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OUTLINE
 The nature of culture  Ways to study culture
 Research approaches to studying
 The natureof culture culture
 How cultures view each  Culture as a theoretical construct
Understanding cultures other  Where information about
cultures can be found
MANAGEMENT IN CHINA  Cultural dimensions  Five Categories
 Thinking and Knowing
 Hall’shigh- and low-  Doing and Achieving
Stéphanie MONLEAU context cultures  The Big Picture
 Hofstede's dimensions  The Self and Self-Identity
 Social Organization
 Trompenaars’
dimensions
 Chinese business etiquette
S. Monleau

Understanding Culture Understanding Culture

 If culture is mental software, it is also a mental map

of reality.
 It tells us from early childhood what matters, what to
prefer, what to avoid, and what to do.
 Culture also tells us what ought to be.
 It helps us in setting priorities.
 It establishes codes for behavior and provides
justification and legitimization for that behavior.
S. Monleau
Culture is the coherent, learned, shared
view of a group of people about life’s
concerns, expressed in symbols and
activities, that ranks what is important,
furnishes attitudes about what things
are appropriate, and dictates behavior.
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Understanding Culture : Culture Is

How Cultures View Each Other
Learned
 Culture is not something we are born with;  Stereotyping:
rather, it is learned.  assumes that all people within one culture or
 We all have to be taught our culture. The group behave, believe, feel, and act the same.
process begins immediately after birth—and  Ethnocentrism:
perhaps even earlier.  occurs when people from one culture believe
 If culture is learned, it is also learnable. that theirs are the only correct norms, values,
 If you want to understand other cultures, you and beliefs.
can learn them—get inside them and act  Self-reference criterion:
according to what is expected.  the assumption that people in another culture
will behave like people in your culture
S. Monleau S. Monleau

Hall’s High-context and Hall’s High-context and

Low-context Cultures Low-context Cultures
 E. Hall (1976) categorizes cultures as being either high or low High Context Low Context
context, depending on the degree to which meaning comes from Indirect and implicit messages Direct, simple and clear messages
the setting or from words being exchanged. High use of non-verbal communication Low use of non-verbal communication
Low reliance on written
 “one of the functions of cultures is to provide a highly selective screen High reliance on written communication
communication
between man and the outside world. In its many forms, culture therefore
designates what we pay attention to and what we ignore.” Use intuition and feelings to make
Rely on facts and evidence for decisions
decisions
 Context can be defined as “the information that surrounds an event; it is
inextricably bound up with the meaning of the event. Long-term relationships Short-term relationships
Relationships are more important than Schedules are more important than
 A high context (HC) communication or message is one in which schedules relationships
most of the information is already in the person, while very little Strong distinction between in-group
Flexible and open
is in the coded, explicitly transmitted part of the message. and out-group
African, Arab, Brazilian, Chinese, Filipinos, French Australian, English, Finnish, German, Irish, New Zealand,
 A low context (LC) communication is just the opposite; i.e., the Canadian, French, Indian, Indonesian, Italian, Scandinavia, Switzerland, United States (excluding the
mass of the information is vested in the explicit code. Japanese, Korean, Latin Americans, Russian, Southern United States)
S. Monleau S.Spanish,
Monleau Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese

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Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
 Geert Hofstede surveyed more than 116,000 IBM
employees (1967 – 73) in 40 countries about their
work-related values and found that managers and
employees vary on 5 dimensions of national culture.
➢ An approach for analyzing variations among cultures:
 Power distance
 Individualism vs collectivism
 Masculinity vs feminity
 Uncertainty avoidance
 Long-term vs short term orientation
S. Monleau
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
Individualism and Collectivism
 Individualism: Tendency of people to look after
themselves and their immediate family only.
 Individual rights above all else.
 Countries high in individualism: High individual initiative.
Promotions are based on achievement. Salaries are based
on market value.
Collectivism: Tendency of people to belong to groups

