Towards the cross cultural negotiation

Towards the cross cultural negotiationCultureThe set of symbols (such as values, norms, attitudes, beliefs, languages, customs, rituals, habits, skills, education, ethics, art, etc..) And objects (such as clothing, housing, products, artwork, tools, etc..) that are learned, shared and transmitted from one generation to another by the members of a society, therefore, is a factor that determines, regulates and shapes human behavior.

The cultural factorHuman behavior is the product of the existing culture in the society to which he belongs, therefore, not surprising that this affects their purchasing decisions.

Culture is widely accepted by the members of each society. For example, in Scotland there is nothing new to see a man in a skirt, which in turn gives rise to a "market skirts for men" (a situation that is inconceivable in Latin countries).

Culture is difficult to change. For example, it would be almost impossible for a Scottish company that manufactures skirts for men to change in Latin America the custom for men to use pants to wear skirts instead.

The culture shapes people's behavior so they usually respond to certain stimuli in a uniform manner. For example, in some Asian countries the vast majority of people are accustomed to eating rice (as part of their main meal) so it responds to stimulus in their meals, rather than with other food.

Cultural differences studied by Hosftede

Hofstede was one of the first sociologists who sought to classify the cultural differences of nations and therefore is the cornerstone of many studies that have been done on this topic. The project began in 1967 and ended in 1973 getting data from IBM employees in 70 countries. According to Hofstede (2001), culture is a mental program that each person has and is stable over time in a way that leads to that person to behave the same under similar circumstances. Then, each person has a shared part programming and individual part.

The part will be due to shared universal values and collective and individual part to the region, religion or to family influence. Then (Figure 1) is a diagram showing the relationship between the values and behavior:

Universal ValuesColective ValuesIndividual ValuesIndividual or colectivebehaviourRokeach (1969) notes that values are the basis of behavior and defined as:

An enduring belief that specify the behavior or alternative preferred modes lead to a final state (Rokeach, 1969:160). The behavior is observable while values are not (Connor and Becker, 1994), ie we can only infer an individual's values through their actions and collective values will shape thenational culture understood as the actions taken by a group of individuals in similar conditions.

In this sense, culture can be defined as structured ways of thinking, feeling and reacting, acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive features of human groups. According to Hofstede (2001) culture is a collective programming of mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another (Hofstede, 2001:9). Studied by Hofstede dimensions to make the differentiation between different national cultures are: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism vs.. vs. collectivism and masculinity. femininity.Power distanceIt's the way how companies effectively manage human inequality. The inequality can be in different areas such as prestige, wealth and power; different societies put different emphasis on these factors. Both organizations and society, human inequality is a reality and it can refer to a relationship such subordinate chief. In some countries, the salary of a manager is far superior to a subordinate, generating a large power distance, while in other countries pay equity is higher.

Uncertainity managementUncertainty about the future is a factor in human life and that is constantly adapting to new technologies, laws and new lifestyles. In general, before the twentieth century people lived and died with the same technology, ie radical changes were not as they are now. The uncertainty is also present in the cultures as in some countries like the UK, Denmark and the United States, are more willing to take risks, while in Greece, Guatemala, Peru and Portugal prefer the security companies.Individualism and colectivism The relationship between the individual and the collective concerns 67 in community living, this is closely related to social norms, which are reflected in the family, school, work, religion, and social relations. The extent to whichsocieties are individualistic or collectivist affect the relationship between the individual and the organization. A high collectivist index could establish a greater emotional dependency relationship among members of the organization, where there is a friendship regardless of the professional.Masculinity and femineityThe fourth factor investigated by Hofstede is the degree to which a culture is male or female type. The gender role socialization begins in the family, peer groups still in school and is still in the media, literature, film, television, etc.. The sense of use of these terms refers to the dominance of one gender in society, male assertive patterns and reflected in raising infants breast shape. In general, a high rate male establishes a significant gender difference in opportunities and established roles for men and women.Hofestede criticismThe main criticisms associated with the model of Hofstede (Jabri, 2005; Graen, 2006) is that the proposed dimensions are simplistic because they are basically divided into four dimensions (later added one more) that are outside the actual context of the national culture, and to classify all individuals in a country in the same way, without taking note that there are significant differences even between regions within a country. Another criticism is that the measurements were performed considering a single company of U.S. origin with a particular organizational culture and staff characteristics are not representative of individuals in a country. In addition, as mentioned above, the rates have more than thirty years and have not been repeated, however, Hofstede's model has been taken as the basis for many studies related to the issues of cross-cultural comparison.

Cultural dimensions of Solomon Schwartz

Schwartz (1994, 1999) has conducted surveys on the values of individuals in 63 countries with 60,000 teachers, the aim was to identify the values at work. Values studied are:Traditionalism. Keep the status quo of the group and restrict the actions or inclinations that might disrupt the solidarity and group behavior where people located.

