1. MGP 2278 Cross Culture Communications & Management

2. Dr Chan Cheah - http://www.linkedin.com/in/chancheah
Facilitator
Dr Chan Cheah -
Contact s Or

3. The descendants of Yuyang, son of the Yellow Emperor.
Name Game
Meanings in your name
Cheah
Chan
Cherish
Precious
“To thank”
The descendants of Yuyang, son of the Yellow Emperor.
Giving Value Add in Life
Your Turn

4. What is Culture? (1.16m)

5. What is Culture?
“Man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun”
Clifford Geert, quoting Max Weber in The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays, 1977, Basic Books Classics, USA
“... the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another. Culture, in this sense, includes systems of values; and values are among the building blocks of culture”
(Geert Hofstede, 1984)
“Culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language” (Williams 1983:87)

6. Culture – an information gap
We live … in an INFORMATION GAP. Between what our body tells us and what we have to know to function, there is a vacuum and we must fill it ourselves.
We fill it with information (or misinformation) provided by our culture … our ideas, our values, our acts, even our emotions, are … cultural products
Clifford Geertz, 1973, The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays, Basic Books, NY p.55)
Beliefs info

7. Culture in terms of Orientalism (It’s not about being Asian)
Described by Edward Said as seeing people from “other” cultures as “foreign”, even as exotic objects to be studied by the “West”
Said argued that this attitude promotes a fundamental Western “us” and Oriental “them” which hampers understanding across all cultures not simply oriental
Similar to “Ethnocentrism”
Said, Edward W., 1995, Orientalism, Penguin, London (first published in 1978)

8. Culture in terms of Ethnocentrism
One's own group is the center of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it

9. Cultural Intelligence … seeing below the surface of the iceberg
Understanding culture
Thinking drivers
Motivation drivers
Behavioural drivers
Edward T Hall (1959)
Harvard Magazine, 2004:

10. Australia's new and changing face 4.23 m
Why learn culture?
UNESCO - Cultural Diversity 1.14m
Australia's new and changing face 4.23 m

11. We need cross culture skills:
Because of globalisation the world has become culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD)
We need cross culture skills:
Communicating across cultures
Managing across cultures
Governing across cultures
Leading across cultures
Changing across cultures
Coordinating across cultures
Integrating across cultures

12. How? Building Cultural Intelligence Capacity

13. Building Cultural Intelligence capacity First by describing / understanding Culture as:
Metaphors
West and the Rest
West and the Rest -
Comparing
Worldviews

14. Geography & Population
Sociocultural
Worldview perspectives
Political Ideology
History
Colonization
Art & Customs
Technology
Measure of Worth
Law
Religion
Geography & Population

15. Culture Existence Forms
History of China in 3½ Minutes

16. Culture & Diversity - its Existence forms
Source: The Cultural Web - Aligning Your Organization's Culture with Strategy

17. Movie Time
The Last Samurai

18. Film Critique
Many indicators of Japanese (Samurai) and non-Japanese cultural practice and diversity can be seen in this movie. Identify 5 you consider the most significant in understanding cultural diversity.
What sociocultural factors that determine culture were used in this movie?
To what extent do the major actors demonstrate or not demonstrate cultural intelligence?
Include other interpretations of this movie in your presentation. (Including references to the web, “The Last Samurai” in the Monash Library, and the “true story”)
For a criticism of the movie:
Apply the PBL approach to guide your learning and documentation.
Your group presentation will be expected to take 10 minutes.

19. Debrief

20. Key Questions What did you learn about culture?
Did the movie demonstrate cultural differences between the samurai and others? How?
What examples can you cite to demonstrate cultural intelligence?
Can you give examples to explain Orientalism or ethnocentrism from the movie?
What did “The Last Samurai” reveal about the cultural worldview and determinants of the culture of the Samurai at that time? What did it reveal about the United States at that time?
What additional learning do alternative interpretations of the movie suggest?
We will debrief at (time) MGP2278 session.

21. Learning Goals
Topics
Define the concept of culture & its major determinants
Topic 1: Intro to culture & diversity
2. Examine the link between culture economic processes & organisations
Topic 2: Cross culture mgt theories
3. Identify the impact of culture on organisational communication processes
Topic 3: Cross culture communications
4. Analyse the influence of culture in business management practices in different cultural settings
Topic 4: Negotiations across cultures
Topic 5: Leadership & Motivation
Topic 6: Decision Making
Topic 7: Conflict Management
Topic 8 & 9 : Governance & Social Responsibility
Topic 10: International HRM
Topic 11: International Strategy Planning
5. Apply cross culture knowledge to improve management & team performance
Topic 12 : Global Issues