1. Unit 6: Synthetic Cultures Section B
INTERCULTURAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
INSTRUCTOR: HSIN-HSIN CINDY LEE, PHD

2. Dimension III: Gender
Identity
Hierarchy
Gender
Truth
Virtue

3. Gender
In different cultures, people are given different roles, expectations, rights or duties according to their gender.
In some cultures, men and women do not share the same rights.
In other cultures, men and women enjoy equivalent status and rights.
The relevant status of men and women shape different kinds of culture.

4. Achievement-oriented Culture Care-oriented Culture
Gender
Masculine Culture
Achievement-oriented Culture
Feminine Culture
Care-oriented Culture
If men and women are more equal, the result is to see more feminine qualities within the society such as caring and compromises.
It is also common to more female executives in the working place.
In all countries in the world, an unequal role distribution between men and women coincides with a tougher society.
In such Masculine country with unequal role distribution, there is more emphasis on achievement and fighting than on caring and compromise.

5. Examples Masculine Cultures Feminine Cultures Germany Switzerland
Austria
Colombia
Most other Latin American countries
Japan
Netherlands
The Scandinavian countries
Costa Rica
Portugal
Thailand
Britain
USA

6. Dimension IV: Truth
Identity
Hierarchy
Gender
Truth
Virtue

7. Truth
Uncertainty
Avoidance
Tolerance

8. Truth
Truth here indicates how people in a culture cope with the unpredictable and the ambiguous.
Anxiety and the search for truth are closely related.
Anxiety is a basic human feeling, or in other words, fear of the unknown.
This aspect of a culture has been called Uncertainty Avoidance and Uncertainty Tolerance.
Note that uncertainty avoidance is not at all the same as risk avoidance; if risk can be acknowledged and quantified, it is not threatening to people from uncertainty avoiding cultures.

9. Uncertainty Avoidance Uncertainty Tolerance
Traits
Uncertainty Avoidance
Uncertainty Tolerance
Many people in this kind of a culture believe that what is different is dangerous.
They may not be very friendly to strangers.
It is also called one-truth orientation.
People have greater tolerance for differences.
Strangers are not necessarily bad.
People tend to accept that many truths can co-exist.

10. Examples Russia Japan Korea Mexico Belgium France Germanic countries
Uncertainty Avoidance
Uncertainty Tolerance
Russia
Japan
Korea
Mexico
Belgium
France
Germanic countries
English-speaking countries
China
Singapore
Jamaica
Denmark

11. Dimension V: Virtue
Identity
Hierarchy
Gender
Truth
Virtue

12. Short-Term VS Long-Term Orientations
The last basic problem in a society is the choice between future and present virtue.
Orientation
Short-term
Long-term

13. Short-Term Orientation
Traits
Short-Term Orientation
Long-Term
Orientation
The issue of virtue is particularly important in Asia.
People in long-term oriented culture tend to concern about future virtue and traditions.
They are willing to save for the future.
They value long-term partnership.
People in short-term oriented culture are more concerned with truth than virtue.
They care about present virtue and do not necessarily follow traditions.
They are more willing to spend for the present.
Good partnerships are not necessarily equivalent to long-term relationships.

14. Short-term Oriented Culture Long-term Oriented Culture
Examples
Short-term Oriented Culture
Long-term Oriented Culture
Philippines
Most European countries
Most American countries
African countries
Pakistan
China
Japan
Many countries of East Asia
Netherlands (The Dutch)

15. Summary Dimension One Extreme Other Extreme Identity Collectivism
Individualism
Hierarchy
Large
Power Distance
Small
Gender
Femininity
Masculinity
Truth
Strong Uncertainty Avoidance
Uncertainty Tolerance
Virtue
Long-Term Orientation
Short-Term Orientation

16. Conclusion
All people are unique individuals, and each person is unlike anyone else in the world.
All people are also social beings, and from early infancy on, they are taught how to survive in a social world.
People are taught to cope with the five big issues just introduced: identity, hierarchy, gender, truth and virtue.
The world of a child in each culture is filled with symbols, heroes, and rituals that together embody and re-create that culture.
Behind these manifestations are the values of culture.
The culture values are taught from birth and manifest themselves across social settings: family, school, workplace, and others.

17. Final Reminding Culture is not a universally accepted notion.
The cultural value system you learn from this session is based on empirical data on ‘national’ cultures.
There are many subculture groups in each country. The subculture groups have their own heroes, symbols and rituals, but they share most of the values of the national culture.
Because culture is so complex and dynamic, problems of reliability and validity make it very difficult to measure.
Member of a culture may not be able to describe that culture accurately and articulately in a way that would be accepted by another person who is also a member of the same culture!
Value systems are implicit, and values often defy conscious reflection.

18. Checkpoint & References

19. Checkpoint 1. _____ Collectivism and Individualism
1. What are the five main problems of society?
2. What dimension of culture do the following extremes represent ?
___
1. _____ Collectivism and Individualism
2. _____ Long-term and short-term orientation
3. _____ Large and small power distance
4. _____ Uncertainty avoidance and tolerance

20. Five main problems of society Dimensions of national culture
Answers
Five main problems of society
Dimensions of national culture
Identity
Hierarchy
Gender
Truth
Virtue
1. Identity 2. Virtue 3. Hierarchy 4. Truth

21. References Gert Jan Hofstede, Paul B. Pedersen Geert Hofstede
(2002) Exploring Culture. Intercultural Press.
Craig Storti (1994) Cross-Cultural Dialogues.
Intercultural Press.
Robert Gibson (2002) Intercultural Business
Communication. Oxford University Press.

22. THE END OF SYNTHETIC CULTURES