Intellectual Autonomy. Emphasizes the desire of individuals to pursue their own ideas and intellectual directions independently.Affective autonomy. Stresses the willingness of individuals to seek positive experiences affective.Hierarchy. Stresses the legitimacy of a distribution of power, roles and resources so inequitable.Equality. Importance of private interests in favor of voluntary commitment promote the welfare of others.Dexterity. Stresses the get ahead through their own assertiveness.Harmony. Stresses the fit harmoniously with the environment.The 7 valuesThe seven types of values, are summarized in three continuous dimensions: "Tradition vs. Autonomy "," Hierarchy vs. Equality "and" Dexterity vs. Harmony "(Schwartz, 1999). Values in tradition and autonomy people, societies tend to follow the traditional values of family, security and social relations while in other societies people act independently both intellectually and emotionally. This involves having their own criteria and different to traditional values regarding search meet challenges of creativity, curiosity or pleasure.The hierarchy and equality values show a tendency to respect social systems established or the pursuit of equality of individuals, currently many systems hierarchical world are challenged by young people seeking equal opportunities for any individual. Finally, the values of skill and refer to the degree harmony a society that is challenging, ambitious and successful as opposed to be right withothers and with the environment.More economically developed countries are less traditional and more egalitarian than the less developed. A lower value results in hierarchy also occurs in developed countries with high worth for autonomy values. Countries evolve over time according to the specific circumstances, new information technologies and thus new generations are changing their values according to these. The same criticism that is done Hofstede studies apply to the Schwartz model, but unlikeSchwartz Hofstede's model measured values that can be considered universal for any culture. This model has also been observed by critics, as it was designed for students and teachers (Williamson, 2002).Inglehart - World Values SurveyInglehart and colleagues (Inglehart et al., 1998 Chull Dalton and Shin, 2006; Esmer and Pattersson, 2007), have studied 90 different companies in the world since 1981 (www. wordlvaluessurvey.org). The aim of the association is to study the beliefs, values and motivations of people in the world as an aid to social researchers and to international decision makers.The dimensions studied by them are based on traditional values vs. the secular or rational. These two dimensions reflect the contrast between societies where religion, family ties, the difference of authority and national pride are important.Among these countries are most Africans, Latin Americans and the South Asian countries. Secular or rational countries are those in which the values are based on development and not on the bus, is not given much importance to religion and gender equality exists. Tolerance of differences is an important aspect.Most industrialized countries have switched from traditional to secular values, this is the case in countries such as Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, etc.Another factor that, according to these authors, involved in the development of wealth in society are the "survival values (basic needs) vs. The values of self-expression. "In some societies where survival seeks security and wealth has been surpassed, so will tend to present self-expression and the pursuit of quality of life. The companies are still struggling to develop their basic needs are most African countries, South Asia and some former communists, while most European and North American countries are developing self expression with high rational value.Inglehart (1988) found a significant correlation between the values of mass expression and democratic form of government. These factors also are related with the degree of satisfaction and happiness of peoples. In the world map Inglehart values (www.worldvaluessurvey.org) shows how different societies are changing with time values, but this does not mean the end of time all human beings have similar values centered secular and expression as in the case of the most technologically developed countries such as Sweden, Holland, Denmark, Germany, etc.. Each country will retain some traditional values and modifying others in pursuit of the general welfare of its citizens. eastapproach recognizes that nations can maintain their traditional values while evolving in other ways depending on the socioeconomic situations.

Recent DevelopmentsRecently, the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness "GLOBE") led by House et al. (2004, 2002) conducted a study of 62 companies interviewing 17,000 managers of more than 950 organizations. The project's objective was to increase the understanding and awareness of multicultural interactions and their impact on leadership. The factors studied are similar to those discussed above, but have a greater orientation toward work, the criticism associated with this model is that somehow replicate those previously proposed and are not representative of a national culture because the questionnaire was applied in the business environment. the studyoriginal House et al. (2004) were included Ecuador, El Salvador, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Argentina and Mexico. Chhokar et al. (2007) also conducted a quantitative and qualitative study in relation to the business of what they call the "Latin American cluster" originally studied by House.Sugested readingsMarketing, Sexta Edicin, de Lamb Charles, Hair Joseph y McDaniel Carl, International Thomson Editores S.A., 2002, Pg. 152.

Fundamentos de Marketing, 13va. Edicin, de Stanton William, Etzel Michael y Walker Bruce, Mc Graw-Hill Interamericana, 2004, Pg. 114.

Mercadotecnia, Primera Edicin, de Sandhusen L. Richard, Compaa Editorial Continental, 2002, Pg. 103.