Emad Hamdy
What is culture?
Culture means the values, customs, traditions, and ways of living which distinguish one group of people from another.
Culture is patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting underpinning the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.
Culture gives people a sense of:
who they are…
belonging
how they should behave
what they should be doing
10 categories to understand culture
•Sense of self and space •Communication and language
10 categories to understand culture
•Dress and appearance Food and feeding habits
10 categories to understand culture
•Time and Time Consciousness.
Relationships.
10 categories to understand culture
•Values and Norms. Beliefs and Attitudes
10 categories to understand culture
Mental Process and Learning
•mind is internalized culture, and the mental process involves how people organize and process information
•each culture has a reasoning process, but then each manifests the process in its own distinctive way
Work habits and practices
Hofstede’s research
To create opportunities for collaboration, global leaders must learn
not only the customs, courtesies, and business protocols of their counterparts from other countries, but they must also understand the national character, management philosophies, and mind-sets of the people.
Dr. Geert Hofstede, a European research consultant, has helped identify important dimensions of national character. He firmly believes that “culture counts” and has identified four dimensions of national culture
Global leaders should:
be sensitive to cultural differences
appreciate people’s distinctiveness and effectively communicates with individuals from different cultures
not impose his/her own cultural attitudes and approaches
not be ethnocentric – belief in the inherent superiority of one’s own group and culture
As a result of cultural understanding, one becomes
Broad minded
Tolerant of cultural uniqueness
Gain new insights for improving human relations
Aware of the impact of our native culture
Minimize the impact of culture shock
Maximize intercultural experiences