The Internationalizing Organization

Week 1: CAB7 - ICB | By Sanne Bosma

Before we start
Our brain

The moment we are confronted with diversity,

our brain is likely to (sub)consciously trigger a
fear response, because an important survival
strategy informs us that the outgroup can mean
threat.

Therefore, in interpersonal communication,

humans have a natural tendency to seek
similarities, to establish a basis for trust,
decrease the fear response and subsequently
feel safe.

So, let’s see if there is some commonality in the

room . . .
Let’s try something
1. Please write down – individually
– 5 aspects or characteristics,
typical for you

2. Discuss in pairs what you wrote

down

3. Then, please find 2 aspects or

characteristics that the two of
you share. Try to identify not all
too logical or obvious
commonalities (e.g. that you both
study at IBS/Hanze).
Please describe what
you see
Please interpret what
you see
Please evaluate what
you see
 D – Describe

I – Interpret

E - Evaluate

Delay / postpone judgment

Create ‘thinking space’
Seek additional information
Unconscious Cognitive Bias - 1
Kahnemann 2011 / Shaules 2015 / Nguyen 2017 en 2020

• Subjectivity and bias are normal aspects of cognition – our eyes are not
cameras.

• The human species developed cognitive processes to ‘think fast’ in order to

survive – most of the time we need to react swiftly in order to avoid danger

• Dual Process Theory of Mind: cognitive processes take place in 2 systems:

Intuitive mind / System 1 (or: autopilot)
Attentive mind / System 2 (or: conscious pilot)
Unconscious Cognitive Bias - 2
Are we therefore lost?

No, surely not, since humans can:

• Take more time
• Seek more information
• Question initial judgments and create mental space for alternatives
• And in doing so make their judgments more accurate

• The human being has the capacity to unlearn

Today

CAB7 ICB Planning: practical matters, expectations, assessments

What is Culture?

Professional Skills in Business 1 (IPS1) in year 1 versus CAB7-ICB

Organizational Culture
Course Setup

• Weekly seminars (see weekly schedule on BB – Planning) and weekly

in-class activity

• Adler’s International Dimensions of Organizational Culture

• Nunez et al Intercultural Sensitivity
• PDF’s available on BB
• Extra curricular: documentary (Netflix: American Factory)
Assessment

• CAB7: Integrated exam (see

BB for mock exam)

• PTM: Culture & People

Plan
Integrated HRM and
ICB defense (week 9)
 What is Culture?

25-1-2016 7 oktober 2016 14

What is the idea that first pops up in your
mind when you want to explain what culture
is?

Think of analogies or metaphors to describe

what culture is for you.
Culture

EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY:
CULTURE = A SURVIVAL STRATEGY

BRAIN AND MIND PERSPECTIVE:

CULTURE = COMPLEX PATTERNS OF SHARED MEANING, BEHAVIOUR
AND EXPECTATIONS IN OUR BODY AND IN THE WORLD

CULTURAL GENOMICS:
CULTURE = ALSO INHERITED
Diversity: Dynamic Interplay of Elements
The Diagram of Diversity Pathways (GCEB-Be) (Nguyen 2020, p. 20)
A few descriptions of culture

• Milton Bennett Ph.D: Culture is not a thing. Culture is the coordination of

meaning and action maintained by groups of people interacting within a
boundary (and in comparison to other groups). It is a process.

• Joseph Shaules Ph.D: Culture is not a “thing” out there; rather it is a

loosely organized set of interpersonal and institutional processes driven
by people who participate in those processes.”
Developing vocabulary to better understand yourself,
and to perceive and talk about diversity

Cultural Dimensions
Cultural dimensions

Hall (6)

Klukhohn &
Strodtbeck’s (6)

Hofstede (6)

Trompenaars (7)

Globe Project (9)

Dimensional models: keep in mind when using them

Recognize that we are dealing with limited information.

The models do not provide an accurate description of the behavioral norm

of cultural groups.

Dimensions of culture are relative, i.e. Power Distance in a culture is only

high or low compared to other cultures

Only to be used as a first best guess about the behavior of a cultural group
before direct information about individuals in the group is developed.

To be modified based on additional information gained about

people through field research.
Critique
STRENGTHS
• Simple, integrated models –
that can be visualized in
consistent diagrams
• Practical – results in hands-on
practical recommendations and
a framework to determine
advises for international
communication and business
• Give real examples of
behavior in different cultures
• Commercial success,
recognized by businesses
WEAKNESSES
• Fall into generalizations and
stereotypes
• Often (mis)used to predict
reactions and behaviors
accurately – unproven –
questionable practice
• Ignore variations within
cultures/countries
• Ignore groups with mixed
(national) cultural backgrounds
• Reflect a static concept of culture
23
Culture – A Summary
• Survival strategy
• Shared
• Flexible / Process / Dynamic
• Visible (behavior, practices)
• Invisible (values, beliefs)
• Normative (prescribes norms)
• Conveys sense of identity (and thus safety – i.e. ingroup)
• Humans are both products and producers of culture
 Your Cultural Identity
Value Game
Examples of • Continent – Country
• Ethnic
Cultural Groups • Regional – Urban - Rural
• Religion
Which groups have an • Parental status – Marital status
influence on how you live your • Social class (for example: middle-class
life? culture)
• Gender
• Age (generation)
• Profession
• Hobby
• Corporate (organizational culture)
Classroom Poll

“My experience of diversity has changed”

If so, how do you perceive (cultural) diversity now? What have you learned
about culture?
Approach in ICB

Year 1 Exploration: What is Year 2 Exploration: how can

Constructivist approach to
the impact of cultural organizations manage the
culture and diversity
diversity (on your classroom)? impact of cultural diversity?
Organizational culture:
1. “The Clan:” affiliation, attachment, collaboration, trust, support
2. “The Adhocracy:” change, growth, variety, detail, stimulation, autonomy
3. “The Market:” achievement, communication, competence, competition
4. “The Hierarchy:” stability, communication, formalization, routine
(Cameron and Quinn, 1999 – The Competing Values Framework)

1. Power Culture
2. Role Culture
3. Task Culture
4. Person Culture
(Robbins as adapted from C. Handy)

Trompenaars: The Family, The Eiffel Tower, The Guided Missile, The Incubator
Next Week:
• Read Adler, chapters 1 and 2

• Make Homework assignment 1

(on BB) in your PTM project
groups
References

• Kahneman, D. (2015). Thinking, fast and slow ([22e druk]). Farrar, Straus
and Giroux.

• Ngyuen-Phuong-Mai, M. (2020). Cross-cultural management : with

insights from brain science (Ser. Routledge international business
studies). Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group.

• Shaules, J. (2015). The intercultural mind : connecting culture, cognition, and

global living. Intercultural Press, an imprint of Nicholas Brealey
Publishing.
Thank you!

Sanne Bosma
s.bosma@pl.hanze.nl
Working days: Wed-Fri
Office hour by appointment