MGMT 450 - Chapter 4
Cultural Cluster
Comprises countries that share many cultural similarities, though differences do remain
Social Orientation
A person's beliefs about the relative importance of the individual and the groups to which that person belongs
Social Stratification
A system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy to some extent on the basis of their birth, occupation, educational achievements, or other attributes
Cross-Cultural Literacy
An understanding of how cultural differences across and within nations can affect the way business is practiced
Culture
Collection of values, beliefs, behaviors, customer, and attitudes that distinguish one society from another
Attitudes
Encompass the actions, feelings, and thoughts that result from values
Uncertainty Acceptance
People in a culture are stimulated by change and thrive on new opportunities
Power Respect
People in a culture tend to accept the power and authority of their superiors simply on the basis of the superiors' potions in the hierarchy
Passive Goal Behavior
People in a culture who place a higher value on social relationships, quality of life, and concern for others
Aggressive Goal Behavior
People in a culture who tend to place a high premium on material possessions, money, and assertiveness
Power Orientation
The beliefs that people in a culture hold about the appropriateness of power and authority differences in hierarchies such as business organizations
High-Context Culture
The context in which a conversation occurs is just as important as the words that are actually spoken, and cultural clues are important in understanding what is being communicated
Time Orientation
The extent to which members of a culture adopt a long-term versus a short-term outlook on work, life, and other aspects of society
Uncertainty Orientation
The feeling people have regarding uncertain and ambiguous situations
Goal Orientation
The manner in which people are motivated to work toward different kinds of goals
Social Structure
The overall framework that determines the roles of individuals within the society, the stratification of the society, and individuals' mobility within the society
Acculturation
The process by which people not only understand a foreign culture but also modify and adapt their behavior to make it compatible with that culture
Cultural Convergence
The tendency for cultures to become more alike as they increasingly share technology and organizational structures in a modern world united by improved transportation and communication
Self-Reference Criterion
The unconscious use of one's own culture to help assess new surroundings
Low-Context Culture
The words used by the speaker explicitly convey the speaker's message to the listener
Nonverbal Communication
●Accounts for 80-90% of all information transmitted among members of a culture by means other than language ●Includes facial expressions, hand gestures, intonation, eye contact, body positioning, and body posture
Gift Giving and Hospitality
●An important means of communication, but what is appropriate varies ●When to open a gift? ●What to give?
Religion
●Imposes constraints on roles of individuals in society ●Affects the types of products consumers may purchase ●Varies from country to country
Characteristics of Culture
●Learned behavior ●Interrelated elements ●Adaptive ●Shared
Backtranslation
●One person translates a document, then a second person translates the translated version back into the original language ●This technique provides a check that the intended message is actually being sent, thus avoiding communication mistakes
Power Tolerance
●People in a culture attach much less significance to a person's position in the hierarchy ●These people are more willing to question a decision or mandate from someone at a higher level or perhaps even refuse to accept it
Uncertainty Avoidance
●People in a culture that dislike ambiguity and will avoid it whenever possible ●These people tend to prefer a structured and routine way of doing things
Lingua Franca
●Predominant common language of international business ●English
Language
●Primary delineator of cultural groups because it is an important means by which a society's members communicate with each other ●3000+ worldwide ●10,000+ different dialects
Hofstede's Five Dimensions
●Social Orientation ●Power Orientation ●Uncertainty Orientation ●Goal Orientation ●Time Orientation
Elements of Culture
●Social structure ●Language ●Communication ●Religion ●Values and Attitudes
Protestant Ethic
●Stresses individual hard work, frugality, and achievement as means of glorifying God ●Makes a virtue of high savings rates, constant striving for efficiency, and reinvestment of profits to improve future productivity, all of which are necessary for the smooth functioning of a capitalist economy
Social Mobility
●The ability of individuals to move from one stratum of society to another ●Tends to be higher in less stratified societies
Collectivism
●The belief that the group comes first ●Well-defined social networks
Individualism
●The cultural belief that the person comes first ●High degree of self-respect and independence
Values
●The principles and standards accepted by the members -Time -Age -Education -Status