Welcome!

MKTG 3852:
Cultural Environment of
International Business
Dr. Mai
 Course Information

• Course Blackboard site

• Syllabus

• Roadmap
 Road Map
M1: Introduction
Cultural Anthropology, Global Business

M2: Culture: Values,

Culture Shock and M4: Negotiation and
Global Leaders Partnering
Effective Strategies,
Contrasting Values, Culture Shock,
Partnership Basics
Globally Oriented Firms

M3: Communications:
Nonverbal and Verbal
Business introductions, interactions,
Language and Culture

3
 Chapter One

Cultural Anthropology and Global Business

 Chapter 1 Overview

• Global Connections

• Cultural Anthropology
Cultural anthropology and business
Anthropology’s major concept: Culture

• Cultural Differences in Business

 Why are you taking this course?

• Interest in international business?

• Your own cultural background?

•
• Interest in global travel?

• Something else?
 Global Connections

• World economies have experienced drastic

changes since the end of the Cold War. These
changes are collectively known as globalization.

• How are people interconnected in today’s

globalized, “flatter” world?
Global Connections
Coca-Cola – Offers over
500 brands in 200
different countries.

IBM – 430,000 employees

working in 40 countries

Mercedes-Benz –
Production factories in
nearly 30 countries
worldwide.
 The Perspective of Cultural
Anthropology

• Cultural anthropology attempts to document

the great variations in cultural forms while
looking for the common strands that are found
in all cultures.
 The Perspective of Cultural
Anthropology

• Tools of cultural anthropology:

participant observation
emic and etic approaches
 Cultural Anthropology and
Business

• Business anthropology is divided into two

streams of research and practice:
organizational culture
consumer research, product design, and advertising
 Cultural Anthropology and
Business

• domestic business organizations can be viewed

as minicultures, composed of people with
different:
roles
statuses
value systems
 Cultural Anthropology and
Business

• cultural anthropologists and participant

observation are valuable, because they reveal
what people actually do versus what they say
they do
 What is Culture?
Everyday usage…
 Finer things in life, e.g.:
 Fine arts
 Literature
 Philosophy
Defined…
 “Everything that people have, think and do
as members of their society.”
Anthropology’s Major Concept:
Culture

• culture includes all knowledge, beliefs, and

behaviors of a group of people

• the only requirement for being cultured is to

be human; thus, all people have culture
Anthropology’s Major Concept:
Culture
• Culture is made up of:
material objects
ideas, values, and attitudes
normative, or expected, patterns of behavior

• Culture is passed on from one generation to

another within a society. It is not inborn or
instinctive.

• Even responses to biological needs are

influenced by culture.
 Important Features of Culture
Culture….influences biological processes
What are our biological needs?
How are they satisfied?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry1E1uzPS
U0
Anthropology’s Major Concept:
Culture

• Cultural universals emerge to meet basic

human needs:
economic systems
marriage and family systems
educational systems
social control systems
supernatural belief systems
Anthropology’s Major Concept:
Culture

• All cultures change through the processes of:

discovery
invention
diffusion
Anthropology’s Major Concept:
Culture

• Ethnocentrism—being “culture centered” —is

the tendency to evaluate a foreigner’s behavior
by the standards of your own culture.

• People in all societies are ethnocentric to some

degree.
Anthropology’s Major Concept:
Culture

• Cultures are integrated wholes—organized

systems in which particular components may
be related to other components.
Anthropology’s Major Concept:
Culture

• Corporations have cultures, too:

symbols, legends, and heroes
communication patterns
shared values
patterns of social interaction
shared experiences
Cultural Differences in Business:
Challenges and Opportunities

• Organizational synergy—when people from two

different cultures work cooperatively in an
atmosphere of mutual understanding and
respect, the outcome can be more productive
than either group working independently.
Cultural Differences in Business:
Challenges and Opportunities

• How can cultural diversity within an

organization be viewed as an asset, rather than
a potential liability?
 Cross-Cultural Scenario
• In what was considered a “hostile takeover,” a U.S.
corporation purchased a regional wine-producing
vineyard in Limoges, France, in a strategic maneuver to
enter the European market. Frank Joseph, a human
resource specialist, was sent to Limoges to smooth the
ruffled feathers of the vineyard’s workers. Along with
videos and propaganda on the merits of working for a
Fortune 500 corporation, Frank also brought to Limoges
a number of company logo items. In what was intended
as a goodwill gesture, he presented the workers with T-
shirts, ball caps, ink pens, and coffee cups to take home
to their families. Over the next several weeks, Frank
never saw any of the company’s logo items being worn
or used by the workers. Instead, the workers were
uncommunicative toward him and at times even hostile.

• Why was Frank treated in this manner?

 Summary

• Globalization

• Cultural anthropology

• Miniculture

• Cultures