culture Chapter 03

7/25/2019 culture Chapter 03

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Culture, Institutions,

and Global Business


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CultureSomething difcult to understand

From ancient times, travelers have noticed thatwhen you go from one place to the net, things

you take or granted at home aren!t true anymore

" silly eample

#hen I was growing up, $other said, %on!t ta&eyour shoes o' in the house, that!s uncivili(ed)

In *apan, it!s completely uncivili(ed to have yourshoes on insidethe house


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$ore dramatic+Central to life in "merica is the desire to be a

free individual who gets what he or she wants

I &now my rights

In *apan, people too& for granted they would dowhat their group their company, their family, theirschool-wanted

.he nail that stic&s up gets hammered down


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/ou!ll always be shoc&edby new cultures

But we want to learn how to thin& about them sowe can work with diverse cultures

cross-cultural literacy 0 understanding howcultural di'erences can a'ect the way business is

practiced


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#hat is culture1.he collective programming o the mind

which distinguishes one human group fromanother

2 Geert 3ofstede

Systems of ideas that constitute adesign or living

2 4vi 5amenwirth 6 7obert #eber


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Culture vs) 8a culture!If culture means the collective programming

that distinguishes a human group+

the phrase, a culture refers to a group that

shares the same programming


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#hy do cultures di'er1Cultures are an 8evolutionary product!

For thousands of years, human groups evolvedwith a good deal of isolation

.hey!ve struggled with dierent problems

9eople can do :uropean2style farming individually

7ice farming calls for great cooperation

.here are probably many, many other reasons

for di'erences among cultures


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Components of Culture;


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5orms felt as central tosociety

>)S) 0 .he winner in an election gets to rule

"frican nations 0 an individual is loyal ?rst tohis@her tribe

Scandinavia 0 di'erences in wealth must not betoo great

*apan 0 elite organi(ations try to give the people

they hire a position for life


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Social Structure

8Social structure! is a society!s basicsystems of social organi(ation

.wo dimensions are particularly important;The extent to which society is group or individually

oriented(collectivist vs. individualist)

Degree of stratification into castes or classes

stratification = the separation of the e!ers of a society into

hierarchical social categories (strata) !ased on faily

!ac"ground# occupation# or incoe


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Aanguage

Spo&en,anguage structures our perception of world

:nglish tries to be precise*apanese

doesn!t discourage vagueness

allows more direct epression of emotion

>nspo&en*ody language

-ersonal space


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Be alert for unepected meanings of8silent language!

Colors

lacksymboli(es death in >)S)

!hiteindicates death in parts of "sia

"urpleindicates death in some situations in-Aatin "merica

Gestures

Sideways head movement that means 8yes!in Greece loo&s li&e negative 8no! headsha&e in >)S)


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Culture in the #or&place

Geert 3ofstede!s four dimensions ofculture

Power distance the extent to which people are coforta!lewith ine/ualities of power and wealth

Uncertainty avoidance0 the extent to which people accept

a!iguous situations and tolerate uncertainty

Individualism versus collectivism0 this diension focuses on

the relationship !etween the individual and his1her fellows withina culture

Masculinity versus femininity0 this diension loo"s at the relationship !etween

gender and wor" roles


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#or&27elated =alues for Selected Countries


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9roblems with 3ofstede!s8dimensions!

"ssumes one2to2one relationship between cultureand the nation state

7esearch may have been 8culturally bound!

Survey was of IB$ employees, conducted by :uropeansand "mericans

Survey respondents were from a single industrycomputer- and one company IB$-


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inDuenced global business

enormously.echnological and economic successes of

northern Europe and #orth America from theEthCentury made international business possible

#hy1 .here are many theories, and no consensusBut while the free trade theory that you!ll read about

for net wee& is clearly important, it!s certainly morethan that

Something very importanthappened in northern:urope between the Ethand Ethcenturies

It clearly continues to a'ect global business today


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) It was also the ear "rotestantism created+Some theology made believers fear going tohell so much they wor&ed hard in the worldwhile practicing asceticism renunciation of worldly

pleasures-)#eber-2 .hey started accumulating worldly goods)

2 #hen people stopped believing so strongly inGod, they &ept an ascetic approach to life

2 Secular knowledge and riches accumulated2 ,his theory dominant ater '()*


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H) It was the success o the rich in throwingpeople o the land+


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Something big happened#hatever the truth, something about

north European and #orth American culturehas driven powerful economic growth since theEthCentury)

It still plays a big role today

It!s often hard to understand how people in othercountries can deal with the challenge of the #est


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8institutions! can be more

Deible

Institutions are de?ned as the /rules o thegame0 in any human system

"nalogous to rules in a sport

$ost elements of culture can be thought of asrules of the game in the system of somesociety

:ample;


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Some $anagerialImplications

Cross2cultural literacy/ou need to understand di'erences

between cultures

Culture and competitive advantageSome cultures ma&e business easier than

others

Culture and business ethics"s we!ll see in a few wee&s, cultural

di'erences create big ethical issues


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li i d hi l


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7eligious and :thicalSystems


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" dramatic eample.he :nglish language is designed to be precise

Spea&ing :nglish, you assume the world is real)/ou want to describe it precisely

If you see a beautiful Dower, you say,

8.hat!s beautiful!

But

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