or collectives and to look after each other in exchange
for loyalty
China  Countries high in collectivism: Low individual initiative.
Salaries and promotions may be based on seniority.
S. Monleau
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Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
Power Distance
 Power distance: The extent to which less powerful
members of institutions and organizations accept that
power is distributed unequally.
 High power distance countries: people may blindly obey the
orders of their superiors and are less likely to question
China authority.
 Companies tend to use centralized decision-making and bigger
organization structures (many levels of management)
 Low power distance countries: flatter and decentralized
organization structures, smaller ratio of supervisors.
 Employees are
more likely to question their bosses. Participative
management may be used.
S. Monleau
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
Uncertainty Avoidance
 Uncertainty avoidance: Extent to which people feel
threatened by ambiguous situations and have created
beliefs and institutions that try to avoid such situations
 High uncertainty avoidance countries: people have high need
for security, strong belief in experts and their knowledge,
more written rules and procedures, less risk taking by
managers.
 Low uncertainty avoidance countries: people are more willing
to accept risks associated with the unknown, fewer written
rules and procedures, more risk taking by managers, higher
employee turnover, more ambitious employees.
China
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Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

Masculinity and Femininity Long-term vs short-term orientation
 Masculinity: the dominant social values are success and  It focuses on the degree of a society’s long-term
money. devotion to traditional values.
 Countries high in masculinity: People place great importance
on earnings, recognition, advancement, challenge, and wealth.  People in a culture with long-term orientation look to
 High job stress. China the future and value thrift, persistence and tradition.
China
 Femininity: the dominant social values are caring for
others and the quality of life.  In a short-term orientation, people value the here and
 Countries high in femininity: great importance on cooperation, now; they accept change more readily and don’t see
friendly atmosphere, employment security, and the natural commitments as impediments to change.
environment.
 Low job stress.
S. Monleau S. Monleau

Hofstede’s 5 dimensions
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
China vs US analysis
 Indulgence VS Restraint 2010 - Minkov

 Related to the gratification versus control of basic

human desires related to enjoying life.
 “happiness research”.
 Indulgence stands for a society that allows relatively
free gratification of basic and natural human desires
related to enjoying life and having fun.
 Restraint stands for a society that controls gratification
of needs and regulates it by means of strict social
norms.
China
S. Monleau S. Monleau Source : http://geert-hofstede.com

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Trompenaars’ Cultural Dimensions
 10 years researching the preferences and values of
people in dozens of cultures around the world.
 Questionnaires sent to more than 46,000 managers in
40 countries.
 People from different cultures aren't just randomly
different from one another; they differ in very specific,
even predictable, ways.
➢ This is because each culture has its own way of
thinking, its own values and beliefs, and different
preferences placed on a variety of different factors.
S. Monleau
Trompenaars’ Cultural Dimensions
Universalism vs. particularism
 Universalism vs. particularism : What is more
important: rules or relationships?
 Universalism – the belief that ideas and practices can
be applied everywhere in the world without
modification. People tend to focus on formal rules
and expect business partners to do the same.
 Particularism – the belief that circumstances dictate
how ideas and practices should be applied and some
China
things cannot be done the same way everywhere.
People tend to focus on relationships, working things
out to suit those involved.
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15/10/2018
Trompenaars’ Cultural Dimensions
➢ What distinguishes people from one culture compared with
another is where these preferences fall on each of the following
seven dimensions:
 Universalism versus particularism.
 Individualism versus communitarianism.
 Specific versus diffuse.
 Neutral versus emotional.
 Achievement versus ascription.
 Sequential time versus synchronous time.
 Internal direction versus outer direction.
❖Use this model as a general guide when dealing with
people from different cultures.
S. Monleau
Trompenaars’ Cultural Dimensions :
Individualism versus communitarianism
 Individualism versus communitarianism: Do we
function in a group or as individuals?
▪ In an individualistic culture, people place the individual
before the community. This means that individual
happiness, fulfilment and welfare prevails and people
take their own initiative and take care of themselves.
▪ In a communitarian culture, people place the
community before the individual. Thus, it is the
responsibility of the individual to act in ways which
serve society. In doing so, individual needs are
automatically attended China
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Trompenaars’ Cultural Dimensions :
Neutral vs. Emotional Cultures
 Neutral vs. Emotional Cultures : Do we
display our emotions?
 Neutral culture – a culture in which emotions are
China held in check. People try not to show their feelings
 Emotional culture – a culture in which emotions
are expressed openly and naturally. People smile,
may talk loudly, greet each other with enthusiasm,
show happiness or unhappiness.
S. Monleau
Trompenaars’ Cultural Dimensions :
Achievement vs. Ascription
 Achievement vs. Ascription :Do we have to
prove ourselves to receive status or is it given
to us?
 Achievement culture - culture in which people are
accorded status based on how well they perform
their work and what they have accomplished
 Job, work performance, education, etc.
 Ascription culture - culture in which status is
China
attributed based on who or what a person is
 For example,status may be accorded on the basis of age,
gender, family, tribe, ethnic group, etc.
S. Monleau
15/10/2018
Trompenaars’ Cultural Dimensions :
Specific vs. diffuse Cultures
 Specific vs. diffuse Cultures : How separate we
keep our private and working lives
 In specific-oriented cultures: People keep work and personal
lives separate.
 As a result, they believe
that relationships don't have much of an impact
on work objectives, and, although good relationships are important, they
believe that people can work together without having a good relationship.
 In diffuse-oriented cultures: People see an overlap between
their work and personal life.
 They believe that good relationships are vital to meeting business
objectives, and that their relationships with others will be the same,
whether they are at work or meeting socially. People spend time outside
work hours with colleagues and clients.
S. Monleau
China
Trompenaars’ Cultural Dimensions :Use
of time: Sequential vs. Synchronic
 Use of time: Sequential vs. Synchronic : Do we
do things one at a time or several things at
once?
 Sequential use of time - people do one thing at a
time, keep appointments strictly, follow plans to
the letter China
 Synchronous use of time - people do more than one
thing at a time, appointments are approximate
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Trompenaars’ Cultural Dimensions : Where can information about

