Lecture 2 - Impact of National Culture on Organizational

Behavior
Hanbok – S. Korea Kimono – Japan Sinh - Laos Kebaya - Indonesia Vyshyvanka – Ukraine
What is culture?

3
 Culture is ‘how things are done
around here’. It is what is typical of
the organization, the habits, the
prevailing attitudes, the grown-up
pattern of accepted behaviour.
(Drennan, 1992:3)

Culture can be viewed as the customs, arts and social

interactions of a particular nation, people or other group
to which people belong or identify.

4
 2. National culture

• Hofstede (2001) defines national culture as ‘the collective programming of

the mind, which distinguishes the members of one human group from
another’; a more familiar definition is the set of values, beliefs, norms and
behaviors commonly found within a population or nation.
• cultural stereotyping, assuming that everyone conforms to a particular set of
characteristics; this is often an inadvertent accusation but is invariably
inaccurate and inappropriate.
 Why is culture important?

Culture shapes behaviour

1. Aggressive or Friendly
2. Proactive or Passive
3. Concerned or Not Bothered
4. Team worker or Solo Player
5. Rule Follower or Rule Breaker.

6
2. Factors affecting national culture
 2. National culture

• Cultural differences between people.

 use of gestures;
 joking norms (for example, in British culture a degree of ‘mickey taking’ – joking at the
expense of someone else – is acceptable; beware trying this in South East Asian or
Middle East cultures, where preserving ‘face’ is critical);
 meal-time behaviors and food taboos; and
 use of personal names or familiarity generally
 3. Geert Hofstede

 Individualism–Collectivism
 Power distance
 Uncertainty avoidance
 Masculinity–Femininity
 Long-term–Short-term orientation
 3. Geert Hofstede

1. INDIVIDUALISM VERSUS COLLECTIVISM

Individualism–collectivism reflects the extent to which an individual relies
on a group (a collectivist approach) or takes individual initiative in making
decisions, solving problems and engaging in productive activity.

3/15/2023
 3. Geert Hofstede
2. POWER DISTANCE

Power distance represents the social distance between people of different

rank or position in society, the family or workplace.

3/15/2023
 3. Geert Hofstede

3. UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE

Uncertainty avoidance essentially reflects people’s attitudes to ambiguity in

a society or country

3/15/2023
 3. Geert Hofstede

4. MASCULINITY AND FEMININITY

 Masculinity–femininity reflects values which are either widely considered to
be more ‘masculine’, such as assertiveness, competitiveness and results
orientation, whereas ‘feminine’ values can be seen to be cooperative and to
show greater awareness of feelings and equal opportunities.
 This value also relates to the degree of discrimination against (usually)
women in the organization.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWnmv0bpKUg

3/15/2023
 3. Geert Hofstede
5. LONG-TERM VERSUS SHORT-TERM ORIENTATION

 A long-term orientation is likely to be the result of values that include thrift and
persistence.

 A short-term orientation is likely to be the result of values that express a

concern for maintaining personal stability or happiness and for living in the

present.

3/15/2023
 Discussion

MINI-CASE
Cultures impact – Scania’s plant in France (p.18)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xJ_hbD4TQA
 4. Culture shock and culture shift

 Culture shock is the often startling experiences and difficulties first encountered
when entering an alien culture.

 Culture shift is cultural change or, more specifically, the extent to which a culture
can change and the speed at which such changes occur.
 5. The significance of communication in a cross-
cultural context

 Communication may be very direct in low-context cultures and yet more restrained in high-context
cultures
 The nature of the communication may also be determined by the extent of the power distance between
the individuals, and this in turn will be significant in terms of how other people are addressed (i.e. in high-
power-distance cultures people may insist on being addressed by their titles and would be upset to be
addressed by their first name)
 The significance of non-verbal communication will be enhanced in high-context cultures. Gestures may
be very important, and how hand, head and eye movements are used may be very significant
 Negotiators from low-context countries have to learn to understand key features of non-verbal
communication when dealing with high-context cultures.
 6. Developing cultural competencies

The context of developing cultural competencies:

 The increasing internationalization of organizations and the growth of multicultural workforces within our
own countries,
 International managers are now more likely to have several short stays in a variety of countries, rather
than the traditional expatriate manager who spends many years in one location
 The pressure is on to find managers who can adapt quickly when working in other countries and
cultures.
 6. Developing cultural competencies

The key cultural competencies

 the ability to build relationships and trust (especially with high-context cultures);
 some linguistic ability (a minimal level is often sufficient as it shows respect);
 having the ability to cope with uncertainty;
 having some cultural empathy (through understanding of different cultures);
 having a strong sense of self (including the ability to be self-critical);
 having a good sense of humour (good as a stress reliever and important for building
relationships);
 and having the ability to respond to different cultures simultaneously.
 6. Developing cultural competencies

Cultural intelligence
 It is essentially developing attitudes and skills that affect mental approaches
and coping mechanisms in different cultures, having knowledge of different
cultures, having a strong locus of control and self-efficacy and the ability to
develop a range of physical adaptations (such as use of body language and
adjusting proxemics)
 6. Developing cultural competencies

• Cultural intelligence measurement instruments are also being developed,

such as that by Alon et al (2016) which purports to measure cultural
intelligence in a business context, referred to as the BCIQ (Business
Cultural Intelligence Quotient).
 Discussion

MINI-CASE
Talking the same language? (p.26)

https://e.vnexpress.net/projects/a-unique-taste-of-corporat
e-culture-in-vietnam-with-suntory-pepsico-s-ceo-3681274/i
ndex.html
Lecture 2 – The end