Tag Archives: comm292

The Thai way of greeting one another

The experience of moving to Canada to attend UBC has widened my horizon of cultural values, traditions and social practices. All of which has allowed me to acquire a strong base knowledge of cross-cultural communications. Having lived in Bangkok, Thailand, for many years, coming to Canada was a whole new experience. There are numerous social differences between Thailand and Canada.

First, in order to greet, one must wai, which is a slight bow, where the individual’s palms are pressed together in a prayer-like fashion in the direction of the other person. This action is performed regularly as a polite gesture to an elder, and it is also relevant to note that the younger person must perform the action before or at the same time as the elder. After arriving to Canada, upon meeting someone older than me, I always almost press my palms together ready to wai the other person; however, I am greeted with a genuine smile, tight eye-contact and a handshake instead.

Had I reached for an elder’s hand while giving him/her a wide smile in Thailand, I would have been viewed and critically criticized as a severely impolite and rude individual. Enriching one’s knowledge of different cultural values and cultural practices is significantly essential to thrive in the workplace. From chapter 7 of the Organizational Behaviour textbook, we are educated on different cultural barriers and the idea that one should acknowledge and be educated on cultural diversity and differences in the workplace.

Thailand is categorized as a high-context culture, which according to the textbook, is mainly seen in collectivist cultures where facial expressions, relative status of people, locations and such, all carry considerable meaning. In the past, young people would not speak too much and would not be straight-forward in communicating to elders because it is expected that such of the talking to be done by the elder. Although this has changed in the modern society, some traditional and conservative elders still expect the younger generation to follow this norm.
Para 5: I personally enjoy it more in Canada where it is a low-context culture, in which everything is explicitly said, because communication is very clear and each and every individual has the basic human need of free speech. Next time, you travel to a foreign country, please be mindful of the cultural values, and additional research on the country’s culture will surely save you from awkward instances.

1. Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7th edition, p.59
2. (http://www.shoreexcursions.asia/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/The-art-of-the-Wai-The-Thai-way-of-greeting.jpg)

Reminiscent of my time as a varsity athlete

This morning I read an article concerning the most important factor that will allow athletes to achieve a high level of performance and sustain a strong diligent practice routine is motivation. This article did no come so much as a surprise to me because as an athlete myself, I readily believe that motivation is the strongest drive one has in pursuing a goal. I believe that the two types of motivation, as we learned from our Organizational Behaviour class, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, must be reinforced together in order to achieve top-level performance.

Intrinsic motivation is an internal motivator and is defined as performing an action because one enjoys that action. Extrinsic motivation has to do with external rewards such as money or fame that drives one to perform. I believe that an athlete not only needs to have intrinsic motivation and enjoy competing in the sport, be he or she must also have an extrinsic motivation to win or to achieve. It is when these two types motivators combine together synergistically that the athlete is unstoppable.

Although it is obvious that rewards will undoubtedly provoke people to perform certain tasks, the article presents a research finding that “intrinsically motivated people tend to perform better, especially over the long run and when facing difficulty.” It is due to the intrinsic factors that allow the mind to push past the limits of the body. As the writer states in the article while interviewing a notable cyclist, “It was this strength of feeling that helped him push through to victory, even though his body told him to stop — he was almost in tears because of the pain in his legs.” Reading this statement elicits a sense of pride and allows me to be reminiscent of my experience on the basketball court playing in the finals. I vividly recall the memory of being extraordinarily tired from playing non-stop for four quarters but it was my immense desire to win that kept me going.

Whether you are a leader or not, if you want your team members or someone to do something, the best way is to provoke a sense of extrinsic motivation for them to complete the desired task. In every case, motivation beats force.

1. Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7th edition, p. 128.
2. <http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/fitness/faster-on-your-bike-in-15-minutes-31399>

Masking the hidden emotions behind the job

Today I came across a very interesting article on The Atlantic’s website regarding the working environment and the unspoken job duties of being a waitress. What grabbed my attention was when the interviewee in the article stated, “You hit so many difficulties, whether it’s with customers or in the kitchen, or things that are going on in your personal life. It’s very hard to keep up that appearance for eight hours consistently.”

Prior to reading this article, although I acknowledged the fact that waiters and waitresses needed to act politely to customers in order to deliver positive customer service, I did not realize the extent to which it would actually be extremely burdensome to do so in long shifts.

People in service jobs like these must go through a significant load of emotional labor. Emotional labor, as written in Chapter 2 of the Organizational Behaviour textbook, is defined as when an employee expresses organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal interactions. In addition, in this particular type of job, workers have to engage in surface acting, which requires the individual to exhibit physical signs such as smiling.

I cannot image the sorts of emotions and adversities people have to go through to fulfil the requirements of the job. I would feel extremely confined to have my feelings trapped and ready to burst, especially if I have to smile to a rude customer when Im already having an excessively horrible day. Moreover, due to the amount of emotional labor the job typically requires alongside the minimum amount of pay received.

Furthermore, according to recent surveys, apart from having to deal with the abundance of stress from working on the job, a majority of waitresses have claimed to have been sexually harassed. After having read this article, the next time I dine at a restaurant, I will be sure to be polite to my waiter/waitresses as well, and tip them exceptionally well for their service.

1. Green, Adrienne. “The Emotional Labor of Waitressing.” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 16 Nov. 2016. Web. 05 Feb. 2017. <https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/11/waitress/507842/>.
2. Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7th edition, p.59