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Culture

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Learning ObjectivesTo define and demonstrate the effect of culture’s various dimensions on business.

To examine ways in which cultural knowledge can be acquired and individuals and organizations prepared for cross-cultural interaction.

To illustrate ways in which cultural risk poses a challenge to the effective conduct of business communications and transactions.

To suggest ways in which businesses act as change agents in the diverse cultural environments in which they operate.

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Imagine you are meeting a stranger from your own culture in a business context for the first time...

1. How close will you stand?

2. Will you make eye contact with them?

3. How long will you maintain that eye contact for?

4. What physical contact will you make with them?

5. How much involvement and emotion will your voice convey?

6. What will be the words that you use in greeting?

7. What is your first neutral topic of conversation likely to be once you have made your greeting?

8. Now think about a stranger from another very different culture, perhaps on the other side of the world from your own.

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Two distinct tasks emerge:

to understand cultural differences and the ways they manifest themselves

to determine similarities across cultures and exploit them in strategy formulation

Managing cultural differences

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Culture Defined

1. The system of shared actions, values, and beliefs that develops within an organization and guides the behavior of its members.

2. Called corporate culture in the business setting.

3. No two organizational cultures are identical.

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Definitions of Organisational Culture

The way we do things around hereDeal & Kennedy (1982)

The pattern of values, norms, beliefs, attitudes, assumptions, signs and symbols that may or may not have been articulated but which shape the ways in which people behave and get things done in an organisation.Hendry (1995)

Culture is a pattern of shared assumptions, invented, discovered or developed within an organisation as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration. That has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, is taught to new members as the correct way to think, perceive and feel.Schein (1992)

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Influences on the development of Organisational Culture

ValuesInternalFactors Norms

External Core AttitudesFactors Beliefs

AssumptionsExperiences of Employees Signs &

Symbols

Behaviour

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A Culture:

AnchorIdentityCodes of Conduct

The collective programming of mind.

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Henry Mintzberg on Culture

“Culture is the soul of the organization — the beliefs and values, and how they are manifested. I think of the structure as the skeleton, and as the flesh and blood. And culture is the soul that holds the thing together and gives it life force.”

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Characteristics of Culture1. Culture is learned, shared, and transmitted from one

generation to the next.

2. Culture can be passed from parents to children, by social organizations, special interest groups, the government, schools, and churches.

3. Culture is multidimensional, consisting of a number of common elements that are interdependent.

4. Culture helps members solve problems.

5. Culture is taught to newcomers

6. Culture strongly influences behavior

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Dominant Culture, Subculture and counterculture

Smaller firms often have a single dominant culture with a unitary set of shared actions, values, and beliefs.

Most larger organizations contain several subcultures as well as one or more counter cultures.

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Subculture.A group of individuals with a unique pattern of values and philosophy that are not inconsistent with the organization’s dominant values and philosophy.

Counterculture.A group of individuals with a pattern of values and philosophy that outwardly reject the surrounding culture.

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High- versus Low-Context Cultures

High context refers to societies or groups where people have close connections over a long period of time. Many aspects of cultural behavior are not made explicit because most members know what to do and what to think from years of interaction with each other. Your family is probably an example of a high context environment.

Low context refers to societies where people tend to have many connections but of shorter duration or for some specific reason. In these societies, cultural behavior and beliefs may need to be spelled out explicitly so that those coming into the cultural environment know how to behave.

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Some contributors of culture

Sagas.Heroic accounts of organizational accomplishments.

Rites.Standardized and recurring activities that are used at special times to influence organizational members.

Rituals.Systems of rites.

Cultural symbols.Any object, act, or event that serves to transmit cultural meaning.

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Study Question 2: How do you understand an organizational culture?

Culture often specifies rules and roles.

Rules.

• The various types of actions that are

appropriate.

Roles.

• Where individual members stand in the social

system.

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Study Question 2: How do you understand an organizational culture?

Shared values. Help turn routine activities into valuable and important actions.

Tie the organization to the important values of society.

May provide a very distinctive source of competitive advantage.

