CULTURAL AWARENESS

Understanding Yourself and Others

Prospect for Success Paper # 1

Submitted to
Dr. Daryl L. Kerr
Department of Management
Belk College of Business
UNC Charlotte

Submitted by
Justin Bou-Ghazale
BUSN 1101-001
April 11, 2017

1
Cultural Awareness: Definition, Purpose and Benefits

Cultural awareness is the capability to acknowledge the different ways of thinking, ethics,

and traditions that a person has based on their country of origin. There are so many people in the

world that come from a variety of different backgrounds. It is very important to be a culturally

aware individual, to become a more successful person in life.

Being culturally aware is an important social and business skill to have. It can easily

make or break a business deal, especially in other countries. If you are lacking cultural

awareness, you can come off as extremely disrespectful to people of different origin and they

will not want to work with you.

How Culture and Experiences Have Shaped My Own Perspectives, Beliefs, and Values

My own personal culture impacts the way I view the world. I also believe that it shapes

my perspectives, beliefs, and values in a unique way. Being the son of Lebanese immigrants, I

know what it is like to be and feel like a minority. I feel that in my culture we are very family

oriented and respectful of each other. We always put family first and that is one of the top values

in our culture.

In a personal experience of mine, I have been commended by an older man on how

respectful I was, in comparison to the average American. I met him while I was traveling to a

different country. He proceeded to tell me that as soon as he met me, he knew that I was not

American because of the respect I showed him, being an older person. I am very thankful to have

been taught this type of respect, and I can see the difference between how I act compared to

others. I can also see the difference in values here in America, compared to my home country

Lebanon.

2
 Being a Christian from Lebanon, people are always surprised to hear that I am not

Muslim. I do not have anything against Muslim people, but I am always offended because of

people being so misinformed. In my opinion and experience, I feel like religion is taken much

more seriously by my culture as well. Lebanese people are very conservative already, and with

church we are the same way.

Selection of Event or Meeting

The event that I attended was one of my best friends cousins quinceanera. A

quinceanera is the celebration of a Mexican girl turning 15 years old.

How Culture and Experiences Have Shaped Other Peoples Perspectives at this Event or Meeting

Only the Mexican culture has quinceaneras, not all Hispanic people like some might

think. The Hispanic people have something similar, called a los quince, but my friends that I

talked to said it is very different in comparison to a quincearnera. It compares to a girls sweet

sixteen in the American culture, but the girl is turning 15 years of age. It is a huge celebration

that the girl is now turning from a girl into a young woman.

In the Mexican culture I can see how they put this emphasis on a girl growing up

compared to other cultures. It is much more common for a Hispanic girl to become pregnant

before the age of twenty than any other culture in the world. According to the studies of the

national institutes of health, 53% of Hispanic women get pregnant before the age of 20.

For my culture in comparison, it is frowned upon to get pregnant before you are married.

We also do not have any huge celebration turning a certain age, because we are always little

child in the eyes of our parents, no matter how old we turn. Also the children are expected to stay

living with their parents at least until we finish secondary education.

3
Summary: Openness - How to Consider Others Perspectives and Points of View

When it comes to considering other peoples perspectives and points of view, it is

important to keep an open mind. Always try to see where that person is coming from, and what

they have been through. When you are encountering people from different backgrounds or

culture, the quote never judge a book by its cover becomes very relevant.

In the business world, it is very important to consider other peoples point of view in the

world. If you are not respectful, it will be difficult for you to become a successful person,

especially in the business field. Every day you will encounter people that have different

perspectives than you, and it is important to know how to respect and consider them yourself.