CH:3 DIFFERENCES IN CULTURE

Group 2
Maheen Nusrat Emal Khan

Mehreen Sultan
Jawad Iqbal Bilal Ahmed Siddiqui

The crucial differences which distinguishes one human from another, one society from another are not biological. They are cultural. The word culture comes from the Latin root colere (to inhabit, to cultivate, or to honor). In general, it refers to human activity

Culture is a system of values and norms that are shared among the group of people and that, when taken together constitute a design for living.

Values

Values are abstract ideas about what a group believes to be good, right , and desirable.

Categories of Value

Ethics (good, bad, moral, immoral, amoral, right, wrong, permissible, impermissible) Aesthetics (beautiful, ugly, unbalanced, pleasing) Doctrine (political, ideological, religious or social beliefs and values) Inborn (inborn values such as reproduction and survival, a controversial issue)

Norms

Norms, we mean the social rules and guidelines that prescribe appropriate behavior in particular situations.

Folkways
The way people are expected to behave, the ways of living, thinking, and acting in a human group, built up without conscious design but serving as compelling guides of conduct. E.g. correct manners, appropriate dressing, proper eating habits etc.

Mores

They are norms that are seen as central to the functioning of a society and to its social life. They have much greater significance than folkways. For
instance, Bigamy, Incest, Cannibalism.

Implications for managers

Need to develop cross-culture literacy.

Connection between culture and national competitive advantage.

Connection between culture and ethics in decision making.

Cross-cultural literacy

An understanding of how cultural differences across and within nations can affect the way in which business is practiced.