Discussion post for cultural diversity of professions

Reference no: EM13505975

Ethnocentrism is generally defined as viewing one's own culture as superior to all others. However, quite often, it is not quite that obvious. Whenever we encounter something that seems strange or different, we will feel some degree of discomfort. How we respond to that feeling is a gauge of how ethnocentric we are about it. Let's suppose that you are entertaining a business client from France. You take him to a very fine restaurant where he looks over the menu very carefully, then asks the waiter if he or she, by chance, has cheval available. The waiter shakes his head and explains that it is not served in American restaurants. Your client becomes somewhat upset and tells you that a truly fine restaurant would serve "proper" cuisine, and that he was very disappointed with American hospitality so far. He eventually settles for the prime rib, but is ill-tempered for the rest of the evening. The next morning, he leaves for France without consummating the expected business deal. Your boss asks you what happened, and you explain that the client was upset because the restaurant didn't serve something called cheval. Your boss's eyes pop and he yells, "You mean he actually ordered horsemeat?"

How much ethnocentrism is at work? Discuss what and how a better understanding of cultural differences in food preferences by all parties could have prevented the unfortunate incident. What was your response to learning that the client wanted horsemeat? What was your response to his anger that he couldn't get it?

Reference no: EM13505975

Questions Cloud

Concept of normalization of deviance : Explain the concept of normalization of deviance which it refers to the health care system ?

Special care in thinking about complementors : Create the Value Net for your own business or a business with which you are familiar. Take special care in thinking about complementors; they are often overlooked.

Idea that race-class and gender are interactive systems : What is meant by the idea that race, class, and gender are interactive systems rather than individual variables? Think about your own family of orientation, and take one particular aspect of your family life as an example.

Ethnic groups have adopted various crazy holistic : Different immigrant/ethnic groups have adopted various crazy holistic or home remedies (Your book specifically talks about this during its discussion of Puerto Ricans), although the one I mentioned in class appears to not have been a real one.

Discussion post for cultural diversity of professions : Ethnocentrism is generally defined as viewing one's own culture as superior to all others. However, quite often, it is not quite that obvious. Whenever we encounter something that seems strange or different, we will feel some degree of discomfort...

An age cohort refers : An age cohort refers to

Individuals play a great variety of different roles : Individuals play a great variety of different roles and social unity is based on the differentiation of roles.

According to functionalists : According to functionalists, Feminist Sociologist Nancy Chodorow contends that

Disengagement theory : As George ages, disengagement theory would predict that he would

User Account

All Pages