CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER 1
DETERMINANTS OF CULTURE
What is Cross-Cultural Management?

CCM is a fairly new field that is based on theories and

research from:
• Cross Cultural Psychology
• International Business
• Organizational Behaviour
• Human Resources
• Anthropology
Goals for Cross-Cultural Management

Cross Cultural Management seeks to

 Understand how national cultures affect management
practices
 Identify the similarities and differences across cultures in
various management practices and organizational
contexts
 Increase effectiveness in global management
What is Culture ?

 Culture is a code of attitudes, norms and values, the

way of thinking...
 The culture determines:
◦ How we see ourselves
◦ How we see the world
Culture
Characteristics of culture include:
 Learned
 Shared
 Transgenerational
 Symbolic
 Adaptive
The concept of culture has three layers:

 Artifacts and attitudes

◦ Behavioural or explicit level
 Norms (rules) and values
◦ Every culture has its own system
 Basic assumptions
◦ Difficult to describe or explain
A Model of Culture

Explicit artifacts and

products of the society Outer layer: observable,
Norms and values e.g. language, food,
that guide the society buildings, art.
Middle layer: helps people
Implicit, basic understand how they
assumptions that guide should behave.
people’s behavior
Inner layer: intangible,
helpful for problem-solving
and well interactions with
other people.
How can we explore culture?
Cultural assumptions in management

Edgar Schein defines culture as:

‘a set of basic assumptions – shared solutions to universal
problems of external adaptation (how to survive) and
internal integration (how to stay together) - which have
evolved over time and are handed down from one
generation to the next’
Comparison value systems of societies

Four categories
 Traditional society (Arab countries)

◦ Religion plays an important role

 Rational society (Germany)

◦ Interests of the individual come first

 Society where materialism is predominant

(ex-communist countries)
 Post-modern society (Scandinavia)

◦ tolerant and democratic

European Culture

What is important in the forming process of an

European culture?

 Meeting of diversity
 Complementarity of ideas
 Interaction within opposite values
Levels of cultures in a business context

Cultures can develop at different levels:

 Culture and Nation

 National culture

 Organizational culture

 Corporate culture

 Professional culture

 Culture and management

Culture and Nation

 Macro level
◦ laws and economic institutions
◦ the nation must be considered by organizations going
about their business.
 Micro level
◦ the organization is influenced through a number
of cultural elements relating to:
 employer-employee relationships
 behaviour among employees
National culture

 Elements that contribute to the creation of a national

culture:
- Physical environment
- History of the nation
 Institutions that contribute to the establishment of a
national culture
- Family/Religion/Education
- Mass communication media
Organizational culture
 In organization, culture affects the way:
- strategy is determined
- goals are established
- how the organization operates

 The personnel of the organization:

- influenced by their cultural backgrounds
- shared their own values and perceptions
Corporate Culture

 Corporate culture is a combination of:

- Organizational culture
- National/Regional culture
 Two meanings on the influence of corporate culture:

Key to success if:

1) Clearly defined corporate culture
2) Flexible culture
 Role of the company culture

- internal cultural factors

Professional culture
 Three professional cultures in management:
 Operators
- involved in production (goods/services)
 Engineers
- design and monitor the technology
 Executives
- Senior Managers/Managers
Culture and Management

Cross-cultural management

 explains the behaviour of people in organizations

around the world
 describes and compares organizational behaviour
across countries and cultures
 seeks to understand and improve the interaction of :
◦ co-workers, managers, executives, clients, suppliers,
and alliance partners