Global Environment of Business Ch 3

Hinduism

A major religious and cultural tradition of South Asia, developed from Vedic religion

Buddhism

A religion represented by the many groups that profess various forms of the Buddhist doctrine and that venerate Buddha

Confucianism

A system of philosophical and ethical teachings founded by Confucius and developed by Mencius

Collectivist Perspective

Collectivist Perspective: Students work with peers and provide assistance when needed. Students are quiet and respectful in class in order to learn more efficiently. Property is communal. Teacher is the primary authority, but peers guide each other's behavior. Parents yield to teacher's expertise to provide academmic instruction and guidance.

Differences between Norms and Values

Differences are that values are typically a collected data amount for something. Norm is different because it is actually the collection and evaluation of values and represented as a trend.

Long-term orientation (LTO) vs short term orientation

First called "Confucian dynamism", it describes societies' time horizon. Long term oriented societies attach more importance to the future. They foster pragmatic values oriented towards rewards, including persistence, saving and capacity for adaptation. In short term oriented societies, values promoted are related to the past and the present, including steadiness, respect for tradition, preservation of one's face, reciprocation and fulfilling social obligations.

Groups

Groups societies see groups as the primary unit of social organization. Group members often form deep emotional attachments and see group membership as all important. Emphasis on the group can be both beneficial and harmful. Strong group identification creates pressure for mutual self-help and collective action. Discourages managers and workers from moving from company to company. Discourages entrepreneurship.

Hi-Text communication

High-context culture countries are taught to speak in a much less direct way than indiviuals in low-context culture

Hofstede's dimensions of culture.

Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory is a framework for cross-cultural communication.

Education

Individual Perspective and Collectivisit Perspective

Individual Perspective

Individualists Perspective: Students work independently; helping other may be cheating. Students engage in discussion and argument to learn to think critically. Property belongs to individuals, and others must ask to borrow it. Teacher manages the school environment indirectly and encourages student self-control. Parents are integral to child's academic progress and participate actively.

Individuals

Individuals societies tend to view individual attributes and achievements as being more important than group membership. Emphasis on individual performance can be both beneficial and harmful. Encourages entrepreneurship and can lead to high degree of managerial mobility

Lo-Text communication

Low-context culture countries maintain harmony and avoid offense are more important than directly expressing ones true feelings

Managerial Implications

Managerial implications are conclusions that can be made from the way a particular organization or institution is managed. It could also mean suggestions to be made on particular issues regarding the management.

Social Structure

Network of the individual's statuses and roles that guides human interaction

Norms

Norms are the agreed-upon expectations and rules by which a culture guides the behavior of its mebers in any given situation.

Dimension of National Cultures

Power Distance Index (PDI) Individualism vs Collectivism Uncertainty avoidance Index (UAI) Masculinity (MAS) vs feminity Long-term orientation (LTO) vs. short term orientation Indulgence versus restraint (IVR)

Culture, Society, and the Nation-State is there a one to one correspondence between the three.

There is not a strict one-to-one correspondence between a society and a nation-state. Nation-states are political creations that can contain a single culture or several cultures. Some cultures embrace several nations

Masculinity (MAS) vs feminity

"The distribution of emotional roles between the genders". Masculine cultures' values are competitiveness, assertiveness, materialism, ambition and power, whereas feminine cultures place more value on relationships and quality of life. In masculine cultures, the differences between gender roles are more dramatic and less fluid than in feminine cultures where men and women have the same values emphasizing modesty and caring. As a result of the taboo on sexuality in many cultures, particularly masculine ones, and because of the obvious gender generalizations implied by Hofstede's terminology, this dimension is often renamed by users of Hofstede's work, e.g. to Quantity of Life vs. Quality of Life.

Uncertainty avoidance index (UAI)

"a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity". It reflects the extent to which members of a society attempt to cope with anxiety by minimizing uncertainty. People in cultures with high uncertainty avoidance tend to be more emotional. They try to minimize the occurrence of unknown and unusual circumstances and to proceed with careful changes step by step planning and by implementing rules, laws and regulations. In contrast, low uncertainty avoidance cultures accept and feel comfortable in unstructured situations or changeable environments and try to have as few rules as possible. People in these cultures tend to be more pragmatic, they are more tolerant of change.

