Class 1: Global Manager (setting the frame)

First observe, then adjust your behavior.

What is the difference between emic and etic approaches?

Evaluate a country based on the history/art, because that is part of the culture

There is a difference between making an observation and making a judgment (individual

assignments is about observations)

How do you learn the culture of a group?

- Participating
- Observing

The culture you bring with you, influences your attitude

For a global manager it is important:

- Who am I?
- How do I approach work?
- How do I live?
 assess your own values (your attitude towards work)

ethnography (cultural description)

data collection:
- Participative observations
- Interviews

Analyze:
- Search for patterns and themes
- Testing emergent interpretations (if you see something, check it with the members of
the group)

 Expressions
 Meaning is always depending on the on context in which artefacts are found
 Contextualization means to study the symbols in the context in which they occur to
understand the culture from within ( so only in that one particular context, because it
can mean something different in another context)
 Thick description (Geertz)

Emic approach: view of cultural insiders

- Aims for cultural nuances and compelxities and an understanding of intra-cultural
variations
- Can discover new concepts and developments
- Use of ethnographic immersion and detailed observations
-
 - Stories!

Etic approach: vieuw of cultural outsiders:

-
- Surveys & models!

Limitations:
- Are you a researcher or really part of the group?
- Western view always

Choose your approach:

1. Positivistic/ objectivist view (what university uses) : a theory as given
e.g. Hofstede. However, he started from an emic point of view.
2. Social constructivist view: from a thick description, you can come up with new ideas
3. Inter-subjectvist view (too difficult)

Social constructionistic approach:

 Focus on the actors’ interpretations or constructions of cultures
 Looking for the ‘meaning’ of cultural phenomena rather than possible relationships
among constituents
 Attempt to understand culture holistically and from the perspective of the
participants, rather than through objective analysis by surveys and questionnaires
 Views culture as a mental construction, which implies exporative…

However, this approach is not mutual exclusive from positivistic view:

- Social constructivist approach: thick description of culture
- Positivist approach: precision and intelligible measures can lead to the clarification of
abstract

Researcher bias:
- Attribution biases
- Expectations of what is ‘normal’ or to be expected
- Preferences for topics and phenomena
- Preferences for specific groups as samples/ interviewees
- Ways of conducting research (research traditions)

Dutch culture:
- Dutch humour in stand-up comedian shows
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