Merve CURA - 4

OGThe best way to understand other cultures is to work for a multinational organisation. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.

At present, more people are getting enthusiastic about working in a multinational organisation with the aim of immersing different cultures. Even though it is argued that working for such organisations seem to be the best option for this purpose, I believe that there exist some other effective ways of understanding other cultures.

Being an employee of a multinational organisation can serve one's desire of understanding other cultures in multiple ways. First of all, co-workers with different cultural backgrounds can reflect their culture's working habits, such as punctuality for a western culture or practical problem-solving skills for eastern culture. Secondly, these kinds of organisations have offices in different parts of the world, an employee can be transferred as a part of their duty, and, as a consequence of this, one can have further cultural understanding while living in another country. However, moving into another country does not necessarily happen thanks to working for such a company.

When considering with a large perspective, I strongly support the idea that learning a language is the most effective way to understand a culture. Although you may be working in a multicultural environment, out of necessity, you have to speak at least one particular language in order to avoid communicational hitches. If you are lucky, this language can be different from your native language. But it is a high probability that the language of the office is the same as the country that it is located. In addition, offices or factories with a load of workforce and large campuses can lead to decreased human interaction. You can want to communicate with a co-worker from a different culture but reaching such a person might be challenging owing to the crowded and physical distance between offices. Moreover, the number of multinational personnel might be excessively limited with numbered positions like administrators or supervisors. Finding an online friend for cultural exchange can be more helpful than trying to contact with an inaccessible co-worker.

In conclusion, it is a fact that working in a multinational company can help to have a picture of a different culture but it is way less than enough for an internalized understanding. I believe that one can learn a different language, or move into a different country or find an online foreign friend in search for understanding other cultures, which can be more helpful than working for a multinational organisation for the given purpose.


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