BA 115IU

International Marketing

Chapter 5: Culture,
Management Style, and Business
Systems
Lecturer: Dinh Thi Le Trinh
 Table of contents
n The necessity for adapting to cultural differences
n How and why management styles vary around the
world
n The extent and implications of gender bias in other
countries
n The importance of cultural differences in business
ethics
n The differences between relationship-oriented and
information-oriented cultures
 Global Perspective
n Culture profoundly affects management style and
overall business systems
n Max Weber (1930): Culture establishes:
n establish the criteria for day-to-day business behavior

n forms general patterns of values and motivations.

n Americans: Individualists
n Japanese: Consensus oriented & committed to the group
n Central & Southern Europeans: Elitists and rank conscious
 Global Perspective
n Knowledge of the management style:
n Business culture
n Management values
n Business methods
n Behaviors
existing in a country and a willingness to
accommodate the differences are important
to success in an international market
 Required Adaptation
n Adaptation is a key concept in international
marketing
n Ten basic criteria for adaptation
n open tolerance
n flexibility
n humility
n justice/fairness
n ability to adjust to varying tempos
 Required Adaptation
n curiosity/interest
n knowledge of the country
n liking for others
n ability to command respect
n ability to integrate oneself into the environment
 Degree of Adaptation
n Essential to effective adaptation:
n Aware of one’s own culture
n Recognition of differences in other cultures can cause anxiety,
frustration, and misunderstanding of the host’s intentions
n The self-reference criterion (SRC) is especially
operative in business customs.
n The key to adaptation is to remain one’s own
culture, but to develop an understanding of and
willingness to accommodate the differences that
exist.
 Imperatives, Electives, and
Exclusives
n Cultural imperatives: Business customs and
expectations that must be met and conformed to or
avoided if relationships are to be successful.
n Guanzi (China), Nigen Kankei (Japan), compadre
(Latin American) refer to friendship, human relations,
or attaining a level of trust.
n In some cultures a person’s demeanor is more
critical than in others.
n Imperatives vary from culture to culture.
 Imperatives, Electives, and
Exclusives
n Cultural electives: relate to areas of behavior or to
customs that cultural aliens may wish to conform to
or participate in but that are not require
n One need not greet another man or woman with a kiss
(in some Western countries)
n Japanese do not expect a Westerner to bow and to
understand the ritual of bowing among Japanese
n A cultural elective in one country may be an
imperative in another
n Cultural electives are most visibly different customs
 Imperatives, Electives, and
Exclusives
n Cultural exclusives: Customs or behavior
patterns reserved exclusively for the locals
 Management Styles (Authority
and Decision Making)
n Cultural values (PDI) determine the
prominence of status and position
n Mexico and Malaysia (high-PDI): rank and
status of clients and business partners is
important.
n Denmark and Israel (low-PDI): less important
 Authority and Decision Making
n Top-level management decisions (centralized
decision making): family or close ownership gives
absolute control to owners and businesses are
small enough.
n France: decision-making authority is guarded jealously by
a few at the top who exercise tight control.
 Authority and Decision Making
n Mexico and Venezuela: autocratic (gia trưởng) and
paternalistic (chuyên quyền).
n Decision-making participation by middle management tends to
be deemphasized;
n Dominant family members make decisions that tend to please
the family members more than to increase productivity.
n Government-owned companies in which professional managers
have to follow decisions made by politicians.
n Middle East: the top executive makes all decisions and
prefers to deal only with other executives with decision-
making powers.
 Authority and Decision Making
n Decentralized decision making: executives at
different levels to exercise authority over their own
functions.
n Committee decision making: is by group or
consensus.
n Committees may operate on a centralized or
decentralized basis
n Asian cultures and religions: harmony and collectivism->
group decision making.
 Management Objectives and
Aspirations
n Personal life:
n stress the virtue of a good personal life as far more
important than profit or achievement.
n the work–personal life trade-off made in different
cultures:
n America: two weeks of paid vacation
n Europe: four to six weeks for vacation
n South Korea: Saturday is a workday
n Affiliation and Social Acceptance:
n Asia: place high importance on fitting in with their group
(Group identification).
n Power and Achievement:
n South America: business leaders are profit
oriented and use their business positions to
become social and political leaders
n North America: chievement is measured by
money in the bank
 Communication Styles
n Face-to-face communication
n Managers often fail to develop even a basic
understanding of just one other language
n Much business communication depends on implicit
messages that are not verbalized
 Communication Styles
n Internet communications
n Nothing about the Web will change the extent to which
people identify with their own language and cultures
n 78% of today’s Web site content is written in English
n An English e-mail message cannot be understood by 35% of all
Internet users
n Country-specific Web sites
n Web site should be examined for any symbols, icons,
and other nonverbal impressions that could convey and
unwanted message
Hall’s Contexts & Marketing Communication
HIGH
Japanese
Middle East

