Cross Cultural Management

An Aboriginal girl walks us through her emotional journey of the everyday events that affect her within contemporary society. The song “If, but, maybe” (Taylor 2004,) highlights the racial discrimination occurring in her life. It is clearly intended to engage the listener in understanding how Taylor feels challenged because of her cultural background. Listening from Taylor’s perspective, I believe the song places the emphasis on the cultural disparities between the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in her community. It is clearly evident through Taylor’s expressions that ethnocentrism and stereotyping are the primary concepts carried through this song, demonstrating how it affects distinct subcultures.
The culture of a society is defined by its shared values, goals, interests and assumptions that are passed on through generations (Fernandez S (comp) 2011 pg. 62). Australian managers have greater freedom in running businesses in their own sectional interests and in the interests of the wider community (Balnave, Brown, Maconachie, Stone 2007, p.g 81).   In the workplace, managers make decisions to the benefit of the business. The recruitment of prospective employee’s is one such decision, where the manager uses their judgement and assumes whether or not the individual is suited to the employment position.
Within the workplace context, Taylor’s words reflect that her culture is misunderstood and criticized. The repetition of the phrase “make no assumptions about me” within the chorus line, portrays Taylor’s perspective. She is the voice for her culture as she repeats this line, emphasising that she should not be judged for her ways and that the minority flaws in her culture should not reflect what the majority of her race are like. From my perspective, I find it easy to sympathise with Taylor’s feelings as she elaborates on the inequities within her society and that she feels limited in a number of ways.
In relating her lyrics to the workplace, it can be... [continues]

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