Values

A Culture's values are its ideas about what is good, right, fair, and just.

Differences between cultures on the values dimensions

Power distance index shows very high scores for Latin and Asian countries, African areas and the Arab world. On the other hand Anglo and Germanic countries have a lower power distance (only 11 for Austria and 18 for Denmark). For example, the United States has a 40 on the cultural scale of Hofstede's analysis. Compared to Guatemala where the power distance is very high (95) and Israel where it is very low (13), the United States is in the middle. In Europe, power distance tends to be lower in northern countries and higher in southern and eastern parts: for example, 68 in Poland and 57 for Spain vs. 31 for Sweden and 35 for the United Kingdom. Regarding the individualism index, there is a clear gap between developed and Western countries on one hand, and less developed and eastern countries on the other. North America and Europe can be considered as individualistic with relatively high scores: for example, 80 for Canada and Hungary. In contrast, Asia, Africa and Latin America have strong collectivistic values: Colombia scores only 13 points on the IDV scale, and Indonesia 14. The greatest contrast can be drawn comparing two extreme countries on this dimension: 6 points for Guatemala vs. 91 points score for the United States. Japan and the Arab world have middle values on this dimension. Uncertainty avoidance scores are the highest in Latin American countries, Southern and Eastern Europe countries including German speaking countries, and Japan. They are lower for Anglo, Nordic, and Chinese culture countries. However few countries have very low UAI. For example, Germany has a high UAI (65) and Belgium even more (94) compared to Sweden (29) or Denmark (23) despite their geographical proximity. Masculinity is extremely low in Nordic countries: Norway scores 8 and Sweden only 5. In contrast, Masculinity is very high in Japan (95), and in European countries like Hungary, Austria and Switzerland influenced by German culture. In the Anglo world, masculinity scores are relatively high with 66 for the United Kingdom for example. Latin countries present contrasting scores: for example Venezuela has a 73 point score whereas Chile's is only 28 High long term orientation scores are typically found in East Asia, with China having 118, Hong Kong 96 and Japan 88. They are moderate in Eastern and Western Europe, and low in the Anglo countries, the Muslim world, Africa and in Latin America. However there is less data about this dimension There is even less data about the sixth dimension. Indulgence scores are highest in Latin America, parts of Africa, the Anglo world and Nordic Europe; restraint is mostly found in East Asia, Eastern Europe and the Muslim world

Power Distance Index (PDI)

Power distance is the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally." Cultures that endorse low power distance expect and accept power relations that are more consultative or democratic. Cultures are ranked high or low on this dimension based on the particular society's ability to deal with inequalities

Kinds of norms

Social Norms, informal Norms (2 types: Folkway and Mores)

The determinants of Culture: What are they?

Social Structure, Language, Religion, Political Philosophy, Economic Philosophy, Education

Culture

The arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively.

Individualism (IDV) vs Collectivism:

The degree to which individuals are integrated into groups". In INDIVIDUALISTIC societies, the stress is put on personal achievements and individual rights. People are expected to stand up for themselves and their immediate family, and to choose their own affiliations. In contrast, in COLLECTIVIST societies, individuals act predominantly as members of a lifelong and cohesive group or organization. People have large extended families, which are used as a protection in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.

Indulgence versus restraint (IVR)

The extent to which member in society try to control their desires and impulses. Whereas indulgent societies have a tendency to allow relatively free gratification of basic and natural human desires related to enjoying life and having fun, restrained societies have a conviction that such gratification needs to be curbed and regulated by strict norms.

Social Stratification

The hierarchal structures of class and status in any society. Social stratification refers to the fact that all societies are stratified on a hierarchical basis of social categories. Strata are typically defined on the basis of characteristics such as family background, occupation and income. Societies are all stratified to come degree but they differ in two related ways. Social mobility refers to the extent to which individuals can move out of the strata into which they are born. The extent to which the stratification of a society affects the operation of business organizations, this is known as significance.

Unspoken Language

The language not dependent on words that all life understands;body language

Christianity

The religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, or its beliefs and practices

Islam

The religion of the muslims, a monotheistic faith regarded as revealed through Muhammad as the Prophet of Allah