Chapter 4

Differences in Culture
 Culture

• Anthropologist EdwardTylor, Greet Hofstede,

Sociologists Zvi Namenwrith and Robert Weber
provided different definitions on Culture.

• Culture refers to a system of values and

norms that are shared among a group of
people and that when taken together
constitute a design for living.
 Values and Norms

• Values provide the context within which a

society’s norms are established and
justified.
– Values are not just a abstract concepts; they are
invested with considerable emotional
significance.

• Norms are the social rules that govern

people’s action toward one another.
– Folkways
– Mores
Determinants of Culture
 Political System

Democracy refers to a political system in which

government is by the people, exercised either directly or
through elected representatives
• citizen gets right to give opinion, take part in decision
making
• 9 promises/ rights

Totalitarianism is a form of government in which one

person or political party exercises absolute control over all
spheres of human life and prohibits opposing political parties
– Communist totalitarianism
– Theocratic totalitarianism
– Tribal totalitarianism
– Right-wing totalitarianism
 Economic System
1.Market economies:
– All productive activities are privately owned
– Production is determined by the interaction of supply and demand
– Government encourages free and fair competition between private producers

2. Command economies:
–Businesses are state-owned
–Government plans the goods and services that a country produces, its quantity and price
–Governments allocate resources for “the good of society”

3. Mixed economies:
• Certain sectors of the economy are left to private ownership and other sectors have significant
state ownership and government planning
 Legal System

The legal system of a country refers to the rules that regulate behavior

along with the processes by which the laws are enforced and through which

redress for grievances is obtained

There are three types of legal systems

1. Common law: based on tradition, precedent, and custom

2. Civil law: based on detailed set of laws organized into codes

3. Theocratic law: law is based on religious teachings

 Social Structure

Social structure refers to a society’s

basic social organization.

• Consider
1. the degree to which the basic unit of social
organization is the individual, as opposed to the
group

2. the degree to which a society is stratified into

classes or castes
 Social Structure
(1. Individual or Group)

Individuals are involved in families, work groups, social

groups, recreational groups, etc.
• In Western societies, there is a focus on the individual as the basic
building block.

Group is an association of two or more people who have a

shared sense of identity and who interact with each other in
structured ways on the basis of a common set of expectations
about each other’s behavior.
• In many Asian societies, (Especially in Japan) the group is the primary
unit of social organization .
 Social Structure
(2. Social Stratification)

All societies are stratified on a hierarchical basis

into social categories, or social strata

Must consider
1. Social mobility between strata
2. The significance placed on social strata in business
contexts
 Social Structure
(2. Social Stratification)

1. Social mobility - the extent to which

individuals can move out of the strata into
which they are born
• Caste system
• Class system

2. The significance attached to social strata in

business contexts
• Class Consciousness
 Religious And Ethical Systems

Religion is a system of shared beliefs and rituals

that are concerned with the realm of the sacred

• Religion and ethics are often closely intertwined

• Four religions dominate society are Christianity,

Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism

• Confucianism is also important in influencing

behavior and culture in many parts of Asia
 Language

Language is the spoken and unspoken means of communication

1. Spoken Language
– English is the most widely spoken language in the world and becoming
the language of international business
– Chinese is the mother tongue of the largest number of people
– Countries with more than one language often have more than one
culture
– knowledge of the local language is still beneficial, and in some cases,
critical for business success

2. Unspoken Language
– nonverbal communication such as facial expressions, personal space, and
hand gestures.
– failing to understand the nonverbal cues of another culture can lead to
communication failure.
 Education

Formal education is the medium through which

individuals learn many of the language, conceptual,
and mathematical skills that are indispensable in a
modern society.

– important in determining a nation’s competitive advantage

– general education levels can be a good index for the kinds

of products that might sell in a country.
 Hofstede’s Dimensions
of National Culture
Geert Hofstede identified four dimensions of culture

1. Power distance - how a society deals with the fact that

people are unequal in physical and intellectual capabilities

2. Uncertainty avoidance - the extent to which

different cultures socialize their members into accepting
ambiguous situations and tolerating uncertainty

3. Individualism versus collectivism - the

relationship between the individual and his fellows

3-15
 Hofstede’s Dimensions
of National Culture (Cont’d)

4. Masculinity versus femininity -the

relationship between gender and work roles

Hofstede later expanded added a fifth dimension called

Confucian dynamism or long-term
orientation
– captures attitudes toward time, persistence, ordering
by status, protection of face, respect for tradition,
and reciprocation of gifts and favors
 Hofstede’s Dimensions
of National Culture (CRITICISM)

1. Made the assumption there is a one-to-

one relationship between culture and the
nation-state

2. Study may have been culturally bound

3. Used IBM as sole source of information

4. Culture is not static – it evolves