Archive for December 2013

CULTURE

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CULTURE

SOME DEFINITIONS

  • Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving.
  • Culture is the systems of knowledge shared by a relatively large group of people.
  • Culture is communication, communication is culture.
  • Culture in its broadest sense is cultivated behavior; that is the totality of a person's learned, accumulated experience which is socially transmitted, or more briefly, behavior through social learning.
  • A culture is a way of life of a group of people--the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next.
  • Culture is symbolic communication. Some of its symbols include a group's skills, knowledge, attitudes, values, and motives. The meanings of the symbols are learned and deliberately perpetuated in a society through its institutions.
  • Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, on the other hand, as conditioning influences upon further action.
  • Culture is the sum of total of the learned behavior of a group of people that are generally considered to be the tradition of that people and are transmitted from generation to generation.
  • Culture is a collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.
THEORY OF CULTURAL DETERMINISM
  • The position that the ideas, meanings, beliefs and values people learn as members of society determines human nature. People are what they learn. Optimistic version of cultural determinism place no limits on the abilities of human beings to do or to be whatever they want. Some anthropologists suggest that there is no universal "right way" of being human. "Right way" is almost always "our way"; that "our way" in one society almost never corresponds to "our way" in any other society. Proper attitude of an informed human being could only be that of tolerance.
  • The optimistic version of this theory postulates that human nature being infinitely malleable, human being can choose the ways of life they prefer.
  • The pessimistic version maintains that people are what they are conditioned to be; this is something over which they have no control. Human beings are passive creatures and do whatever their culture tells them to do. This explanation leads to behaviorism that locates the causes of human behavior in a realm that is totally beyond human control.
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
  • Different cultural groups think, feel, and act differently. There is no scientific standards for considering one group as intrinsically superior or inferior to another. Studying differences in culture among groups and societies presupposes a position of cultural relativism. It does not imply normalcy for oneself, nor for one's society. It, however, calls for judgment when dealing with groups or societies different from one's own. Information about the nature of cultural differences between societies, their roots, and their consequences should precede judgment and action. Negotiation is more likely to succeed when the parties concerned understand the reasons for the differences in viewpoints.
CULTURAL ETHNOCENTRISM
  • Ethnocentrism is the belief that one's own culture is superior to that of other cultures. It is a form of reductionism that reduces the "other way" of life to a distorted version of one's own. This is particularly important in case of global dealings when a company or an individual is imbued with the idea that methods, materials, or ideas that worked in the home country will also work abroad. Environmental differences are, therefore, ignored. Ethnocentrism, in relation to global dealings, can be categorized as follows:
    • Important factors in business are overlooked because of the obsession with certain cause-effect relationships in one's own country. It is always a good idea to refer to checklists of human variables in order to be assured that all major factors have been at least considered while working abroad.
    • Even though one may recognize the environmental differences and problems associated with change, but may focus only on achieving objectives related to the home-country. This may result in the loss of effectiveness of a company or an individual in terms of international competitiveness. The objectives set for global operations should also be global.
    • The differences are recognized, but it is assumed that associated changes are so basic that they can be achieved effortlessly. It is always a good idea to perform a cost-benefit analysis of the changes proposed.  Sometimes a change may upset important values and thereby may face resistance from being implemented. The cost of some changes may exceed the benefits derived from the implementation of such changes.
MANIFESTATIONS OF CULTURE
Cultural differences manifest themselves in different ways and differing levels of depth. Symbols represent the most superficial and values the deepest manifestations of culture, with heroes and rituals in between.
  • Symbols are words, gestures, pictures, or objects that carry a particular meaning which is only recognized by those who share a particular culture. New symbols easily develop, old ones disappear. Symbols from one particular group are regularly copied by others. This is why symbols represent the outermost layer of a culture.
  • Heroes are persons, past or present, real or fictitious, who possess characteristics that are highly prized in a culture. They also serve as models for behavior.
  • Rituals are collective activities, sometimes superfluous in reaching desired objectives, but are considered as socially essential. They are therefore carried out most of the times for their own sake (ways of greetings, paying respect to others, religious and social ceremonies, etc.).
  • The core of a culture is formed by values. They are broad tendencies for preferences of certain state of affairs to others (good-evil, right-wrong, natural-unnatural). Many values remain unconscious to those who hold them. Therefore they often cannot be discussed, nor they can be directly observed by others. Values can only be inferred from the way people act under different circumstances.
  • Symbols, heroes, and rituals are the tangible or visual aspects of the practices of a culture. The true cultural meaning of the practices is intangible; this is revealed only when the practices are interpreted by the insiders.
culture1.jpg (132129 bytes)
Figure 1. Manifestation of Culture at Different Levels of Depth
LAYERS OF CULTURE
People even within the same culture carry several layers of mental programming within themselves. Different layers of culture exist at the following levels:
  • The national level: Associated with the nation as a whole.
  • The regional level: Associated with ethnic, linguistic, or religious differences that exist within a nation.
  • The gender level: Associated with gender differences (female vs. male)
  • The generation level: Associated with the differences between grandparents and parents, parents and children.
  • The social class level: Associated with educational opportunities and differences in occupation.
  • The corporate level: Associated with the particular culture of an organization. Applicable to those who are employed.
MEASURING CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
A variable can be operationalized either by single- or composite-measure techniques. A single-measure technique means the use of one indicator to measure the domain of a concept; the composite-measure technique means the use of several indicators to construct an index for the concept after the domain of the concept has been empirically sampled. Hofstede (1997) has devised a composite-measure technique to measure cultural differences among different societies:
  • Power distance index:  The index measures the degree of inequality that exists in a society.
  • Uncertainty avoidance index: The index measures the extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertain or ambiguous situations.
  • Individualism index: The index measure the extent to which a society is individualistic. Individualism refers to a loosely knit social framework in a society in which people are supposed to take care of themselves and their immediate families only. The other end of the spectrum would be collectivism that occurs when there is a tight social framework in which people distinguish between in-groups and out-groups; they expect their in-groups (relatives, clans, organizations) to look after them in exchange for absolute loyalty.
  • Masculinity index (Achievement vs. Relationship): The index measures the extent to which the dominant values are assertiveness, money and things (achievement), not caring for others or for quality of life. The other end of the spectrum would be femininity (relationship).
RECONCILIATION OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
Cultural awareness:
  • Before venturing on a global assignment, it is probably necessary to identify the cultural differences that may exist between one's home country and the country of business operation. Where the differences exist, one must decide whether and to what extent the home-country practices may be adapted to the foreign environment. Most of the times the differences are not very apparent or tangible. Certain aspects of a culture may be learned consciously (e.g. methods of greeting people), some other differences are learned subconsciously (e.g. methods of problem solving). The building of cultural awareness may not be an easy task, but once accomplished, it definitely helps a job done efficiently in a foreign environment.
  • Discussions and reading about other cultures definitely helps build cultural awareness, but opinions presented must be carefully measured. Sometimes they may represent unwarranted stereotypes, an assessment of only a subgroup of a particular group of people, or a situation that has since undergone drastic changes. It is always a good idea to get varied viewpoints about the same culture.
Clustering cultures:
  • Some countries may share many attributes that help mold their cultures (the modifiers may be language, religion, geographical location, etc.). Based on this data obtained from past cross-cultural studies, countries may be grouped by similarities in values and attitudes. Fewer differences may be expected when moving within a cluster than when moving from one cluster to another.
Determining the extent of global involvement:
  • All enterprises operating globally need not have the same degree of cultural awareness. Figure 2 illustrates extent to which a company needs to understand global cultures at different levels of involvement. The further a company moves out from the sole role of doing domestic business, the more it needs to understand cultural differences. Moving outward on more than one axis simultaneously makes the need for building cultural awareness even more essential.
culture2.jpg (64367 bytes)
Figure 2. Cultural Awareness and Extent of Global Involvement
Reference:
Hofstede, G. (1997). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind. New York: McGraw Hill.
SOME RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Culture Shock Challenges Firms Looking Abroad

