Meanings and Dimensions of Culture Chapter 4

5-2 McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,All Rights Reserved.  The nature of culture  What culture is  Cultural values: U. S., Japan, Arab countries  How culture affects management  Cultural stereotypes  Cultural dimensions – how people look at life  Hofstede's dimensions  Country clusters – countries with similar cultural dimensions  Trompenaar's dimensions Chapter Outline

5-3 McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,All Rights Reserved. The Nature of Culture  Culture  The acquired knowledge that people use to interpret experience and generate social behavior  Cultural knowledge forms values, creates attitudes, and influences behavior  Characteristics of culture include:  Learned  Shared  Transgenerational  Symbolic  Patterned  Adaptive

5-4 McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,All Rights Reserved. Table 5-1 Priorities of Cultural Values United States 1. Freedom 2. Independence 3. Self-reliance 4. Equality 5. Individualism 6. Competition 7. Efficiency 8. Time 9. Directness 10. Openness Arab Countries 1. Family security 2. Family harmony 3. Parental guidance 4. Age 5. Authority 6. Compromise 7. Devotion 8. Patience 9. Indirectness 10. Hospitality Japan 1. Belonging 2. Group harmony 3. Collectiveness 4. Age/seniority 5. Group consensus 6. Cooperation 7. Quality 8. Patience 9. Indirectness 10. Go-between

5-5 McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,All Rights Reserved. Reactions to Recession in Japan It should be clear that reforms based on Western- style individualism or Anglo-Saxon free market capitalism cannot be implemented in Japan, or, if implemented, are destined to fail... What we need now is a reaffirmation of the samurai spirit and merchant ethic that form the Japanese philosophical core. - Eisuke Sakakibara

5-6 McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,All Rights Reserved. The people of Japan need an environment in which they can be responsible for their own behavior rather than one in which bureaucrats are allowed to maintain control over them. - Misao Miyamoto Reactions to Recession in Japan (2)

5-7 McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,All Rights Reserved. Management Approaches Affected by Cultural Diversity Cultural Diversity Sort-term vs. long-term horizons Stability vs. innovation Individual vs. group rewards Cooperation vs. competition Centralized vs. Decentralized decision making Informal vs. formal procedures Safety vs. risk High vs. low organizational loyalty

5-8 McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,All Rights Reserved. The Nature of Culture (cont.)  Values in Culture  Values: Basic convictions that people have regarding what is right and wrong, good and bad, important and unimportant  Research has identified both differences and similarities in values of different cultural groups  Values in transition  Changes taking place in managerial values as a result of both culture and technology  Research on Japanese managers  Individualism on the rise in Japan

5-9 McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,All Rights Reserved. Figure 5-3 Stereotyping from the Cultural Extremes French CultureU.S. Culture How Americans see the French arrogant flamboyant hierarchical emotional How French see Americans naive aggressive unprincipled workaholic

5-10 McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,All Rights Reserved. Cultural Dimensions  Geert Hofstede  Power distance - extent to which less powerful members of organizations accept the unequal power distribution  Uncertainty avoidance - extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguous situations and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these  Individualism - tendency of people to look after themselves and their immediate family only  Collectivism - tendency of people to belong to groups or collectives and to look after each other in exchange for loyalty  Masculinity - culture in which the dominant values are success, money, and things  Femininity - dominant values are caring for others and quality of life

5-11 McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,All Rights Reserved. Trompenaars’ Cultural Dimensions  Universalism vs. Particularism  Universalism - belief that ideas and practices can be applied everywhere in the world without modification  Focus on formal rules and rely on business contacts  Particularism - belief that circumstances dictate how ideas and practices should be applied and something cannot be done the same everywhere  Focus on relationships, working things out to suit the parties

5-12 McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,All Rights Reserved. Trompenaars’ Cultural Dimensions (2)  Neutral vs. Emotional  Neutral - culture in which emotions are held in check  People try not to show their feelings  Emotional - culture in which emotions are expressed openly and naturally  People smile, talk loudly, greet each other with enthusiasm

5-13 McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,All Rights Reserved. Trompenaars’ Cultural Dimensions (3)  Achievement vs. Ascription  Achievement - culture in which people are accorded status based on how well they perform their work and what they have accomplished  Job, work performance, education, etc.  Ascription - culture in which status is attributed based on who or what a person is  For example, status may be accorded on the basis of age, gender, family, tribe, ethnic group, etc.

5-14 McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,All Rights Reserved. Trompenaars’ Cultural Dimensions (4)  Time  Sequential approach to time - people do one thing at a time, keep appointments strictly, follow plans to the letter  Synchronous approach - people do more than one thing at a time, appointments are approximate

5-15 McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,All Rights Reserved. Trompenaars' Research on People & the External Environment  Environment  Inner-directed: People believe in controlling environmental outcomes  People believe that they can control what happens to them  Outer-directed: People believe in allowing things to take their natural course  People are less likely to believe that they can control what happens to them