1. GLOBAL CULTURE Chapter 7 Lecture 1
This lecture introduces the first half of the global culture chapter, highlighting definitions, the role that national culture plays, examines Hofstede and Trompenaars frameworks, and uses the cultural iceberg. It concludes with an exercise that helps students apply these lessons; the exercise is found in a word document: nation described.
TEACHING OBJECTIVES: define and understand culture; lay the groundwork for understanding differences in national cultures; learn some of the principal ways cultures differ between and within nations; to examine and experience how cultural expectations shape personal behaviors and assumptions about people from other cultures.
Nation described exercise
Could use: Video: Brazil, Emerging Power, first 13–14 minutes of the tape shows how Brazil deals with common challenges such as jobs and coping with national diversity.

2. ALFRED NORTH WHITEHEAD
THE MAJOR ADVANCES IN CIVILIZATION ARE PROCESSES THAT ALL BUT WRECK THE SOCIETIES IN WHICH THEY OCCUR.

3. CULTURE DEFINED
The learned, shared, interrelated set of symbols and patterns of basic assumptions
That are invented, discovered, or developed by a given group (nation, affiliative group, business or other organization)
To help the group cope with problems it faces
external adaptation
internal integration
Culture has been defined in many ways, and like the word "globalization" people can use the word "culture" in many ways: biologists culture bacteria; opera-goers might be thought of as having culture; sociologists see culture as habits of group life passed down from one generation to the next. Global culture draws from the three fields that have concentrated most on cultural issues at different levels: anthropologists look at groupings, especially societal level ones like nations, sociologists look at organizational cultures, and psychologists look at individual measures of culture.
In this class, we combine these definitions.
Other features of culture: it has worked well enough over time to be considered valid and, therefore
is to be taught to new members as the way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to challenges faced (Schein, 1990).
 For any society, culture is a process.
 How will I/we survive, find food, shelter, provide goods I need or want?
Threat: acquiring resources to survive.
Social response in the Stone Age: organize tasks to maximize value, e.g., hunting, gathering, foraging.
Social response today: organize tasks to maximize value, but now these tasks often are organizational and more highly structured.
Slide 1: Culture defined
Culture is a learned, shared, compelling, interrelated set of symbols whose meanings orient members of a society toward providing common solutions to problems that must be resolved if the society is to survive.
For any society, culture is a process.
How will I/we survive, find food, shelter, provide goods I need or want?
Threat: Acquiring resources to survive
Social response in the Stone Age: organize tasks to maximize value, e.g., hunting, gathering, foraging

4. MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
People face needs in their lives
According to Maslow, lower level needs generally must be satisfied before higher ones
Self- actualization
Esteem
Social
Safety
Interestingly, many argue that this hierarchy of needs is mainly based on U.S. norms; in other societies, social issues might be more important than meeting physical or safety needs. That is, people may put others first if to do otherwise would isolate them from their group and from future access to safety and/or physical need fulfillment.
Physical

5. HOW DOES CULTURE EMERGE?
People have common needs and face similar challenges, and form societies to address these challenges
organizing as families and extended families then as
communities and extended communities then as
rural and urban groups
national societies or nation-states
global society?

6. NATIONAL CULTURE ANSWERS IINTERNAL CHALLENGES
Division of labor
Social controls
Motivate group members
Legitimize and distribute power
Create sense of belonging Us
What are the problems societies face as nations?
Internal:
division of human labor
social controls
motivate people to do what they have to do
legitimize and distribute power
create a sense of belonging and worth—usually been religion
External:
protect the populace and other natural resources from enemies—so can be armed enemies or economic enemies as in colonialism
Today we may be at a transition where nationality per se is less important to development of society and culture than in the past.
Them

7. NATIONAL CULTURE ANSWERS IINTERNAL CHALLENGES
Protect the group from outsiders and natural forces
Protect resources
Present an image to others
Attract (or repel) new members Us
Evidence for how culture functions to address the same problems is provided by a quick look at part of a video called Brazil, Emerging Power.
VIDEO: Brazil, Emerging Power, first 13.5 minutes introduces Brazil as a country of superlatives, then shows how music is a metaphor for Brazil and goes beyond the cultural life to look at Brazil's importance as a computer center. The video provides images of culture; how they develop; how they change; and why they are changing today.
Another use of the video is to ask students to think about how nations solve the same challenges. This is evident if we compare Brazil’s history with history (in the U.S. or another home country). As students view the video, they should be looking for comparative answers to these cultural questions for Brazil and the U.S. (or other home country): how are outsiders treated? How are group members motivated? How does a nation create a sense of belonging? How does a nation distribute resources?
DISCUSSION: How do events depicted in this video suggest culture develops? What can we expect in terms of changes in Brazilian culture; changes in world culture brought about by Brazilian influences?
Video can be concluded by going to next two slides which shows how culture functions at the national level.
Them

