Chapter 4: The Role of Culture

1. Chapter 4:The Role of Culture International Business, 4th Edition Griffin & Pustay ©2004 Prentice Hall

2. Chapter Objectives_1 • 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 ©2004 Prentice Hall

3. Chapter Objectives_2 • 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 ethical conflicts may arise ©2004 Prentice Hall

4. Culture Behaviors Values Culture Beliefs Attitudes Customs ©2004 Prentice Hall

5. Characteristics of Culture • Learned behavior • Interrelated elements • Adaptive • Shared ©2004 Prentice Hall

6. Figure 4.1 Elements of Culture Language Communication Social Structure Culture Values/ Attitudes Religion ©2004 Prentice Hall

7. Social Structure • Individuals, families, and groups • Importance of family • Definition of family • Importance of individual relative to the group • Social stratification – categorization based on birth, occupation, educational achievements • Social mobility – ability to move from one stratum of society to another ©2004 Prentice Hall

8. Language • 3000+ different languages worldwide • 10,000+ different dialects • Primary delineator of cultural groups • Lingua Franca • English is the common language of international business ©2004 Prentice Hall

9. Map 4.1 World Languages ©2004 Prentice Hall

10. Map 4.2 Africa’s Colonial Heritage ©2004 Prentice Hall

11. Translation Disasters • KFC’s Finger Lickin’ Good • Eat your fingers off (China) • Pillsbury’s Jolly Green Giant • Intimidating green ogre (Saudia Arabia) ©2004 Prentice Hall

12. Yes and No Across Cultures • Latin America • meaning of “manana” • Japan • meaning of “yes” versus “yes, I understand” ©2004 Prentice Hall

13. Caterpillar has developed its own simplified language instruction program –Caterpillar Fundamental English ©2004 Prentice Hall

14. 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 Table 4.1 Forms of Nonverbal Communication_1 ©2004 Prentice Hall

15. 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 Table 4.1 Forms of Nonverbal Communication_2 ©2004 Prentice Hall

16. Religion • Christianity • Catholicism • Protestant • Eastern Orthodox • Islam • Hinduism • Buddhism 72% of the world adheres to one of these four religions! ©2004 Prentice Hall

17. Map 4.3 Major World Religions ©2004 Prentice Hall

18. Two million Muslims annually descend on the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudia Arabia as part of the Haij ©2004 Prentice Hall

19. Values and Attitudes • Values: accepted principles and standards • Attitudes: actions, feelings, and thoughts that result from values • Time • Age • Education • Status ©2004 Prentice Hall

20. Theories of Culture • Hall’s Low-Context, High-Context Approach • Cultural Cluster Approach • Hofstede’s Five Dimensions ©2004 Prentice Hall

21. Hall’s Low-Context, High-Context Approach • Low-context: words used by speaker explicitly convey speaker’s message • High-context: the context in which a conversation occurs is just as important as the words spoken; cultural clues are critical to communication ©2004 Prentice Hall

22. Figure 4.2 High- and Low-Context Cultures Low Context High Context German Swiss Scandinavian U.S./ Canadian Britain Italian Spanish Greek Arab Vietnamese Japanese Korean Chinese ©2004 Prentice Hall

23. Map 4.4 A Synthesis of Country Clusters ©2004 Prentice Hall

24. Table 4.2 Cultural Differences in Negotiating Styles ©2004 Prentice Hall

25. Hofstede’s Five Dimensions • Social Orientation • Power Orientation • Uncertainty Orientation • Goal Orientation • Time Orientation ©2004 Prentice Hall

26. Social Orientation Individualism Collectivism Relative importance of the interests o the individual versus interests of the group ©2004 Prentice Hall

27. Power Orientation Power Respect Power Tolerance Appropriateness of power/authority within organizations ©2004 Prentice Hall

28. Uncertainty Orientation Uncertainty Acceptance Uncertainty Avoidance An emotional response to uncertainty and change ©2004 Prentice Hall

29. Goal Orientation Aggressive Goal Behavior Passive Goal Behavior What motivates people to achieve different goals ©2004 Prentice Hall

30. Time Orientation Long-term Outlook Short-term Outlook The extent to which members of a culture adopt a long-term or a short-term outlook on work and life ©2004 Prentice Hall

31. Figure 4.4 Social Orientation and Power Orientation Patterns ©2004 Prentice Hall

32. Understanding New Cultures • Self-reference criterion • Cultural literacy • Acculturation ©2004 Prentice Hall