4-1 chapter 4 The Role of Culture. 4-2 Chapter Objectives Discuss the primary characteristics of culture Describe the various elements of culture and

4-1

chapter 4

The Role of Culture

4-2

Chapter Objectives

• 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

Chapter Objectives (continued)

• 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

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

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.


4-5

Characteristics of Culture

• Learned behavior

• Interrelated elements (Language, Social, Communication, Religion,

Values, Attitudes)

• Adaptive

• Shared


4-6

Figure 4.1 Elements of Culture

Culture

Language

Communication

ReligionValues/attitudes

Socialstructure


4-7

Social Structure

Individuals, families, and groups

Social stratification

Social mobility


4-8

Language

• 3000+ different languages worldwide

• 10,000+ different dialects

• Primary delineator of cultural groups

• Ended Here Tue March 8, 2011


4-9

Map 4.1 World Languages


4-10

Map 4.2 Africa’s Colonial Legacy


4-11

Translation Disasters

• KFC’s Finger Lickin’ Good

– Eat your fingers off (China)

• Pillsbury’s Jolly Green Giant

– Intimidating green ogre (Saudi Arabia)


4-12

Caterpillar Fundamental English

Caterpillar has developed its own simplified language instruction program

4-13

Yes and No Across Cultures

• Latin America

– meaning of “mañana” (Tomorrow vs. “Some other

day – not today”)

• Japan

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


4-14

Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal Communication

may account for 80-90 percent of all

information transmitted among

members of a culture

by means other than language.

4-15

Table 4.1 Forms of Nonverbal Communication, Part 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

4-16

Table 4.1 Forms of Nonverbal Communication, Part 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

4-17

Gift Giving and Hospitality

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

Religion

• Imposes constraints on roles of individuals in society

• Affects the types of products consumers may purchase

• Varies from country to country


Religion

Christianity

Hinduism

Buddhism

Islam

4-20

Map 4.3 Major World Religions

4-21

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.

4-23

Values and Attitudes (continued)

Time Age

Education Status

4-24

Theories of Culture

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

• Cultural Cluster Approach

• Hofstede’s Five Dimensions

4-25

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

4-26

Figure 4.2 High- and Low-Context CulturesG

erm

an

Sw

iss

Sca

ndin

avia

n

U.S

. /

Can

adia

n

Brit

ish

Ital

ian

Spa

nish

Gre

ek

Ara

b

Vie

tnam

ese

Japa

nese

Kor

ean

Chi

nese

LowContext

HighContext

4-27

The Cultural Cluster Approach

An approach to understanding

communication based on meaningful

clusters of countries that share

similar cultural values

4-28

Map 4.4 A Synthesis of Country Clusters

4-29

Hofstede’s Five Dimensions

Social Orientation

Power Orientation

Uncertainty Orientation

Goal Orientation

Time Orientation


4-30

Social Orientation

Individualism Collectivism

Relative importance of theinterests of the individual versus

interests of the group


4-31

Power Orientation

Power Respect Power Tolerance

Appropriateness of power/authority within organizations


4-32

Figure 4.4 Social Orientation and Power Orientation Patterns


4-33

Uncertainty Orientation

Uncertainty Uncertainty Acceptance Avoidance

Emotional response to uncertainty and change


4-34

Goal Orientation

Aggressive Passive

What motivates people to achieve different goals


4-35

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


4-36

Understanding New Cultures

Self-referencecriterion

AcculturationCultural literacy


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States of America.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

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4-1 chapter 4 The Role of Culture. 4-2 Chapter Objectives Discuss the primary characteristics of culture Describe the various elements of culture and