The U.S. construction industry has always been adept at winning work overseas, but the lure of reconstruction contracts in places like Afghanistan and Iraq could draw some firms in over their heads. Large internationalfirms have many resources to deal with the enormous challenges of working in the global marketplace. But the massive reconstruction of countries devastated by war could trip up the best of them.
Political and physical risks are the most treacherous and must be reckoned with. Language and cultural differences can't be ignored either. Addressing them sensibly can unlock many opportunities for success.
The U.S. government's conference on rebuilding Afghanistan, held in Chicago last week, went a long way to outline opportunities there. These outreach programs are a good start because many firms need an education on how to work abroad. The first lesson is to drop ethnocentric views that the world should accommodate our method of contracting rather than the other way around.
In a separate meeting, also held in Chicago last week, ENR brought together construction executives at its annual leadership conference. U.S. firms interested in China's Olympic building plans and other work, particularly those willing to listen patiently through translation, heard rich detail from Chinese representatives.
Patience, attentiveness and sensitivity are not common construction traits, but they can help in cultures different from our own.
Language and cultural differences can be treacherous to negotiate.
[ ENR (2003). Culture shock challenges firms looking abroad. Vol. 250, No. 23. New York: McGraw Hill.]
Do We See Eye-to-Eye? Implications of Cultural Differences for Cross-Cultural Management Research and Practice
Abstract
Although observation is a common research technique, little attention has been given to the effects of culture on observer judgment making. These researches argue that consideration of cultural differences is critical when applying observation techniques in cross-cultural research as well as in the applied contexts of performance appraisal and international management. A laboratory study was conducted to examine the potential for discrepancies in observer judgment making among Asian American and Caucasian American subjects. The results of the study affirm the importance of cultural influences in research and management.
[Li & Karakowsky (2001). Do We See Eye-to-Eye? Implications of Cultural Differences for Cross-Cultural Management Research and Practice. The Journal of Psychology, 135(5), 501-517.]

