1. Cultural Dynamics in Assessing Global Markets
Chapter 4

2. Culture
“The human-made part of human environment- the sum total of knowledge, belief, art, morals, laws, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by humans as members of society.”

3. Cultural Impact Birth rates Consumption levels of products China
European & Japanese consumption
Babies born in a specific year are lucky, so birthrates increase during that year; others are bad luck, so they decline.

4. Cultural Origins Geography History Political economy Technology
The “direction” of innovation
History
Political economy
WWII
Cold War
War on Terror
Technology
Spreads faster from east-to-west, than North to South (think Wild West v. pre-Civil War attitudes).

5. Cultural Origins Social Institutions Family Religion School Media
Government
Corporations
Si- Affect how people interact with one another. Who are influential? Find out who they are and then target them.
Family- US, don’t have as much influence on families and where people live. Individualism is taught
Religion- Protestantism v. Catholicism
Protestant- Take petitions directly to God= more individual power (like Pilgrims and Puritans, who set up the gov’t in US).
School- Literacy levels
Media- Less family time
Gov’t-Promotes certain ideas and attitudes

6. Elements of Culture Cultural Values Individualism/Collectivism Index
Power Distance Index
Uncertainty Avoidance Index
Masculinity/Femininity Index
Fundamental cultural differences which exist between countries.
I/C- Work in groups (low) or strive for personal achievement (high)
Power Distance Avoidance-High-hierarchiay, a great power difference between employee and boss. Low- work together with superiors
Uncertainty Avoidance- High: Intolerant, like to have the task spelled out for them directly. Rules= Less risk. Low: Can work within a lose framework. Will take risk and deviate from the course
Masc/Femin- Task-oriented; or people-oriented

7. Elements of Culture Rituals Symbols Beliefs Thought processes Language
Linguistic distances
Aesthetics
Arts, music, dance, folklore
Beliefs
Thought processes
Rituals- Patterns of behavior learned over time. Pomp& circumstance at graduations. Santa Claus at Christmas
Language- Important because it’s how they communicate, also some are sensitive about it. Beware of slang! SA languages, but English is the medium.
Linguistic distances- Grouping the languages on a “family tree”. Thus we can see how far they are away from English
Beliefs- Superstitions, like number 13 being unlucky
TP- Asian- big picture; Western- Focused

8. Cultural Knowledge Factual knowledge Interpretive knowledge
Can be learned
Interpretive knowledge
“Ability to understand cultural traits and patterns”
Cultural sensitivity
CS- No culture is entirely correct, or entirely wrong

9. Cultural Change Cultural Borrowing
Just because things look the same does not mean that they are!
Resistance
CB- Problems in culture, so seek answers outside.
Similarities- US and UK aren’t the same. Neither are regions of countries.
Innovation works best with high individualism, lower power distance and lower uncertainty avoidance

10. Planned v. Unplanned Change
Do any current factors conflict with innovation?
Should we change those factors?
Cultural congruence
Planned change
Unplanned change
Consequences
CC- Introduce something similar to what has already been accepted
UC- Introduce it and hope for the best
Consequences- If accepted, there are consequences.