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Elements of CultureLanguage (verbaland nonverbal) Religion

Values andAttitudes

Material Elements

Manners andCustoms

AestheticsEducationSocial Institutions

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Cultural Proxemics

Americans use a firm, solid grip;

Middle Easterners and Asians prefer a gentle grip a firm grip to them suggests unnecessary aggressiveness

                              HAND SHAKE

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EYECONTACT

Americans are taught to look directly

Japanese and Koreans are taught to avoid direct eye contact, direct eye contact to them is considered a weakness, and may indicate sexual overtones

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O.K. GESTURE

For Americans, forming a circle with thumb and forefinger to signal O.K. Means "zero" or worthless in France

Means money in Japan

Means calling someone a very bad name in Germany.

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NODDING YES OR NO

For Americans, up and down means yes, side to side means no

in Bulgaria, the nods are reversed in meaning.

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PUTTING FEET ON TABLE

An American gesture is found to be offensive to nearly every other country around the globe

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Women Men

Personal Space

Tend to surrender more quickly

May feel vaguely uncomfortable about having done so.

Tend to surrender less quickly

Interruptionsinterrupt men less

often they do other women.

interrupt both sexes

Networking Tend to use more Tend to use less

Patience More Less

Use of Humor Less More

questioning and listening

Tend to be better Tend to be worse

Cultural differences amongst genders

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Dominant Religions

Christianity

Islam

Hinduism

Buddhism

Confucianism

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Gift GivingPreparation is needed as it’s a sensitive area.

Important part of relationship management during visits.

Wrapping

Both hands

http://www.1worldglobalgifts.com/giftgivingetiquetteandcustoms.htm

http://www.etabletop.com/giftcontent_global.html

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Dimensions of CultureDifferences in cultural lifestyle can be explained by:

Individualism vs Collectivisimpower distanceuncertainty avoidanceMasculinity vs. Feminist

Asian countries tend to have high uncertainty avoidance and low masculinity.

Western countries tend to have low uncertainty avoidance and high masculinity.

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Hofstede’s Framework for Assessing Cultures

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Masculinity vs. Femininity Masculinity focuses on the degree the society reinforces, or does not reinforce, the traditional masculine work role model of male achievement, control, and power.

A High Masculinity ranking indicates the country experiences a high degree of gender differentiation. In these cultures, males dominate a significant portion of the society and power structure, with females being controlled by male domination.

A Feminine culture indicates the country has a low level of differentiation and discrimination between genders. In these cultures, females are treated equally to males in all aspects of the society.

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Cultural Dimension Scores for 12 countries

UncertaintyAvoidance

Individualism

Power Distance Masculinity1000 0

100 100

50 50

50 50

JapanFrance

MexicoBrazil

Germany

Netherlands

U.S.AGreat Britain

Arab Countries

West Africa

Indonesia

Hong Kong

Japan

Arab Countries

Mexico

Brazil

France

Germany

Great Britain

U.S.ANetherlands

Hong KongWest Africa

Indonesia

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Recent Culture ResearchTrompenaars (1994) has compared culture to an onion:

the outer layer is visible cultural differences, such as the clothes people wear, the food they eat and so on.

Going deeper are the actions that individuals perform, for example in greeting, to bow or shake hands.

At the centre of the onion are the key beliefs and motivating factors that are not so visible, but have the effect of determining behaviour on the more superficial layers of the onion.

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Self Reference CriterionSelf reference criterion is the unconscious reference to one’s own cultural values and is the root of most international business problems.

Suggestions to reduce cultural bias include:

Define the problem or goal in terms of domestic cultural traits, habits, or norms.

Define the problem or goal in terms of the foreign cultural traits, habits, or norms.

Isolate the self-reference criterion influence in the problem, and examine it to see how it complicates the problem.

Redefine the problem without the self-reference criterion influence, and solve for the optimum-goal situation

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Cross-Cultural TrainingCultural training programs should include:

culture-specific information

general cultural information on values, practices, and assumptions

self-specific information that identifies one’s own cultural paradigm

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Tips for Making Culture Work for Business Success

Embrace local culture

Build relationships

Employ locals to gain cultural knowledge

Help employees understand you

Adapt products and practices to local markets

Coordinate by region