CULTURE

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Socio-cultural

factors

Demographic factors Changes in values/ attitudes Changes in lifestyle Attitudes toward work/ spare time Education levels Work environment factors Health concerns Changes in income distribution Fads and fancies. Media pressure

 Culture is the art and other manifestations of human

intellectual achievement regarded collectively; it is the customs, civilization, and achievement of a particular time or people; is it the way of life of a particular society or group. Culture is the knowledge, beliefs, art, law, morals, customs, and other capabilities of one group, distinguishing it from other groups

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 etiquette (e.g. greetings) individual customs (e.g. routines for sleeping,

bathing) ways of thinking the way people understand their world and make sense of it, a shared system of meanings. Cultural programming deals with both values and practices. There are different layers of cultural programming: national culture, professional culture, corporate culture.
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 Culture is very important to the practice of

international business. Culture impacts the way strategic moves are presented. Culture influences decisions. Culture is the lens through which motivation occurs. Management, decision making, and negotiations are all influenced through culture. Culture influences nearly all business functions from accounting to finance to production to service.

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 Culture is a key ingredient in the liability of

foreign-ness Ethnic, religious, class, age and other sources of heterogeneity Individual variation within groups Danger of ethnocentric stereotypes Intra-cultural vs. cross-cultural behaviour

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 LANGUAGE-

verbal and non verbal Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism,

Confucianism

RELIGION

NATIONAL CULTURE Cultural typologies and

differences

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 Linguistics or the meanings of words Proxemics or the distance that speakers stand from one

another Pragmatics the cultural interpretations of words, gestures, and non verbal Non verbal The gestures and body language that accompanies spoken words (that for language to be truly useful to business people, they must understand the uses, distances, gestures and interpretations that accompany verbal communication )

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 Religion contains key values and norms that are

reflected in a way of life. Religion influences international business practices. People try to adopt business practices that will satisfy religious tenets without sacrificing modern practices in business.

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 Hofstede Bond Trompenaars

[By and large, these classifications show similar dimensions and classify countries in the same clusters.]

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 A study of IBM employees in 50 countries. Studying

values (the broad tendencies to prefer certain states over others

Four dimensions power distance uncertainty avoidance individualism/collectivism femininity/masculinity

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 Power Distance is the extent to which

hierarchical differences are accepted in society and articulated in term of deference to higher and lower social and decision levels in organization. Centralization, Org.Levels-Height, Supervisors, Wage Differentials, White, Blue Collar Work

[A bottom-up view of power differences]

Large: Mexico, South Korea, India Small: U.S.
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 Uncertainty Avoidance is the extent to which

uncertainty and ambiguity are tolerated and rely on formal rules Standardization, Structured activities, Written rules, Specialists, No risk tolerance and Ritualistic behaviour [A proxy for risk propensity and tolerance] High (i.e. risk averse): Japan, Greece Low (i.e. risk taking): U.S., Hong-Kong
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 The tendency of people to look after themselves and their

immediate family versus belonging to groups or collectives and looking after each other in exchange for loyalty Firm as family, Utilitarian decision making, Group performance
High individualism: U.S. High collectivism: China, Brazil, Venezuela
There is an association between collectivism and wealth

per capita
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 Values concerning work goals and assertiveness

(masculinity) as opposed to personal goals (getting along, having friendly atmosphere) and nurturance (femininity). Sex Roles Minimized, More Women In Jobs, Interpersonal Skills Rewarded, Intuitive Skills Rewarded, Social Rewards Valued
[A proxy for assertiveness] High: Brazil, Chile, Sweden Low: Japan, Mexico
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 Small PD, Weak UA Examples: USA, UK Lessformalrules,lessunnecessarylayersofhierarchy.Control and coordination through mutual adjustment of people through informal coordination Small PD, Strong UA Examples: Israel, Austria, Germany Clearly defined rules and procedures without imposing strong hierarchy Large PD, Strong UA Examples: Japan, Korea, Portugal, Mexico Pyramids, clear authority lines Large PD, Weak UA Examples: Singapore, Hong Kong Family structure. Allocation of duties, strong Kartaism Unit 2 topic1 subtopic1

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STRONG UA SMALL PD Israel, Austria and Germany LARGE PD Japan, Korea, Portugal, Mexico
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WEAK UA

USA, UK
Singapore, Hong Kong

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 Individualism versus collectivism Universalism versus Particularism

Neutral versus affective relationships

Specific versus diffuse relationships Achievement versus ascription
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 Universalism is the belief that ideas and

practices can be applied everywhere without modification. Universalistic: Germany, U.K. Particularism is the belief that circumstances dictate how ideas and practices should be applied. Particularistic: China, Hong-Kong, Venezuela

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 A neutral culture is one where emotions

are held in check (repressed) Neutral: Japan, U.K. An affective country is one in which emotions are openly and naturally expressed Affective: Mexico, Netherlands, Switzerland
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Public versus private spaces In specific cultures people tend to have a larger public area and small private area. They prefer to keep private life separate.
Highly mobile; Separate work and private life Direct, open To the point may appear abrasive

In diffuse cultures the private space is usually larger

while the public area is smaller and more guarded. People come across as cool initially the private space is more accessible.
Low mobility; Work and private life closely linked Indirect, close and introvert Flexibility is very important
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 Achievement: people are accorded status

based on how well they perform their functions. Achievement: U.K., Argentina An ascription culture in one in which status is attributed based on who or what a person is. Ascription: China
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Important: persistence ordering relationship by status and observing this order thrift having a sense of shame (sensitivity to social contacts) Less important: personal steadiness and stability protecting your face respect for tradition reciprocation of greetings, favours and gifts.
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 Corporate Culture is the culture

adopted, developed and disseminated in an organization. Corporate culture can deviate from national norms, but that depends upon the strength of culture and the values and practices tied to it.
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 Ethnicity Industry Demographics Ideology KEY CULTURAL ISSUES Cultural Etiquette Cultural Stereotyping Cultural Distance Cultural Convergence and Divergence
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