Rules of Thumb for Business Conduct Across Cultures

1
Rules of Thumb for Business Conduct Across
Cultures

• Be prepared
• Slow down
• Establish trust
• Understand the importance of language
• Respect the culture
• Understand the components of culture

2
What is Culture?

• Culture is the sum total of beliefs, rules,
  techniques, institutions, and artifacts that
  characterize human populations
• Culture is learned
• Its aspects are interrelated
• Culture is shared (as opposed to individual
  traits)
• It defines the boundaries of different groups

LO1
3
Ethnocentricity

• Ethnocentrism is the belief in the superiority of
  ones own ethnic group
• To overcome ethnocentricity
• Realize that there are many different cultures
• Spend time in another country
• Undergo training on culture and language

LO1
4
Sociocultural Components

• Culture is reflected in
• aesthetics
• attitudes and beliefs
• religion
• materialism
• language
• societal organization
• legal characteristics
• political structures

LO2
5
Attitudes and Beliefs

• Attitudes Toward Time
• Vary across cultures
• Difficult area for some Americans
• Directness and drive may be perceived to be
  rudeness
• Deadlines
• Liability abroad

LO2
6
Attitudes Toward Achievement and Work

• Germans put leisure first and work second
• The demonstration effect
• Result of having seen others with desirable goods
• Job Prestige
• The distinction between blue-collar workers and
  office employees
• Professional order of hierarchy

LO2
7
Religion

• Religion is responsible for many of the attitudes
  and beliefs affecting human behavior
• Work Ethic
• Protestant work ethic
• Duty to glorify God by hard work and the practice
  of thrift
• Confucian work ethic
• Drive toward hard work and thrift similar to
  Protestant work ethic

LO2
8
Primary Asian Religions

• Hinduism
• Caste system
• Society is divided into four groups (plus the
  outcasts)
• Each is assigned a certain class of work
• Buddhism
• Reform of Hinduism
• Jainism (Mahavira a contemporary of Buddha)
• Nonviolence a major principle
• Sikhism
• Bridge between Hinduism and Islam

LO3
9
Primary Asian Religions

• Confucianism
• Inseparable from Chinese culture
• Taoism
• Lao Tzu, contemporary of Confucius
• Shintoism
• Indigenous to Japan

LO3
10
Islam

• Islam is the youngest and second largest faith
• 1.3 billion followers
• In comparison, Christianity has 2 billion
  adherents
• Muhammad is Founder
• Prophet of God and head of state
• Holy Book Koran

LO3
11
Islam

• Five Pillars of Faith
• Confession of faith
• Five daily prayers
• Charity
• Ramadan fast
• Pilgrimage to Mecca
• Jihad holy war
• Sunni-Shia Conflict
• Conflict gives rise to violent clashes

LO3
12
Religions of the World
Insert Figure 6.1
LO3
13
Spoken Language

• Spoken language is the most apparent cultural
  distinction between countries
• Spoken languages demarcate cultures
• Switzerland has four separate cultures
• Many languages can exist in a single country, but
  one usually serves as communication vehicle
• Lingua franca or link language
• English primary language of business

LO6
14
Language and Translation

• Translation
• The ability to speak the language well does not
  eliminate the need for translator
• Use back translation to avoid translation
  problems
• Japanese hotel You are invited to take
  advantage of the chambermaid.
• Bangkok dry cleaner Drop your trousers here for
  best results.

LO6
15
Language Issues

• Technical words do not exist in all languages
• Usually use English
• Many cultures avoid saying anything disagreeable

LO6
16
Unspoken Language

• Nonverbal communication
• Gestures vary tremendously from one region to
  another
• Closed doors convey different meanings
• Office size has different meanings in various
  cultures
• Conversational distance small in Middle East
• Gift giving has specific etiquette in each
  culture
• Gift or bribe?
• Questionable Payments

LO7
17
2003 Corruption Index Scores and Ranking
18
Societal Organization

• Kinship
• Extended family
• includes blood and marriage relatives
• Members responsibility
• Although the extended family is large, each
  members feeling of responsibility to it is
  strong
• Associations
• Social units based on age, gender, or common
  interest, not on kinship

LO8
19
Societal Organization

• Associations
• Age is an important market segment criterion
• Gender
• As nations industrialize, more women enter the
  job market and assume greater importance in the
  economy
• Free association
• people joined together by a common bond
  political, occupational, religious or recreational

LO8
20
Understanding National Cultures

• Hofstedes Dimensions of Culture
• Individualism versus Collectivism
• Large versus Small Power Distance
• Strong versus Weak Uncertainty Avoidance
• Masculinity versus Femininity

LO9
21
Hofstede Value Dimension Scores
LO9
22
Individualism versus Collectivism

• Collectivistic cultures
• People belong to groups that are supposed to look
  after them in exchange for loyalty
• Individualistic cultures
• People look after only themselves and the
  immediate family

LO9
23
Large versus Small Power Distance

• Power distance refers to the extent to which
  members of a society accept the unequal
  distribution of power among individuals
• In large-power-distance societies employees
  believe their supervisors are right employees do
  not take any initiative in making non-routine
  decisions

LO9
24
Strong versus Weak Uncertainty Avoidance

• Uncertainty avoidance refers to the degree to
  which members of a society feel threatened by
  ambiguity and are rule-oriented
• Employees in high uncertainty-avoidance cultures
  tend to stay with their organizations
• Japan, Greece, and Portugal
• Those from low uncertainty-avoidance nations are
  more mobile
• United States, Singapore, and Denmark

LO9
25
Power Distance and Uncertainty Avoidance
LO9
26
Individualism and Power Distance
LO9
27
Masculinity versus Femininity

• Masculinity versus femininity refers to the
  degree to which the dominant values in a society
  emphasize assertiveness, acquisition of money,
  and status
• Masculinity
• achievement of visible and symbolic
  organizational rewards
• Femininity
• emphasize relationships, concern for others, and
  the overall quality of life

LO9