chapter 3: understanding the role of...

© 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall 3-4

Chapter 3:Understanding the Role of Culture

PowerPoint byHettie A. Richardson

Louisiana State University


Opening Profile: Saudi Arabian Culture

The intersection of culture and business McDonald - restaurant different sections Women outnumber men in universities, own

20% of all businesses, but account for only 7%of the workforce

60% of workforce is foreign


Organizational Culture

Organizational cultures exist within and interact with societal culture

Examples: KLM’s travel-benefits policy:

Airline KLM responded to Dutch attitudes regarding families and norms regarding relationships by extending its travel benefits policy to any couple who formally registered as living together—regardless of whether the couple was heterosexual or homosexual, formally married or not.

McDonald’s in Russia: provides more extensive training to employees in Russia than to

those in the US because Russians are less familiar with working within a capitalist system.

Ludwig Nastansky

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How does culture affect organizational processes?

Promotions, recruitment

Employment is for a lifetime

Employment can be ended

Motivation, rewards

Wisdom and luck are also needed

Hard work leads to success

Morale, productivity

People adjust to the environment

The environment is changeable

Planning, scheduling

Life is preordained

Individual influences future

Function AffectedAlternative U.S. Culture

Ludwig Nastansky

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Cultural Insensitivity

Self-reference criterion Example: Japanese courtesy in the US - Japanese workers must put

courtesy aside and interrupt conversations with Americans when there are problems.

Parochialism - when a person expects those from another culture to automatically fall into patterns of behavior common in his/her own culture

Ethnocentrism – describes the attitude of those who operate from the assumption their ways of doing things are best under all conditions Example: Proctor & Gamble: P & G demonstrated ethnocentrism when

they ran a popular European ad for Camay soap in Japan. The ad depicted a man walking in on his wife in the bath. The commercial backfired in Japan because the Japanese viewed the man’s behavior as bad manners.


Influences on National Culture Kinship – the system adopted by a given society to guide

family relationships. In the US, this system consists primarily of the nuclear family. In some other countries the system consists of the extended family. In the latter case, family loyalty may be given primary consideration in corporate activities

Education - The formal and informal education received by workers influences the expectations placed on those workers and managers’ choices about recruitment, staffing, training, and leadership.

Economy - The economic system influences sourcing, distribution, incentives, and reparation of capital.

Politics - The government imposes varying constraints on organizations and their freedom to do business.

Ludwig Nastansky

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Ludwig Nastansky

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Ludwig Nastansky

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Influences on National Culture

Religion McDonald’s does not serve beef or pork in India out of respect for

Hindus and Muslims. In Saudi Arabia, Islamic law prohibits the charging of interest.

Associations - Various associations arise from the formal and informal groups that make up a society

Health - A country’s system of health affects employee productivity, expectations, and attitudes toward physical fitness, which in turn affect decisions about health care benefits, insurance, physical facilities, and sick days.

Recreation - Workers’ attitudes about recreation can affect their work behavior and their perception of the role of work in their lives.

Ludwig Nastansky

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Ludwig Nastansky

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Management Focus: China Protects its Culture

Restrictions against foreign books, the internet, video games, and performing acts

Increased censorship of foreign television programs

Joint operation of television channels by Chinese broadcasters and foreign investors banned


Cultural Value Dimensions Values are ideas about what is good or bad

Values determine how individuals probably will act in given circumstances. They are communicated via the eight subsystems just described and are passed down through generations

Help managers anticipate likely cultural effects Contingency management requires managers to adapt to the

local environment and people and to adjust their management styles accordingly

Allow for contingency management

Can vary across subcultures Value dimensions and resulting cultural profiles provide

only an approximation of national character. There may be variations in national culture i.e., subcultures may exist as well. For example,

American tend to think of the Chinese as culturally homogenous, but distinct ethnic groups within China have their own customs and dialects.


