Analysis of the "Outsourced" Movie - Essay Sample

Introduction

Outsourced is a movie which celebrates cultural diversity and also affirms that in spite of differences in race, religion and societal norms, people are similar however what deters their relations to be better is normally due to lack of understanding (Hofstede, 2011). The paper will illustrate the cultural differences along each Hofstede's Dimensions using specific scenes in the movie (Hofstede, 2011). I will analyze this movie using the following aspects in the Hofstede's Dimension; (Hofstede, 2011). "Masculinity and femininity, lengthy orientation and shortened orientation, Individualism versus Collectivism and Uncertainty Escaping and power distance."

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Masculinity and Femininity

This aspect will focus on the extent to which a community or society focus on accomplishment or nurture. Masculinity, in this case, represents a society which social, sexual characteristics are distinct. Femininity represents a society where public gender roles overlay the American "and" Indian male cultures. When comparing the two countries, it is evident that they both prefer men to be in leadership or power roles and often see women as unsuitable for leadership roles. Women living in India are normally demeaned and treated in an inferior manner than American women. In America women are urged to go to school and even work after they have achieved their education, whereas in India women are viewed or perceived as wives and do not either go to school or work and if so only a small percentage are lucky to get the chance of education and working (Hofstede, 2011). This can be seen in the movie when "Asha went against the wishes of her parents and worked at a call center and even attended college. She excelled when Todd was the assistant manager at the call center compared to her colleagues at work". India is more laid back on the traditional feminine issues like women having to be housewives and do house chores in a family structure, more than America which has incorporated flexibility in terms of women working and getting an education.

Lengthy and Shortened Orientation

The main factor of any collection of values work within a society is hell-bent on how a specific culture deals with time. In this case, America has a shortened orientation since their culture focuses on the present and it is flexible enough to allow the future cultural changes to set within the society. An example in the movie is seen "when the company opts to shift the call center to the location with the lowest wages for the workers." (Hofstede, 2011). They did not ponder on the long term effects of their decisions; however, in India, there are lengthy orientations as their cultures heavily rely on traditions and are not flexible enough to incorporate modernity. An example is seen when "Asha got married to a guy who her family arranged her, rather than getting married out of love and the shocking thing is that she was engaged when she was four years old."

Individualism Versus Collectivism

The members within a society define the degree of the interdependency of their cultures. In America, people are focused on the "bottom line" and what cultural aspects is best accommodated by an individual and for the group as a whole. In the movie "the managers of Todd's Company were not connected to the job loss in America or India." (Hofstede, 2011). They just intended on cutting their cost of expenditure when paying salaries and wages to the employees working at the call center. India has a shared culture as they are fretful with the welfare of the community and the best of all colleagues within an organization (Fang, 2013). The movie also supports this statement, and it can be seen when we are told: "Asha taught Todd an important lesson on how to get the worker to do his responsibility more productively and efficiently, by according them the support whenever they needed and also making them feel more involved in the team." Another example is when Todd was taught on the collective culture of India occurred when he saw the maid put the remaining food over the wall for the disadvantaged families from India on the other side."

"Uncertainty Avoidance"

In America, most people have the propensity to want to have a plan and determine what will happen in the future. In the movie, we learn that Todd is tentative towards altering his management styles and methods since he did not have a plan to switch to as an alternative to what we currently had. People living in India are more accommodating when uncertainty kicks in, and it's partly due to their reliance on gods as their religious faiths (Fang, 2013). An example can be seen when "Todd gives the Indian workers the news that their roles were going to be sub-contracted to China, the workers were not upset as it would have been expected, but instead, they became happy since they will get extra pay and the opportunity they will have to take a vacation. They had a belief in a god who had brought new things and brought an end to the old and usual things."

Power Distance

This dimension signifies the extent of power depicted by people in authority and in the movie this aspect is clearly explained where "the manager plans to terminate or fire Todd from his job, and he forces him by sending him to India for further training." (Hofstede, 2011). This shows that the manager exerts power by sending Todd to India for further training against his will.

References

Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede model in context. Online readings in psychology and culture, 2(1), 8.

Fang, T. (2013). A critique of Hofstede's fifth national culture dimension. International journal of cross-cultural management, 3(3), 347-368.