02 8 Elements of Culture

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Chapter

Culture and

International

Business

2

Qaseem Raza


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International Business, 5/e 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.

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What is culture?

A system of values and norms that are

shared among a group of people and that

when taken together constitute a design for

living. Hofstede, Namenwirth and Weber


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Different components of culture

Values and Norms

Folkways and mores


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Values and norms

Values: Abstract ideas/assumptions about

what a group believes to be good, right and

desirable

Norms: social rules and guidelines that

prescribe appropriate behavior in particularsituations


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Folkways and mores

Folkways: Routine conventions of everyday life.

Little moral significance

Generally, social conventions such as dress

codes, social manners, and neighborly behavior

Mores: Norms central to the functioning of society

and its social life

Greater significance than folkways Violation can bring serious retribution

Theft, adultery and cannibalism


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Culture, society and nation states

Society is a group of people who share a

common culture

No one to one correspondence between

society and a nation state

Nation states are political creations

Many cultures can co-exist within a nation state


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Elements of culture

Language

Religion

Values and Attitude

Manner and customs

Material elements

Aesthetics

Education

Social Institution


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Elements of Culture3-8

Language

Religion

Values and Attitude

Aesthetics

Material elements

Culture

Manner and customs

Education

Social Institution


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1. Language

Spoken Verbal cues

Language structures

perception of world

Unspoken

Body language

Personal space


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2. Religion

Christianity

Protestant Work Ethic

Islam

Prayer five times per day No consumption of Alcohol or Pork

Hinduism

Focus on Spiritual Growth

Buddhism Strong Class System

Confucianism

High Ethics, Loyalty


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World religions

Map 3.1

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3. Education

Education can be a source of competitiveadvantage Example

India

Malaysia

Singapore

Japan after WWII High School Equal to College

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Percentage of GNP spent on education

Map 3.2

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4. Changing values and attitudes

Fig: 3.3

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5. Manner and customs

Changes occurring in manners and customs must

be carefully monitored.

Negotiations: AmericansSilence is negative

Japanese- Silence means adding sweetness or to

reduce price in deal.

Simple agreement may take days in Arab.

Russians are aggressive and can request for last

minute change, which can destroy deal.

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When to Give and What in Gift

China (Chinese new year)YES: Modest gift such as Coffee table, Books, pens etc

NO: Clocks, any thing from Taiwan.

Japan (Oseibo)YES: Scotch, Brandy, round fruits etc

NO: Gifts that comes in sets of 4 or 9.

Saudi Arabia (Eid-ul-Fitar)YES: Fine compasses to determine direction for prayers.

NO:Pork, liquor or any thing that is not Halal.

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6. Material elements

Economic Infrastructure

Transportation, energy , communication system.

Social Infrastructure

Housing health, educational system.

Financial and marketing Infrastructure

Facilitating agencies for businesses, e.g Banks.

Packaging must be attractive in USA

Availability of raw material

How to reach target audience.

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7. Aesthetics

Colour, Art, Music, symbols, Taste etc

Sex, symbols -key selling points

Black is mourning in USA

Green is death in Singapore

McDonalds:

Taste, colours, structure etc

.Local food.

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8. Social Institutions

The way a culture divides its society into smallerstructures/ groups

Sociology= the study of the development,organization, & functioning of society

What is the most important social unit? Family

Family patterns Nuclear family- wife, husb, kids.

Typical to industrialized societies Extended family- Several generations in one household.

Parents, kids, grandparents, aunts, uncles. Usually indeveloping nations.

Patriarchal- family where the oldest male makes the

decisions


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Matriarchal- family where the oldest female makes all thedecisions

Kinship= concept that everyone is related to someone

There are rules (ie uncles cant marry nieces)

Clan= ppl w/in an ethnic grp who claim to be descended from

a common ancestor

Social Classes= rank ppl according to status in society

Can be based on $, occupation, heredity, education, etc

Social mobility= chance to move up and down the social

ladder.

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Adult Illliteracy rates

Map 3.3

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Hofstedes cultural dimensions

Four dimensions of culture

Power distance

Individualism versus collectivism

Uncertainty avoidance

Masculinity versus femininity

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Power distance

Cultures are ranked high or low on this

dimensions based on the particular societys

ability to deal with inequalities

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Individualism versus collectivism

This dimension focuses on the relationship between

the individual and his/her fellows within a culture

Individualistic societies:

loose ties

individual achievement and freedom highly

valued

Collectivist societies- tight ties

tend to be more relationship oriented

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Uncertainty avoidance

This dimension measures the extent to which

a culture socializes its members into

accepting ambiguous situations and toleratinguncertainty

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Masculinity versus femininity

This dimension looks at the relationship

between gender and work roles

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Problems with Hofstedes findings

Assumes one-to-one relationship between

culture and the nation-state

His research may have been culturally bound.

Survey respondents were from a single

industry (computer) and a single company

(IBM)

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Cultural change

Culture is not a constant; it evolves over

time

Since 1960s American values

toward the role of women are changing.

Japan moves toward greater

individualism in the workplace

Effects of globalization

Documents

02 8 Elements of Culture