Review, 6(1), 47-74.
Caliguiri, P. M., and Cascio, W. F. (1998). Can we send her there? Maximizing women on global assignments. Business Journal of World, 33 (4), 394-416.
Fish, A., and Wood, J. (1996). A review of expatriate staffing practices in Australian business enterprises. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 7 (4), 846-865.
Foster, N. (2000). Expatriates and the impact of cross-cultural training. Human Resource Management Journal, 10(3), 68-78.
Harrisons, K. (1994). Developing successful expatriate managers: A framework for the structural design and strategic alignment of cross-cultural training program. Human Resource Planning, 17(3), 17-35.
Hofstede, G., 2005. Cultures and Organizations: Software of The Mind. United States of America: McGraw Hill.
Malaysia (2000). Statistical Report Dated is 1999 . Kuala Lumpur: Immigration Department of Malaysia.
Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Tahir, A. and Ismail, M. (2007). Cross-cultural challenges and adjustments of expatriates: A case study in Malaysia. Turkish Journal of International Relations, 6(3), 72-99.
Tung, R. L. (1998). American expatriates abroad: From neophytes to cosmopolitans. Journal of World Business, 33 (2), 125-144.
Usunier, J., 1998. International and Cross-Cultural Management Research. London: SAGE Publications Limited.
Sexual Abuse And Crisis Intervention Strategy
One of the psychological impacts that may be experienced by a young boy, such as Ryan, is a feeling of fear. Fear pervades the sexually abused children; in the course of the abuse, in the childhood aftermath of those who have been abused, and al through the remaining part of their lives into adulthood. In his research, Lisak, (2007) found out the victims of childhood sexual abuse described the fear as a feeling that “could be a dull, ever present reality, or a dizzying experience of abject terror” (Lisak, 2007, p.532). Another psychological impact is development of anger. The sexually abused children may feel overwhelmed with anger and they may also have a feeling of being afraid of their anger, suppressing it, and of discovering its existence” (Lisak, 2007, p.532) when they enter into adulthood. This may cause them to become very violent people in the society. There can also be a feeling of helplessness. This may involve the one who has the experience of sexual abuse feeling a deep-seated loss of control: “over one’s physical being, one’s sense of self, one’s sense of agency and self-efficacy, and one’s fate” (Lisak, 2007, p.532). This may contribute towards having a feeling of being lesser human beings. They may have very low self esteem which may affect their social life negatively, to a large extent.
According to Frederick (2010), as on one hand the emotional consequences of sexual abuse to young females relative to young males are not well known, some of the studies that have been conducted indicate that the sexual molestation of the boys or male children has an impact which is more observable, “playing out in substance abuse, school absenteeism, violent behavior and petty crime” (Frederick, 2010, p.7). Some research findings indicate that the sexual molestation of the young boys puts this group at a risk of turning out to be abusers. It is pointed out that prior sexual molestation is regarded to be a risk factor for turning out to be an abuser (Frederick, 2010). This may serve to make the sexually abused children such as Ryan to find it hard to recover from the consequences of the molestation that they have experienced.
There are resilience factors that might help the sexually abused children like Ryan to cope with the aftermath of the sexual abuse that they experience. Resilience can be defined as “a universal capacity which allows a person, group or community to prevent, minimize, or overcome the damaging effects of adversity” (Kansakar, 2008, p. 5). The resilience quality among children offers the capability to get over trauma, and also to offer a response to stress as well as to maintain a sense of hope, identity and meaning. Many personal characteristics have been found in the young people who have portrayed resilient conduct in the course of a crisis in their lives. Such characteristics consist of social competence, great abilities for solving problems, favourable self-esteem and a conviction that they can take control of their own environment. The resilience factor which offers support to resilient conduct is “the presence of emphatic, caring persons in a child’s life that provides sexually abused children the determination and the capacity to deal with their adversity” (Kansakar, 2008).
References
Frederick, J. (2010). Sexual abuse and exploitation of boys in South Asia: a review of research findings legislation, policy and program response. Innocenti Working Paper.Web.
Kansakar, K. (2008). Promoting children’s resilience: a way to combat child abuse. Save the Children, Web.
Lisak, D. (2007). The psychological impact of sexual abuse; content analysis of interviews with male survivors. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 7(4), 525 – 548.