Busi 604 Discussion Question Week 2 ( Part Ii)

Whitney Jackson

BUSI 604-International Business

Discussion Board 2: Ethnocentric

KEY TERM and WHY YOU ARE INTERESTED IN IT

I will be discussing the term ethnocentric for discussion board two. I work for Huntington- Ingalls Industries, which is a company that designs, builds, and maintains ships for the United States Navy and Coast Guard. This type of government oriented company encourages an ethnocentric culture among its employees. Patriotism and loyalty are the motivating forces in this industry, which drives Huntington-Ingalls Industries employees’ to believe the United States’ armed forces are superior to all other military groups. Also, because Huntington-Ingalls theoretically builds ‘war machines,’ it is essential for the company to only purchase materials from domestic companies and foreign companies from allied countries.

EXPLANATION OF THE KEY TERM

Ethnocentrism is the, “Belief in the intrinsic superiority of the nation, culture, or group to which one belongs, often accompanied by feelings of dislike for other groups” (Ethnocentric, 2011). An ethnocentric person believes their culture or group is superior to others. In the business world, this means that a country with an ethnocentric culture has consumers that are highly probable to purchase domestic goods instead of similar goods from foreign countries or cultures. This helps a country protect their market and avoid a cost competition with foreign producers, but can hurt domestic companies when they try to conduct business abroad (Scilly, 2013).

MAJOR ARTICLE SUMMARY

In “Terror and Ethnocentrism: Foundations of American Support for the War on Terrorism” Cindy Cam and Donald Kinder describe how the United States readdressed its political policy to increase ethnocentrism. After the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, the government used the citizens’ empathy and anger as a driving force to create ethnocentric culture, and in turn support for the war on terror.

Throughout the...