EVALUATING INTERCULTURAL BEHAVIOR:
This incident has been taken place at a workplace in America. Due to public post I would like to indicate the company’s name as X.
My friend, Nafaa(girl) joined the company X in united states of America who was graduated in NUS last year. She was a Malaysian (Muslim) and was specialized in Computer Engineering. Most of the staffs from her department were Americans. One day, the company organized a meeting with all their company’s share holders to share their views on budget. In the meeting hall, the office staffs greeted their share holders by saying “Hello” and by handshake. When one of the share holders (American) came near to Nafaa, she extended her greetings to him by saying “Hello”. But when the shareholder extended his hands, she refused to accept the Handshake. The Shareholder felt ashamed before others and was very frustrated at her behavior with him in front of other people.
My views:
Culture is a way of human behavior where they practice their belief. From the above incident we could notice that religion is a main fact which paves the way for cultural practices. Nafaa refused to accept handshake offered by the American shareholder. This is because in her culture (Malaysian Muslim) a handshake to opposite gender is prohibited whereas in American culture, hand shake with a smile is the common greeting practices in every occasion with everyone.
Some facts on Malaysian Handshake culture:
The traditional Malay greeting is a handshake with both hands resembling "Salam". The man offers both hands, lightly touches his friend's outstretched hands, and then brings his hands to his chest to mean, “I greet you from my heart”. A Muslim woman greets a gentleman with a nod of her head and smile. It is noted that either man or woman handshake is prohibited between opposite gender in all occasions.
Some facts on American Handshake:
In American culture, greetings are casual. A Handshake with a smile and a “Hello” are all that is needed. Shaking Hands is considered as the standard greeting in business situations.
In my opinion, I would suggest that it is good to have knowledge on other cultures in workplace. It is suggested that the shareholder being a great businessman in the society should have an idea to deal people of different cultures and gender wise.
Hi Aishath,
ReplyDeleteMaybe the shareholder has never had business dealings with Muslim women before. If that is the case, then I guess it would be too demanding to expect him to know the cultural norms of every culture in the world.
I feel that as a Muslim in a foreign land, it should have been Nafaa's responsibility to educate the Americans about this simple Muslim culture. After rejecting the handshake, she could have explained to him why she had done so. I am sure the shareholder would have understood. After all, has she not met with this kind of situation before? What about shaking the hands of her interviewers before she got the job? Or the first meeting with her immediate superior on her first day at work?
Regards,
Samantha
Hi,
ReplyDeleteAlthough that shareholder might not have business dealings with Muslim women before, being a businessman, I still think he should have a wide knowledge of different cultures or at least heard about them.
When the shareholder was offering a handshake, he was making an assumption that Nafaa do practice the same greeting style as him. But apparently, his assumption was wrong. Although it could be quite embarrassing, I think that he had overreacted by being frustrated with her. If he thought that it would be too embarrassing for him to confront Nafaa, he could try to find out more from Nafaa’s American colleagues after her rejection. I am sure that they might have encountered this before when she first joined the company.
On Nafaa’s part, I agree with Samantha that it was also Nafaa’s responsibility to inform the shareholder about their Muslim culture after her refusal for a handshake.
By doing so, the unnecessary misunderstanding can then avoided.