Internal vs. external control Cultures be found?
 People who are members of the culture you want to
 Internal vs. external control : Do we control our understand.
environment or are we controlled by it? ➢ A logical source is someone who comes from a background
 Inner-directed: People believe in controlling similar to yours (economic, education, family, same
environmental outcomes and think that they can experiences, same kind of job).
control what happens to them ➢ Some questions are not easy because people have never
considered them
➢ The members of a culture are not necessarily the best authorities on
 Outer-directed: People believe in allowing things to that culture (unconscious part).
take their natural course and living in harmony with  Non natives who have spent considerable time in that
nature. People are less likely to believe that they can culture
control what happens to them.  Published sources (anthropology)
China  Visual sources (Films, Print Ads)
S. Monleau S. Monleau

Generalizations and Stereotypes: Generalizations and Stereotypes:

Productive or Perilous?
 Cultural Determinism can result from relying on
generalizations from a culture to predict or explain the
values, attitudes, and behaviors of every member.
 Because they are Japanese, they will expect us to bow, when perhaps
Japanese meeting foreigners do not bow, but instead they are thinking
because they are European, they will expect us to shake hands.
 It also means explaining an individual’s behavior or
thoughts entirely on the basis of that individual’s
membership in a particular culture.
 She didn’t join us for the barbecue because her Hindu religion doesn’t
allow her to eat meat—when in fact, she may not be vegetarian at all,
but may have had some conflicting obligation at that time.
S. Monleau S. Monleau
Productive or Perilous?
 Individual differences: Individual episodes can always
be found to contradict generalizations about a culture:
differences.
 Cultural paradoxes
 Members of the US culture are individualistic but the group is
important as well. Americans join the groups very easily.
➢ General insights formed about a culture from asking
about cultural priorities will always need to be revised
in specific contexts.

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Category 1 : Thinking and

Five Categories
Knowing
 The Five Categories (Beamer, Varner) of questions are 1. Does knowing come from concepts or
a first step to get started in intercultural fluency. experience?
 The questions refer to specific cultural dimensions or
▪ How do people know things? We learn from our
orientations that have a bearing on business activity.
culture how to think, and not everyone thinks the
➢ Compare cultures by assessing how each of the questions can
same way. We learn how to learn, and we learn what
be answered for different cultures.
it means to know.
 Thinking and Knowing
 Doing and Achieving
2. Does learning come from asking questions or
 The Big Picture
mastering received wisdom?
 The Self  What does it mean to learn? Culture defines what it
 Social Organisation means to know and to learn.
S. Monleau S. Monleau

Category 1 : Thinking and

Category 2 : Doing and Achieving
Knowing
3. Does knowledge have limits? 1. Is doing important or is being important?
 Can everything be known eventually? Some things  A fundamental difference in attitudes toward
are ineffable (too sacred and inexpressible) to be activity exists in doing cultures and in being
known by any means. cultures.

