Culture: The complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art,

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Culture The complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and
any other capabilities and habits acquired by
man as a member of society. 1.The most isolated
bits of behaviour have some systematic relation
to each other. 2. Culture is a design for
living An approved way of meeting certain
situations, of sizing them up. 3. These
solutions are regarded as the foundations of
the universe. We integrate these values into our
daily lives, no matter what the difficulties. 4.
Some degree of consistency is necessary,
otherwise the whole scheme falls apart. 5. To
try to keep some part of our lives fenced off
where we live by another set of values risks
inefficiency and chaos.
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Characteristics of culture 1. It is learned
behaviour. Formal training is part of it, but
probably the most important part is informal,
unconscious, almost unintended. 2. Culture is
shared with others - it is the common property of
a society. 3. Culture influences the ways in
which needs are met.
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Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Is it
common to all cultures? How to integrate with the
notion of cultural differences? Recall that
motivation deals with both ends and means. It is
not just a question of why we do certain things,
but also why we do them in certain ways. This
suggests that while Maslows hierarchy of needs
is common to all peoples and cultures as ends or
goals, cultures determine the particular ways in
which those needs are met.
Self Actualization
Ego
Social
Physical
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Examples (i). Marriage and family arrangements
- nowhere and at no time have they been merely
random. But the variety of arrangements developed
by human cultures span the whole range of
possibilities unlimited polygamy in Bantu
Africa limited polygamy in Islam monogamy in
Western society polyandry in some tribes in
India, and in Tibet The same basic rule applies
in Africa and Islam - a man must be able afford
the extra wives, and he must treat them all
equally. (ii) Food. Some prohibit pork, some
prohibit beef, and in many African tribes one
or another animal is sacred, a totem, and not
hunted. Food items which not all might find
attractive puff adder stew, mopane worms,
hákarl, svið.
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(iii) Shelter and housing igloos, tipis,
rondavels, sod huts, log cabins - housing is a
function of natural resources as well as life
style Hunter gatherers and nomads cannot afford
to have permanent homes or possessions. (iv)
Proper dress The national dress for Batswana is
- nothing! Young children wear a string of beads
around their waist. Inuit wear skin
suits. Persian Shiites wear western dress. Arabs
wear thaubs - but some have short thaubs and
long beards, others have long thaubs and short
beards. Note that cultural specifications often
have an underlying basis in reality. - Pork
transmits tapeworm. - Veiling of Arab women is
based on protecting their complexions from
shamals - the windstorms off the Iraqi
desert. (v) Ways of earning a living
Traditional professions law, religion,
government, medicine preferred to modern ones -
engineering, commerce, industry Finance is
preferred to trade or manufacturing.
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Influence of Culture on Perception, Relationships
and Behaviour 1. The manners of scarcity and
poverty (i) Tradition among the Bedouin of the
desert is that you must give hospitality to the
stranger, even if he is your enemy, for up to
three days (ii) Among the Bantu, politeness
requires that you serve to you visitor, to show
you are not so poor you dont have a surplus.
Tradition also requires that you leave something
on the plate - to show that you are not that
famished. (iii) Even the poor indulge in
conspicuous consumption. Batswana interplant
watermelons among the sorghum, then use it for a
party, eating only the sweetest centre. They
told us Canadians we ate it like dogs, because we
ate it down to the white rind. But for Canadians
watermelon is an expensive delicacy!
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2. Perception of the physical world - American
site engineer told his bricklayer the wall was
crooked, but the bricklayer insisted it was
straight, and proved it with his level. But it
turned out the level was out of plumb, and the
wall was crooked. The engineers explanation
was that there was nothing perpendicular in the
workmans world.He lived in a village with round
houses on meandering roads and paths, none of
which was straight and that never intersected at
right angles.
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3. Class structure seems to be a universal
characteristic of all human cultures. Each is
divided into layers of one sort or another. They
may be very obvious as the caste system in
India, or semi-obvious as with the titles
aristocracy in the UK, or may be relatively
hidden to all but insiders. e.g. when Kristjan
Eldjarn was elected President of Iceland in the
mid 60s, Time magazine expressed surprise at
the election of this unknown person. This in
turn became an insiders joke in Iceland, for
everyone knew he came from one of the best
families.In Iceland there are no family names,
much less titles, to guide the outsider, but
people know their genealogies. The old peoples
first question to the young stranger is the same
in Iceland, Bahrain and Botswana Whose child
are you? Societies can be stratified by age, by
sex, by occupation, by education, by ethnic
origins, by religion, by place of residence, or
by almost anything that can serve as a
distinguishing mark.
