L4 - Culture
Bafá Bafá revisited
• How easy is it to ask about cultures?
• To what extent did your ”own” culture influence what you were looking for in
the other culture?
• Can stereotyping be avoided? Should it be? ILS SONT
FOUS,
CES
SUÉDOIS!
3
Today’s agenda
• What is culture and what does it mean to international management?
• A case
• Studies on cultural differences
• Communication and negotiation across cultures
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What is culture about?
• A collective phenomenon
• A blueprint for our behaviour
• Something we learn, we are not born with a culture
• A system of shared meanings
• A way of organising societies/organisations
• Based on communication and language
• Changeable
• A phenomenon that can be studied referring to different units of analysis
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A culture definition
”[Culture is] a pattern of shared basic assumptions that was learned by a group
as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has
worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new
members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those
problems.”
Schein (2004, p. 17)
Source: Schein, E. (2004). Organizational Culture and Leadership. Hoboken: Jossey-Bass. 6
Units of analysis (1)
Nation
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Units of analysis (2)
Organisation
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Personal frames of reference
Functional/
divisional
Professional Organisational
The
individual
National Industrial sector
(regional) (recipe)
Cultural encounters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khPynMapXmE&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9a-pOJM0Zk
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Some important concepts
Subcultures: Cultures are not homogeneous. There can be major cultural
differences within a single country
Stereotyping: The tendency to generalize about another culture and to develop
expectations towards its members
Self-reference criterion: The tendency to relate to other people in terms of
one’s own culture
Parochialism: The expectation towards people from other cultures to behave
as if they belonged to my own culture. Denial of cultural impact on behavior.
(there is only one possible way)
Ethnocentrism: Assumption that one’s own way of doing things is best under
all circumstances
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Some personal suggestions
• Try to understand your own culture to better understand cultural differences
• Differentiate between ’understanding’ and ’appreciating’/’agreeing with’
• Control your emotions in the beginning
ILS SONT
• Acknowledge your stereotypes rather than denying them
FOUS,
• Be open to revise initial judgements CES
SUÉDOIS!
• Reflect upon what you like/don’t like
• Discuss your experiences with someone
Walmart in Germany
• Ethics code (report improper behavior)
• No collective agreements with unions
• US approach to customer service
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Lidl in Sweden
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Let’s look into some studies of
culture
• Hofstede http://geerthofstede.com/
• Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner
https://www.thtconsulting.com/models/7-dimensions-of-culture/
• World Values Survey http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/
• Globe https://globeproject.com/
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Hofstede’s study
Research based on 116,000 people in
50 countries, but all from one company –
IBM
The six Youtube clips at
http://geerthofstede.com/culture-geert-
hofstede-gert-jan-hofstede/6d-model-of-
national-culture/ are part of this lecture.
Please watch them.
You can try out the culture comparisons
tool at https://www.hofstede-
insights.com/product/compare-countries/
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Hofstede’s dimensions
Power distance: The degree to which the less powerful members of a society
accept and expect that power is distributed unequally.
Uncertainty avoidance: The degree to which the members of a society feel
uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity.
Individualism: The preference for a loosely-knit social framework in which
individuals are expected to take care of themselves and their immediate
families only.
Masculinity: The masculinity side of this dimension represents a preference in
society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material reward for
success. Society at large is more competitive.
Long-term orientation: People believe that truth depends very much on
situation, context and time. They show an ability to adapt traditions to changed
conditions, a strong propensity to save and invest, thriftiness, and
perseverance in achieving results.
Indulgence: Weak control of desires related to enjoying life. 17
Power distance/uncertainty avoidance
Power Distance
High Orientation Toward Authority Low
MAL ARA MEX IND FRA ITA JPN SPA ARG US GER UK DEN ISR AUT
Uncertainty Avoidance
High Desire for Stability Low
GRE JPN FRA KOR ARA GER AUL CAN US UK IND DEN SIN
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Individualism/masculinity
Individualism
Individualism Collectivism
AUL US UK CAN FRA GER SPA JPN MEX ITA KOR SIN
Masculinity
Assertive/Materialistic Relational
JPN MEX GER UK US ARA FRA KOR POR CHC DEN SWE
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Long-term orientation
Long-term Orientation
High Low
CHI HK JPN TAI VIE BRA IND US CAN UK E/W AFR
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Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner’s dimensions
Universalism vs. particularism: What is more important: rules or
relationships?
Individualism vs. collectivism: cf. Hofstede
Neutral vs. emotional: Do we display our emotions in a relationship?
Specific vs. diffuse: How separate we keep our private and working
lives
Achievement vs. ascription: Do we have to prove ourselves to get
status or is it given to us?
Sequential vs. synchronic: In what order do we do things?
Internal vs. external control: Do we control our environment or are
we controlled by it?
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Obligations and emortions
Obligation
High Low
Universalistic Particularistic
US GER SWE UK ITA FRA JPN SPA SIN
Emotional Orientation in Relationship
High Low
Neutral Affective
JPN UK GER SWE USA FRA SPA ITA CHI
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Privacy and source of power
Privacy in Relationship
High Low
Specific Diffuse
UK US FRA GER ITA JPN SWE SPA CHI
Source of Power and Status
High Low
Personal Society
US UK SWE GER FRA ITA SPA JPN CHI
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Inglehart – World Values Survey
• Traditonal authority vs. Secular-Rational authority
– Obedience to traditional authority and adherence to family and communal obligations,
sharing of norms
– A secular world-view in which authority is legitimized by rational legal norms, linked with
an emphasis on economical accumulation and individual achievement
• Survival values vs. Self-Expression values
– Scarcity norms emphasizing hard work and self denial
– Postmodern values, emphasizing the quality of life emancipation of women, emphasis on
self-expression
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Communication across cultures
A (simple) communications model
How is your ’Grandfather’
grandfather? must be a code
Sender Medium Receiver
Encodes Meaning Message Decodes Meaning
Noise
Culture/
Disonnance
Feedback
Negotiations across cultures
• Preparation
• Relationship building
• Exchange of task-related information
• Persuasion
• Concessions and agreement
Approaches to decision making
• Which values guide decision making (e.g. utilitariansim vs. moral idealism)?
• Who makes the decision and which roles do different people have in the
process (eg. autocratic vs. participaticve)?
• Time issues, including the speed of decision making, how obvious the
decision is and for how long it is valid.
