Colonialism Heart Of Darkness And Chinua Achebes English Literature Essay

Colonialism Heart Of Darkness And Chinua Achebes English Literature Essay Joseph Conrads novella, Heart of Darkness is considered to be a great work of art not only because it painfully portrays how brutally and unjustly the natives are treated in the African wilderness, but also because its treatment of colonialism is considered a cornerstone in the history of western fiction. Colonialism refers to the enterprise by which a nation extends its authority over other territories; it is characterized by an unequal relationship between the colonists and the natives of a country. Colonists usually think that they are doing the country good by bringing civilization and enlightenment; however the result is atrocity and death. This is clearly portrayed in Heart of Darkness. One of the characters who exercises colonialism is Kurtz whose main purpose is extracting ivory from the land in whatever way he can. He is treated as a supernatural authority by the Africans who always seem to obey and listen to him carefully. Marlow indicates the Africans obedience to Kurtz when he tells us, He was not afraid of the natives; they would not stir till Mr. Kurtz gave the word. His ascendancy was extraordinary. The camps of these people surrounded the place, and the chiefs came every day to see him. They would crawl. (p. 131) Kurtz believes that everything in the wilderness belongs to him, as Marlow hears him say, My Intended, my ivory, my station, my river, myà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (p. 116) Moreover, he thinks that there is nothing wrong with what hes doing; on the contrary, Kurtz believes that hes doing the right thing. His civilization mission and his philosophy regarding the natives are expressed in his report of which Marlow tells: But it was a beautiful piece of writing. The opening paragraph, however, in the light of later information, strikes me now as ominous. He began with the argument that we whites, from the point of development we had arrived at, must necessarily appear to them [savages] in the nature of supernatural beingswe approach them with the might as of a deity, and so on, and so on. By the simple exercise of our will we can exert a power for good practically unbounded, etc., etc. (p. 118) Although Marlow is not a native, he finds himself obliged to be treated like one. In other words, he finds himself reacting in the very same way as the natives themselves to Kurtzs authority. I did not betray Mr. Kurtz it was ordered I should never betray him it was written I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice. (p. 141) It is interesting that Marlow refers to Kurtz as the nightmare; it seems as if he is hypnotized by him and has no choice but to do as he is told. Moreover, the phrase, it was ordered adds to the ambiguity of what Marlow is trying to say. He could have said, I was ordered but he does not. It is worth mentioning here that Heart of Darkness is a novel that is partially biographical. Conrad was obliged to seek employment with a Belgian company in Africa due to difficult labor conditions in 1889. Although he stayed for a short while in Africa, it was an experience that shattered his health and changed his world-view, while the moral degradation he witnessed in the Congos economic exploitation disgusted him. A decade after this, he wrote Heart of Darkness, which is about his experience in Africa. What is really ironic is that in the book Joseph Conrad in Context, it is mentioned more than once that Conrad never got over his experience in Africa, as if other people in his place would not feel the same thing! So basically, Marlow seems to echo Conrads own opinions in his novel. Colonists are driven to exploit ivory at an insatiable rate without even bothering to think about the devastating effects on the natives. This is very clearly shown in the following quote: Marlow refers to the ivory merchants as a devoted band calling themselves the Eldorado Exploring Expedition. He says they were sworn to secrecy. They spoke the language of sordid buccaneers: it was reckless without hardihood, greedy without audacity, and cruel without courage; there was not an atom of foresight or of serious intention in the whole batch of them, and they did not seem aware these things are wanted for the work of the world. To tear treasure out of the bowels of the land was their desire, with no more moral purpose at the back of it than there is in burglars breaking into a safe. (p. 87) In brief, what these colonizers were doing was purposeless, which in turn means that the consequences which were brought about as a result of their actions were also useless. Furthermore, the colonists had a quasi divine authority to do as they pleased in the colonies; this is portrayed by the conversation between the uncle and the nephew, which was overheard by Marlow, Certainly, grunted the other; get him hanged! Why not? Anythinganything can be done in this country. Thats what I say; nobody here, you understand, here, can endanger your position. And why? You stand the climateyou outlast them all.' (p. 91) Here, they are talking about hanging Kurtzs assistant and probably Kurtz himself, so that they can get Kurtzs possessions, including his ivory. Colonialism is also explored in other parts of the novella, where the reader can see just how mercilessly and brutally the natives are treated by the colonizers. When Marlow is on a steamer with a Swedish captain, he describes how the natives, whom he sees on his way to the station, are being exploited and treated as mere beasts. All