A culture’s sense of time is based on how that culture views the past, present or future. Americans have a very different sense of time compared to China and France, our view of time is time is important and shouldn’t be wasted on trivial things. Americans believe deadlines are more important than building relationships or getting comfortable with big decisions. China has a very different point of view on time, it’s to be cherished and used to build relationships and to make better decisions. The French have a similar point of view they treat time as a way to enjoy life and work to have more time, not work to fill time.
Polychromic cultures tend to perform multiple tasks simultaneously with a higher commitment to relationship building than to task completion or meeting deadlines. Tasks are accomplished through building strong relationships rather than creating detailed plans. Punctuality is defined in looser terms as some delays are expected and deadlines can be adjusted. Whereas “soon” to a North American usually means in the next few minutes, hours or days, “soon” to an Asian may mean three months, a year, or whenever they are ready. Time is not fixed but rather an organic, flowing process. Asian, Arab, and Southern European cultures are polychromic.
The Essay on British Vs French Views On Native Americans
As the Europeans integrated into North America, they also invaded the Native American's territory. In doing this, some Europeans were arrogant and pompous, but others became friendly with them. Both the French and the British had interactions with the Native Americans. These included trading, being allies, and even going as far as intermarrying. At first, both societies got along with the Natives. ...
Monochromic cultures are highly committed to doing one task at a time and meeting set deadlines. Devising and then adhering to a detailed plan or schedule is highly valued. Punctuality is defined precisely and time is sliced into fixed categories such as seconds, minutes, and hours. One’s time is scheduled and managed in great detail at work and at home and “wasting time” is unethical. Individuals focus on tasks rather than relationships. Germany, Switzerland, the USA, and Scandinavian countries are very monochromic.
In a culture that is past-oriented, it is believed that you should look to tradition and history for answers of how to live today. China looks towards its past for answers and views time as polychromic, people unfamiliar with the Chinese culture may get the impression that the Chinese do not value time. In fact, the Chinese do value time, as is shown by the way that they apologize at the end of a meeting for having taken up some of their time. The perception of time in Chinese culture is grounded in a shared awareness of history and heritage. Past, present, and future all fit into a continuum that has already spanned over five thousand years. The past is always the context for evaluating present plans, and the future goals are deeply analyzed for the long term. By looking beyond the short term, the Chinese seek to avoid making mistakes that take more time to undo.
The desire to reach the right decision the first time around also means that the Chinese are willing to take more time getting comfortable with a decision they have to make. Trust is a very important aspect of this process, which explains the time spent on socializing and small talk; time is generously invested in relationship building. In the Chinese business world, prospective partners must get to know and trust each other, the Chinese believe that their future business dealings will be much more effective, time-efficient, and long lasting. This causes business dealings and negotiations to take longer in China than in most Western countries.
The Chinese perception of time is organic, with a time for reflection and a time for action, good times and bad times. This organic nature means that the Chinese are adept at dealing with unexpected changes and at seizing new opportunities. It does often imply, however, that punctuality is viewed somewhat loosely and that delays are expected. Even if they rarely carry appointment calendars themselves, Chinese businesspeople nevertheless expect their foreign associates to respect meeting times as scheduled; however, it is not an insult should a Chinese counterpart arrive late.
The Essay on Chinese Culture North American
Chinese Culture China has about five thousand years history which is a very long period of time. Also, the Chinese civilization was growing with these periods of time and it will continues greater than ever. Many wars and unhappiness es were happening during this period. Although, the time has passed, the histories and the civilizations have not passed. These family virtues, serious, working ...
A future-oriented culture believes that planning and goal setting make it possible for you to have success in life. Most Western cultures are future-oriented with a very strong belief that organization, planning and goal achievement are the cornerstones of success. Many other cultures view and perceive this as being obsessive. For example, Americans are often seen as workaholics, placing the importance of success and goal accomplishment over that of personal relationships. Our Western view of time is that time is linear, this idea was started by Newton some 300 years ago ().
It portrays time as an absolute physical reality, and states the passage of time is independent of consciousness, so it doesn’t matter what you think, feel, or do, or how you look at time, time doesn’t change as a result.
The French do not organize meetings to reach a decision: they meet to exchange information, and then the person in charge takes the decision… If you need to have a serious and difficult discussion with someone, you will invite them for lunch and business lunches are an important part of corporate communication. The French tend to be more spontaneous and plan social time less. This makes the French highly polychromic, they work to live unlike Americans who live to work. Being late can be a function of status. For example, an upper level manager may keep a lower level employee waiting longer than peers could keep each other waiting.
In Radishes with Butter, an instructional video highlighting the differences in French and American business practices, a young American interviewee becomes increasingly frustrated as his French interviewer answers the phone and chats with his secretary throughout the interview, which would be considered rude in our society (Lambert).
Although the French may linger over lunches and dinners and are less direct and no-nonsense than Americans, they do have a sense of the time. Children in France can attend free public schools as early as the age of three, called schools rather than daycare. Thus, the French grow up with the pressure of schedules and timeliness.
The Term Paper on American Cultures
Everyone, every social class and every country have their own unique values. It is the fact that value is the core of cross-culture communication and the differences of culture among countries depend on different values. Value exerts great influence on everyone’s daily life. Scores of people rely on value to obtain knowledge, master the basic skills and foster correct world outlook. China and ...
References
Lambert, Jennifer. A Sketch of French Culture. 10 April, 2000.
http://courses.lib.odu.edu/engl/jbing/france3.html
Whitfield, George B. Sense of time. 2004.
http://www.expat.or.id/business/senseoftime.html
