Differences in Culture

Differences in Culture

Societies differ along cultural dimensions

What is culture?
How/why do social structure, religion, language
influence cultural differences?
What are differences between culture and values
in the workplace (corporate culture)?
Culture changes over time. What are some reasons
behind this?
Implications for business managers

Cultural Appreciation
Values

Customs
Aspects of
culture
Symbols

Language

What is Culture?
Culture:

a societys (groups) system of

shared, learned values and norms; these
are the societys (groups) design for living
Values: abstract ideas about the good, the

right, the desirable

Norms: social rules and guidelines; guide
appropriate behavior for specific situations

Folkways: norms of little moral significance

dress code; table manners; timeliness

Mores: norms central to functioning of social life

bring serious retribution: thievery, adultery, alcohol

Basic U.S. Business Values

Cultural Diversity

Values

represent personal or socially

preferable modes of conduct or states
of existence that are enduring.
Why doesnt McDonalds sell
hamburgers in India?

Cultural Diversity

Customs

are norms and expectations

about the way people do things in a
specific country.
Why were 3M executives perplexed
concerning lukewarm sales of ScotchBrite floor cleaner in the Philippines?

What is Culture?
the collective programming of the mind which
distinguishes the members of one human group
over another
Culture, in this sense, includes systems of values;
and values are among the building blocks of
culture
Geert Hofstede

National Culture
Nation is a useful:
Definition of society

similarity among people a cause -- and effect -- of national

boundaries

Way to bound and measure culture for conduct of

business

culture is a key characteristic of societ

can differ significantly across national borders
also within national borders

laws are established along national lines

Culture is both a cause and an effect of economic

and political factors that vary across national
borders

Social Structure and Culture

Unit of social organization: individual or group?
Society may be stratified into classes or castes
High-low stratification
High-low mobility between strata

The individual: building block of many Western societies

Entrepreneurship
Social, geographical and inter-organizational mobility

The group:
Two or more associated individuals with a shared identity
Interact with each-other in specific ways on the basis of a
common set of expectations.

Individual vs Group
Societal Characteristics

Individual
Managerial mobility

between companies
Economic dynamism,
innovation
Good general skills
Team work difficult,
non-collaborative

Exposure to different
ways of doing business
e.g., U.S. companies

Group
Loyalty and commitment to

company
In-depth knowledge of
company
Specialist skills
Easy to build teams,
collaboration
Emotional identification with
group or company
e.g., Japanese companies

Religion, Ethics and Culture

Religion: system of shared beliefs about the sacred

Ethical systems: moral principles or values that shape
and guide behavior; often products of religion
Major religious groups and some economic
implications

Christianity
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism
Confucianism

protestant work ethic

Islamic economic principles
anti-materialistic, socially stratified
anti-materialistic, social equality
hierarchy, loyalty, honesty

Language: Culture Bound

Language,

spoken

private does not exist as a word in many

languages
Eskimos: 24 words for snow
Words which describe moral concepts can be
unique to countries or areas
Spoken language precision important in lowcontext cultures
Language,

unspoken

Context... more important than spoken word in

high context cultures

Non-Verbal Gestures

Non-Verbal Gestures

Non-Verbal Gestures

Non-Verbal Gestures

Cultural Diversity Chevy Nova Award

Dairy Associations huge success with

the campaign Got Milk? prompted

them to expand advertising to Mexico

It was brought to their attention the

Spanish translation read, Are you
lactating?

Cultural Diversity Chevy Nova Award

Clairol introduced the Mist

Stick, a curling iron into Germany

Only to find out that mist is

German slang for manure.

Cultural Diversity
Chevy Nova Award
When Gerber started selling baby food
in Africa, they used US packaging with
the smiling baby on the label.
In Africa, companies routinely put
pictures on labels of whats inside, since
many people cant read.

Cultural Diversity
Chevy Nova Award
Pepsis Come Alive With the Pepsi
Generation in Chinese translated
into
Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back
From the Grave

Cultural Diversity
Chevy Nova Award
Coca-Colas name in China was first read as
Kekoukela, meaning Bite the wax tadpole
or female horse stuffed with wax,
depending on the dialect.
Coke then researched 40,000 characters to
find a phonetic equivalent kokou kole,
translating into happiness in the mouth.

Cultural Stereotypes

Cultural stereotypes: values and behaviors

considered typical of a culture

Are they valuable?

Yes, if they reduce uncertainty about what
expatriate can expect.

No, if used to label an individual unlike the

stereotype

High/Low Context Cultures

High-Context
Low-Context
Crucial to Communications:
external environment, situation, non-verbal behavior explicit information, blunt communicative
style
Relationships:
short duration, heterogeneous populations
long lasting, deep personal mutual involvement
Communication:
explicit messages, low reliance on noneconomical, fast because of shared "code"
verbal
Authority person:
responsible for actions of subordinates, loyalty at a diffused through bureaucratic system,
personal responsibility tough to pin down
premium
Agreements:
written, final and binding, litigious, more
spoken, flexible and changeable
lawyers
Insiders vs outsiders: very distinguishable
difficult to identify, foreigners can adjust
Cultural pattern change: slow
faster

Education and Culture

Education

Medium through which people are acculturated

Language, myths, values, norms taught
Teaches personal achievement and competition
Critical to national competitive advantage
Education

system may be a cultural outcome

Culture and the workplace (Hofstede)

Finds

national culture dimensions meaningful to

business
Basis:
Work related values not universal
National values may persist over MNC efforts to create

corporate culture
Home country values often used to determine HQ
policies
MNC may create morale problems with uniform moral
norms
Purpose:

understanding of business situations

across-cultures
MUST understand own culture AND other culture(s)

Culture and the workplace

Geert Hofstede sampled 100,000 IBM

employees 1963-1973
Compared employee attitudes and values
across 40 countries
Isolated 4 dimensions summarizing
culture:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Power distance
Individualism vs. collectivism
Uncertainty avoidance
Masculinity vs. feminity

Power Distance -- (Hofstede)

Degree

of social inequality considered

normal by people
Distance between individuals at
different levels of a hierarchy
Scale: from equal (small power
distance) to extremely unequal (large
power distance)

Individualism Vs. Collectivism (Hofstede)

Degree

to which people in a
country prefer to act as
individuals rather than in groups
Describes the relations between
the individual and his/her fellows

Uncertainty Avoidance (Hofstede)

Degree

of 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

uncertainty avoidance: people with

more nervous energy (vs easy-going), rigid
society, "what is different is dangerous."

Masculinity Vs. Femininity (Hofstede)

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

Confucian Dynamism (Hofstede)

Attitudes

towards

Time
Persistence
Status in society
Face
Respect for tradition
Gifts and favors

Cultural Change Over Time

Change

is slow and often painful

Shifts away from traditional
values towards secular values
Changes with shift from survival
values to self-expression values

Cultural Distance
Geographic

and cultural (or

pshychic) distance among countries
may not be the same

Key

concept which can affect IB

strategy and conduct

Managerial Implications
Ethnocentrism

vs Polycentrism
Must a company adapt to local
cultures or can corporate -- often
home-country dominated -- culture
prevail?
Cross-cultural literacy essential
Do some cultures offer a national
competitive advantage over others?

Applying Cultural Analysis

1. Describe culture using Hofstedes Model

2. Estimate cultural impact on management
Strategic planning: Futile? How much
information needed?
Employee motivation: Security or money
reward? Immediate or long-term rewards
Employee monitoring and control: Rules o
trust?
Decision making: overcoming problems o
seizing opportunities?