Chapter 3

Differences
in Culture
Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education (Asia). All rights reserved.
 What Is Cross-Cultural Literacy?
vCross-cultural literacy is an
understanding of how cultural differences
across and within nations can affect the way
in which business is practiced
vA relationship may exist between culture
and the costs of doing business in a country
or region

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 What Is Culture?
vCulture is a system of values and norms that are
shared among a group of people and that when
taken together constitute a design for living
where:
vvalues are abstract ideas about what a group believes
to be good, right, and desirable
vnorms are the social rules and guidelines that prescribe
appropriate behavior in particular situations
vSociety refers to a group of people who share a
common set of values and norms

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 What Are Values And Norms?
vValues provide the context within which a
society’s norms are established and justified
and form the bedrock of a culture
vNorms include
vfolkways - the routine conventions of everyday
life
vmores - norms that are seen as central to the
functioning of a society and to its social life

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 How Are Culture, Society,
And The Nation-State Related?
vThe relationship between a society and a
nation state is not strictly one-to-one
vNation-states are political creations
vcan contain one or more cultures
vA culture can embrace several nations

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 What Are The
Determinants Of Culture?
vThe values and norms of a culture evolve
over time
vDeterminants include
vreligion
vpolitical and economic philosophies
veducation
vlanguage
vsocial structure

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 What Is A Social Structure?
vSocial structure refers to a society’s basic
social organization
vConsider
vthe degree to which the basic unit of social
organization is the individual, as opposed to the
group
vthe degree to which a society is stratified into
classes or castes

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 How Are Individuals
And Groups Different?
v A group is an association of two or more people who have
a shared sense of identity and who interact with each other
in structured ways on the basis of a common set of
expectations about each other’s behavior
v In Western societies, there is a focus on the individual
v individual achievement is common
v dynamism of the U.S. economy
v high level of entrepreneurship
v But, creates a lack of company loyalty and failure to gain
company specific knowledge
v competition between individuals in a company instead of than
team building
v less ability to develop a strong network of contacts within a firm

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 How Are Individuals
And Groups Different?
vIn many Asian societies, the group is the
primary unit of social organization
vdiscourages job switching between firms
vencourages lifetime employment systems
vleads to cooperation in solving business
problems
vBut, might also suppress individual
creativity and initiative

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 What Is Social Stratification?
v All societies are stratified on a hierarchical basis into
social categories, or social strata (tầng lớp xã hội)
v Must consider
1. The degree of social mobility - the extent to which individuals
can move out of the strata into which they are born
v caste system (đẳng cấp) - closed system of stratification in which
social position is determined by the family into which a person is
born
v change is usually not possible during an individual's lifetime
v class system (tầng lớp) - form of open social stratification
v position a person has by birth can be changed through achievement or
luck
2. The significance attached to social strata in business contacts
v Class consciousness is a condition where people tend to perceive
themselves in terms of their class background, and this shapes their
relationships with others
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 How Do Religious
And Ethical Systems Differ?
v Religion is a system of shared beliefs and rituals that are
concerned with the realm of the sacred
v Religion and ethics are often closely intertwined
v Four religions dominate society
1. Christianity
2. Islam
3. Hinduism
4. Buddhism
v Confucianism is also important in influencing behavior
and culture in many parts of Asia
v Ethical systems are a set of moral principles, or values,
that are used to guide and shape behavior

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 How Do Religious
And Ethical Systems Differ?
World Religions

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 What Is Christianity?
vChristianity
vthe world’s largest religion
vfound throughout Europe, the Americas, and
other countries settled by Europeans
vthe Protestant work ethic (Max Weber, 1804)
vhard work, wealth creation, and frugality is the
driving force of capitalism

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 What Is Islam?
v Islam
v the world’s second largest religion
v an all-embracing way of life that governs one's being
v Western media associates Islamic fundamentalism with militants,
terrorists, and violent upheavals, but in fact Islam teaches peace,
justice, and tolerance
v people do not own property, but only act as stewards for God
vpeople must take care of that which they have been entrusted with
v supportive of business, but the way business is practiced is
prescribed

