International Culture International Culture

Slide 5.
International culture
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 5.2
Introduction
• Culture: “the sum total of the beliefs, rules,
techniques, institutions and artifacts that
characterize human populations” or “the collective
programming of the mind”.
• Socialization Process: The process of

enculturation or the adoption of the behavior
patterns of the surrounding culture.
Slide 5.3
Terms
• Beliefs – Mental acceptance of a claim as likely
true. Ex – smoking is dangerous
• Rules – A regulation. Law, guideline. Ex – do not
smoke
• Techniques – The practical aspect. Ex – sign
boards in organizations/public transport
• Institutions – An organization founded to
promote a cause. Ex – Health department for
controlling smoking.
• Artifacts - An object made by a human hand,
typically one of cultural or historical interest. "gold
and silver artefacts"
Slide 5.4
Elements of culture
Slide 5.5
Table 5.1 World population percentages in terms of home region, language and religion
Sources: www.census.gov; www.adherents.com
Slide 5.6
Language
• Language is critical to culture because it is the
primary means used to transmit information and
ideas.
• Knowledge of local language can:
– permit a clearer understanding of a situation;
– provide access to local people;
– allows the person to pick up implied meanings,
and other information that is not stated outright.
– Example – A piece of cake
Slide 5.7
Religion
• Religions influence lifestyles, beliefs, values and
attitudes and can have a dramatic effect on the
way people in a society act toward each other and
towards those in other societies.
• Religion also influences:
– the work habits of people;
– the work and social customs (from the days of the
week on which people work to their dietary habits);
– politics and business.
Slide 5.8
Values and attitudes
• Values: basic convictions that people have

regarding what is right and wrong, good and bad,
important and unimportant.
• Attitude: a persistent tendency to feel and

behave in a particular way toward some object.
Slide 5.9
Customs and manners
• Customs: common or established practices.
• Manners: behavior regarded as appropriate in a

particular society.
Slide 5.10
Corporate culture
• Corporate culture is a term used to characterize,
how the managers and employees of particular
companies tend to behave.
• Corporate culture is also used by human resource
managers and senior management in their
attempts to proactively shape the kind of
behaviour (“innovative”, “open”, “dynamic”, etc.)
they hope to nurture in their organizations.
Slide 5.11
The importance of culture

in different business contexts
Slide 5.12
Influences of culture
on international management
Culture influences strategic management in a number of
ways:
• Work attitudes
– for example, work ethics, organization commitment, etc.
• Achievement motivation
– the desire to accomplish objectives and achieve
success.
• Time and future
– for example: punctuality, decision-making time
constraints, time expectations on implementation of
plans, etc.
• Ethics
– standards of conduct and morality.
Slide 5.13
Culture and strategic management

• Cross-cultural management issues arise in a
number of situations, including:
– Within a firm: Work attitudes, achievement
motivation, time and future and ethics, etc.
– Between firms: M&As, joint ventures, alliances
and buyer-supplier relationships.
– Between a firm and customers: Dealing with
customers.
Cf.) Dealing with national institutions.
Slide 5.14
Figure 5.1 Cross-cultural business contexts
Slide 5.15
National stereotypes and key

dimensions of culture
Slide 5.16
Two approaches to culture

Two different approaches to looking at culture:
• the psychic or psychological level, which focuses
on the “internalized” norms, attitudes and behaviour
of individuals from a particular culture;
• the institutional level, which looks at national (or
group) culture embodied in institutions (government,
education, economic institutions as well as in
business organizations).
Slide 5.17
Geert Hofstede’s four cultural

dimensions
• Power distance: measures the degree to which
less powerful members of organizations and
institutions accept the fact that power is not
distributed equally.
• Uncertainty avoidance: measures the extent to
which people feel threatened by ambiguous
situations and have created institutions and
beliefs for minimizing or avoiding those
uncertainties.
Slide 5.18

dimensions (Continued)
• Individualism vs. collectivism
– Individualism: the tendency of people to look after
themselves and their immediate family only.
– Collectivism: the tendency of people to belong to
groups who look after each other in exchange for
loyalty.
Slide 5.19

dimensions (Continued)
• Masculinity vs. femininity
– Masculinity: the degree to which the dominant
values of a society are success, money and
material goods.
– Femininity: the degree to which the dominant
values of a society are caring for others and the
quality of life.
Slide 5.20
Fons Trompenaars’
seven
cultural dimensions
Slide 5.21
Fons Trompenaars’ seven
1. Universalism vs. particularism