Source : http://www.tamu.edu

Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Posted by Unknown
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Economic System Types

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Economic System Types

by Dana Griffin, Demand Media
Economic systems driven by supply and demand are called market economies.
Economic systems driven by supply and demand are called market economies.
The world’s economic systems fall into one of four main categories: traditional economy, market economy, command economy and mixed economy; however, there are unlimited variations of each type. An economic system must define what to produce, how to produce it and for whom to produced it. Depending on the products produced and the environment, certain economic strategies will be more successful than others.

Traditional

A traditional economic system is one in which each new generation retains the economic position of its parents and grandparents. Traditional economies rely on the historic success of social customs. South America, Asia and Africa support some traditional economies of thriving agricultural villages. Tradition decides what an individual does for his living, so industry, clothing and shelter are the same as in previous generations.

Market

Market economies are based on consumers and their buying decisions rather than under government control. Market trends and product popularity generate what businesses produce. The producers choose how to make products based on the most economically sound decision: that might mean machine labor to save costs or human labor for specific skills. The buyers decide who gets which products by what they are willing to pay for what they want.
Complete market economies do not utilize price controls or subsidies and prefer less regulation of industry and production. Market decisions rely on supply and demand for pricing. Government’s role is to create a stable economy for the market to operate properly.
The market system relies on many factors to ensure its success. The profit motive or incentive for a financial reward for enterprise stimulates production. Information regarding available products and services needs to be available to producers and consumers. Producers use the information to set accurate prices and procure supplies at the lowest cost. Price relates directly to the costs and benefits of product creation and use and required profit.

Command

In a command economy, the government controls all economic activity. One example of a command economy is communism. In a government-directed economy, the market plays little to no role in production decisions. Command economies are less flexible than market economies and react slower to changes in consumer purchasing patterns and fluctuations in supply and demand.

Mixed

A mixed economy combines qualities of market and command systems into one. In many countries where neither the government nor the business entities can maintain the economy alone, both sectors are integral to economic success. Certain resources are allocated through the market and others through the state. Theoretically, this system should be able to combine the best policies of both systems, but in practice the proportion government controls and response to market forces varies. Some countries rely more on market emphasis and others on state planning.
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About the Author

Dana Griffin has written for a number of guides, trade and travel periodicals since 1999. She has also been published in "The Branson Insider" newspaper. Griffin is a CPR/first-aid instructor trainer for the American Red Cross, owns a business and continues to write for publications. She received a Bachelor of Arts in English composition from Vanguard University.

Photo Credits

  • The Fish Market in Le Touquet covered market. image by Cat Lover from Fotolia.co

source : http://smallbusiness.chron.com
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Information System Theory (IST)

