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American Business Culture
OUTLINE The American Experience and Value System Personal Qualities Communication Protocol Mores and Morality The Business Climate
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American Business Culture
The U.S. is vast and has many different cultures of business Silicon Valley—innovative, risk taking, informal, individual freedom, visionary, teamwork, open communication, employees are valued
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American Business Cultures
Wall Street—Greed is good, massive profit, lack of consequence thinking, flock mentality, competitive individualistic, aggressive Retail—strict control, poor pay, few rights, anti-union Thinking outside the box is not often appreciated, top-down Top down
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The American Experience
Searching for the American Dream Dislike of centralized systems which limited personal development The importance of success Material success as a measure of personal development: U.S. consumer debt: $13 trillion Success is individual—individualism vs. feudalism The emphasis on initiative vs. govt intervention
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American Values Independence Freedom Individualism
Competition = Free markets Skepticism toward central government = deregulation
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Indvidualism: Positives and Negatives
Creates a need to perform because people are evaluated & rewarded on individual performance. Make you customer a performer—”you will save your company X $ and increase its lateral communication.” Remember the strain and worry that Americans are under. Help them!
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Indvidualism: Positives and Negatives
Self-improvement mania—Americans want to be better so show them how your product will make them seem better. The negatives include the feeling that failure is individual inspite of the fact that often it is the result of circumstances—especially today.
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Positive Thinking Positive thoughts are rewarded and negative thoughts often penalized. Americans can fail to see the situation in a critical light and over-estimate what they are capable of—especially since individual performance is the basis of their survival. Analysis/criticism can be viewed as negativism. Thus self-deception can result.
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Positive Thinking A contradiction given the present situation
Although the American economy is recovering, 8 million jobs were lost and Americans worry about losing their jobs. Many jobs created are poorly paid. The threat of robots taking jobs. Yet Americans are expected to be positive, which may help them keep their jobs, while their situation is the opposite.
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Main Street Main St. Desperation: loss of jobs, homes. Anger which Trump played on The greatest fear: loss of job, home and health insurance. What happens when Obama Care is weakened? Is greed good? Consequences of greed. Are Americans in a state of denial?
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The Present Situation Minimum wage is $7.25/hour The Trump cabinet consists of billionaires— the latter traditionally don’t care about workers and the middle class There has been no mention of raising the minimum wage Recent legislation has weakened unions and made it difficult for workers to collect overtime pay
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The Present Situation Salaries and Benefits Paid vacations--2-3 weeks
Can’t be taken consecutively 50 hour week not uncommon Unpaid overtime for managers Meritocracy, not seniority Never ask about one’s salary Health insurance--must be negotiated Most benefits must be negotiated--no free lunch
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The Present Situation 57% of Americans say that they are just barely making it. The middle class has declined from 62% in the 60’s to 43% today The upper 20% own 88% of all wealth. The lower 40% own 0.4% of all wealth.
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The Present Situation 60% of the benefits of Trump’s tax plan will go to the upper 1% Is the U.S. tilted in favor of a smaller and smaller minority? One can get the feeling that the middle and working classes don’t count.
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The Present Situation U.S. CEOs earn 300 times that of their employees compared with 30 times (1970). Equality in the work place? Although productivity has increased over the last 45 years, none of the benefits have been passed on to the workers in terms of higher wages. Their buying power has decreased by 2% since 1970
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Question What is it in American culture/ American business culture that makes Americans accept this blatant inequality in society and working life?
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Existing Illusions The American Dream of social mobility is still alive. Free markets benefit everyone. Regulation prevents initiative and is bad for business. Tax breaks for the rich generate GDP growth and higher salaries. The U.S. is the greatest nation in the world.
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Positive Aspects of American Business
Relatively limited government regulation—pro business orientation Favorable tax structure Access to venture capital—pro risk Can-do spirit which encourages entrepreneurship Huge consumption-oriented market
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Negative Aspects of American Business Culture
Tremendous pressure Job insecurity Highly competitive—”Swim with the Sharks without being eaten alive” Short term thinking Hype Wall St. mentality—quick profits, little responsibility, gambling, moral hazard.