Project GLOBE DimensionsThe GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational BehaviorEffectiveness) dimensions are based on data gathered by 170researchers over seven years. The data were collected from18,000 managers in sixty-two countries. There are nine dimensions that distinguish cultures from one

another and have implications for managers: assertiveness, future orientation, performance orientation, humane orientation, gender differentiation, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, institutional collectivism vs. individualism, and in-group collectivism.

Only four are discussed in the text because the other five overlap with Hofstede’s dimensions.


Project GLOBE Dimensions Assertiveness: concerns how much people are expected to be

tough, confrontational, and competitive versus modest and tender. Low assertiveness countries have sympathy for the weak and emphasize loyalty and solidarity. Low: Sweden, New Zealand, Switzerland High: Greece, Austria, Germany

Performance orientation: concerns the importance of performance improvement and excellence and refers to whether people are encouraged to strive for continued improvement. Low performance orientation countries place priority on things like tradition, loyalty, family, and background. They associate competition withdefeat. Low: Russia, Argentina, Greece High: New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore


Project GLOBE Dimensions Future orientation - refers to the importance a society attaches to future-

oriented behaviors, such as planning and investing in the future. High future orientation countries tend to save and have a longer time horizon for decisions. Low future orientation countries are the opposite. Low: Russia, Argentina, Poland High: Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore

Humane orientation - Human orientation concerns the extent to which a society encourages and rewards being fair, altruistic, generous, caring, and kind. Paternalism and patronage, tolerance, and harmony are values in high humane orientation cultures. In low humane orientation cultures people value power, material possessions, and self-enhancement.

Low: Germany, Spain, France High: Malaysia, Ireland, Philippines


Hofstede’s DimensionsHofstede’s research, which was conducted prior to theGLOBE project, is based on 116,000 people in 50countries. Nonetheless, all of the research wasconducted in a single firm—IBM. As such, the resultshould be interpreted with caution.


Hofstede’s Dimensions Power distance – is a society’s acceptance of unequal power distribution.

Low: Denmark, Israel, Austria - superiors and subordinates are more likely to view one another as equals, leading to more cooperation.

High: Malaysia, Arab countries, Mexico - formal authority and hierarchy are very respected.

Uncertainty avoidance - the extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguous situations. Low: India, Denmark, Singapore - are more comfortable with

ambiguity. In these cultures, company activities are less formal and structured, managers take more risks, and employees have more job mobility.

High: Greece, Japan, France - very uncomfortable with ambiguity and tend to have strict laws and closely followed procedures. Managers tend to make low-risk decisions, employees are not aggressive, and lifetime employment is common

Ludwig Nastansky

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Hofstede’s Dimensions

Individualism vs. collectivism - the tendency for people to look after themselves and their immediate families only and to neglect the needs of society Individual: Australia, US, UK Collective: Italy, Korea, Singapore

Masculinity vs. femininity - Masculinity refers to the degree to which traditionally masculine values (e.g., assertiveness, materialism, and lack of concern for others) prevail. Femininity emphasizes the traditionally feminine values of concern for others, relationships, and quality of life. In more feminine cultures one tends to find less work-family conflict, less job stress, more women in high-level jobs, and a reduced need for assertiveness.

Masculine: Japan, Mexico, Germany Feminine: Denmark, Sweden, New Zealand

Ludwig Nastansky

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Ludwig Nastansky

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Hofstede’s Dimensions

Long-term/short-term orientation Long-term: Germany, China, Japan,

Taiwan Short-term: US, Canada, UK e.g. quarterly

report


Variables Causing Problems for Americans Time

“Tomorrow” - In Latin America the word for tomorrow is used to mean “sometime in the future.”

Change Many non-Western societies believe in destiny of the will of their God

and, thus, tend to be passive and hostile toward change.

Material factors Americans tend to value physical goods and status symbols. Many

non-Westerners value the aesthetic and spiritual realm instead.

Individualism In the US, individual achievement takes precedent. There is a focus on

“I.” In countries like China, there is more emphasis on conformity and cooperation.