the natives are represented as being naked and horribly thin; they are never referred to as humans. They are forced to work under hard conditions, are given no clothes, and are left to starve: A continuous noise of the rapids above hovered over this scene of inhabited devastation. A lot of people, mostly black and naked, moved about like ants. A jetty projected into the river. A blinding sunlight drowned all this at times in a sudden recrudescence of glare. (p. 63) When Marlow finally arrives at the station, he sees yet another traumatizing scene, A slight clinking behind me made me turn my head. Six black men advanced in a file, toiling up the path. They walked erect and slow, balancing small baskets full of earth on their heads, and the clink kept time with their footsteps. Black rags were wound round their loins, and the short ends behind waggled to and fro like tails. I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck, and all were connected together with a chain whose bights swung between them, rhythmically clinkingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ but these men could by no stretch of imagination be called enemies. They were called criminals, and the outraged law, like the bursting shells, had come to them, an insoluble mystery from the sea. All their meagre breasts panted together, the violently dilated nostrils quivered, the eyes stared stonily uphill. They passed me within six inches, without a glance, with that complete, deathlike indifference of unhappy savages. Behind this raw matter one of the reclaimed, the product of the new forces at work, strolled despondently, carrying a rifle by its middle. He had a uniform jacket with one button off. (p. 64) When reading this passage, one cannot help but wonder, how could these poor natives possibly be criminals? They do every single thing they are told to do, without the least bit of complaining and yet, they are called criminals. The words tails, collar, breasts panted, and dilated nostrils immediately bring to the mind the image of dogs. And of course, we should not forget the colonizer, who is right behind them with a rifle, making sure that these men walk in a file, without glancing at Marlow, and only staring stonily uphill. So not only are they compared to animals, but they are also expected to work like machines! This is the main reason why Achebe does not accept Heart of Darkness, it is because he does not like the way African people are portrayed in it. Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian poet and novelist, was attracted to Conrads Heart of Darkness as a child. However, in the 1970s, he changed his mind about it and until today, he continues to dismiss the novel. In his essay on Conrads novel, Achebe attempts to explain why. He says that what Conrad is terribly worried about is the idea of kinship between him and the blacks, which is why he dehumanizes them. Contrasting with this is Edward Saids opinion that Conrad is exaggerating the imperialistic and the dehumanizing discrepancies so that we, as readers, are outraged at its injustice and therefore work out solutions for ourselves. In other words, Heart of Darkness is, according to Said, a self-referential novel. But still, Achebe has a strong point in saying that Conrad has dehumanized the Africans because Conrad seems to be obsessed with the words black and darkness since he associates them with the Africans and uses these words numerous times throughout his novel. Convincingly Achebe believes that the most revealing passages in the novel are about people. He says that the following quote contains the meaning of Heart of Darkness, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ but what thrilled you was just the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly. Yes, it was ugly enough à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ If only the thought was thrilling, then what would knowing do to us?! It is this remote kinship that seems to terrorize Conrad and is implied throughout the novel several times. However, his passages about the natives or savages, as Conrad refers to them, seem a mere description of what they are and what they are going to do. His personal sentiments are never revealed. But the vocabulary he chooses and the way he describes the Africans force the reader to sympathize with them. However, there are parts in the novel where we can infer that Conrad, although not showing sympathy towards the savages, cannot bear looking at them. For example, when he sees the six men tied to each other with chains around their necks, he says, My idea was to let that chain-gang get out of sight before I climbed the hill. And in another incident, he says, The hurt nigger moaned feebly somewhere nearby, and then fetched a deep sigh that made me mend my pace away from there. Clearly, he was not strong enough to neither hear nor see these savages being treated mercilessly. When Marlow arrives at the Central Station, he witnesses more of these atrocities towards the niggers. The manager of the station is apparently an uncivilized person who is there only because he hasnt been ill, as Marlow tells us, He had no genius for organizing, for initiative, or for order even. That was evident in such things as the deplorable state of the station. He had no learning, and no intelligence. His position had come to himwhy? Perhaps because he was never ill . . . He had served three terms of three years out thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦He was neither civil nor uncivil. He was quiet. He allowed his boyan overfed young negro from the coastto treat the