1. Chapter 2 Cross-Cultural Business

2. International Business 4e
Chapter Preview
Define culture and list its components
Discuss attitudes toward time, work, and cultural change
Describe the roles of religion and communication in a society
Discuss how physical environment affects culture
Describe two frameworks for classifying cultures
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International Business 4e

3. International Business 4e
What Is Culture?
Set of values, beliefs, rules, and institutions held by a specific group of people
Cultural literacy
Detailed knowledge of a culture that enables a person to function effectively within it √
Ethnocentricity
Belief that one’s own ethnic group or culture is superior to that of others X
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International Business 4e

4. Culture Matters: Creating a Global Mindset
Cultural
Adaptability
Bridging
the Gap
Building
Global Mentality
Approach
with Caution
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International Business 4e

5. International Business 4e
Nations and Culture
National culture
Nation-states build museums and monuments to preserve the legacies of important events and people
Subculture
Group of people that share a unique way of life within a larger culture (language, race, lifestyle, attitudes, etc.)
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International Business 4e

6. Personal communication
Components of Culture
Physical
environments
Education
Personal communication
Religion
Social structure
Manners & customs
Values & attitudes
Aesthetics
Culture
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7. International Business 4e
Aesthetics
Music
Painting
Dance
Drama
Architecture
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8. International Business 4e
Values and Attitudes
Values
Attitudes
Positive or negative evaluations, feelings, and tendencies people hold toward objects or concepts
The Ideas, beliefs, and customs to which people are emotionally attached
Freedom
Responsibility
Honesty
Time
Work
Cultural change
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9. Manners and Customs Manners Customs
Appropriate behavior, speech, and dressing in general
Customs
Traditional ways or behavior in specific circumstances
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10. International Business 4e
Social Structure
Social structure Culture’s groups, institutions, social positions, and resource distribution
Social stratification Process of ranking people into social layers
Social mobility Ease of moving up or down a culture's "social ladder"
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11. International Business 4e
World Religions
Origin of
Human Values
Christianity
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism
Confucianism
Judaism
Shinto
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12. International Business 4e
Language Blunders
Japanese knife manufacturer labeled its exports to the United States with “Caution: Blade extremely sharp! Keep out of children.”
English sign in a Moscow hotel read, “You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russians are buried daily, except Thursday.”
Sign for non-Japanese-speaking guests in a Tokyo hotel read, “You are respectfully requested to take advantage of the chambermaids.”
Sign in English at Copenhagen ticket office read, “We take your bags and send them in all directions.”
Braniff Airlines’ English-language slogan “Fly in Leather” was translated into “Fly Naked” in Spanish.
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13. International Business 4e
Mixed Signals
"Okay"
"It's a secret"
"Crazy"
"Very nosey"
"Very clever"
"Vulgar gesture"
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14. International Business 4e
Education
Cultures pass on traditions, customs, and values through schooling, parenting, group memberships, etc.
Education level
Well-educated attract high-paying jobs, while poorly educated attract low-paying manufacturing jobs
Brain drain
Departure of highly educated people from one profession, geographic region, or nation to another
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15. International Business 4e
Problem of Illiteracy
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International Business 4e

16. Physical and Material Culture
These influence a culture’s development and pace of change
Topography
Physical features characterizing the surface of a geographic region
Climate
Weather conditions of a geographic region
Material Culture
Technology used to manufacture goods and provide services
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International Business 4e

17. Kluckhohn-Strodtbeck Framework
Relation to nature
Time orientation
Trust and control
Material or spiritual
Responsibility to others
View of personal space
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18. Hofstede Framework Individualism vs. collectivism Power distance
Uncertainty avoidance
Achievement vs. nurturing
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19. Individualism vs. Collectivism International Business 4e
Power Distance &
Individualism vs. Collectivism
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20. Power Distance & Uncertainty Avoidance International Business 4e
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International Business 4e

21. International Business 4e
Chapter Review
Define culture and list its components
Discuss attitudes toward time, work, and cultural change
Describe the roles of religion and communication in a society
Discuss how physical environment affects culture
Describe two frameworks for classifying cultures
© Prentice Hall, 2008
International Business 4e