Legal Case Study: Ellen's Meditation Studio

Ellen is a graduate of The College of Alternative Medicine and is looking to start her own business. She decides to open a meditation studio and looks around the inner city suburb of Paddington for suitable premises. She eventually finds a terrace house near to Oxford St., the main street of Paddington in Sydney, NSW

The owner of the premises is willing to enter a 12 month lease however Ellen asks him to wait for a week so that she can check with the local council as to the suitability of her business.  Ellen attends the council offices and goes to the counter marked “Business Inquiries”.

She asks several questions of the council employee including a question about building work in the area.  She says “my meditation studio requires a calm environment is there anything that could cause noise nearby?”

The council officer is called away before being able to answer.  When he returns he has a very quick look at the computer and says to Ellen “relax everything will be fine”.  Ellen signs the lease the next day however within 2 weeks of opening the meditation studio she sees builders arrive next door.

She asks one of them how long they will be working next door. The builder replies “It’s a big job, a total renovation. It should take at least 6 months”.  Ellen tries to run her meditation studio but the noise from the building is too stressful on Ellen and her clients.  A month into the lease, Ellen is so stressed by the development noise from next door, that she develops a nervous disorder that threatens her career in alternative medicine.

Ellen reduces the operating hours of her meditation studio to avoid the builders’ noise but starts to fall behind in her rent for the premises.  

Issue 1: Explain whether Ellen has a claim against the council in relation to the advice she received.

Issue 2: Contract Law

Has there been a breach of contract between Ellen and Land Lord for non-payment of rent?

Issue 3: Tort of negligence

Has there been a negligent misstatement by the Council Worker?

Cultural dimensions

Each and every individual has some underlined values that contribute as an important factor in developing the ideology. The ideologies are related with the behavioral freedom given to an individual. The value implies the priorities of different behavioral alternatives that are perceived as an important part. Cultural values are related to the group of people and their behavior. Canada is a new and multicultural country whereas Bangladesh is a small country with a long cultural history (Thomas and Peterson, 2014). There are several differences between the Canadian and Bangladeshi culture. For instance, in terms of time and time consciousness Canadian culture is linear whereas the Bangladeshi culture is very much elastic. They are more concerned for sending good time with their family. The country follows family value chain where younger generation pays respect to their elders. A person not showing respect to the elder generation is considered rude.  The major decisions in family are taken by the elder generation. Canadian culture gives more preference to the nuclear values. Every individual is responsible for himself (Mach and Baruch, 2015).

Canada is relatively a multicultural country due to its liberal migration policies. It is due to the policies the country is inhabited with the multicultural groups. People from different background and culture are staying in Canada.  The culture is welcoming and follows a liberal set of policies attracting more migrant. This has created a multi-cultural environment in Canada. All the religious and cultural practices are given preference by the government (Vertamo, 2014).

Bangladesh is a small country with a log cultural history. The country was a part of Indian Territory till 1947. It got independence in the year 1971 by defeating Pakistan. 87 percent of the population in Bangladesh is Muslim. Buddhist, Hindus and Christians are the part of minorities. The culture followed in Bangladesh is reserve and elder family members are given importance by the families.

The Hofstede center continues (Hofstede, 2010) as how values in the workplace influence culture. Geert Hofstede carried out comprehensive studies on how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. He described 5 dimensions which are as follows:

It is related t how societies are managing the inequalities and to what extent the less powerful member of an organization accept and expect power distribution. In term of Canada the employees are given an opportunity to participate in the decision making whereas in case of Bangladesh employees are not given equal right. They are not been involved in decision making by the management.

It is related to the behavior of individual and community in a way that help in managing the organization. The groups thereby need to expect to look after themselves as self actualize.  In case of Canada one need to give more importance to collectivism where the employees work together. Team motivation and group activity is given importance by the country in work culture. Employees are more professional and work ethically as per the business code of conduct (Tjosvold, 2017).

 Bangladesh is following an individual work culture. Employees are paying more attention on individual needs. More preference is been given to individual needs rather than the organizational needs. Business culture is mostly generated due to the guidelines as issued by the governing authority.  The employees are not involved in the decision making. The autocratic business creature is largely seen in Bangladesh.