white men, under his very eyes, with provoking insolence. (p. 74) One of Conrads greatest fears that is implied in the novel is the possibility of the whites having distant kinship with the blacks, and this is mentioned by Achebe. This explains why Marlow wasnt able to forget his African helmsmans look on his face just before he died, And the intimate profundity of that look he gave me when he received his hurt remains to this day in my memory like a claim of distant kinship affirmed in a supreme moment. Conrads careful word choice of distant kinship rather than brother, for example, is cautiously observed by Achebe. He understands that Conrad is trying, as much as possible, to create layers between himself and the natives. Also, the words remains to this day in my memory, are understood by Achebe as a negative connotation, as if this memory continues to torture him to this very day. Achebe concludes from this that Conrad is a racist. Moreover, Achebe states that Conrad has dehumanized Africans. But I do not agree with him on this point. My evidence to this can be seen in this quote, when Marlow who can be considered Conrads mouthpiece at this instance says, The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. We can infer from this quote that Conrad was actually against the idea of Africans being treated the way they were. Also, according to Edward Said, Conrad, being a creature of his time, could not grant the natives their freedom, despite his severe critique of the imperialism that enslaved them. In other words, Conrad was against this imperialism and he criticized it as well, but the era that he lived in made it impossible for him to do anything about it. In my opinion, it might be that Conrad never meant to dehumanize the Africans; it might be that the experie nce he was going through during his stay in Africa was so overwhelming to him that he could not or was not able to reveal his sympathy. Maybe he did not want to reveal anything at all in order to emphasize it being a part of its darkness. After all, it is Conrad himself who chose to write his novel in an ambiguous and subtle way which leaves the reader with puzzled thoughts about what exactly Conrad is trying to say. Almost everything in Heart of Darkness seems; everything is not is. In conclusion, as we can see, examples of colonial acts are displayed throughout Heart of Darkness. Colonists take over the wilderness and practice exploitation only to acquire ivory. But at the same, the colonists actions are purposeless, such as when they order the natives to aimlessly blast the railway when there is actually nothing to blast. This brings about the failure of their exploitation and civilizing mission. Works cited: Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. London: J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd, 1967 Achebe, Chinua. An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrads Heart of Darkness' Massachusetts Review. 18. 1977. Rpt. in Heart of Darkness, An Authoritative Text, background and Sources Criticism. 1961. 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough, London: W. W Norton and Co., 1988, pp.251-261 http://kirbyk.net/hod/image.of.africa.html Said, Edward. Two Visions in Heart of Darkness Culture and Imperialism, (1993) pp. 22-31 http://www.ecfs.org/Projects/EastWest/Readings/SaidConrad.pdf Feminism in To the Lighthouse Mrs. Ramsay vs. Lily Briscoe During Virginia Woolfs time, women were deprived of numerous rights which men had access to, including education. Women were only expected to get married, give birth to children, raise them, and take care of the household. However, towards the end of the 19th century, a series of feminist movements began, whose concern was to give equality to women in terms of education, employment, and marriage laws. These movements are known as the three waves of feminism. The First Wave occurred in the late 19th century and ended in the early 20th century, during Woolfs time; its primary gains were to acquire the right to vote and the right to practice birth control. Virginia Woolf, among other female writers, had to fight for her rights as a woman. In the novel, To the Lighthouse, Woolf presents two female characters, Mrs. Ramsay and Lily Briscoe, as complete opposites. Mrs. Ramsay is depicted as a subservient Victorian woman, whose main mission is not only to take care of her family, but also of others around her. This was very typical of Victorian women, who basically spent their time at home, making sure that everything was tidy and fine. However, Lily Briscoe on the other hand, is the total opposite of Mrs. Ramsay. The fact that she achieves her vision and completes her picture at the end of the novel is because she has asserted her rights as an independent individual and has rejected Victorian morality. Throughout the novel, it is clearly understood that Mrs. Ramsay is an uneducated woman. Her lack of education is presented in several quotes: What did it all mean? To this day she had no notion. A square root? What was that? Her sons knew. (p. 123) Woolfs deliberate use of sons instead of sons and daughters or children is to show that Mrs. Ramsays daughters, just like Mrs. Ramsay herself, are uneducated. Her husband spoke. He was repeating something, and she knew it was poetry from the rhythm and the ring of exaltation and melancholy in his voice. (p. 129) This again shows her lack of education, for she recognizes that her husband is speaking poetry because of the rhythm and tone, not because she knows the poet Charles Elton. Even while reading a book, she has no notion of what she is reading, for