Cultural Frameworks

GENERAL CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE

Facts about and information about a particular culture and how to make sense of these through mapping cultures with the help of a conceptual framework Managers depend on comparative models of culture because these help him/her learn about the new culture by comparing it to cultures with which he/she has experience

Culture Maps - Frameworks

Edward T. Hall Culture Elements Geert Hofstede Trompenaars Sociological & Anthropological Framework
Universalism vs Particularism Collectivism vs Individualism Affective vs Neutral Relationships Achievement vs Ascription Orientation Towards Time Internal vs External Control

Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck Variations in Value Orientations

relation to nature orientation to time belief about human nature mode of human activity relationships space and international business practice

Value Patterns

time space things friendships agreements

power risk individualism masculinity time

and interpersonal behavior

and management theories - practice

Culture models apply most accurately in A. All situations B. Routine situations C. Extreme situations D. Business situations E. Personal situations

Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck

High/Low Context Cultures - Hall

High-Context
Crucial to Communications: external environment, situation, non-verbal behavior Relationships: long lasting, deep personal mutual involvement Communication: economical, fast because of shared "code" Authority person: responsible for actions of subordinates, loyalty at a premium Agreements: spoken, flexible and changeable

Low-Context
explicit information, blunt communicative style

short duration, heterogeneous populations explicit messages, low reliance on nonverbal diffused through bureaucratic system, personal responsibility tough to pin down written, final and binding, litigious, more lawyers

Insiders vs outsiders: very distinguishable difficult to identify, foreigners can adjust Cultural pattern change: slow faster

Culture and the workplace (Hofstede)

Hofstede groups national cultures along dimensions meaningful to business:
Work related values not universal Home country values used to determine HQ policies Local values may persist over MNC efforts to create global corporate culture MNC may create unnecessary morale problems if it insists on uniform moral norms

Hofstede s work is a good starting point for understanding of business situations

Hofstede s Dimensions
Power Distance Individualism versus Collectivism Masculinity versus Femininity Uncertainty Avoidance Long-term vs. Short-term Orientation

Hofstede's dimensions
Power Distance:
degree of social inequality considered normal by people distance between individuals at different levels of a hierarchy scale is from equal (small power distance) to extremely unequal (large power distance)

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Hofstede's dimensions
Individualism versus Collectivism:
degree to which people in a country prefer to act as individuals rather than in groups the relations between the individual and his/her fellows

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Hofstede's dimensions
Uncertainty Avoidance:
more or less need to avoid uncertainty about the future degree of preference for structured versus unstructured situations structured situations: have tight rules may or may not be written down (high context society?) high uncertainty avoidance: people with more nervous energy (vs easy going), rigid society, "what is different is dangerous."
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Hofstede's dimensions
Masculinity versus Femininity:
division of roles and values in a society Masculine values prevail: assertiveness, success, competition Feminine values prevail: quality of life, maintenance of warm personal relationships, service, care for the weak, solidarity

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In the UK, you discover that a junior employee is the daughter of a powerful politician, and so you promote her to a senior job. She is a poor communicator and unqualified. Nevertheless, this promotion is happily accepted by (almost) all other employees A. Typical B. Untypical

At company headquarters, you form a mixedculture work team consisting of Japanese men and Swedish women, and chaired by a woman. These persons have been temporarily borrowed from your subsidiaries in Tokyo and Stockholm. The team is neither compatible nor productive. A. Typical B. Untypical

In Australia, the great majority of your employees opt to take relatively low salaries in return for guarantees of life-time employment. A. Typical B. Untypical

In Sweden, your subsidiary is losing money. You decide to introduce new technology, which means scrapping the previous technology and retraining many of the workforce. The outcomes of making the change are uncertain; the technology might be a great success, but if it fails, all will suffer. The workforce quickly accept your proposals. A. Typical B. Untypical