CASE STUDY Cross-cultural Misapprehensions over the Swastika in the West Confusions leading to severe problems in interna- tional business often arise due to the lack of under- standing of cross-cultural issues. The swastika is the most ancient surviving symbol, dating to prehis- toric times. The word swastika is derived from the Sanskrit soastika: from the roots, su or good, asti, meaning ‘to be’, and kaas a suffix. Svasti connotes well-being and is a widely used religious symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The Thai greeting sawasdeeis also derived from the same rootPe a and carries the same implication. Over the years, the swastika symbol became common in various cultures around the world, with some modifica- tions. It was known as swastika and hakenkreug in Germany, soastikain Denmark and Sweden, svastica in Italy, wan in China, mayji in Japan, flfot in England, éetraskelionand gammadion in Greece, and swastika in India. Fig CA ‘Swastika: An ancient symbol of well-being, love, and luck in Hinduism and other oriental cultures The British author Rudyard Kipling was so strongly influenced by Indian culture that he had a swastika inscribed on all his books until the rise of Nazism made this inappropriate (see Fig. C2). The swastika was also a symbol used by Scouts in Britain, although it was taken off Robert-Baden Fig. C.2 The swastika engraved in Kipling’s writings “Origins of the Swastika’, BBC News, 18 January 2005. Powel’s 1922 Medal of Merit after complaints in the 1930s. In the 1800s, countries around Germany were growing larger and forming empires; yet Germany was not a unified country until 1871. To counter the feeling of vulnerability and the angst of the youth, German nationalists in the mid-nineteenth century adopted the swastika for its ancient Aryan origins, to represent a long Germani¢/Aryan his tory. By the end of the nineteenth century, the swas tika could be found on nationalist German volkisch periodicals and was the official emblem of the German Gymnasts’ League. In the beginning of the twentieth century, the swastika was a common symbol of German nation: alism and was placed in a multitude of places, such as the emblem for the Wandervogel, a German youth movement, on Joerg Lanz von Liebenfels antisemitic periodical Ostara, on various Freikorps units, and as an emblem of the Thule Society. On 7 August 1920, the swastika (hakenkreuz was formally adopted by the Nazi Party at Salzburg Congress. This symbol became the of cial emblem of the Nazi Party and was used on th party's flag, badge, and armband. In Mein Kemp Adolf Hitler described the Nazi’s new flag as red we see the social idea of the movement, in white the nationalistic idea, in the swastika, the mis of the struggle for the victory of the Aryan max and, by the same token, the victory of the idea creative work, which as such always has been an always will be anti-Semitic.’ Thus, from a symbol of well-being, love, luck, the swastika was transformed by the Nax into a symbol of hate, anti-Semitism, and The British documentary Swastika, directe Philippe Mora and released in 1973, focus: on German history during the Nazi era post-world war criminal codes in Germany = Austria made the public showing of the swas (hakenkrenz, except for scholarly purpose, i and punishable. However, the swastika on Hi Buddhist, and Jain temples are exempt = religious symbol can be banned in GermanyDue to cross-cultural confusion over the swas- tika, Nintendo, the Japanese computer games giant, confessed that what is appropriate in one culture may not be so for another. It had to with- draw a Pokemon Trading Card (Fig. C.3) featuring ‘manji (swastika) in 1999 from Western markets, following a complaint by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). FEY CORT AOKT EDA BRUNE B,CON—HER FY IFS. SUENDEOTS. WEVITRESS. CO Fig. C.3. Nintendo had to withdraw this Pokemon trading card from Western markets. In December 2002, Christmas crackers im- ported from China by Walpert Industries in Canada were found to display the swastika on min- iature panda bear (See Fig. C.4)? The swastika mark was placed on the toy pandas due to the lack of cross-cultural understanding by the Chinese International Cultural Environment 297 manufacturer. Walpert personally called some of the people who received the bears with the swas- tika symbol and apologized. It also assured more stringent quality measures in the future. Fig. C.4 Christmas crackers toy pandas imported from China with inadvertent swastika signs. In December 2003, Microsoft faced a prob- lem with its Bookshelf Symbol 7 as the font’s array of graphic symbols resembled the swastika. Microsoft offered an apology for its ‘unintentional oversight’ that caused two swastikas to be included in a font in its new Office suite. Microsoft also released a utility that allowed its users removal of the offending fonts. In January 2005, the photographs of British prince Harry in a costume with a swastika armband taken at a birthday party in Wiltshire created a furore and the prince had to issue a statement apologizing for the offence caused.” In 2006, a court in Stuttgart fined a 32-year-old man more than 7000 euros (8700 dollars) for selling anti-Nazi badges that showed a Swastika with a line through it The fashion firm Esprit was forced to recall 200,000 catalogues and came under investigation in Germany in October 2006 after accusations that British-made buttons appearing in their new collection had swastika designs. 2 Toy Pandas Bearing Swastikas, a Cultural Mix-up’, CBC News, 30 December 2002. 3 ‘Call for Europe-wide Swastika Ban’, BBC News, 17 January 2005. 4 Prosecutors Drop Probe into Swastika Buttons’, Expatica, 19 October 2006.298 International Business Recent attempts to ban the swastika in the European Union have witnessed severe opposition from various socio-cultural groups, especially Questions 1. Carry out a cross-country comparison of the differences in perceptions and cultural impli- cations of the swastika. 2. Critically evaluate how the use of swastika by the Nazis transformed its common perception to a symbol of hate rather than a symbol of well-being, love, and luck. the Hindus, the Buddhists, the Jains, and other oriental religious groups.’ 3. In your opinion, is the proposed ban on swas- tika on commercial products in the European Union justified? Discuss your views with your colleagues in class. 5 sSwastika Ban Left Out of EU's Racism Law’, Scotsman, 30 January 2007