she feels that she is climbing backwards, upwards, shoving her way up under petals that curved over her, so that she only knew that this is white, or this is red. She did not know at first what the words meant at all. (p. 139) Also, when Charles Tansley talks to her about his dissertation, she is not able to quite catch the meaning, only the words, here and thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ dissertationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ fellowshipà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ readershipà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ lectureship. She could not follow the ugly academic jargon. (p. 13) Although this may seem exaggerated, it was very true of the condition of women during that time. Women being uneducated was a privilege to men for this gave them superiority and complete control over women. While looking at his wife reading, Mr. Ramsay wondered what she was reading and exaggerated her ignorance, her simplicity, for he liked to think that she was not clever, not book-learned at all. He wondered if she understood what she was reading. Probably not, he thought. She was astonishingly beautiful. (p. 141) Not only does he seem to enjoy that his wife is uneducated, but he also mocks at her for not being able to understand what she is readi ng. The only thing that he praises about her is her beauty. In his critical essay, John Hardy presents the metaphor of Mrs. Ramsay as a queen. He claims that she is constantly queen like during dinner; while sitting at the head of the table, she carefully observes, one by one, each and every person sitting round the table. Hardy furthermore says that Mrs. Ramsay is enabled to triumph over her husband, because during dinner and even afterwards when dinner is over, she is able to read his mind. These two qualities, again, elevate the female, i.e. Mrs. Ramsay, over the male, i.e. Mr. Ramsay. However, although being uneducated, Mrs. Ramsay seems to have supernatural powers, such as having premonitions and casting spells. They must come now, Mrs. Ramsay thought, looking at the door, and at that instant, Minta Doyle, Paul Rayley, and a maid carrying a great dish in her hands came in together. (p. 114) Always she got her own way in the end, Lily thoughtà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ She put a spell on them all, by wishing, so simply, so directly. (p. 118) These are powers that none of the male characters in the novel have; in fact they do not even seem to understand such things. Woolf, by giving Mrs. Ramsay such powers, has elevated the female figure to a higher status. Will you not tell me just for once that you love me? But she could not do it; she could not say ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ For she had triumphed again. (p. 144) Mrs. Ramsay, by not saying the thing that her husband very desperately wants her to say, has triumphed over him. According to John Hardy, in this scene, what may seem to us as Mrs. Ramsays surrendering to her husband is in fact the inverse. By admitting that he was right and that they would not be able to go to the lighthouse, she has surrendered to her husband. But because, while doing so, she has lost her self, i.e. her personality as a Victorian woman, the surrender becomes a triumph. In other words, her being able to say that she was wrong places her, Hardy says, on another and higher plane which is undoubtedly right. Hardy, furthermore, views Lilys final painting of Mrs. Ramsay as an admiration of her, in triumph over her husband. Even more important than her powers and intuitions is the fact that she not only takes care of her family, but also of others around her, as we learn that she knits a stocking for the lighthouse keepers ill boy. (p. 5) It is Mrs. Ramsay who prepares dinner for her entire family as well as the guests and tries her best, during dinner, to make sure everything goes fine. This again is another characteristic of a typical Victorian woman. After all, it was not knowledge but unity that she desired. (p. 59) Interestingly, Hardy argues it is Mrs. Ramsay who holds everything together and hence is the central figure of the novel. After all, it is only after Mrs. Ramsays death that the characters feel an unbearable silence with undertones of panic. Since Mrs. Ramsay is gone, her power has also gone. Moreover, we are left with the thought that if it wasnt for her, there never would have been a trip to the lighthouse. And Lily too, is able to complete her painting only after Mrs. Ramsays death. Berenice A. Carroll, however, in her essay, To Crush him in our own Country, has opposed this view. According to her, it is Lily who is the heroine of the novel. But the fact that she is persistently associated with being little and insignificant and also that she paints as she sees, not as the dominant artist of the time makes her anti-heroine. By creating the character of Lily Briscoe, Woolf presents the absolute opposite of Mrs. Ramsay. Although faced by many obstacles, namely Charles Tansley, who tells her women cant paint, women cant write (p. 56) and whose voice seems to haunt her for the rest of her life, Lily Briscoe overcomes them and succeeds in asserting her rights and achieving her vision. It is this exact thing that has shocked many readers in the Modernist Era a woman breaking away from Victorian beliefs and customs. Every time Lily hears Charles words women cant paint, women cant write (pp. 100, 106, 183, 184, 228) in her head, she is greatly disturbed and struggles, yet does not give up. Aside from saying that women can neither paint nor