Small vs. large power distance

It is related with the role and behavior given as per the gender.  There are different values that are been given to the individual in order to carry out business activity. Value competitiveness, assertiveness, ambition, and the accumulation of wealth and material possessions are the cultural practice in an organization. It is relevant for an organization to profess effective business activity in order to measures effective business practice (Nanda, 2014).

 Canada follows feminine business culture whereas Bangladesh is a masculine business culture. The Canadian business culture is giving more importance to the feminine culture. Bangladesh has a masculine business culture.

This is regarded as the level of structure followed by the country.  Culture which have a low uncertainly avoidance tend to accept risk whereas the culture with the high uncertainty avoidance risk is not ready to accept the risk (Afshar and Agarwal, 2016).

Canada poses a business culture where they are ready to take culture. The business culture and advancement focus on taking risks in order to grow. Bangladesh follows a business culture where they are giving more preference to a safer work culture. They are not ready to take risk and works in a culture that is considering giving more preference to the safe business culture (Samaha, Beck and Palmatier, 2014; De Mooij and Hofstede, 2010).

It is related to for how long societies value long standing or traditional values.  Cultures that have a high long-term orientation give strong significance on family, discipline and social obligations. Canada is a country that follows liberal values.  The culture is welcoming and follows a liberal set of policies attracting more migrant (Shi and Wang, 2011). This has created a multi-cultural environment in Canada. Bangladesh on the other hand gives more significance to the family’s value and discipline and social obligation. It is due to the fact that the country is giving more preference to the cultural values in daily life (Hurn and Tomalin, 2013).

Canada is often referred as progressive, diverse and multicultural country. The federal government in Canada is following multicultural ideologies that emphasis on the social importance of immigration.  The culture has drawn values from the vast range of constituent nationalities.  Most recently the government has legalized same sex marriages. This indicates that the county is following liberal cultural values (Tjosvold, 2017).

Bangladesh is a country with reserve outlook. The country is a mix of culture drawing its lineage from India.  The country does have a reserve outlook and are more concerned for cultural values. They give more importance to the cultural values and family values. The country follows family value chain where younger generation pays respect to their elders. A person not showing respect to the elder generation is considered rude. The culture followed in Bangladesh is extreme when compared to Bangladesh.

People in Canada are more concerned for their job and seek independence in decision making. Parents and kids live separately in order to give independence to each other. Kids often visit their parents or garland parents during holidays. It is the primary culture in Canada that focuses on giving independence in decision making (Moran, Abramson and Moran, 2014).

Individualism vs. collectivism

Bangladesh follow a culture where more importance is been given to the family values. Parents often live with their kids and it is obligatory for an individual to obey parents. The cultural values are more based on Indian system. One can directly see an influence of Indian cultural values in Bangladesh culture.

Trompenaars Cultural Dimensions gives 7 dimensions that are used to understand the cultural difference in the country. They are primarily focus on the values that are been imbibed in the culture. Below is a thorough study of the 7 aspects as given comparing the cultural difference in Canada and Bangladesh?

• In term of Universalism Canada is more focused on following Universal code of conduct. The mixed cultural values followed in the country allow them to practice different work process. Bangladesh is thereby following Particular culture. The culture practiced is largely based on the historic values.

• Canada is a country that giving more preference to the whole community whereas Bangladesh is giving more priority to the individual interest. Both have a different culture in term of individualism and group activity (Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 2011).

• Canadian is less emotional whereas Bangladeshi’s are more emotional. It is due to the fact that the people are more connected to the cultural values rather than in Canada.

• Canadian is more specific with their work approach whereas Bangladeshi is more focused on culture that can assemble anything from outside.

• The work culture in Canada is based on Ascription people are being acknowledged for their work whereas in case of Bangladesh one are more focused on a culture that is primarily based on achievement (Adler and Gundersen, 2007).

• The work in Canada is done in more formal way whereas in Bangladesh work is been done informally. It is due to the vast gap in cultural practices.

• Canadians are self-motivated people. The work culture is more inspired from that of USA. They are willing to work hard to earn better. In Bangladesh, external motivation plays an important role in order to gain daily living.