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Information System Theory (IST)
Related discussions:
SMN and System Theory: exploring the parallels between SMN and system theory to show that SMN is a mathematical formulism that naturally gives rise to a system theoretic logic.
Metaphysical Context
Related: metaphysical ideas in other people's work.
System theory is the foundation of a truly general understanding of the world; the concept 'system' is a universal analogy for any 'thing' at all regardless of its particular properties, origin or substance, thus it provides a unifying or synthesising force to counter the fragmenting or analytical aspects of science and empirical knowledge. With the use of this analogy one can consider aspects of things and phenomena that are applicable to any and all things and phenomena. It may be used to translate and unify concepts across the many fragmented and often estranged fields of knowledge.
System theory posits that everything is a system in the sense that the concept system can be applied to everything in a meaningful and practical sense. Every thing is a system that is composed of sub systems that interact to create that system and so too for each of these sub systems down to some ground of being. Thus ultimately there is only a field of primitive systems and the information that mediates their interactions. Through their permutations and combinations they build up the successive levels of systems. Furthermore, every system is a sub system within larger systems and interacts with other systems passing information, coordinating, organising, cooperating, competing, etc. Thus forming the higher level super systems and so on up to the universe as a whole which is a single unified and coherent system.
The name Information System Theory has previously been used to describe theoretical computer science, whereby a computer is a system that processes information, but information is far more general that just the contents of computer files or data structures. Every system is composed of information and it also processes information, regardless of what form that information takes, whether its medium is computer files, light rays, particles of matter and so on. Information is simply discernible difference and may thereby manifest in any medium whatsoever.
IST conceptualises a system as a symbol within an idiom as well as an idiom in itself. An idiom is an abstract concept derived from language but generalised to all systems of symbols and relations. An idiom is based upon the idea of a group from group theory, which provides a conceptual bridge between set theory and algebra within the context of mathematics and in the context of SMN it describes how an information medium (set of bits) becomes and information space (information 'algebra'). There are however other complexities associated with the concept idiom that make it more useful than group in this context, such as the dynamic expression of creative forms that arises in communication and interaction. Just as in language, an idiom is a representational medium, it provides a basis set of entities and relations within a common space. These entities may combine thus producing more complex permutations. An idiom is a general concept that underlies all information spaces and systems. For example, the English language is an idiom that allows for the creation of words, sentences, etc. Mathematics is an idiom that allows for the creation of mathematical statements. Space time and matter is an idiom that allows for the creation of atoms, molecules and planets. Building materials combined with building practices is an idiom that allows for the creation of buildings.
What systems are made of, whether atoms, computers, words, binary bits, and so on, and the medium in which they manifest is irrelevant to the study of their general system theoretic properties. Systems arise from underlying information processes and are thus essentially composed of information or computation; they are dynamical patterns of information forming within an information space. They are symbols within an idiom that defines their relations, they are essentially representing information and conveying information. Through their communication and interaction they are manifesting higher level systems; so ultimately, all systems are patterns of information. Therefore only the patterns and relations need be studied, these may then be contextualised into particular scenarios and developed into particular models. In this way apparently different systems with similar underlying physical or causal structures can be studied in parallel or analogically. For example; viruses, memes, cells, organisms, organisations and societies all share similarities; an organism is a civilisation of trillions of cells that has direct parallels with human organisations and civilisations, also the market is analogous to an ecosystem in which commercial organisations evolve. Patterns can be abstracted out, these are the patterns of interaction that arise between the various systems involved, it doesn't matter whether the systems are made of matter, information in a computer, information in a mind, documents within a bureaucracy, symbols within a game or anything at all. System theory studies the generalised patterns and properties that are common to all systems.
It is in the vicinity where the mystic and scientific perspectives meet that IST finds its most fertile soil. When reality is conceived of as a transcendent information space that manifests an empirical or experiential context,spiritual science describes the cosmos from the perspective of the transcendent frame and physical science describes the cosmos from the perspective of the empirical frame, but both are describing the same cosmos. IST is a theoretical framework with a perspective that encompasses both the transcendent and empirical frames and describes how they relate to each other and how phenomena in one frame correspond to phenomena in the other. In this sense IST is able to comprehend the whole of the metaphysical nature of reality and to provide a context via which both spiritual and physical perspectives may be united and brought into harmony as a holistic framework for comprehending all aspects of reality on all levels.
IST is however derived from a perspective embedded within the empirical universe, it can only consider the general properties of the Ground of Being, and how it manifests the world, it cannot say what the Ground of Being actually IS or anything about the context within which it may itself exist; this is beyond our grasp unless It somehow informs us. IST cannot say anything about the question “Why does anything exist at all?”. Given a Ground of Being or idiomatic basis set IST explains how this unfolds into the type of world that we experience but it cannot say how or why this first basis set arose. Ultimately the Ground of Being cannot be defined by our minds, it resides in the realm of pure mystery, it is the foundation and source of all Being. We cannot know or speak about its particulars, but we can ascertain its general principles and parameters, and everything that arises from the Ground of Being is potentially knowable as it is all coherent and computable.
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Pragmatically, what is required is some system theoretic metaphysical and philosophical paradigm to give us deep understanding of the nature of ourselves and our world and also some 'tool' or technology to allow us to communicate and utilise this deeper understanding. IST may provide us with the philosophy and System Matrix Notation may provide us with the technology. SMN is a mathematical formulation of IST and provides its core functionality.
IST is Idiomatic System Theory or Information System Theory, which is a conceptual framework that provides a system theoretic metaphysics of the nature of reality. Through successive permutation levels this metaphysical basis is built up into a complex and coherent philosophical system that could accurately incorporate the detailed complexities of the world without introducing spurious distortions that arise from our ignorance or prejudice. This philosophical framework could provide a coherent unified conceptual foundation for science, spirituality and engineering or any conceptual framework attempting to represent, comprehend and interact with any aspect of reality.
SMN is System Matrix Notation, which is a technology that incorporates system theory, information theory, quantum theory and a system theoretic metaphysics to provide a mathematical framework that allows one to represent, simulate and analyse systems of all kinds. SMN is a fusion of concepts from system theory, linear algebra, probability theory, information theory, computer science, metaphysics, quantum physics, group theory and ancient wisdom. This can be implemented as a software application that provides one with a metaphysically coherent information space within which systems may exist and interact. These are artificial universes that we may interact with or technological extensions of our own universe. It reifies the concept of cyberspace as a tangible coherent space with a deep metaphysical structure.