4. How do people reason? 2. Are tasks done simultaneously or

 What does “logical” mean? sequentially?
 Western cultures use cause-and-effect thinking.  Related to the issue of time and to the meaning
 Eastern cultures value linkage attached to “efficiency” in the workplace.

S. Monleau S. Monleau

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Category 2 : Doing and Achieving
3. Do relationships or results take priority?
 individualism versus collectivism
 Goal- or performance-oriented societies and
achievement vs relationship-oriented societies and
supportive network and communication
4. Is uncertainty avoided or tolerated?
 Diverse reactions to uncertainty with diverse level of
anxiety.
 Planning
S. Monleau
Category 3: The Big Picture
1. Do humans dominate nature or does nature
dominate humans?
 Some cultures historically have wanted to control,
dominate, and exploit nature, while other cultures
have wanted to cooperate in balance with nature.
2. Are Divine powers or humans at the center of
events?
 Who controls the outcomes of activity? Of business?
Of life and Death? In many cultures today, deities
exist in a sphere of influence that is apart from the
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secular world.
15/10/2018
Category 2 : Doing and Achieving
5. Is luck an essential factor or an irrelevance?
 Is luck (Fortune, Fate) responsible for success? Or is
success the responsibility of the human engineers of
it?
 Superstition
6. Are rules to be followed or bent?
 Following rules reduces uncertainty.
 Bending rules admits unforeseen possibilities.
S. Monleau
Category 3: The Big Picture
3. How is time understood, measured, and kept?
 What does it mean to be “on time”?
 Punctuality varies from culture to culture / another
priority: relationship vs results
 Polychronic cultures/ Monochronic cultures
 Dimension related to sequential or serial performance of tasks
(Category 2)
4. Is change positive or negative?
 “Uncertainty Avoidance”.
5. Is death the end of life or part of life?
 dreaded or accepted?
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Category 4: The Self

Category 4: The Self
Two Types of Self-construal
 Self-construal : the way an individual constructs a sense 1. The Basic Unit of the Society: the Individual or
of self according to two broad cultural divisions
the Collective?
Individualist vs collectivist cultures.
 A single person canearn credit or blame for the
 Independent self-construal
 Sees self as unique outcome of an organizational project
 Takes responsibility for own life and acts alone  Competitiveness vs Cooperation
 Makes own decisions
2. Obligation and Indebtedness: Burdens or
 Predominates in individualist cultures
 Interdependent self-construal Benefits?
 Sees self as part of large network of relationships  Obligation may mean
 Accepts others taking responsibility, sharing decisions, actions  A right in a relationship
 Predominate in collectivist cultures
 Being in debt, owing someone
S. Monleau S. Monleau

Category 4: The Self Category 5 : Social Organization

3. Age: Is Seniority Valued or Discounted? 1. Group membership: Temporary or Permanent?

 Credibility and seriousness recognized in age-  Individualism/collectivism
valuing or youth-valuing cultures?  Group membership practices affect communication.
 face

4. Gender: Are women equals or  emotion

subordinates?  shame/guilt

 What does being a woman mean? 2. Form: Important or Untrustworthy?

➔ The place of women in a given culture.  Protocol: rules of etiquette for doing something
 Traditional vs Non-traditional roles
 Individualist/collectivist cultural values
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Category 5 : Social Organization

3. Personal matters: Private or Public?
 Individualist cultures keep personal matters private;
 Collectivist cultures share matters among the group.

