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