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Chapter 4The Meanings and Dimensions of Culture
+Culture
Article: Emphasis on face to face interaction in Japan
International managers need to keep in mind that practices around the world differ greatly
Culture: acquired knowledge that people use to interpret experience and generate social behavior; forms values, creates attitudes, and influences behaviors Can be learned, shared, transgenerational, symbolic,
patterned, and adaptive
+Cultural Diversity
Centralized v. Decentralized Decision Making who makes the decisions?
Safety v. Risk should people make risky decisions?
Individual v. Group Rewards how does the culture reward success?
High v. Low Organizational Loyalty do people identify with the employer or the job more?
Cooperation v. Competition how should employees interact in the workplace?
+US v. Japan v. Germany
Decision Making: US and Germany are more decentralized, Japan centralized
Safety v. Risk: US takes most risk, Germany moderate risk, Japan focuses on safety
Rewards: US and Germany focus on individual rewards, Japan focuses on group rewards
Loyalty: Japan is loyal to organization, US and Germany loyal to occupational group
Cooperation v. Competition: Japan likes cooperation, US and Germany prefer competition
+Components of culture
The explicit artifacts and products of the society (buildings, language, food)
The norms and values that guide the society
The implicit , basic assumptions that guide people’s behavior
+Values
Values are basic convictions that people have regarding what is right and wrong, good and bad, important and unimportant
Can values change over time?
Japanese values seem to be changing after a long term recession; “era of personal responsibility”
+Hofstede’s Four Dimensions
Dutch researcher Geert Hofstede identified four main dimensions of culture Power Distance: the extent to which less powerful members
of organizations accept that power is distributed unequally Uncertainty Avoidance: the extent to which people feel
threatened by ambiguous situations and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these High uncertainty avoidance: high need for security and a
strong belief in experts; Germany, Japan Low uncertainty avoidance: more willing to accept risks;
Denmark, Great Britain
+Hofstede’s Four Dimensions (cont.)
Individualism: the tendency of people to look after themselves and their immediate family only Opposite is collectivism,
which is the tendency to belong to groups and to look after each other in exchange for loyalty.
Masculinity: a cultural characteristic in which the dominant values in a society are success, money, and things. The contrary is femininity,
which is a cultural characteristic in which the dominant values are caring for others and the quality of life.
+Trompenaars Cultural Dimensions
Another view is that of Fons Trompenaars, with five relationship orientations that address the ways in which people deal with each other Universalism v. Particularism
Universalism is the belief that ideas and practices can be applied everywhere without modification, so they focus on formal rules
Particularism is the idea that circumstances dictate how ideas and practice should be applied, so they focus more on relationships and trust
Individualism v. Communitarianism Communitarianism has the same idea as collectivism
+ Neutral v. Emotional
Neutral culture is one in which emotions are held in check (United Kingdom)
Emotional culture is one in which emotions are expressed openly and naturally (Mexico and the Netherlands)
Specific v. Diffuse Specific culture is one in which individuals have a large public
space they readily let others enter and share and a small pricate space they guard closely and share with only close friends and associates. There is a strong separation of work and personal life.
Diffuse culture is one in which public space and private space are similar in size and individuals guard their public space carefully b/c entry into public space affords entry into private space. Work and private life are closely linked.
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Achievement v. Ascription: Achievement cultures focus on how well people perform Ascription cultures focus on who or what the person is
+US v. Japan v. Germany
US has high individualism and low power distance, weak uncertainty avoidance, moderate degree of masculinity
Japan has moderate individualism and moderate power distance, strong uncertainty avoidance, and a very high degree of masculinity
Germany has slightly lower individualism and low power distance, moderate uncertainty avoidance, and a high degree of masculinity
+Time
Sequential time v. Synchronous time In cultures that have sequential approaches, people tend to
do one thing at a time, and they follow plans strictly. (United States)
In cultures with synchronous approaches, people do multiple things at a time and things like appointments are subject to change. (France and Mexico)
Example: People in the US will keep an appointment, while in Mexico they might change it if something else comes up.
+Environment
Two views of the environment Idea that managers are in control of their fate and
environment Dominant in US thought
Idea that they must “go with the flow” Dominant in Asian nations
Example: US govt urging Japanese car companies to purchase component parts in order to balance the flow of trade (quid pro quo)
+GLOBE Project
Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness: a multicountry study and evaluation of cultural attributes and leadership behaviors among more than 17,000 managers from 951 organizations and 62 countries; measures cultural differences
Meta-goal was to develop an empirically based theory to describe, understand, and predict the impact of specific cultural variables on leadership and organizational processes and the effectiveness of these processes.
+
Chapter 5Managing Across Cultures
+Strategic Predispositions
Ethnocentric predisposition: a nationalistic philosophy of management whereby the values and interests of the parent company guide strategic decisions
Polycentric predisposition: a philosophy of management whereby strategic decisions are tailored to suit the cultures of the countries where the MNC operates
Regiocentric predisposition: a philosophy of management whereby the firm tries to blend its own interests with those of its subsidiaries on a regional basis
Geocentric predisposition: a philosophy of management whereby the company tries to integrate a global systems approach to decision making
+Meeting the Challenge
Globalization imperative: a belief that one worldwide approach to doing business is the key to both efficiency and effectiveness
A large number of companies use a large number use the same strategies abroad as they do at home (US, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, UK)
+Meeting the Challenge
Factors that help facilitate the need to develop unique strategies for different cultures, including: The diversity of worldwide industry standards A continual demand by local customers for differentiated
products The importance of being an insider The difficulty of managing global organizations The need to allow subsidiaries to use their own abilities
and talents and not be restrained by headquarters
+Cross- Cultural Differences and Similarities
Parochialism: the tendency to view the world through one’s own eyes and perspectives
Simplification: process of exhibiting the same orientation toward different cultural groups
+Example of Similarities
Korean firms and US firms As organizational size inc, commitment declined As structure became more employee-focused, commitment
increased the more positive the perception of organizational climate,
the greater the employee commitment
+Differences Across Cultures
Different clusters require a different approach to forming an effective compensation strategy Pacific rim countries – incentive plans should be group-based EU nations (France, Spain, Italy, and Belgium) – similar
compensation strategies Great Britain, Ireland, and the United States – managers value
their individualism and are motivated by the opportunity for earnings, recognition, advancement, and challenge
Study – US affiliates used a hybrid form of HRM practices, where they closely follow local practices when dealing with the rank and file but even more closely approximate parent- company when dealing with upper-level management
+Doing Business in China Technical competence – send
engineers to answer questions in precise detail
Punctual
Nod to show that they understand
Guanxi; “good connections”
Guanxi represents nepotism, where individuals in authority make decisions on the basis of family ties or social connections rather than objective indices
Good listening skills
Collective society in which people pride themselves on being members of a group
+Doing Business in Russia Build personal relationship with
partners – personal relationships are very important
Use local consultants
Different business ethics (giving bribes)
Could take months for something to get done, so be patient
Stress exclusivity
Be careful about compromising or settling things too quickly, because this is often seen as a sign of weakness
+Doing Business in India
Be on time for meetings
Unless close, personal questions shouldn’t be asked
Public displays of affection are considered inappropriate
The namaste gesture can be used to greet people
Bargaining for goods and services is common
Pointing is done with the chin and beckoning is done with the palm turned down
+Doing Business in Brazil Physical contact is an acceptable
form of communication
Face-to-face is preferred as a way to communicate, so avoid simply e-mailing or calling
Form a strong relationship before bringing up business issues (tend not to trust people)
Appearance is very important
Patience, because many processes are drawn out
Still be prepared despite the slow processes and relaxed environments