4. Social organizational patterns: Horizontal or

Hierarchical?
 Is movement easy and encouraged?
CHINESE BUSINESS ETIQUETE
5. Approach to Authority: direct or mediated?
 The structure of power and authority

S. Monleau

Chinese Business Etiquette - Chinese Business Etiquette -

Basics Basics
 Situational specificity ➔ you will be treated in a  The Chinese consider any group of people to be a
specific way based on who you are and what delegation with a unified agenda and one voice.
situation you are all in at the time.  Act as a cohesive group and not as a collection of individual
 Much of what you see in Chinese behavior cannot be voices.
taken at face value, since actions don’t necessarily  The leader of a Chinese group, whether in China or
reflect actual feelings. abroad, stays above the fray.
 The Chinese do not like doing business with people  A liaison person handles all logistical or difficult
they do not know situations
 An intermediary is used to make introductions.  The Chinese group leader doesn’t do those things because
 If you do not have one, you must provide as much of the importance of mianzi – face ➔ Face must be saved
information as possible about yourself and your company. at all costs.

S. Monleau S. Monleau

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Chinese Business Etiquette – Chinese Business Etiquette –

Business & social behavior Business meetings
 Names are very important to the Chinese ➔ know the  Business meetings are set up in specific formal ways
proper way to address someone at your first meeting. depending upon the situation and people involved.
 Privacy and emotions
 conference rooms
 The Chinese are trained not to question the social order  The Chinese
or to question authority.
 don’t like surprises
 The decision of the leader is always the final word.
 will generally discuss their views and positions with each other
 Surface harmony is important ➔ intermediaries are used before they come to the meeting
to carry unpleasant news or criticism.
 expect foreign delegation leaders to enter a room first.
 Laugh and silence Important guests are escorted to their seats, and the principal
 The Chinese will always avoid saying the word "no➔ guest is given a seat of honor. Then, others can sit wherever they
"under consideration," "inconvenient," or "still being choose.
discussed," or they will not deal with your request at all .
S. Monleau S. Monleau

Chinese Business Etiquette – Chinese Business Etiquette –

Business meetings Women in Corporate circles
 Begin with small talk, then move slowly to the matter at
 The Chinese are fairly comfortable with women in
hand.
business settings.
 When the Chinese nod :
 Foreign businesswomen receive the same level of
 do not interpret it as a "yes”, it isn’t.
respect as their male counterparts.
 "I am listening."
 Foreign spouses are always shown the same level of
 Impolite to interrupt a speaker or to put anyone on the respect accorded to the rank of their husbands or
spot. wives.
 Always offer a way out, so your counterpart can preserve
 included in social functions,
face.
 although it is uncommon for the Chinese to bring their
 At the end of the meeting, you should always recap what spouses to social functions related to business.
has happened to avoid misunderstandings.
S. Monleau S. Monleau

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Chinese Business Etiquette – Chinese Business Etiquette –

Home and dining etiquette Getting things done
 If you are invited to a Chinese home:  Officials make decisions based on what is best for China, for
 If you cannot accept the invitation, explain why If you accept, their department, or for themselves personally.
always bring a small gift with you.  Since most subordinates have not been granted explicit
 No flowers, but Foreign cigarettes, foreign liquor or wine, a basket of authority in specific matters, they will not make decisions
tropical fruit, or a box of foreign chocolates are always good gift choices. on even the smallest things.
 The Chinese usually won’t open a gift in front of the giver unless asked to
 They will refer you all the way up to the top of the chain of
do so.
command.
 Except for tight or revealing clothes, the Chinese do not care
 In all cases, you must allow everyone to "save face.“
what you wear.
 Appeal to a higher authority, Keep interactions friendly, Remain
 Don’t touch your food or someone else’s food with your fingers
patient, go in through a back door, try an indirect approach, show
 Noisy eatingis ok enormous respect
 Always leave something on your plate at the end of the meal  Oddly, taking risks is often a good idea, since "it’s easier to
 Do not drink anything alcoholic until after the host’s toast. ask forgiveness in China than it is to ask permission."
S. Monleau S. Monleau

Sources

 “Intercultural Communication in the global

workplace” - Linda Beamer, Iris Varner – Mc Graw-
Hill
 “Beyond Culture” - Edward T. Hall - 1976
 G. Hofstede – cultural dimensions
 F. Trompenaars – cultural dimensions
 “Chinese Business Etiquette” - Scott D. Seligman –
Warner books

S. Monleau

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