Todays agenda

What is Culture?

The effects of culture on organizations

How to measure culture?
Readings
Chapter 3, the Deresky text, 8th edition.
Shenkar, Oded, Beyond (2012). Cultural Distance: Switching

to a friction Lens in the Study of Cultural Differences, Journal

of International Business Studies, 43 (1).
Heather Berry, Mauro F. Guillen and Nan Zhou (2010). An
Institutional Approach to Cross-National Distance, Journal of
International Business Studies, 41(9): 1460-1480.
2

Opening Profile: Cultural Issues in Arab

World Business Deals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bspFbFytRiM

Cultural sensitivity
Cultural
sensitivity:

International
managers can
an awareness benefit from
understanding
of and an
the nature,
dimensions and
honest caring
variables of a
about another
specific culture
individuals
and how these
culture
affect work and
organizational
processes.
4

What is culture? Societal Culture

A set of shared values, understandings,

assumptions, and goals that are learned

from earlier generations, imposed by
present members of a society, and passed
on to succeeding generations
Values are abstract ideas about what a group believes

to be good, right, and desirable

A society is a group of people who share a common
set of values and norms.

What is culture? Organizational

Culture
Varies a great deal from one organization,

company, institution, or group to another

Represents those expectations, norms, and
goals held in common by members of that
group
Examples:

IBM : formal, hierarchical, rules-bound,

employees in suits
Apple: loose, informal, employees wearing
casual clothes

Societal culture and organizational

culture
Organizational culture exists within and

interacts with societal culture.

Societal culture tends to be stronger than
organizational culture.
Both can cause disputes in the workplace.

Example: Daimler-Benz vs. Chrysler

Daimler: conservative, rigid (Germany)
Chrsyler: informal, outward oriented, less rigid
(America)

Cultures effects on management

Which organizational processes are most

affected by cultural differences, and how

they are affected is the subject of ongoing
research and debate.
Rather than focusing on cultural distance,

the interaction between them is the working

issue in international management
(Shenkar, 2012)
Focus on the concept of friction instead of

distance.
8

The Effect of Culture on

Organizational Process
U.S. Culture

Alternative

Function
Affected

Individual
influences future

Life is
preordained

Planning,
scheduling

The environment
is changeable

People adjust to
the environment

Morale,
productivity

Hark work leads

to success

Wisdom and luck

are also needed

Motivation,
rewards

Employment can
be ended

Employment is for Promotions,

a lifetime
recruitment

Cultures Effects on Management

10

Convergencethe phenomenon of the shifting of

individual management styles to become similar to
one another
Self-Reference Criterionthe subconscious
reference point of ones own cultural values. Many
people in the world understand and relate to others
only in terms of their own cultures.
Parochialismoccurs, for example, when a
Frenchman expects those from or in another
country to automatically fall into patterns of
behavior common in France
Ethnocentrismdescribes the attitude of those
who operate from the assumption that their ways
of doing things are best no matter where or under
what conditions they are applied

How to measure culture? Cultural

Value Dimensions
Geert Hofstede studied culture using data

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collected from 1967 to 1973 for 100,000

employees of IBM
Hofstedes dimensions of culture:
1. Power distance - how a society deals with
the fact that people are unequal in physical
and intellectual capabilities
2. Individualism versus collectivism - the
relationship between the individual and his
fellows
3. Uncertainty avoidance - the extent to which
different cultures socialize their members
into accepting ambiguous situations and
tolerating ambiguity

Hofstedes Value Dimensions

Power Distance
High

Orientation Toward Authority

Low

MAL PHI MEX IND FRA ITA JPN SPA ARG US GER UK DEN ISR AUT

Uncertainty Avoidance
High

Desire for Stability

Low

GRE JPN POR KOR ARA GER AUL CAN US UK IND DEN SIN

12

Hofstedes Value Dimensions

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
13

Hofstedes Value Dimensions

Long-term/Short-term Orientation
High
CHI
AFR

14

Low
HK JPN

TAI

VIE BRA IND

US CAN

UK

E/W

Hofstedesfour
fourdimensions
dimension
Hofstedes
Work-Related Values for 20 Countries

15

Hofstedes
fifthdimension
dimension
Hofstedes
fifth
Hofstede later expanded added a fifth

dimension called Confucian dynamism or

long-term orientation
captures attitudes toward time, persistence,

ordering by status, protection of face, respect for

tradition, and reciprocation of gifts and favors
Japan, Hong Kong, and Thailand scored high on this

dimension
the U.S. and Canada scored low
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijpbhile6aY

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Hofstede
Right?
Was Was
Hofstede
Right?
Hofstedes work has been criticized for

several reasons
made the assumption there is a one-to-one

relationship between culture and the nation-state

study may have been culturally bound
used IBM as sole source of information
culture is not static it evolves
But, it is a starting point for understanding

how cultures differ, and the implications of

those differences for managers
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Trompenaarsseven
sevendimensions
dimensions
Trompenaars
Trompenaars used data involving 15,000

employees in 50 countries to identify seven

dimensions of culture.
1. Universalism versus particularism
2. Individualism versus collectivism
3. Neutral versus emotional
4. Specific versus diffuse
5. Achievement versus ascription

6. Attitudes toward time. Sequential versus synchronic

7. Attitudes toward the environment
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Trompenaars Dimensions
Obligation
High

Low

Universalistic
Particularistic
US
GER SWE UK ITA
JPN SPA SIN

FRA

Emotional Orientation in Relationship

High
Neutral
LowAffective
JPN
19

UK GER SWE USA

FRA SPA ITA

CHI

Trompenaars Dimensions
Privacy in Relationship
High

Low

Specific
Diffuse
UK US

FRA

GER

ITA JPN SWE

SPA

CHI

Source of Power and Status

High

Low

Personal

US UK SWE GER FRA

CHI
20

Society

ITA SPA JPN

GLOBE Research Project Dimensions

Low: Sweden, Japan,
Assertiveness

Switzerland
High: Greece, Austria,
Germany

Low: Russia, Argentina,

Performance
Orientation

Italy

High: U.S., Hong Kong,

Singapore

21

GLOBE Research Project Dimensions

Future
Orientation

Low: Russia, Argentina,

Italy

High: Netherlands,
Switzerland, Singapore

Humane
Orientation
22

Low: Germany, Spain,

France
High: Malaysia, Ireland,
Philippines

Cultural Cluster

23

Comparative Management in Focus

Japan

24

Germany

Wapeace and

Preference for rules and

harmony
A mix of authoritarian
and humanism in the
workplace
Emphasis on
participative
management,
consensus, and duty
Open expression and
conflict discouraged

order, privacy
Dislike of inefficiency
and tardiness
Assertive, but not
aggressive
Organizations are
centralized but still
favor consensus
decision making

Does culture change?

Does Culture Change?

Culture evolves over time

changes in value systems can be slow and painful
for a society
Social turmoil - an inevitable outcome of

cultural change
as countries become economically stronger, cultural

change is particularly common

economic progress encourages a shift from

collectivism to individualism
globalization also brings cultural change

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Summary of Key Points

Each society has its own unique culture

Managers must develop cultural sensitivity

Researchers such as Hofstede and

Trompenaar have created studies which help

describe cultural profiles; GLOBE study
created a body of data on cultural dimensions
Managers can use research results and
personal observations to develop cultural
profiles of countries

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Next week
Presentations from Group 4&5
Lecture: the cross cultural

communication environment

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