8. NATIONAL CULTURE Forms a boundary to define the group
geographic and psychological
Makes “us” different from everyone else
all other people; all other nations
Defines “us” as different from “them”
“they” tend to be those least like us
Survival value (for the nation and person)
The boundary of “us” vs “them” usually defines “them” as people who are least like us

9. When describing national culture, most people are talking about dominant culture
But bear in mind:
there will be variations
there are subcultures within every nation
almost everyone knows the norms of the dominant culture
typically only members of subcultures know the norms of their own group

10. THE NINE NATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA
Ecotopia—Northwest Corridor
MexAmerica, Texas, Southern Calif., Arizona
Dixie—southern states
The Islands, S. Florida and the Caribbean
This slide from The Nine Nations of North America shows that some consider the U.S. to be many "cultures"—the important point to make is that there are dominant cultures and subcultures that shape us; we need to keep our eye on dominant business cultures within the U.S. and around the world.
international
global

11. NATIONS TRADITIONALLY SHAPE ORGANIZATIONS

12. BUT INFLUENCES COME FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES
Professional training/groups
Family
Subgroups, e.g., R&D or accounting
Individuals

13. INCREASINGLY WE ALSO SEE
Business influences come not from domestic influences alone but also from international and global business activities, e.g.,
subsidiaries
joint ventures and other strategic alliances

14. OFTEN CREATING CULTURE CLASH
between parent and subsidiary
among managers
in practices considered “unnatural” to the subsidiary

15. CULTURAL QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT CONSIDER ANSWERING
What cultural norms do you see in yourself? In the people who surround you on a daily basis?
Give an example of when you have experienced a different culture. What was it like?
What is it that other cultures have to offer to the global environment?
What is the public opinion about foreign cultures and international business operations? How might these opinions be skewed?
 Is it possible to see different cultures close to home (i.e. in the same city, state, country)?
What are the benefits and/or consequences of integrating/not integrating global cultures?

16. HOW IS CULTUE EMBEDDED IN PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS?
THINK OF CULTURE AS AN ICEBERG:
you see it, but perhaps not the important parts
Symbols; language
Behaviors
Practices
Customs
Norms
beliefs, traditions, priorities, assumptions, values

17. CULTURE Values Norms Deep seated, lasting, don’t change much
Stable over time
Norms
Social rules and guidelines
Mores—things central to the smooth operation of society
Folkways—routine patterns

18. NATIONAL CULTURE SHAPES VALUES
Cultural contrasts:
Tradition versus change
Past versus future
Purpose of life
Nurture the human spirit versus create wealth
Modesty versus boasting
Doing versus being
Among the many and varied answers found in the table "Cultural contrasts" is that some cultures affirm a belief that the past and present are more important than the future; whereas, other cultures affirm a belief that the future is more important than what's past or even more important than the present. Planning is likely to be a more important business activity in a future-oriented society, while enjoyment of the present moment or friends—even if such enjoyment is not a business activity—is more likely in a present-oriented society. Recall, differences like these are not important when cultures are separate, but they have a profound impact on global and international business when the planner spawned by a future-oriented culture perceives the present-oriented worker is playing instead of working. Similarly, the worker in a present-oriented society could easily conclude the future-oriented planner is rigid and serious about work. Neither behavior is wrong in its own society, but the two sets of cultural rules are in conflict. These cultural conflicts can lead to differences in behavior that result in misunderstandings and personal conflict.

19. NATIONAL CULTURE HAS DIMENSIONS
Hofstede’s view of national culture reflected in organizations
POWER DISTANCE—extent to which society accepts that power is distributed unequally in institutions and organizations
UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE—likes formal rules; absolute truths
MASCULINITY/FEMININITY—masculine is assertive, acquisitive, values money and things and not caring for others, quality of life or people; whereas, femininity is nurturing and valuing quality of life
INDIVIDUALISM/COLLECTIVISM—individual takes care of self and family and is low on organizational loyalty; collectivism is in-group or clan responsibility loyalty is “owed” to the group
LONG TERM vs SHORT TERM ORIENTATION

20. FONS TROMPENAARS (1994)
Universalism—belief that ideas and concepts can be applied anywhere versus particularism—belief that circumstances dictate rules and relationships
Individualism (self) or collectivism (group)
Achievement (made) or ascription (born)
Neutral—mask feelings or affective—feelings are a normal part of communication
Sequential approach to time or synchronous

21. AND NATIONAL CULTURE SHAPES BEHAVIORS
how people look
how people act
how people speak
the symbols that surround them
how people interact
Within our own culture(s), this behavior is fairly easy to understand. We understand that you dress as you do and I dress as I do because we are playing different roles. In the business world, what mode of dress would be expected? How do you know?
You know because throughout your life you've been exposed to images of culture that show you how to dress for business, even how to "dress for success" how to dress when you're trying to be inconspicuous; how to dress when you want to be noticed and so on. You've learned a language, adopted speech patterns, and interact with others in culturally patterned ways, but here's the challenge: you rarely, if ever, think about culture within a culture, you just live it.
The traditions, the beliefs, the priorities, assumptions and values that lie below the surface of the cultural iceberg are all taken for granted. Similarly, you take it for granted that others have the same values and priorities and mean the same things you do when they dress as you do, talk as you do, take their seat in a university classroom as you do.
But is that true when we cross national boundaries? No, it's not true. Culturally, we have begun to look more alike, but at this point we do not really share underlying values. Yes, we share a desire to make money and be business like, but we do not share the same values in terms of how hard we should work for money and how we should be business like.

22. CULTURE CREATES EXPECTATIONS
What happens when people do not behave as you expect?
Example: if you are a driving a car on the streets of (your town) and someone suddenly turns in front of you without signaling, what do you feel/think?
U.S. students will say you think the driver of the other car is an idiot or from somewhere else.
What if the person driving the car is different from you, e.g., foreign, older, a man or woman?
What if the same thing happened in other nations from which students come, e.g., Russia, Singapore, Indonesia, Kuwait, etc.?
Students from other nations often say that having people disobey lights is no surprise—they expect it.
What if someone attended this class wearing a yellow and purple outfit that included bell bottom pants and a red knit cap? What would you think?

23. BUT HOW PEOPLE ACT DOESN’T EXPLAIN WHY
Because specific actions, behaviors, symbols, and meanings are intended to resolve problems for a specific society
And societies
face different challenges
respond to the same challenges with different solutions

24. THIS EXERCISE DEMONSTRATES HOW
Each person in the group should describe their views on attitudes listed on the left hand side according to their own country/culture. How are those attitudes reflected in behaviors at work? For example, in the U.S., how is an emphasis on wealth/materialism reflected in work rewards? You are encouraged to distinguish between what we have called the “dominant” culture and any subcultures in which you live so that people in your group develop a better understanding of the wide range of culture found within nations as well as between nations.  
EXERCISE: Get in your own groups. When they are in groups, pass out handout headed:
Nation described
Each person in the group should describe their views on attitudes listed on the left hand side according to their own country/culture. You are encouraged to distinguish between what we have called the "dominant" culture and any subcultures in which you live so that people in your group develop a better understanding of the wide range of culture found within nations as well as between nations. About 10 minutes before class ends, we will stop with the exercise.
Mingle with students to listen to their comments and help them decide how to orient to this.
Before class ends (or at beginning of next class if time runs out), regain class attention to ask:
a. Describe what you learned about another culture that you did not know before today.
b. Shat can we learn from the exercise?
Dominant and subcultures within the same nation can differ and they create a challenge for the individual as you decide where you will work.
National cultures differ, but there are reasons for these differences—as managers we have to get below the behavior and beyond our own assumptions to learn from others why they are doing what they are doing.
What are the things you value and find important in terms of work?

25. NATIONAL CULTURE SHAPES VALUES
ROLE OF WEALTH IN LIFE
IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL SPACE
ATTITUDE TOWARD TIME
ROLE OF FAMILY
ROLE OF WORK
ROLE OF FRIENDS IN LIFE
WHAT ARE LIFE’S PRIORITIES?
Use the exercise prepared for handout called: nation described (Word document).

26. NATIONAL CULTURES COMPARED
Describe what you learned about another culture that you did not know before talking with others
What can we learn from the exercise?
What are the things you value and find important in terms of work?
This lecture introduces the first half of the global culture chapter, highlighting definitions, the role that national culture plays, examines Hofstede and Trompenaars’ frameworks, and uses the cultural iceberg. It concludes with an exercise that helps students apply these lessons; the exercise is found in a Word document: nation described.

27. 10 TEN FIRST LANGUAGES 1 in 6 people speak Mandarin (1 billion)
English: 380 million
Spanish: 266 million
Bengali: 189 million
Hindi: 182 million
Portuguese: 170
Russian: 170
Japanese: 125
German 98
Chinese (Wu): 77
Partial source: Voices of the World. National Geographic map, June 1999 (in technology file)