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Personal Qualities Assertiveness
Loyalty—in spite of job insecurity—Corporate downsizers fire workers and their stock value goes up. Team player--informative Outgoing – sociable, enthusiastic – and polite Confidence Toughness, drive & dedication
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Communication Style Informal Time is money--be brief
First names and nick names Joking and bantering (one-upsmanship) Extrovert behavior (highly respected) Uncomfortable with silence—the Japanese weapon Time is money--be brief Conflict and confrontation accepted Exhibit confidence—hype?
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Protocol Dress--formal in business, informal socially
Time--punctual in business, 20 minute rule socially Limited gift giving (Christmas) Achievement based respect, not seniority Not as rigid rules as Asia and perhaps Europe
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Mores and Morality The importance of religious affiliation
2/3 go to church regularly Churches and civic organizations are meeting places for making connections. You must appear to be moral, but morality does not always extend to business dealings--i.e. Enron, Tyco, etc.
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Morality? Stock options and huge salaries
In order to justify their huge salaries, C.E.O.s are tempted to cook the books. over 700 companies were caught doing this, aided by auditors. All of the major financial firms broke the law But none of the C.E.O.s involved in the financial crisis have been convicted.
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The New Religion Positive thinking and attractions
Mass churches where the congregation is motivated rather than preached the gospel. The message is thinking positively and God will reward you. ”I believe God wants to give us nice things.” ”Think like God. Think big. Think increase.» «Think abundance. Think more than enough.”
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Political Correctness
Conservative and distrust of social democracy Life is a jungle, creates initiative Best not to tout the value of social democracy. Is democracy threatened? Harassment is the kiss of death Avoid discussing politics Labor relations--union membership is frowned upon: Walmart
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Socializing Voluntary organizations are often meeting places
Americans are joiners--Rotary Club, etc. Gentleman sports--tennis, squash, golf, hunting, alpine skiing are meeting places Smoking is frowned upon Expected to adapt to American values
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Topics of Conversation
Sports—know the situation of the local teams. TV programs American accomplishments Both as a nation and the accomplishments of the company with which you’re dealing Find common interests—hobbies Get them talking about what they are into Taxes in Norway—they’ll love it
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Topics of Conversation
Avoid political issues, regulation & collective governmental responsibility Sports-know about local teams. TV programs Find an area of common interest. Americans like to talk about what they are into.
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The Business Climate: Negotiating Tough negotiators
High/Low balling is common Keep your bottom line a secret Your opponent will be looking for it Americans may promise more than they can deliver A result of high expectations Hype is common
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Employer--Employee Relations
Short-term thinking The quarterly report The basis of fat bonuses for execs Layoffs and firings Increases stock value Creates a loyalty dilemma No job security, no loyalty It’s a jungle out there Informality does not mean concern
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Employer-Employee Relations
Teamworking is important Requires good communication skills and information sharing Bosses can be tough and demanding, and pressure is part of the game You must showcase yourself to be promoted Teamworking and competition for promotion--a contradiction?
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Employer-Employee Relations
A shocking Gallup Poll revealed that: 70% of the 150,000 employees polled said that they didn’t like their jobs. 17% were actively disengaged: complained constantly & looked for a new job 51% were passively disengaged; showed up for work but made no effort
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Differences Between Norwegians and Americans
Decision making—individual vs. group Getting individual Norwegians to take responsibility for a decision Identification and self-definition through one’s job—are Americans more dedicated? Separation between job and private life Service mindedness The protected Norwegian worker—protects incompetence? Sick-leave as a way out? Openness and self-promotion
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Differences Between Norwegians and Americans
Bureaucracy and regulation The ease of starting new businesses Employee protection Distribution of wealth Risk taking and access to venture capital
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Questions Will the election of Donald Trump as US President have a lasting effect on American business culture? Is the U.S. still a democracy or is it becoming an oligarchy? $
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Answers? The Koch brothers spent nearly $1billion to insure that all the advantages for the upper class will be maintained through their candidates in Congress. Companies can have a direct impact on legislation
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