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International OB: International OB: ManagingManaging

across Culturesacross Cultures

Chapter Four

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Learning Objectives

LO.1 Define the term culture, and explain how societal culture and organizational culture combine to influence on-the-job behavior.

LO.2 Define ethnocentrism, and explain how to develop cultural intelligence.

LO.3 Distinguish between high-context and low-context cultures, and identify and describe

the nine cultural dimensions from Project GLOBE.LO.4 Distinguish between individualistic and collectivist

cultures, and explain the difference between monochronic and polychronic cultures.

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Learning Objectives (cont.)

LO.5 Specify the practical lesson from the Hofstede cross-cultural study, and explain what Project GLOBE researchers discovered about leadership.LO.6 Discuss the results and practical significance of the

recent Bloom and Van Reenen study of national management styles.LO.7 Explain why US managers have a comparatively high

failure rate on foreign assignments.LO.8 Summarize the research findings about North American

women on foreign assignments.LO.9 Identify four stages of the foreign assignment cycle and

the OB trouble spot associated with each stage.

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Societal Culture Is Complex and Multilayered

Societal culture a set of beliefs and values about what is

desirable and undesirable in a community of people, and a set of formal or informal practices to support the values

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Cultural Influences on Organizational Behavior

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Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism belief that one’s native country, culture,

language, and behavior are superior to all others.

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Cultural Paradoxes Require Cultural Intelligence

Cultural intelligence ability to interpret ambiguous cross-cultural

situations correctly

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Contrasting High-Context and Low-Context Cultures

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Project GLOBE

GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) attempt 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

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Countries Ranking Highest and Loweston the GLOBE Cultural Dimensions

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Individualism versus Collectivism

Individualistic culture characterized as “I”

and “me” cultures, give priority to individual freedom and choice

Collectivist culture oppositely called

“we” and “us” cultures, rank shared goals higher than individual desires and goals

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Cultural Perceptions of Time

Monochronic time revealed in the ordered, precise, schedule-

driven use of public time that typifies and even caricatures efficient Northern Europeans and North Americans

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Why Do US Expatriates Failon Foreign Assignments?

Expatriate refers to anyone

living and/or working outside their home country

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The Foreign Assignment Cycle

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Key Cross-Cultural Competencies