write, Charles also believes that It was the womens fault. Women mad civilization impossible with all their charm, all their silliness. (p. 99) Women, according to him, are charming and silly, nothing more. Yet, what is ironic is that while everybody is having dinner together, it is Lily who comes to Charles rescue after he goes through great pains in order to state his opinions. Lily Briscoe knew all that. Sitting opposite him could she not see, as in an X-ray photograph, the ribs and thigh bones of the young mans desire to impress himself lying dark in the mist of his flesh that thin mist which convention had laid over his burning desire to break into the conversation? But she thought, screwing up her Chinese eyes, and remembering how he sneered at women, cant paint, cant write, why should I help him to relieve himself? (pp. 105-106) Lily can very clearly see that Charles is suffering for not being able to join the conversation, yet she does not help and enjoys watching, rather she sits there smiling. Of course for the hundred and fiftieth time Lily Briscoe had to renounce the experiment what happens if one is not nice to that young man there and be nice. (p. 107) It is only after Mrs. Ramsays request that Lily finally helps Charles and he is relieved. Again, it is women who seem more powerful than men and come to the rescue. Mrs. Ramsay also functions as a match maker in the novel. In fact, this is the only thing she seems to be thinking of most of the time. She was driven on, too quickly she knew, almost as if it were an escape for her too, to say that people must marry; people must have children. (p. 70) Mrs. Ramsays belief that people must get married actually seems to come out of her spontaneously. The word driven shows that she cannot help but think this way. Of Paul and Minta, Mrs. Ramsay keeps insisting that they must marry. (p. 57) In fact, Paul is driven to propose to Minta because of Mrs. Ramsays ceaseless insistence. (p. 136) This shows that Mrs. Ramsay is only concerned with making the match, but completely indifferent of its outcomes, as what happens to Paul and Minta. This is exactly why Hardy argues that Mrs. Ramsay is a colossal egotist the fact that she matches up couples and arranges walks for them by the beach but at the same time is irresponsible of their outcomes does in truth show her as egotistical. Ah, but was not that Lily Briscoe strolling along with William Bankes? Yes, indeed it was. Did that not mean that they would marry? Yes, it must! What an admirable idea! They must marry! (p. 83) Another clear instance where we see Mrs. Ramsay being obsessed with matching up people for them to get married. However, Lily is the only woman in the novel to assert her independence as an individual. By doing this, she becomes Mrs. Ramsays foil. Lily, in fact looks at marriage, as degradation and dilution. She need not marry, thank Heaven: she need not undergo that degradation. She was saved from that dilution. (p. 119) In his essay, Hardy points out that Lily goes as far as to describe Mrs. Ramsays matchmaking mission as mania of hers for marriage. After ten years, when Lily does in fact not get married, she feels she has triumphed over Mrs. Ramsay. (p. 202) I must move the tree to the middle; that matters nothing else. (p. 100) For Lily, her art is more important to her than anything els e, including marriage. Even while having dinner, while everybody is engaged in conversation, all Lily can think about is how to improve her painting. During Woolfs time, it was very difficult for women to get educated and even if they were educated secretly, it was difficult for them to publish their writing. Therefore, they had to hide their work and Woolf shows this in her novel through the character of Lily. She kept a feeler of her surroundings lest someone should creep up, and suddenly she should find her picture looked at. (p. 20) and so to clasp some miserable remnant of her vision to her breast, which a thousand forces did their best to pluck from her. (p. 22) These two parts are where Virginia Woolf has very skillfully portrayed the difficulty women had to go through in order to do what men could without facing any hardships. Mrs. Ramsays daughters, in a sense, resemble Lily, though not completely, in that they too dream of a life, where they do not always have to take care of some man or other. (p. 7) However, this is not what Mrs. Ramsay believes. During dinner, she looks at Prue, her eldest daughter who is watching Minta, and says to herself, You will be as happy as she is one of these days. You will be much happier, she added, because you are my daughter, (p. 128) referring that she will get married. Mrs. Ramsay believes that women, only through marriage, will find true happiness. According to her, an unmarried woman has missed the best of life. (p. 58) Ironically, those who do get married in the novel end up in a tragic life. After Paul and Mintas marriage, not even a year passes and Paul leaves Minta for another woman. As for Prue Ramsay, she dies in childbirth. Even Mrs. Ramsay dies. It is as if these women are taught a lesson for following Victorian conventions. Lily, on the other hand, does not get married and is rewarded by being able to complete her painting that she had started ten years ago. Hardy points out that Woolf has deliberately chosen to end her novel with Lily and her painting, nothing else. We never get to know about the work of Augustus Carmichael, the only other artist in the novel. This again, is done intentionally by Woolf, her purpose was to reinforce Lilys, and in turn the females work over that of the male.

