Week 3 CULTURE AND IB

Business and Economics

WEEK 3

CULTURE IN INTRERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Kendall Herbert

SLIDES NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE http://www.slideshare.net/kendallherbert/

IS EVERYONE IN A GROUP FOR PRESENTATIONS?

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QUESTION 1

Discuss how a nation’s culture is shaped by the dominant religion, language, social structure, and education. How would you describe the national culture of Australia based on these factors?

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RELIGION- religious values can affect attitudes towards work, entrepreneurship, honesty, fairness, social responsibility, legal systems and the cost of doing business.

LANGUAGE- can cause miscommunication and misinterpretation in business.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE- some countries inhibit working with people from different classes, restricting efficient information flow

EDUCATION- in countries where workers receive excellent training and are highly literate, the need for specific worker training programs are decreased and the hiring of additional employees is facilitated.

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QUESTION 2

Do you think that business practices in Indonesia are likely to differ from business practices in Australia? If so how?

28th February 2011Presentation title 5

Major religious differences: Muslim – Christian The role of women. Muslims may be less likely to give up or sell something to

a person who may not practice the same stewardship. Muslims value fairness to all parties in all relations.

– over-aggressiveness and self-interest may not be well received.

– Breaking an agreement, even if technically/legally permissible, may be viewed as inappropriate and the sign of a huge character flaw.

Prohibitions on interest payments in some Muslim countries.

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QUESTION 3

What are the implications for international business of differences in the dominant religion or ethical system of a country?

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Differences in the dominant religion of a country affect relationships, attitudes toward business, and overall economic development. Eg:Islamic laws banning interest payments may raise costsChristianity values individual freedom- economic freedomRelationship between management and employees

Religious beliefs can significantly affect a country‘s attitude toward business, work, and entrepreneurship. Eg:Religions which value individualism may be more innovativeReligions which value the group may be more cooperative

Product/Service standardisation or adaption Develop inter-cultural sensitivity http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=9aVUoy9r0CM Time management

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MATSUSHITA (PANASONIC) AND JAPAN’S CHANGING CULTURE

CLOSING CASE: pg. 130

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QUESTION 1

What were the triggers of cultural change in Japan during the 1990s? How is cultural change starting to affect traditional values in Japan?

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New generation resisted many of the values shared by their parents and instead embraced many Western traditions (eg. multiple careers)

Individual effort will become more important in Japanese business, and these new values will eventually make their way into other parts of Japanese life as well

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QUESTION 2

How might Japan’s changing culture influence the way Japanese businesses operate in the future? What are the potential implications of such changes for the Japanese economy?

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Individual effort and initiative more important for success in Japan.

Promoting more risk taking in Japanese companies.

More directly influencing the highs and lows of Japan‘s economy.


QUESTION 3

How did traditional Japanese culture benefit Matsushita during the 1950s-1980s? Did traditional values become more of a liability during the 1990s and early 2000s? How so?

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1950s - 1980s Matsushita agreed to take

care of its employees for life providing benefits such as subsidized housing and retirement bonuses in exchange for loyalty and hard work.

Confucian values

Paternalistic relationship

1990s – early 2000s Prolonged economic slump

that began in the 1990s made these commitments difficult to keep

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QUESTION 4

What is Matsushita trying to achieve with the human resource changes it has announced? What are the impediments to successfully implementing these changes? What are the implications for Matsushita if (a) the changes are made quickly or (b) it takes years or even decades to fully implement the changes?

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Offered workers choices between traditional lifetime employment options with lower salaries to higher salaries with no long-term commitments (gradual implementation).

Faster implementation gives the company more flexibility to reduce its staff as needed as well as cut costs during leaner times

However, important to maintain the values and traditions that are important to Matsushita‘s corporate culture

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QUESTION 5

What does the Matsushita case teach you about the relationship between societal culture and business success?

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A society‘s culture has a direct impact in a company‘s culture

– As societal culture changes over time, so should company culture.

– However, changes in the business environment can also prompt changes in corporate culture which can then begin to influence societal culture as well.


ESSAY ASSIGNMENTDue Date: Week 8 in tutorials

Worth: 25%

Word limit: 2,500 (+/- 10%)

Topic:

By referring to the convergence and divergence hypotheses, write an argumentative ACADEMIC essay addressing the below statement.

“When seeking to internationalise, one of the key challenges experienced by a firm concerns understanding the impact of national culture on management practices.”

Hardcopy to be submitted to the tutor at the BEGINNING (i.e. within the first 5 minutes) of the tutorial.

Softcopy to be uploaded on the unit’s Moodle site by 9.00 pm the SAME day.

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ACADEMIC WRITINGCOMMON THEMES (MISTAKES)


RELEVANCE?? Read the essay topic carefully

– Keep topic next to you while writing.

– Make sure you address all aspects of the topic.

– Plan your answer.

– Don’t lose focus.

• Does every paragraph help address the question? Spell out

the relevance.

• If not, replace it with a better one.

– Follow logical structure.28th February 2011Presentation title 22

FORMATTING• Size 12 Font• Double spaced• Be consistent – same font, colour, spacing

between paragraphs• It IS an ESSAY - no headings / sub-headings• 2 or 3 paragraphs per page• Proof reading / editing is very important!! Does it

flow??• Page numbers• Reference List – alphabetical, hanging indent


OTHER COMMON MISTAKES Avoid words like clearly, always, definitely, must, impossible, obvious. It

is not clear of obvious when you have provided little or no evidence or literature support. Even if you have done this I would still avoid these words.

If you use connecting words like however there must be a rebuttal to your former point. If you say consequently, thus, therefore… your next point must be a result of your previous point.

Ensure your sentences are not too long. It becomes confusing and the point/argument is lost.

Simple is sometimes better!!! When you ask word for synonyms make sure the word chosen is appropriate and makes sense in the given context.

Don’t just make large statements without providing support and evidence from the literature.


REFERENCING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Including someone else’s words or ideas in your essay and

not properly referencing them is PLAGERISM!

Do not write paragraphs of information solely based on the text book. This will NOT get you any marks.

You MUST include at least 10 academic references (journal articles). It says so on your marking guide!!

READ YOUR Q-MANUAL!! http://guides.lib.monash.edu/citing-referencing/apa


INTERNET USE EXPLODES IN CHINA

T USE EXPLODES IN CHINA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWsXhNJFj78


China has one of the highest number of Internet users in the world. Reflect on China’s culture today. How has the Internet changed the country? Are Chinese Internet users different from their Australian counterparts?

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Confucianism - stresses duty, sincerity, loyalty, honour, filial piety, respect for age and seniority.

Do not have all the information available to Australian’s because many sites are blocked

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Discuss the notion of an open, democratic society. Does it exist in China?

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DEMOCRACY - Government by the people

No communist country

Communist party want to remain in power so they prevent certain uses of the internet that might lead to overthrow.

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What is the Great Firewall? What role does Google play in helping the Chinese government maintain the Great Firewall? In your opinion, did Google make the right decision when it agreed to comply with the Chinese government’s request to limit access to certain information? Why or why not?

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The Great Firewall of China- internet filtering/censorship system

Google blocks searches on human rights and Tibetan independence

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How does China’s culture influence the way information is disseminated within the country? What does this mean for the people living in China?

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Paternalistic, high power distance country

Trust that the information censored by the government is censored for a good reason.

The people in China do not receive all the information to hear the whole truth

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THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT

NEXT WEEK:
