The Cultural Environment Facing Business  Jashim Uddin Senior Lecturer, East West University, Bangladesh

Culture Defined ☢ The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. ☢ The patterns, traits, and products considered as the expression of a particular period, class, community, or population. ☢ The predominating attitudes and behavior that characterize the functioning of a group or organization. Courtesy:thefreedictionary.com ☢ The specific learned norms based on attitudes, values, and beliefs that exist in every nation as an integral part of external environments. Daniels

International Business create problems of cultural collision mostly because of following incidents: ☢ A company implements practices that work less well than intended. ☢ A company’s employees encounter distress because of an inability to accept or adjust to foreign behaviors. ☢ A company’s employees encounter distress because of an inability to accept or adjust to foreign behaviors. Cultural influences on international business: ☢ Cultural Awareness ☢ Identification and dynamics of cultures ☢ Behavioral practices affecting business ☢ Strategies for dealing with cultural differences

Cultural Awareness Cultural awareness simply means the knowledge about a particular culture and the ability to accept its agreed norms. All people have culturally ingrained responses to given situations and sometimes expect that people from other cultures will respond the same way as people in their own culture do. Problems that hinder manager’s cultural awareness: ☢ Subconscious reactions to circumstances ☢ The assumption that all societal subgroups are similar Contradiction among different culture may arise for thought toward business and leisure, boldness to truth, level of differences among subcultures, attitude toward mistake, salutation practices etc.

Identification and Dynamics of Cultures The Nation as a point of reference: Nation expresses a ‘we’ feeling and foreigners are considered as ‘they’. Nation waves a common feelings on some issues and share a common legal system.Similar group of people may react in the same manner in different countries. Cultural formation and dynamics: Culture transmitted through the persons of interaction (parent to child, teacher to pupil). Change may come through choice or imposition (often called cultural imperialism). Language as a cultural stabilizer: Culture spreads easily for same language. Languages spoken in small geographical area prohibits businesses to spread (Africa). Translation for commercial purposes is costly and somewhere it is a regulatory bindings. Religion as a cultural stabilizer: Religion generally lies in the core of the heart of the people thus, this belief is very soft and sensitive. Holiday, food, interest payment, hostility have impacts from religious side

Behavioral Practices Affecting Business Social stratification system: A reflection of class and status in the society creates impact on business practices. Ranking in the social stratification determined by ascribed (affiliations determined by birth) and acquired (affiliations not determined by birth) group membership.  Performance Orientation  Gender based groups  Age based groups  Family based groups  Occupation Motivation: Employees motivational level influences economic development positively. International business enterprises are more interested to higher the motivational level as higher productivity reduces cost.  Materialism and leisure

 Expectation of success and reward  Assertiveness  Need hierarchy Relationship preference: Extent of relationship gap in the social norms influence management style and marketing behavior.  Power Distance  Individualism Versus Collectivism Risk-Taking Behavior: Level of risk taking behavior of a particular culture explains how people feel and control their destinies.  Ease of handling uncertainties  Degree of trust among people  Future Orientation  Attitudes of self-determination and fatalism

Information and task processing:People from different culture perceive, obtain, and process information in different manner. Information and task processing: People from different culture perceive, obtain, and process information in different manner.  Perception of Cues  Obtaining information  Information Processing

Strategies for Dealing with Cultural Differences Make little or no adjustment Communications  Spoken and written language  Silent language Cultural shock Company and management orientations  Polycentrism  Ethnocentrism  Geocentrism Strategies for instituting change  Value system  Cost benefit of change

Resistance to too much change  Resistance to too much change  Participation  Reward sharing  Opinion leaders  Timing  Learning abroad