Although cultural make-up has many facets refl ecting experience in life and membership

of diff erent groupings at diff erent times in various environments, there is, as Tayeb (2003:
13) says, ‘a constant thread [. . .] through our lives which makes us distinguishable from
others, especially those in other countries: this thread is our national culture’. Th is national
culture may be heterogeneous in nature, but it will contain enough elements which
together enable a national culture to be created.
Tayeb (2003) gives a list of these elements and considers their eff ect at both micro and
macro level. She starts with two elements that contribute to the building of a nation and
the creation of a national culture:
● the physical environment;
● the history the nation has undergone.
She then refers to ‘institutions’ that contribute to the establishment of a national culture:
a) Family. Th e basic social unit where ‘acculturation’ takes place, where the culture of a
particular environment is instilled in a human from infancy.
b) Religion. Religious beliefs can have a signifi cant eff ect on a person’s view of the world.
Th is does not mean that people need to ‘believe’, but religion has helped in all sorts of
direct and indirect ways to shape the environment in which people live.
c) Education. Th e value system on which education is based and the choices it makes in
terms of the curriculum both help in the formation of a culture, particularly where
educational institutions are well developed. At the micro level, the teaching approach
used and the manner of learning can also aff ect future learning. Th is, in turn, can determine
the quality and versatility of human resources in the labour market.
d) Mass communication media. Tayeb pays particular attention to the eff ect of recent
advances in communication on the development of culture. Th e ever increasing
presence of mass media has given a new meaning to shared experience: newspapers,
magazines, television and radio, ‘bring people closer together irrespective of their
geographical locations, but also in terms of spreading values, attitudes, tastes, meanings
and vocabulary – in short, culture’ (Tayeb, 2003: 20). She does not regard this, however,
as being a threat to the distinctive cultural characteristics of a nation. Instead, the mass
media have created a new common dimension in which people can share experiences if
they choose to.
e) Th e multinational company. Th is is a powerful culture-building institution, whose
products and services can infl uence the way people live, whose operations can aff ect
how and where they work. However, the multinational is also infl uenced by the preferences
at national level with regard to product taste and form and the promotion of its
goods and services.

Organisational culture
Edgar Schein (1999) refers to the power of culture on account of the extent to which it
determines our behaviour individually and collectively. In organisational terms, he remarks on
how cultural elements aff ect the way strategy is determined, goals are established and how
the organisation operates. Furthermore, the key personnel involved are infl uenced by their
own cultural backgrounds and shared experience since these have helped shape their own
values and perceptions. Schein (1990: 111) develops his defi nition of culture when defi ning
organisational culture: (a) a pattern of basic assumptions, (b) invented, discovered, or
developed by a given group, (c) as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation
and internal integration, (d) that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore
(e) is to be taught to new members as the (f) correct way to perceive, think, and feel in
relation to chosen problems. Drawing on this defi nition, we can say that organisational
culture is the acceptance – in a tacit or formal way – of norms of specifi c behaviour by the
members of an organisation.

Corporate culture
Th e term ‘corporate culture’ takes the question of organisational culture a step further.
As Meschi and Roger (1994) point out, if an organisation develops into a multinational
conglomerate, the culture at headquarters may infl uence that of subsidiaries abroad. In the
same way, a fi rm involved in a joint venture with a company from another country may
well fi nd that the presence of the ‘foreign’ partners infl uences the underlying culture of the fi
rm. What evolves over time in terms of ‘corporate culture’ can have as its basis the ‘original’
organisational culture, or the national/regional culture – or a combination of the two. Th e
extent of the infl uence of corporate culture is disputed among experts in the fi eld. Some
regard a clearly defi ned corporate culture as key to a (multi)national company’s success.
Others consider a fl exible culture to be the key to success because it can adapt to, and
respond more eff ectively to, a local/national environment. Although it is useful to know
where the countries in question lie on the dimensions of national culture when working with
other cultures, there are other factors at play, particularly the culture of the company itself. Th
is is determined not just by external cultural factors such as the national and regional cultures,
but also by internal cultural factors. Th e extent of cultural control, through company goals,
manuals, instructions and the presence of long-standing employees, is important.