Canadian is overall polite and reserve with their southern neighbors. They are moreover large paying respect peace and good governance. Canadians are more conservative in the way they speak and dress.  There business culture is similar to that of USA or that of UK. The business etiquette plays an important role in Canadian business way.  They are more impressed by the punctuality for meetings and appointments.  In case of the leadership style the managers are not using the authority’s way of doing business. The management style is characterized as informal and friendly. Managers consult with the subordinates while making any decision. Failure to consult with the subordinates can lead to feeling of dissatisfaction among the team member.  It is important that the manager should have goof managerial skills apart from the technical skills. The leader in Canada is following democratic way of business practice. This has helped in developing effective relationship in the organization. This is more important for the organization that the employees are given privilege in decision making. It is important in terms of managing healthy relations within an organization (Samovar, Porter, McDaniel and Roy, 2014).

Bangladesh is considered as one of the interesting business and economic cases in the world today.  Apart from suffering with intense conflict the country is able to grow efficiently with a six percent growth every year. Bangladesh can be considered as a prime location for real estate opportunities. The country is offering multifold opportunities to the people from around the world. Bangladesh is a third worked country. They are following mixed economic policies. There are different types of organization that follow different leadership styles. The government organizations are following an autocratic culture. It needs to be noticed that the business culture is mostly generated due to the guidelines as issued by the governing authority.  The employees are not involved in the decision making (Ray, 2014). It is due to the fact that the organizations are making third own rule and the employees have to follow them. Under such a situation the employees have to follow the instructions. The work environment is strict while compared to that of Canada. Both the countries have a contradictory work culture.

As, per the theory provided by Hall, Canada is officially bilingual and these facts need to be given importance while promoting official dealings. Canada official language is English and French. The Canadian are using neutral communication style which means that the people are using direct style of communication. The objective is only accomplished when the parties in the meeting known each other. Canadian considers evasive language as suspicious in nature that is considered to be problematic while discussing on the roundtable. Canadian like their space and prefers an arm length distance while communicating.  They are moreover reticent in discussing their personal life with the business associates.  They are more inclined towards speaking in a straightforward way. They do not make exaggerated claims and are not suspicious of something that sound too good or true to them(Karin Andreassi, Lawter, Brockerhoff  and  Rutigliano,2014).

Mascunity vs. femininity

Whereas, Bangladesh" is a combination of the Bengali words- Bangla and Desh which means the country where the Bangla language is spoken. The country was formerly known as East Pakistan.  Personal interaction is initiated in Bangladesh with an Assalam Waleykum ("peace be with you").  Among Hindus the communication takes place with a namoshkar with folded hands.  They give equal status to people.  Difference in the age is marked through the language conversation; people are generally being addressed with respect as per the Bangladeshi culture.  People are generally practicing formal way of communication while communicating with the people of elder age. They are following a friendly in dealing with other people. Bangladeshis are more welcoming and give more preferences to the guest.

On the basis of the theory provided by Hall, The decision making in Canada is given more preference where everyone is given liberty to make decisions. It is due to the factor that the independent business and personal environment provides with an opportunity to make an effective decision. Every individual is responsible to make their own decision. It is due to the factor that people are given liberty to take decision about their life. It is one of the interesting factors that is been influencing the overall decision making system (Shiraev and Levy, 2015). It is due to the fact that every individual is given with an opportunity to take decision it is a widely acceptable fact that the population is playing a key role in managing the key roles. Canadian culture is linear and can openly make decision. It is seen in that the culture is mostly influenced by liberal value. All this has added in giving the country a brand for liberal values.

In Bangladesh the decision making power at home resides with the eldest member of the family. It is necessary according to the Bangladesh culture that elders are given more importance in decision making.  It is important to listen to what elders say or tell. Kids generally stay with their families that create a moral obligation to follow what the parents have to say. The country follows family value chain where younger generation pays respect to their elders. In case of the wok culture the autocratic decision making system is being followed where the subordinates have to follow the decision made by the upper authority. It is necessary for the subordinates t follow the guidelines issued by the management. They have no right to interfere in the decision making (Kaynak and Herbig, 2014).

Conclusion

The report includes a difference in between the cultural activities as followed by Canada and Bangladesh. There are several differences between the Canadian and Bangladeshi culture. The report gives brief information regarding the business practice followed by the company in term of culture. It gives a general insight into the cultural difference in both the countries with examples. Cultural values are related to the group of people and their behavior. Canada is a new and multicultural country whereas Bangladesh is a small country with a long cultural history. The report reflects on differences in both the economies ob the basis of Hofstede, Hall and Trobe and Trompenaars cultural dimension.

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