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Chapter 4:The Role of Culture

International Business, 4th Edition

Griffin & Pustay

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Chapter Objectives_1

Discuss the primary characteristics of culture

Describe the various elements of culture and provide examples of how they influence international business

Identify the means by which members of a culture communicate with each other

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Chapter Objectives_2

Discuss how religious and other values affect the domestic environments in which international businesses operate

Describe the major cultural clusters and their usefulness for international managers

Explain Hofstede’s primary findings about differences in cultural values

Explain how ethical conflicts may arise

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Culture

Values

Beliefs

Behaviors

CustomsAttitudes

Culture

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Characteristics of Culture

Learned behavior Interrelated elements Adaptive Shared

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Figure 4.1 Elements of Culture

Culture

Social Structure

Language

Values/ Attitudes

Communication

Religion

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Social Structure

Individuals, families, and groups– Importance of family– Definition of family– Importance of individual relative to the group

Social stratification – categorization based on birth, occupation, educational achievements

Social mobility – ability to move from one stratum of society to another

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Language

3000+ different languages worldwide 10,000+ different dialects Primary delineator of cultural groups Lingua Franca

– English is the common language of international business

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Map 4.1 World Languages

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Map 4.2 Africa’s Colonial Heritage

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Translation Disasters

KFC’s Finger Lickin’ Good– Eat your fingers off (China)

Pillsbury’s Jolly Green Giant– Intimidating green ogre (Saudia Arabia)

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Yes and No Across Cultures

Latin America– meaning of “manana”

Japan – meaning of “yes” versus “yes, I

understand”

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Caterpillar has developed its own

simplified language instruction program

–Caterpillar Fundamental

English

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Table 4.1 Forms of Nonverbal Communication_1

Hand gestures Facial expression Posture and stance Clothing/ hair style Walking behavior Interpersonal

distance

Touching Eye contact Architecture/

Interior design Artifacts and non-

verbal symbols Graphic symbols

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Table 4.1 Forms of Nonverbal Communication_2

Art and rhetorical forms

Smell Speech rate, pitch,

inflection, volume Color symbolism Synchronization of

speech and movement

Taste, symbolism of food, oral gratification

Cosmetics Sound signals Time symbolism Timing and pauses Silence

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Religion

Christianity– Catholicism– Protestant– Eastern Orthodox

Islam Hinduism Buddhism

72% of the world

adheres to one of these four

religions!

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Map 4.3 Major World Religions

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Two million Muslims annually

descend on the Grand Mosque in

Mecca, Saudia Arabia as part of

the Haij

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Values and Attitudes

Values: accepted principles and standards Attitudes: actions, feelings, and thoughts

that result from values– Time– Age– Education– Status

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Theories of Culture

Hall’s Low-Context, High-Context Approach

Cultural Cluster Approach Hofstede’s Five Dimensions

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Hall’s Low-Context, High-Context Approach

Low-context: words used by speaker explicitly convey speaker’s message

High-context: the context in which a conversation occurs is just as important as the words spoken; cultural clues are critical to communication

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Figure 4.2 High- and Low-Context Cultures

Ger

man

Sw

iss

Sca

ndin

avia

n

U.S

./ C

anad

ian

Bri

tain

Ital

ian

Spa

nish

Gre

ek

Ara

b

Vie

tnam

ese

Japa

nese

Kor

ean

Chi

nese

LowContext

HighContext

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Map 4.4 A Synthesis of Country Clusters

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Table 4.2 Cultural Differences in Negotiating Styles

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Hofstede’s Five Dimensions

Social Orientation Power Orientation Uncertainty Orientation Goal Orientation Time Orientation

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Social Orientation

Individualism Collectivism

Relative importance of theinterests o the individual versus

interests of the group

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Power Orientation

Power Respect Power Tolerance

Appropriateness of power/authority within

organizations

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Uncertainty Orientation

Uncertainty Acceptance Uncertainty Avoidance

An emotional responseto uncertainty and change

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Goal Orientation

Aggressive Goal Behavior Passive Goal Behavior

What motivates peopleto achieve different goals

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Time Orientation

Long-term Outlook Short-term Outlook

The extent to whichmembers of a culture

adopt a long-term or a short-termoutlook on work and life

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Figure 4.4 Social Orientation and Power Orientation

Patterns

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Understanding New Cultures

Self-reference criterion Cultural literacy Acculturation