Executive Summary
The article deals with the differences among Asians and Americans due to cultural mores and differing views of the world that have been shaped by centuries of cultural dissimilarities and different trajectories of development. The article deals with the studies done by Professor Richard Nisbett of the University of Michigan in exploring the different ways in which Asians and Americans relate to spatial and pictorial objects and which points to a deeper understanding of how these individuals view the different facets of life from optimism regarding bull runs in the stock market to doing well at school.
Article Critique
The author has certainly made some important points about how recognition of objects and the highlighting of differences in attitudes correlate with attitudinal differences. The article looks at the findings of Professor Nesbitt in observing and recording cultural differences that give rise to differences in the way individuals from different countries relate to the cultural and attitudinal differences among the perspectives of these students.
Prof. Nesbitt’s research has provided some unique insights into human behavior as accounted by the behavioral differences. They are to do with how Chinese students are being more individualistic than the Americans because the one-child policy in China means that parents and grandparents dote on the single child making him or her that much more individualistic in their approach.
One of the other findings of the study is that Asians tend to believe that anything that goes up must come down and this view extends to the periodic bull runs of the stock market as well. Contrast this with the optimism that is prevalent among Americans and it is quite relevant to the current economic crisis. However, there is some criticism of Prof. Nesbitt’s studies as some academics feel that he takes his conclusions too far. Whatever may be the case; his studies are an important addition to the body of literature that studies differences in personality traits arising out of cultural conditioning and geography.
Organizational Behavior
From the point of view of Managerial and Organizational challenges of having multicultural workforces, such studies are useful to make better use of the human resources and to deal with issues of motivation and group dynamics in a better way. Thus, the upshot of such studies is that it makes it easier to deal with issues like why Asians tend to prefer groups and invest in the collective and paradoxically why the newer generations of Asian students tend to be like the Americans.
Thus, these complexities of the study can be used to map people’s behavior and devise appropriate strategies. Managers would be well advised to remember that employees of Asian origin tend to establish relationships over some time and can do the extra work that comes along their way whereas Americans tend to go by the wording of the contract and stick to the fine print as far as possible.
Though the author of the article cautions about taking the recommendations of the study in Toto, it is nonetheless an important contribution to the existing thinking about cultural awareness and integration. In the context of global workforces and tighter coordination in context of operating in a global economy, the study is useful for its insights about cultural mores and differences.