Report on Cross Cultural Management of Cuba Essay

4 Analysis of Silk Trade in Cuba To a great extent, the silk trade can be influenced by the culture. Before entering into the Cuban market, the company needs to understand the culture and take into account the local market situation. Cross cultural management models can be used to analyze the cultural characteristics in Cuba, for example Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions, Fons Trompenaars Cultural Dimensions, and Ednlard T. Hall Cultural Dimensions. In the following, cross cultural models will be used to conduct an assessment of Cuban cultural background and analyze the impact of Cuban culture on the silk trade. Fig 1 Location of Cuba 4.1 Cuban culture under Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Professor Geert Hofstede is an expert in the field of cross cultural management. His study on the cultural dimensions can be used to help define the culture of a country in the world. According to Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions, each kind of the culture places different emphasis on five different cultural dimensions, Power Distance (PDI), Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV), Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS), Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI), and Long term orientation (LTO) (Hofstede, 1996). 4.1.1 Power Distance According to the view of Professor Hofstede, power distance deals with the income inequity in a country (Soares et al., 2007). Cuba scores high in the scale of power distance, which means that the members of this country believes that inequities are usual and accepted by all layers of the society, and the leaders of an organization can have a lot of power. The reason can be found in the long history. 4.1.2 Individualism versus Collectivism The dimension individualism is the degree of interdependence a society maintains in its members. In simple words, it deals with whether people’s self-image is defined in terms of I or We. It is known that Cuba is a communist country and it is a collectivist culture. Under such political environment, people work together and share everything. The Cubans believe that all the people are important and cooperation is important in the society. In simple words, collectivism is widely accepted in Cuba. 4.1.3 Masculinity versus Femininity The dimension masculinity deals with what motivates people, wanting to be the best (masculine) or liking what you do (feminine). Under the Cuban culture, people are always more feminine. The dominant values in the society are caring for others and quality of life, rather than the competition, achievement, and success. In addition to this, the Cuban women have played an important role in the society, and women hold nearly 37% of the seats in parliament. The Cuban culture is more feminine. 4.1.4 Uncertainty Avoidance The dimension Uncertainty Avoidance can explain how people deal with the unknown future, some may try to control the future, and some may let it happen (Merkin, 2006). People in the Cuban society belong to the category of high uncertainty avoidance. To a large extent, it is decided by the political environment, the communist society for years can be the reason why Cuban people eliminate unwanted changes in the future. 4.1.5 Long term orientation The long term orientation dimension decides the extent to which the society shows a pragmatic future-oriented view rather than a conventional historical short-term view. In Cuba, people fall more in the conventional short-term view. The society is largely controlled by the government, and people live life day to day with the conventional short-term view, also they have not planned too much for the future. 4.2 Cuban culture under Fons Trompenaars Cultural Dimensions According to the view of Professor Fons, what distinguished people from one culture is where their preferences fall on each of the seven different dimension, including universalism versus particularism, individualism versus communitarianism, specific versus diffuse, neutral versus emotional, achievement versus ascription, sequential time versus synchronous time, and internal direction versus outer direction (Charles and Trompenaars, 1997). The dimension universalism vs. particularism deals with what is more important, rule or relationship. In Cuba, people believe that relationships can be more important, which is largely decided by the political factor. Under the communist society, the whole society is controlled by the leaders of the country, and the society is decided by rule of people, rather than rule of law (Rasha, 2006). Individualism vs. collectivism deals with the degree of interdependence a society maintains in its members. Cuba falls more in a collectivist culture. In addition, the neutral vs. emotional dimension describes the importance of feelings and relationships. Obviously, Cuba, a neutral culture, and people do not easily display their feelings and emotions. The government controls everything, and people dare not display their real feelings (Kang and Mastin (2008). Specific vs. diffuse dimension answers how the people separate the private and working lives. Cuban culture belongs to the specific-oriented culture, in simple words the Cuban people separate the private and the working lives very clearly. The achievement vs. ascription dimension refers to the question of the status. In Cuban society, people belong to the ascription-oriented culture and the respect for a manager is based on hierarchy. Sequential vs. synchronic dimension defines two different ways of managing time, and the Cuban people belong to the synchronization-oriented dimension. In the end, the Cuban people fall more in the external control dimension. 4.3 Cuban culture under Ednlard T. Hall Cultural Dimensions Ednlard T. Hall is a famous researcher on cross cultural management. Hall’s cultural factors can be used to understand people from different cultural backgrounds, include high-context culture and low-context culture, monochromic action and polychromic action, high territoriality and low territoriality. First of all, Cuba belongs to a kind of high-context culture, similar with Trompenaars’ particularism. There are a lot of local unwritten rules of the culture, and much is taken for granted in the Cuban culture. Secondly, similar with Trompenaars’ time as sequence (monochromic) and time as synchronization (polychromic), most of the Cuban people can be polychromic-based action (Hall, 1966). In simple words, people often do many things at once and put relationship first, in addition to this, things are borrowed and shared often and easily. (Hall, 1983). Cuban people have high territoriality when working with the foreigners, which largely results from the political attitude of the communist society. 