– Universalism: the belief that ideas and practices
can be applied everywhere in the world without
modification.
– Particularism: the belief that circumstances
dictate how ideas and practices should be applied
and somethings cannot be done the same
everywhere.
Slide 5.22
2. Individualism vs. collectivism: centres on

whether individual rights and values are dominant
or subordinate to those of the collective society.
3. Neutral culture vs. emotional culture:
– Neutral culture: A culture in which emotions are
held in check.
– Emotional culture: A culture in which emotions
are expressed openly and naturally.
Slide 5.23
4. Specific vs. Diffuse: measures whether work

relationships (e.g. the hierarchical relationship
between a senior manager and a subordinate)
are workplace ‘specific’ or extend (diffuse) into
the social context outside the workplace.
5. Achievement vs. Ascription: measures
whether one’s status within organizations is
based on merit (“achieved”) or on class, gender,
education or age (“ascribed”).
Slide 5.24
6. Attitudes toward time

– Sequential: cultures that view time in a
sequential or linear fashion; order comes from
separating activities and commitments.
– Synchronic: cultures that view events in parallel

over time; order comes from coordinating multiple
activities and commitments.
Slide 5.25
7. Attitudes toward the environment: measures

the emphasis, a particular culture places on
people’s relationship with nature and the natural
environment.
Slide 5.26
The GLOBE project’s

nine
Slide 5.27
GLOBE
Global Leadership
Organizational Behavior
Effectiveness
Slide 5.28
The GLOBE project’s nine

1. Assertiveness: The degree of individuals being
conformational and aggressive in relationship
with others
2. Future orientation: A propensity for planning,
investing, and delayed gratification.
3. Gender differentiation: The degree to which
gender role differences are maximized.
4. Uncertainty avoidance: A reliance on societal
norms and procedures to improve predictability, a
preference for order, structure and formality.
5. Power distance.
Slide 5.29
The GLOBE project’s nine

dimensions of culture (Continued)
6. Institutional collectivism: individualism vs.
collectivism.
7. In-group/family collectivism: A pride in small-
group membership, family, close friends etc.
8. Performance orientation: (much like
achievement orientation).
9. Humane orientation: An emphasis on fairness,
altruism and generosity. (Altruism is the principle and
moral practice of concern for happiness of other human beings
and/or animals, resulting in a quality of life both material and spiritual)
Slide 5.30
Cross-cultural management
Slide 5.31
Figure 5.4 Management dimensions of culture
Slide 5.32
Imperialism
A policy or ideology of
extending a nation's rule over
foreign nations, often by
military force or by gaining
political and economic control
(Wikipedia)
Slide 5.33
Multinational organizational structures:

imperialist or independent?
• Ethnocentric: top management is dominated by
home-country nationals and procedures and
management styles are “transferred” from head
office and “imposed” on regional subsidiaries in
place of local “ways of doing things”.
• Polycentric: Hiring and promoting employees on
the basis of specific local context of the subsidiary
• Geocentric: Hiring and promoting employees on
the basis of ability and experience without
considering race or citizenship
Slide 5.34
Thank you

International Culture International Culture

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Slide 5.

• Socialization Process: The process of

Values and attitudes

• Values: basic convictions that people have

• Attitude: a persistent tendency to feel and

Customs and manners

• Customs: common or established practices.

• Manners: behavior regarded as appropriate in a

The importance of culture

Culture and strategic management

Cf.) Dealing with national institutions.

Figure 5.1 Cross-cultural business contexts

National stereotypes and key

Two approaches to culture

Geert Hofstede’s four cultural

Geert Hofstede’s four cultural

Geert Hofstede’s four cultural

Fons Trompenaars’ seven

1. Universalism vs. particularism

Fons Trompenaars’ seven

2. Individualism vs. collectivism: centres on

Fons Trompenaars’ seven

4. Specific vs. Diffuse: measures whether work

Fons Trompenaars’ seven

6. Attitudes toward time

– Synchronic: cultures that view events in parallel

Fons Trompenaars’ seven

7. Attitudes toward the environment: measures

The GLOBE project’s

The GLOBE project’s nine

The GLOBE project’s nine

Figure 5.4 Management dimensions of culture

Multinational organizational structures:

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