International Business Chapter 4

Cross-cultural literacy

understanding how the culture of a country affects the way business is practiced.

What are the primary characteristics of culture?

-Learning behavior -Interrelated. for example, Japan's group-oriented, hierarchical society stresses harmony and loyalty. -Adaptive: that is, the culture changes in response to external forces that affect society. -Culture is shared by members of the society and indeed defines the membership in the society.

What are aggressive and passive goal behaviors? how do they differ?

Aggressive goal behavior: People who tend to place high premium on material possessions, money, and assertiveness. Passive goal behavior: Place a higher value on social relationships, quality of life, and concern for others.

What are individualism and collectivism? how do they differ?

Individualism: is the cultural belief that the person comes first. (self-respect & independence) Collectivism: is the belief that group comes first. ( the good of the group ahead of personal benefit)

Describe the difference between high-context and low-context cultures

Low-context culture: the words used by the speaker explicitly convey the speaker's message to the listener. (Words means literally what they mean) United states, Canada. High-context culture: the context in the conversation occurs is just as important as the words that are actually spoken, and cultural clues are important in understanding what is being communicated. Examples. Arab and Japan

What is power Orientation?

Refers the beliefs that people in a culture hold about the appropriateness of power and authority differences in hierarchies. Power respect: people accept the power and authority of their superiors because their positions in the hierarchy. Power tolerance: much less significance to a person's position in the hierarchy. These people are more willing to question a decision or refuse to accept it.

Uncertainty orientation?

The feeling people have regarding uncertain and ambiguous situations. - Uncertainty acceptance: Tolerance for ambiguity and chaos. - Uncertainty Avoidance: Need for precision and formalization

What are cultural Clusters?

comprises countries that share many cultural similarities, although differences do remain. Many clusters are based on language similarities.

What is culture?

is the collection of values, beliefs, behaviors, customs, and attitudes that distinguish one society from another. A society's culture determines the rules that govern how firms operate in the society.

what is the self-reference criterion?

the unconscious use of one's own culture to help assess new surroundings. - Thinking that every culture is the same and not having awareness of other's culture.