5 Impact of culture on leadership and organization behavior in Cuba With the development of the economic globalization, the importance of cross cultural management receives more attention. Culture can be defined as the characteristics of a particular group of people, including history, education, language, social, structure, religion, political, and economic. 5.1 Impact of culture on leadership in Cuba Leadership can be defined as a process of social influence in the accomplishment of a common task, and good leaders are not made born. As described above, cross cultural management models can be used to understand how to do the business in Cuba. Fig 2 Flag of Cuba 5.1.1 Impact of Cuban history on leadership The history of Cuba began with the arrival of Columbus in 1492, and in a long time it was controlled by the foreign countries, such as United States and Brazil. In the 20th century, Cuba made the alliance with the Soviets. Castro controlled Cuba for decades until the year 2006. In Cuba, the leaders have the concentrated power and members of an institution and organization accept the leadership very easily. Fig 3 Castro 5.1.2 Impact of Cuban education on leadership Speaking in essence, the Cuban education was strictly controlled by the government, and the school attendance is not very high. In addition to this, education has a strong political and ideological emphasis. In simple words, the Cuban education is not well-developed, and the leaders can easily influence the followers, also people get used to obey the instructions from the leaders. 5.1.3 Impact of Cuban language on leadership Spanish is the official language in Cuba, and most of the Cubans can speak it, because in a long time Cuba was controlled by Spain. In addition to this, Haitian Creole can be the second largest language. Language can play an important role in the leadership process, and it can be inferred that the leaders in Cuba are required to speak Spanish. 5.1.4 Impact of Cuban social structure on leadership Social structure can be identified as the relationship between entities or groups or as enduring and relatively stable patterns of relationship. The Cuban society believes that inequities are usual and a fact of the life. The equality can be accepted by all layers of the society, and the leaders of an organization can have a lot of power. Fig 4 Cathedral of Saint Christopher in Havana 5.1.5 Impact of Cuban religion on leadership Cuba has been a Communist country since 1959. Catholicism is much modified and influenced, and the most popular religion in Cuba is Santeria. The religion can maximize the cohesion between the members, and the leadership can take advantage of the religion, or else it will be the barriers. 5.1.6 Impact of Cuban politics on leadership Culture of a country can significantly influence the trade business, including the silk trade. People’s Republic of China has built a good relationship with Republic of Cuba for many years, which can be good for the silk trade in Cuba (Benjamin and Collins, 1985). To be more specific, the political attitude can be helpful in leadership. 5.1.7 Impact of Cuban economic on leadership Influenced by the political ideology, Cuba refused the free trade with the foreigners in the world market. Cuba carries out the planned economy for a long time and limits the private economy (Padilla and McElroy, 2007). The production are largely owned and operated by the government. Leaders from foreign countries may not easy in Cuba. 5.2 Impact of culture on organization behavior in Cuba Likewise, the impact of culture on the organization behavior must be also taken into account by the management. Organization behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact of individuals, groups and structures upon behavior within an organization. Organization behavior can be understood better, and the barriers can be eliminated. 5.2.1 Impact of Cuban history on organization behavior In a long history of the communist society, the Cubans get used to obey the rules from the leaders. In simple words, the individuals, groups and structures in Cuba share the same rules. In the process of cross cultural management, members of an institution or organization obey the group norms. 5.2.2 Impact of Cuban education on organization behavior Castro developed a fully state-operated education system, at the same time the private institutions are banned by the government. There is no advanced education system to build the organization behavior. In other words, the organization behavior of the local employees can be rebuilt in the process of cross cultural management. 5.2.3 Impact of Cuban language on organization behavior The official language in Cuba is Spanish, and the organization behaviors are based on the language. More importantly, language is the communication tool, and it can also decide the success of cross cultural management. Only on the basis of understanding the language, the organization behavior can be understood. 5.2.4 Impact of Cuban social structure on organization behavior Likewise, social structure decides many social systems, such as legal system, cultural system, economic system, and political system. Individuals and groups obey the social systems, and organization behavior can be influenced by the social systems. 5.2.5 Impact of Cuban religion on organization behavior To be more specific, the Santeria in Cuba developed from Catholicism by combining the religion of African slaves and some local Americans. Institutions or organizations from foreign countries can take advantage of the religion to bring people together. 5.2.6 Impact of Cuban politics on organization behavior The former leader Castro controlled everything for years and the Cuban people have been under control. Under such political environment, behaviors of individuals and groups are influenced by the external political factors. 5.2.7 Impact of Cuban economic on organization behavior Foreign leaders may find it difficult in leading the local Cuban employees, and some measures should be taken, for example hiring the local managers. The Cuban people have high territoriality when working with the foreigners, which largely results from the political attitude of the communist society in the world (SÃ ©ror and Arteaga, 2000). 