intern

ation

al bu

siness, 5

th edition

chapter 4the role of culture

4-2

Chapter Objectives 1

• Discuss the primary characteristics of culture

• Describe the various elements of culture and provide examples of how they influence international business

• Identify the means by which members of a culture communicate with each other

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Chapter Objectives 2

• Discuss how religious and other values affect the domestic environments in which international businesses operate

• Describe the major cultural clusters and their usefulness for international managers

• Explain Hofstede’s primary findings about differences in cultural values

• Explain how cultural conflicts may arise

4-4

Culture

Culture is the collection of values, beliefs, behaviors, customs, and

attitudes that distinguish one society from another. A society’s culture

determines the rules that govern how firms operate in the society.

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Characteristics of Culture

• Learned behavior

• Interrelated elements

• Adaptive

• Shared

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Figure 4.1 Elements of Culture

Culture

Language

Communication

ReligionValues/attitudes

Socialstructure

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Social Structure

Individuals, families, and groups

Social stratification

Social mobility

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Language

• 3000+ different languages worldwide

• 10,000+ different dialects

• Primary delineator of cultural groups

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Map 4.1 World Languages

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Map 4.2 Africa’s Colonial Legacy

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Translation Disasters

• KFC’s Finger Lickin’ Good

– Eat your fingers off (China)

• Pillsbury’s Jolly Green Giant

– Intimidating green ogre (Saudi Arabia)

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Caterpillar Fundamental English

Caterpillar has developed its own simplified language instruction program.

4-13

Yes and No Across Cultures

• Latin America

– meaning of “manana”

• Japan

– meaning of “yes” versus “yes, I understand”

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Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication may account for

80-90 percent of all information transmitted among members of a culture

by means other than language.

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Table 4.1 Forms of Nonverbal Communication 1

• Hand gestures

• Facial expression

• Posture and stance

• Clothing/hair style

• Walking behavior

• Interpersonal distance

• Touching

• Eye contact

• Architecture/interior design

• Artifacts and non-verbal symbols

• Graphic symbols

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Table 4.1 Forms of Nonverbal Communication 2

• Art and rhetorical forms

• Smell

• Speech rate, pitch, inflection, volume

• Color symbolism

• Synchronization of speech and movement

• Taste, symbolism of food, oral gratification

• Cosmetics

• Sound signals

• Time symbolism

• Timing and pauses

• Silence

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Gift Giving and Hospitality

Gift giving is an important means of communication, but what is appropriate varies.

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Religion

• Imposes constraints on roles of individuals in society

• Affects the types of products consumers may purchase

• Varies from country to country

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Religion

Christianity

Hinduism

Buddhism

Islam

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Map 4.3 Major World Religions

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Religion

Two million Muslims annually descend on the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia as part of the Haij

4-22

Values and Attitudes

Values are the principles and standards accepted by the members;

attitudes encompass the actions, feelings, and thoughts that result

from those values.

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Values and Attitudes

Time Age

Education Status

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Theories of Culture

• Hall’s Low-Context, High-Context Approach

• Cultural Cluster Approach

• Hofstede’s Five Dimensions

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Hall’s Low-Context High-Context Approach

An approach to understanding communication based on the

relative emphasis on verbal and nonverbal cues to transmit meaning

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Figure 4.2 High- and Low-Context CulturesG

erm

an

Sw

iss

Sca

ndin

avia

n

U.S

./ C

anad

ian

Brit

ish

Ital

ian

Spa

nish

Gre

ek

Ara

b

Vie

tnam

ese

Japa

nese

Kor

ean

Chi

nese

LowContext

HighContext

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The Cultural Cluster Approach

An approach to understanding communication based on meaningful

clusters of countries that share similar cultural values

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Map 4.4 A Synthesis of Country Clusters

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Hofstede’s Five Dimensions

Social Orientation

Power Orientation

Uncertainty Orientation

Goal Orientation

Time Orientation

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Social Orientation

Individualism Collectivism

Relative importance of theinterests of the individual versus

interests of the group

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Power Orientation

Power Respect Power Tolerance

Appropriateness of power/authority within organizations

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Figure 4.4 Social Orientation and Power Orientation Patterns

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Uncertainty Orientation

Uncertainty Uncertainty Acceptance Avoidance

Emotional response to uncertainty and change

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Goal Orientation

Aggressive Passive

What motivates people to achieve different goals

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Time Orientation

Long-term Short-termoutlook outlook

The extent to which members of a culture adopt a long-term or a short-term outlook

on work and life

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Understanding New Cultures

Self-referencecriterion

AcculturationCultural literacy