The Ogdoadic Glyph

'Glyph' is the old word for a Mind Map or Concept Map. The glyph below utilises an ogdoadic (8 sided) symmetry that is interpreted in terms of the computational paradigm:


All of these concepts are required for there to be a system in a world, however the words given are only indications of the underlying concepts, they are helpful mnemonics and shouldn't be taken as indicative of the whole story. On the vertical axis there is information which is the base representational medium, or the underlying discernible difference out of which the system is formed. The idiom is the structure or algebra of this representational medium, it defines the base level forms which combine in different permutations and provide an information space within which forms may exist. The concept of 'idiom' contains within it the concept of a permutation space of all possible idiomatic forms which is a transcendent context of potentialities where each point in the permutation space represents an entire cosmic configuration that may become actual; this is the multiverse. At this stage we have only a vast network of potential forms, they are simply patterns which are associated together to form an idiom. The horizontal axis then introduces the perceptual duality of internal andexternal; this is the identification of I and world which transforms these patterns in relation into a world which may be experienced. It provides a center and a circumference to an empirical experience of a world and thereby resolves out of the cosmic pattern things as separate objects which exist in space.
These four concepts information, idiom, internal and external form a conceptual foundation or outer diamond within which the inner square arises. On the top right there is information in an external form which manifestsinteraction (or communication) as it flows through the world between external entities. On the bottom right there is an idiom in an external form manifesting metric space or physical space, it is a shared information space within which entities may exist and interact. On the top left there is information in an internal form manifesting experience (or perception/interpretation/response) which arises from the flow of information within that part of the cosmic network that has been identified as being internal. On the bottom left there is an idiom in an internal form that manifests a state space or a structured information space of internal states and their relations which map out all potential states of being, such as subjective experience, knowledge and behaviour.
Then at the center we have system which is the culmination of this whole process and which is an entity within a dualistic empirical world that has a space of potential internal states, experiences the flow of information within itself, exists in spatial relationship with other systems and engages in interactions by communicating information through this shared metric space. It experiences itself as separate from the world so there is internal and external division of the cosmos and on a transcendent level all of this is simply a configuration of idiomatic elements within an abstract space of potentiality which is represented in some base level information medium.
The glyph shows recursive levels where on each level it is flipped around the vertical axis; although it cannot be seen, on each level there is also a central system object but these sit on top of each other and only the highest level can be seen in the glyph. This recursion of levels indicates the process of nested information spaces, for example, consider the outer left side which represents internal; within ones internal state space one may manifest a dream which is a sub empirical world, so ones mind is internal to oneself but it has now become the external space within which dream characters or thoughts or memes exist. So ones internal space has become the external metric space for systems on another level. Or one could say that the outer ring represents a high level system and its internal state and experiential apparatus arise out of the lower level interactions of subsystems within a metric space and these have their own internal space which contains further levels of subsystems. So as the nested levels recurse deep into the centre of the glyph, at the end of that recursion lies the Ground of Being.
These transcendent and empirical frames are nested one within the other; empirical systems in one frame may interact in a manner such that they are a transcendent process manifesting sub empirical systems within a sub space; or as above so below thereby producing worlds within worlds. For example, SMN or a VR program are empirical forms but they can represent within themselves the transcendent state of sub empirical systems so they can manifest sub empirical worlds within an internal simulation space.
For and interpretation of this in terms of Vedic metaphysics see here.
Related discussions:
Metaphysical Context
Related: metaphysical ideas in other people's work.
Source : www.Anandavala.info
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Posted by Unknown
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