Ludwig Nastansky

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The Internet and Culture 70% of Korean homes have high-speed

internet service

Sweden has refused to allow airline passenger information (e.g., meal preferences) to be transmitted to the US

75% of the world’s internet market lives outside the US


Comparative Management in Focus: Japan “Wa”—peace and harmony

A mix of authoritarianism and humanism in the workplace

Emphasis on participative management, consensus, and duty

Open expression and conflict discouraged


Comparative Management in Focus: Germany Preference for rules and order, privacy

Dislike of inefficiency and tardiness

Assertive, but not aggressive

Organizations are centralized but still favor consensus decision-making

Ludwig Nastansky

Highlight


Comparative Management in Focus: South Korea Respect family, authority, formality, class

Are demonstrative, friendly, aggressive, hard-working

Connections vital for business, contracts are oral

Honest criticism is rare


Applying Cultural Profiles to Management: Chinese Family Business

Small, family businesses predominate – not true today, it is the government-owned business that are predominate

“Guanxi”—connections

Organizations do not include “middle management”

Today, younger Chinese managers are integrating both Western and Chinese management styles to some extent.


Chapter 4:Communicating across Cultures

PowerPoint byHettie A. Richardson

Louisiana State University


Opening Profile: Keeping Your Foot out of Your Mouth

Small slips can be big errors: “Hello, wife of the boss” “Thank you for your hostility” - hospitality Patting someone on the head Do you shake hands, bow, hug, or kiss when

meeting someone? International managers may spend between

50% and 90% of their time communicating.

Ludwig Nastansky

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Cultural Noise

American: He refuses to take responsibility.Greek: I asked for an order.

Greek: “I don’t know. How long should it take?”

American: I asked him to participate.Greek: He is the boss. Why doesn’t he tell me?

American: “How long will it take to finish this report?”

AttributionBehavior


Trust in Communication

Business transactions based on long-standing vs. arm’s length relationships

High propensity to trust: Nordic countries, China, Canada, US, Britain

Low propensity to trust: Brazil, Turkey, Romania, Slovenia, Latvia


The GLOBE Project and Communication

High performance orientation (e.g., US) present objective information directly and explicitly

Low assertiveness (e.g., Sweden) two-way discourse and friendly relationships

High humane orientation (e.g., Ireland) avoid conflict, be supportive


Cultural Variables in Communication

Roles

Language “Come out of the grave with Pepsi” –

translation issues When “yes” doesn’t mean “yes”

Ludwig Nastansky

Highlight


Cultural Variables in Communication

Nonverbal communication Kinesic behavior (e.g., sticking out the tongue in China) Proxemics (e.g., the corner office, closeness when

talking) Paralanguage (e.g., clothing, the sound of silence) Object language (e.g., office design and furniture,

clothing, cars, cosmetics and time) monochronic – linear time concept polychronic - many things happening simultaneously

Ludwig Nastansky

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Context

Ludwig Nastansky

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Comparative Management in Focus: Communicating with Arabs

Arabs are quick to “sound off”

Communication is built on friendship, honor, hospitality

Arabs are high-contact communicators

Time is key in communication process


Information Technology

Global reach does not necessarily mean global business

The web is impersonal, but may require greater cultural sensitivity

There is a predicted annual growth rate of 70% for non-English-language cites and usage


Managing Cross-cultural Communication

Develop cultural sensitivity Anticipate the meaning the receiver will get

Careful encoding Use words, pictures, and gestures Avoid slang, idioms, regional sayings


Managing Cross-cultural Communication

Selective transmission Build relationships face-to-face if possible

Careful decoding of feedback Get feedback from multiple parties Improve listening and observation skills

Follow-up actions


Facilitating Intercultural Communication

Openness: tolerance for ambiguity, extrovertedness, and open-mindedness. Resilience includes having an

Resilience: internal locus of control, persistence, tolerance for ambiguity…

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