Functions of Culture:

 

According to Sutherland and Wood ,Culture has been fulfilling a number of functions which may be divided into two - (a) for the individual and (b) for the group.

a.    Importance to the individual:

(1) According to E.A. Hoebel Culture distinguishes man from animal. It is the culture that makes the human animal a man. It regulates his conduct and prepares him for a group life. Without culture he would have been forced to find his own way which would have meant a loss of energy.

(2) Culture provides solution for complicated situations. Culture provides man a set of behavior for difficult situations. In the absence of culture man would have been baffled even at the simplest situations. Culture not only defines but also determines what we eat and drink, when to sleep, when to laugh etc.

(3) Culture provides traditional interpretation to certain situations. Through culture man gets traditional interpretations for many situations according to which he determines his behavior. For example, if a cat crosses his way he postpones the journey.

(4) Culture shapes personality. No child can develop human qualities in the absence of cultural environment. Culture prepares man for group life. It is culture that provides opportunities for the development of personality and sets limits on its growth.

b. Importance for the group:

 

(1) Culture keeps social relationship intact. Culture has importance not only for men but also for the group. Culture prepares man for group life. Group life would have been poor, nasty, and short if there had been no cultural regulations. Group solidarity rests on the foundation of culture.

 

(2)  Culture has given a new vision to the individual. Secondly, culture has given a new vision        to the co-operation of the individuals. Culture teaches him to think of himself as a part of the larger whole. It provides him with the concepts of family, state, nation etc. and makes possible the coordination and division of labor.

(3) Culture creates new needs. Finally, culture also creates new needs and drives, for example         thirst for knowledge and arranges for their satisfaction. It satisfies the moral and religious interests of the members of the group.

Characteristics of Culture

 

1.     Culture is learned. It is not biological or it is not inherited. We learn from our peers or parents.

2.     Culture is shared because we share culture with other members of a group and some groups also borrow cultural practices from other groups.

3.     Culture is based on symbols. A symbol is something that stands for something else and vary cross-culturally and are arbitrary. They only have meaning when people in a culture agree on their use e.g. language is a symbol.

4.     Culture is integrated. This is also known as holism or the various parts of a culture being interconnected. All aspects of culture are related to one another therefore one must learn about all of its parts, not only a few.

5.     Culture is dynamic. Cultures interact and change. Because most cultures are in contact with other cultures they exchange ideas and symbols. All cultures change as time goes by.

6.     Culture is a way of life. This has to do with dress codes and clothing.

7.     Culture is variable. Culture varies from society to society, group to group. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REFFERENCE

Edgar H.Schein,Organizational Culture and leadership,2^nd ed.

INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE

Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts.

Intercultural competence is the overall capability of an individual to manage key challenging features of intercultural communication: namely, cultural differences and unfamiliarity, inter-group dynamics, and the tensions and conflicts that can accompany this process

Intercultural competence is the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately with people of other cultures.

The basic requirements for intercultural competence are empathy, an understanding of other people's behaviors and ways of thinking, and the ability to express one's own way of thinking. It is a balance, situation adapted, among four parts:

• Knowledge (about other cultures and other people's behaviors)
• Empathy (understanding the feelings and needs of other people)
• Self-confidence (knowledge of one's own desires, strengths, weaknesses, and emotional stability)
• Cultural identity (knowledge of one's own culture)

 

(1) Individual intercultural competence

Despite the fact that intercultural competence of individuals has always been emphasized as a necessary skill for dealing with migrant's problems, there is no common agreement over the components parts inherit in it. These are categorized under the personal attributes of attitude, knowledge, communication, self-confidence and social relationships. These components of individual intercultural competence are not only attributed to the migrant living in a host society, they are also needed for those dealing with migrants and refugees in their everyday life. These skills have to be learned by both sides.

For our purposes we can state that individual intercultural competence is the result of the development of interpersonal skills that arise from the following:

• the motivation to communicate effectively with someone from a different culture;
• being prepared to learn the skills needed for effective communication;

The ability to put this knowledge into use.

(2) Intercultural competence of institutions

In addition to the intercultural competence of individuals we also talk of the intercultural competence of institutions. Intercultural competence of institutions refers to the capacity of the institutions concerned to adapt their structure and performance (rules & regulations governing the interaction between employees and members of the target group, mono-cultural or multi-cultural composition of the institution's workforce, etc.) to the demands of intercultural encounters.

In an attempt to offer solutions for developing cultural competence there are three cognitive components: (a) Awareness, (b) Attitude, (c) knowledge and (d) Skills.

Awareness. Awareness is consciousness of one's personal reactions to people who are different.

The attitude component in order to emphasize the difference between training that increases awareness of cultural bias and beliefs in general and training that has participants carefully examine their own beliefs and values about cultural differences.

.Skills. The Skills component focuses on practicing cultural competence to perfection. Communication is the fundamental tool by which people interact in organizations. This includes gestures and other non-verbal communication that tend to vary from culture to culture.

The set of four components of our cultural competence definition—awareness, attitude, knowledge, and skills— represents the key features of each of the popular definitions. The utility of the definition goes beyond the simple integration of previous definitions, however. It is the diagnostic and intervention development benefits that make the approach most appealing.

Knowledge. Social science research indicates that our values and beliefs about equality may be inconsistent with our behaviors, and we ironically may be unaware of it.