Latin America
Italians/Spanish
Context French
English
North Americans
Scandinavians
(Usunier, 2000)
Germans
LOW Swiss

Explicit Messages Implicit

‘Greater context difference between those trying to

communicate, greater difficulty in achieving it effectively’
High and Low Context
Cultures
Factors or dimensions High context (collectivist) Low context (individualistic)

Lawyers Less important Very important

A person’s word Is his or her bond Is not to be relied upon – Get it
is writing

Responsibility for organisational Taken by the highest level Pushed to the lowest level
error
Space People very close Bubble of private space – resent
intrusions
Time Polychromic Monochromic
Negotiations Are lengthy – relationships key Proceed quickly time is money

Competitive bidding infrequent Common

Country or regional examples Japan, Middle East USA, Northern Europe.

Adapted from Hollensen (2020)

Christine Comrie UMKD6Q-15-3 2022-23
 P-Time versus M-Time
n Monochronic time
n Tend to concentrate on one thing at a time
n Divide time into small units and are concerned
with promptness
n Most low-context cultures operate on M-Time
 P-Time versus M-Time
n Polychronic time
n Dominant in high-context cultures
n Characterized by the simultaneous occurrence of
many things
n Allows for relationships to build and context to be
absorbed as parts of highcontext cultures
 P-Time versus M-Time
n Most cultures offer a mix of P-time and M-
time behavior
n Have a tendency to be either more P-time or M-
time in regard to the role time plays
n As global markets expand more
businesspeople from P-time cultures are
adapting to M-time.
 Trompenaars’s value
dimensions
n Sequential time:
n time is very important, time is money, each stage is
finished on time, rude to be late for meetings. (U.S., the
U.K., and Germany)
n Synchronous time:
n people see the past, present, and future as interwoven,
plans and deadlines being flexible, punctuality is less
important (India, and Mexico).
A Synthesis – Relationship-Oriented
vs. Information-Oriented Cultures
n Studies are noting a strong relationship between
Hall’s high/low context and Hofstede’s
Individualism/Collective and Power Distance
indexes
n Not every culture fits every dimension of culture in
a precise way
A Synthesis – Relationship-Oriented
vs. Information-Oriented Cultures
n Information-oriented culture
n United States
n Relationship culture
n Japan
n Synthesis of cultural differences allows us to make
predictions about unfamiliar cultures
Dimensions of Culture, A
Synthesis
 Negotiations Emphasis
n Business negotiations are perhaps the most
fundamental business rituals
n The basic elements of business negotiations are
the same in any country
n They relate to the product, its price and terms, services
associated with the product, and finally, friendship
between vendors and customers
n One standard rule in negotiating is “know thyself”
first, and second, “know your counterpart”
 Marketing Orientation
n A company’s marketing orientation has been
positively related to profits (U.S.)
n Other countries have more traditional approach
n Production orientation (consumers will prefer products that are
widely available)
n Product orientation (consumers will favor products that offer the
most quality performance, or innovative features)
n Selling orientation (consumers and businesses alike will not buy
enough without prodding)
n Encouraging a marketing orientation across global
business units can be difficult
Bribery – Variations on a Theme
n Bribery and Extortion
n Voluntary offered payment by someone seeking
unlawful advantage is bribery
n If payments are extracted under duress by
someone in authority from a person seeking only
what he are she is lawfully entitled to that is
extortion.
Bribery – Variations on a Theme
n Subornation and Lubrication
n Lubrication involves a relatively small sum of
cash, a gift, or a service given to a low-ranking
official in a country where such offerings are not
prohibited by law
n Subornation involves giving large sums of money,
frequently not properly accounted for, designed
to entice an official to commit an illegal act on
behalf of the one offering the bribe
 Ethical and Socially
Responsible Decisions
n Difficulties arise in making decisions, establishing
policies, and engaging in business operations in
five broad areas
n Employment practices and policies
n Consumer protection
n Environmental protection
n Political payments and involvement in political affairs of
the country
n Basic human rights and fundamental freedoms
 Ethical and Socially
Responsible Decisions
n Laws are the markers of past behavior that society
has deemed unethical or socially irresponsible
n Ethical principles to help the marketer distinguish
between right and wrong, determine what ought
to be done, and justify actions
n Utilitarian Ethics
n Rights of the Parties
n Justice or Fairness
 Culture’s Influence
on Strategic Thinking
n British-American
n Individualistic
n Japan & Germany
n Communitarian
n In the less individualistic cultures, labor
and management cooperate.
n A competitive, individualistic approach
works well in the context of an economic
boom