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 What Is Hinduism?
vHinduism
vpracticed primarily on the Indian sub-continent
vfocuses on the importance of achieving spiritual
growth and development
vis often deemed a philosophy or a way of life,
though it is widely practiced as a religion
vcaste hierarchies originate in Hinduism, but
now also feature in other religions in Indian
society

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 What Is Buddhism?
vBuddhism
vhas about 350 millions followers
vstresses spiritual growth and the afterlife,
rather than achievement while in this world
vdoes not emphasize wealth creation
ventrepreneurial behavior is not stressed
vdoes not support the caste system, individuals
do have some mobility and can work with
individuals from different classes

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 What Is Confucianism?
vConfucianism
videology practiced mainly in China
vteaches the importance of attaining personal
salvation through right action
vhigh morals, ethical conduct, and loyalty to
others are stressed
vthree key teachings of Confucianism - loyalty,
reciprocal obligations, and honesty - may all
lead to a lowering of the cost of doing business
in Confucian societies

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 What Is The Role
Of Language In Culture?
v Language - the spoken and unspoken (nonverbal
communication such as facial expressions, personal space,
and hand gestures ) means of communication
v One of the defining characteristics of culture
v countries with more than one language often have more than one
culture
v English is the most widely spoken language in the world
v Chinese is the mother tongue of the largest number of people
v English is also becoming the language of international business
v knowledge of the local language is still beneficial, and in some
cases, critical for business success
v failing to understand the nonverbal cues of another culture can
lead to communication failure

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 What Is The Role
Of Education In Culture?
vFormal education is the medium through
which individuals learn many of the
language, conceptual, and mathematical
skills that are indispensable in a modern
society
vimportant in determining a nation’s
competitive advantage
vgeneral education levels can be a good index for
the kinds of products that might sell in a
country

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 How Does Culture
Impact The Workplace?
v Management processes and practices must be adapted to
culturally-determined work-related values
v Geert Hofstede identified four dimensions of culture
1. Power distance - how a society deals with the fact that
people are unequal in physical and intellectual
capabilities
2. Uncertainty avoidance - the relationship between the
individual and his fellows
3. Individualism versus collectivism - the extent to which
different cultures socialize their members into accepting
ambiguous situations and tolerating ambiguity
4. Masculinity versus femininity -the relationship
between gender and work roles

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 How Does Culture
Impact The Workplace?
Work-Related Values for 20 Countries

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 Was Hofstede Right?
v Hofstede later expanded added a fifth dimension called
Confucian dynamism
v captures attitudes toward time, persistence, ordering by status,
protection of face, respect for tradition, and reciprocation of gifts
and favors
v Hofstede’s work has been criticized because
v made the assumption there is a one-to-one relationship between
culture and the nation-state
v study may have been culturally bound
v used IBM as sole source of information
v culture is not static – it evolves
v But, it is a starting point for understanding how cultures
differ, and the implications of those differences for
managers

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 Does Culture Change?
vCulture evolves over time
vchanges in value systems can be slow and
painful for a society
vSocial turmoil - an inevitable outcome of
cultural change
vas countries become economically stronger,
cultural change is particularly common

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 What Do Cultural Differences
Mean For Managers?
1. It is important to develop cross-cultural
literacy
v companies that are ill informed about the practices of
another culture are unlikely to succeed in that culture
v managers must beware of ethnocentric behavior, or a
belief in the superiority of one's own culture
2. There is a connection between culture and
national competitive advantage
v suggests which countries are likely to produce the
most viable competitors
v has implications for the choice of countries in which
to locate production facilities and do business

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 Review Question
Abstract ideas about what a group believes to
be good, right, and desirable are called

a) norms
b) values
c) folkways
d) mores

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 Review Question
The basic social organization of a society is its
a) culture
b) social strata
c) social structure
d) caste system

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 Review Question
The group is the primary unit of social
organization in
a) Japan
b) the United States
c) Switzerland
d) Mexico

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 Review Question
Which of the following is not characteristic of
individualism?

a) individual achievement
b) low managerial mobility
c) low company loyalty
d) entrepreneurial behavior

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 Review Question
_______ focuses on how society deals with the
fact that people are unequal in physical and
intellectual capabilities.

a) power distance
b) individualism versus collectivism
c) uncertainty avoidance
d) masculinity versus femininity

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