Business Environment

* Business success in a variety of

countries requires cross-cultural literacy.

* Managers must gain an

understanding of the culture, or cultures, that prevail in the countries where they do business.

Sometimes the cost of doing business in a country is influenced by culture different cultures are more or less supportive of the capitalist approach to production.

* Culture is dynamic. Managers must

be sensitive to trends in the evolution of a culture in order to maintain their effectiveness in the workplace.

What is Culture?

Components of Culture * Values:

Abstract ideas about what a group believes to be good, right and desirable . Values are shared assumptions about how things ought to be. Bedrock of culture- values provide the context within which a societys* norms are establied and justified.

values include a societys attitude towards such concepts as individual freedom, democracy, truth, justice, honesty, loyalty, social obligations, collective responsibility, the role of women, love, sex, mariage and so on.

* Norms:

The social rules and guidelines that prescribe appropriate behaviour in particular situations. Divided into Two : Folkways and Mores

* *Society :

Refers to a group of people who share a common set of values and norms.

Folkways and Mores * Folkways: Routine conventions of everyday life.

* actions of Little moral significance. Violation
of folkways is not normally a serious matter.

* Generally, social conventions such as dress

codes, social manners, neighborly behavior, eating habits, timeliness and social graces. An outsider can easily be forgiven for being ignorant of a folkway.

* Mores: Norms central to the functioning of society and its social life
* Greater significance than folkways * Violation can bring serious retribution
*

Theft, adultery, incest and cannibalism

The Determinants of Culture

Culture is an evolutionary product of a number of factors. Political philosophy, economic philosophy, education, dominant language, social structure, and dominant religion are all determinants of culture.

Social Structure * Social structure refers to a societys basic social organization * Two dimensions that are particularly important include: * The Extent to which society is group or individually oriented. * Degree of stratification into castes or classes.

* A focus on the individual and

individual achievement is common in many Western societies. An emphasis on individual achievement has positive and negative implications.

Religious and Ethical Systems * Religion: a system of

shared beliefs and rituals that are concerned with the realm of the sacred

* Ethical systems: a set of

moral principles, or values, that are used to guide and shape behavior
* Most of the worlds ethical systems are the
product of religions

* Among the thousands of

religions in the world today, four dominate in terms of numbers of adherents:

* Christianity with 1.7 billion adherents * Islam with 1 billion adherents * Hinduism with 750 million adherents * Buddhism with 350 million adherents

Language * Spoken
* Verbal cues * Language structures perception

of world * Unspoken
* Body language * Personal space

Education * Formal education plays a key role

in a society
* Formal education: the medium through
which individuals learn many of the language, conceptual, and mathematical skills that are indispensable in a modern society

* Also supplements the familys role in

socializing the young into the values and norms of a society

* Schools teach basic facts about the social

and political nature of a society, as well as focusing on the fundamental obligations of citizenship

* Cultural norms are also taught indirectly at

school * Examples include: respect for others,
obedience to authority, honesty, neatness, being on time

* Part of the hidden curriculum

* The use of a grading system also teaches

children the value of personal achievement and competition

Culture in the Workplace * Four dimensions of culture

* Power distance - cultures are ranked high or

low on this dimension based on the particular societys ability to deal with inequalities. High power distance cultures let inequalities grow over time into inequalities of power and wealth

* Individualism versus collectivism - this

dimension focuses on the relationship between the individual and his/her fellows within a culture

* Uncertainty avoidance - this dimension

measures the extent to which a culture socializes its members into accepting ambiguous situations and tolerating uncertainty.

* Masculinity versus femininity - this

dimension looks at the relationship between gender and work roles. In masculine culture, sex roles were sharply differentiated and traditional masculine values , such as achievement and the effective exercise of power, determined cultural ideals.

in femenine cultures , sex roles were less sharply distinguished, and little differentiation was made between men and women in the same job.

Cultural Change * Culture is not a constant; it evolves over time

* Since 1960s American values

toward the role of women have changed

* Japan moved toward greater

individualism in the workplace * Globalization will continue to have impacts on cultures around the world

Managerial Implications * Cross-cultural literacy * Culture and competitive advantage * Culture and business ethics

* *

Behavior and gestures are interpreted differently: Shaking the head in a horizontal direction in most countries means no, while in India it means yes, and in hindi language the voice lowers in pitch at the end of a question.

Showing the thumb held upwards means in Latin America, especially Brazil, but also in many other countries everythings ok, while it is understood in some Islamic countries as well as Sardinia and Greece as a rude sexual sign. Furthermore, the sign of thumb up may signify the number "one" in France and a few other central european countries.

Everything ok is shown in western European countries, especially between pilots and divers, with the sign of the thumb and forefinger forming an O. This sign means in Japan now we may talk about money, in southern France the contrary (nothing, without any value), in Spain, some Latin American countries, Eastern Europe and Russia it is an indecent sexual sign. In North America as well as in Arabic countries the pauses between words are usually not too long, while in Japan pauses can give a contradictory sense to the spoken words by the meaning of pauses. Enduring silence is perceived as comfortable in Japan, while in Europe and North America it may cause insecureness and embarrassment. Scandinavians, by Western standards, are more tolerant of silent breaks during conversations.

* *

Laughing is connoted in most countries with happiness - in Japan it is often a sign of confusion, insecureness and embarrassment. In the UK Ireland and Commonwealth countries, the word compromise has a positive meaning (as a consent, an agreement where both parties win something); in the USA it may rather have negative connotations (as both parties lose something). In Mediterranean European countries, Latin America and Sub Saharan Africa, it is normal, or at least widely tolerated, to arrive half an hour late for a dinner invitaiton, whereas in Germany and Switzerland this would be extremely rude. If invited to dinner, in many Asian countries and Central America it is well-mannered to leave right after the dinner: the ones who dont leave may indicate they have not eaten enough. In the Indian Sub-Continent, European and North American countries this is considered rude, indicating that the guest only wanted to eat but wouldnt enjoy the company with the hosts.

In Africa, saying to a female friend one has not seen for a while that she has put on weight means she is physically healthier than before or had a nice holiday, whereas this would be considered as an insult in Europe, North America and Australia.

Managers at one American company were startled when they discovered that the brand name of the cooking oil they were marketing in a Latin American country translated into Spanish as "Jackass Oil."

* A cologne for men pictured a

pastoral scene with a man and his dog. It failed in Islamic countries dogs are considered unclean.

* An American business person

refused an offer of a cup of coffee from a Saudi businessman. Such a rejection is considered very rude and the business negotiations became stalled.

* Leona Helmsley should have done

her homework before she approved a promotion that compared her Helmsley Palace Hotel in New York as comparable to the Taj Mahal--a mausoleum in India. packaged golf balls in packs of four for convenient purchase in Japan. Unfortunately, pronunciation of the word "four" in Japanese sounds like the word "death" and items packaged in fours are unpopular.

* A golf ball manufacturing company