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Culture affects behaviour through its impact on
structure of personality (i) Role theory
Personality consists of a set of learned roles,
the correct behaviour in a particular
situation teacher/pupil interaction weddings,
funerals, birthday parties boss/subordinate
interaction boy/girl relationships There is a
correct way to herd goats, build a dhow, drive a
car, raise children. Role theory places a
premium on standard responses to
standard situations. Problems can arise when
circumstances change and the standard behaviours
no longer produce satisfactory outcomes.
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(ii) Researchers such as Freud, Erikson,
McClelland, Hagen argue that the way in which
cultures raise their children, from infancy on,
affects the fundamental structure of their
personality and their motive structure. Hence
particular patterns of child raising will
generate particular patterns of motive structure
or personality in a society or
culture. Although Hofstede has not really argued
the source of the differences, his researches
have generated general acceptance of
systematic personality differences among
cultures, or clusters of cultures.
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Culture and Management Differences in culture
will affect the ways in which cultures
structure their organizations, whether economic,
political, military or other. At the same time
differences in culture will generate and
legitimate different patterns of interaction
among members of a group or organization, and
will legitimate particular patterns of
authority relationships. I illustrate this using
the four dimensions which Hofstede has identified.
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1. Power Distance This refers to the degree to
which social inequalities are emphasized. High
power distance places strong emphasis on formal
authority, hierarchy and obedience. Low power
distance means there is little difference in
hierarchical status relationships among members
of the society and its organs are relatively
egalitarian. High power distance would be
typical of Theory X management, low power
distance of Theory Y.
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2.Individualism High individualism places
emphasis on individual achievement
and innovation. Low scores means culture places
high emphasis on group harmony and conformity to
group norms. High individualism would be
associated with Theory Y.
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3. Uncertainty Avoidance Reflects the extent to
which ambiguity or uncertainty generate anxiety
in the culture. Related to the concept of
tolerance for ambiguity. High uncertainty
avoidance means the culture has high regard for
structure, rituals and formal procedures. Low
uncertainty avoidance implies the culture place
little importance on the formality of structures
and arrangements, and are quite willing to adopt
or create structures or relationships as required
to deal with particular situations. High
uncertainty avoidance would seem to be related to
Theory X style.
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4. Masculinity/ femininity High masculinity
values assertiveness, decisiveness and
competitiveness. Low masculinity/high femininity
is more concerned with nurturing relationships
and maintenance of group solidarity. This
dimension seems to have less to do with Theory
X-Theory Y and more to do with the fundamentals
of group functioning - the distinction between
task roles and maintenance roles within the
group.
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Hofstede has also identified a fifth cluster,
which he calls Confucian dynamism, to help
explain the phenomenon of widespread successful
entrepreneurship in East Asian cultures. The
implication is that the philosophical/religious
value system of a culture is also an important
determinant of members behaviour. (This is an
idea that goes back to Max Webers The
Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.)
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Development and Cultural Change It is
conventional to define development in economic
terms, but it can be manifested in any field of
endeavour - religion, music, art, politics,
etc. One cannot change one thing in a culture in
isolation. Because of interdependence other
elements of the culture will have to adjust as
well. Successful development always involves
conflict (i) Role conflict between existing
roles may be heightened. (ii) New roles may be
defined, which will generate new types or
dimensions of conflict. (iii) Successful
development always involves a redistribution of
power within the culture. Losers see themselves
threatened and will oppose the change. Winners
may try to use their larger power base as a
source of further aggrandisement.
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Introducing Change Since everything is
interconnected, one has a choice of entry
points. Unsuccessful change initiatives may be
attributable to incomplete or inadequate
attention being paid to one or more of the
fundamental factors.
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Examples 1. Rate of economic growth depends on
the size of the labour force. Question Is the
labour force half as big or twice as big? i.e.
Are women part of the labour force? 2. Very
high levels of national income can be used to pay
the costs of avoiding or minimizing change, e.g.
Saudi Arabia and other oil countries which
provide duplicate separate facilities for men and
women - education, shopping, hospitals. 3.
Bahrain and Botswana have become fundamentally
monogamous societies over the course of the past
generation, although polygamy is still legal in
both. Young men feel they can not afford the cost
of housing and education for two families (and
indeed the average family size has gone down).
Young women have been spoiled by education are
are no longer willing to share themselves.
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Cultural Values And Development
Dro
Dropped
Reinterpreted
Core