6 Conclusion and Recommendations Due to the different political ideology, Cuba closed the door and operated differently. In conclusion, the characteristics of Cuban culture are different, and cross cultural management in Cuba needs to consider the characteristics. Recommendations will be made in the following to operate the silk trade in an effective and efficient way. 6.1 Leadership styles of cross cultural management in Cuba There are many kinds of leadership styles, which include authoritarian, paternalistic, democratic, laissez-faire, and transactional. Taking the Cuban cultural characteristics into account, the kind of paternalistic leadership style can be put into practices in the Cuban business world. The leaders encourage the employees to compete the tasks, at the same time they take care of the employees as a parent will do, because the local employees are influenced by the external political factor. In order to do the silk trade, the leaders have to deal with the potential barriers in Cuba. 6.2 Communication styles of cross cultural management in Cuba In Cuba, the official language is Spanish. As for the management, the communication styles can be assertive, aggressive, passive, and passive-aggressive. The best style for the management in Cuba can be the assertive communication. To be more specific, the leaders can communicate with the local employees in an assertive way. The language barrier can be solved by hiring the translators, and the institutions and organizations can hire the local employees as the middle management level, for they can carry out the business strategies better and communicate with the local employees easily. 6.3 Negotiation skills of cross cultural management in Cuba Under the different cultural background, some negotiation skills are necessary in the process of cross cultural management. By understanding the Cuban culture, leaders in Cuba can learn how to work with the Cubans and avoid the cultural barriers. It can be recommended that the first one negotiation skill is to learn to flinch. In order to make the silk trade with the Cubans, the businessmen need to respect the local rules and the employees, thus make them feel comfortable in the trade process. The second one is to recognize that customers often ask for more than they expect to get. In the process of silk trade, the Cubans are provided good products and services. After the customers recognize the products and services, the company can build better brand awareness to increase the sales and make profits in Cuba. 6.4 Management styles and requirements of cross cultural management in Cuba The management process is not easy, but it can significantly influence the silk trade in Cuba. During the process of cross cultural management, the management can consider the Cuban cultural factors, as explained in the above cultural dimensions. Especially, when making important decisions, the cultural factors need to be taken into account, as well as the problem-solving process and team management. 6.4.1 Decision-making of cross cultural management in Cuba The process of decision-making is not easy in a different cultural background. In the Cuban culture, the first one is to take the political factor into account. The government interface with free trade can be the biggest barrier in Cuba. The decision-makers need to understand the Cubans, for example, things can be borrowed and shared often and easily. Cuban people have high territoriality when working with the foreigners, so the institutions and organizations can cooperate with the local groups. In the end, results of the potential decisions need to be reasonably predicted under such circumstances. 6.4.2 Problem-solving of cross cultural management in Cuba When facing with the conflicts, the management needs to solve the problems. Unlike the conventional situation, the local cultural may be more complex, for the conflicts in Cuba may involve many parties. At this time, the foreigners need to understand how the local residents deal with the problem. For example, the members of this country believes that inequities are usual and accepted by all layers of the society, and the leaders of an organization can have a lot of power. In simple words, the foreigners can seek for the support of the leaders if they are encountering the barriers in Cuba. More importantly, people in Cuba belong to the category of high uncertainty avoidance, and money can be the effective and efficient to solve the current problems. 6.4.3 Team management of cross cultural management in Cuba As a communist society, the Cuban people are regarded as the group. It is known that Cuba is a collectivist culture. Under such political environment, people work together and share the property. They believe that all the Cubans are important and cooperation is important in the society. In the process of team management, the leaders can learn to motivate the employees and increase the cohesion power among the team members. In addition to this, the dominant values in the society are caring for others and quality of life, rather than the competition, achievement, and success. If team members share the same values, they can come together to complete the common goals. The last but not the least, the leaders have a lot of concentrated power. During the process of cross cultural management, leaders need to develop an understanding of the Cuban culture.

Decade-by-Decade Timeline of the 20th Century

The Battle Of The World War II - 1315 Words

Sam Carter L9 To What Extent was the Battle of Stalingrad a More Important Turning Point in World War II than the Battle of Britain? The Battle of Stalingrad was fought from the September 1942 through to early February 1943, and took place after the Germans had reached the fringes of Leningrad and Moscow in operation Barbarossa. Hitler’s, and the German commander of the sixth army, General von Paulus’ main aim was to take and secure the oil fields of Caucasus in Russia. The oil from here would prove valuable, as it would not only replenish the German oil stores that were running low, but also cut off a key Soviet fuel supply. However, Hitler then made a major error, and commanded that the forces should be split, ordering the sixth army,†¦show more content†¦The Soviet army was increasing in numbers, and eventually, it is estimated that there were a million Russian soldiers fighting for Stalingrad. On the 19th November, General Zhukov launched a huge attack on both of the German flanks. This led to the Germans becoming trapped and surrounded by Soviets, leaving no way out. Hitler refused to a llow von Paulus to surrender, promoting him to Field Marshall, and stressing that no German Field Marshall had ever surrendered in the past. However, it had no effect, German supplies had run out and soldiers were gradually beginning to either starve or freeze to death. Field Marshall von Paulus surrendered on the 2nd February 1943. The Battle of Stalingrad was an enormously important turning point in World War II as it was a huge German disaster. The whole of the German’s sixth and supposedly best, army was lost and 91,000 were taken prisoner by the Soviets. The Germans didn’t have the manpower to combat the Russian advance, and so, retreated with not only a huge loss of soldiers, but a huge loss of equipment too. Around 75% of the German’s resources had been sent into Russia, and hardly any had returned. This was a huge blow to Germany, who had been used to winning Battles throughout the entirety of WWII, and was now constantly defending. On the other hand, it had provided a massive boost in morale for Soviet Russia, driving them on to be a stronger and better army.