Approaches to Cultural Understanding

1
Approaches to Cultural Understanding

• by
• Sigrid Brevik Wangsness
• 25 March and 1 April 2009

2
The concept of culture - again

• Which aspects do most definitions of culture
  include?
• Why have culture and communication become
  essential elements in corporate strategy and
  planning?

3
What is the best way of approaching cultural
differences?

• What are the two main approaches to cultural
  understanding, and what are the major differences
  between the two?
• Which approach has been favoured by most business
  schools until now? Why?
• Why has this approach been challenged?

4
The functionalist approach

• List the strong points of functionalist theory.
• Next to Hofstede, who has been the most
  influential functionalist over the years? Explain
  his theories of context and time.
• What other functionalists have you studied?

5
The functionalist approach

• List the main points of criticism of the
  functionalist approach.
• Explain the concepts of ethnocentrism,
  determinism and stereotyping.

6
The interpretive approach

• What are the strong points of the interpretive
  approach?
• What do you think the Danish International Sales
  Manager meant when stating that in intercultural
  communication you should know, what you dont
  know.

7
The interpretive approach

• Mention a leading representative for the
  interpretive approach. Does his definition of
  culture make sense to you? (Why/ why not?)
• Why do the interpretivists reject the
  functionalists assumption that there is a
  one-to-one relationship between thoughts and
  behaviour?

8
The interpretive approach

• How do the interpretivists react to Hofstedes
  view that cultures are relatively static and
  change very slowly?
• According to the interpretivists, what should we
  do rather than predicting a certain behaviour by
  representatives of a particular culture?

9
Etic vs. emic perspectives

• Explain the difference between the etic and emic
  way of studying culture.
• What is the main criticism of the etic
  perspective?
• What is the main criticism of the emic
  perspective?

10
The influence of culture and context in
individual markets

• How can an emic approach to culture improve
  intercultural marketing? (How is Danish butter
  marketed in China compared to in Australia?)
• How does Gesteland treat the topic of
  intercultural marketing? (See CCBB pp. 113-123)

11
The problems of the interpretive approach

• List the main points of criticism of the
  interpretive approach.
• Despite the problems with stereotypes, it is
  necessary to make cultural generalizations. Why?
  
• Do you agree with the above statement? How
  problematic are cultural stereotypes?

12
Categorization

• According to Richard Brislin, why do we form
  categories?
• According to Richard Brislin again, what are the
  major dangers of categorization?

13
Conclusion of the article Culture in a business
context

• According to the authors of this article, how
  should we approach culture in order to become
  competent cross-cultural communicators? Should we
  be functionalists or interpretivists? (Why?)