Chapter 4

Social Structure

-Individual, Families, and Groups -Social stratification -Social mobility

Values and attitudes

-time -age -education -status

Halls's Low-context-high-context approach

-Low context culture: explicit and direct communication, say things to be understood -high context: don't speak just through words but other things like body language - people look at how you are saying not what you are saying

Social Stratification

-attributes -highly stratified societies - less stratified societies -importance of these categories in defining how individuals interact with each other with and between these groups varies by society

Nonverbal communication

-facial expressions -hand gestures -intonation -eye contact -body positioning -body posture

Gift Giving and Hospitality

-important means of communication -different gift giving etiquettes -hospitality customs also differ -communicating bad news

Elements of culture

-language -communication -religion -values and attitudes -social structure

Characteristics of culture

-learned behavior -interrelated -adaptive -shared

Language

-primary delineator of cultural groups because it is how members in a society communicate with each other -organizes the way members of a society think about the world -filters observations and perspectives -provides important clues about the cultural values of the society -indicates about diversity of a country's population

Understanding new culture

-self reference criterion: unconscious use of ones own culture to help assess new surroundings Cross culture literacy: first step is acculturation- process by which people not only understand foreign culture but also modify and adapt their behavior to make it compatible with that culture

Religion

-shapes attitudes people have towards work and responsibility -constraints the roles of individuals in society -affects consumer buying behavior -affects seasonal patterns of consumption impact on international business: -legal system -homogeneity of religious beliefs -tolerance

Hofstede's Five Dimensions

1. social orientation: individualism vs collectivism 2. power orientation: power respect vs power tolerance 3. uncertainty orientation: uncertainty acceptance vs uncertainty avoidance 4. goal orientation: Aggressive goal behavior vs passive goal behavior 5. time orientation: long term outlook vs short term outlook 6. indulgence - instant satisfaction

Cultural cluster approach

An approach to understanding communication based on meaningful clusters of countries that share similar cultural values -use to formulate their internationalization strategies -closeness of culture may affect the form that firms use to enter foreign markets

Interrelated

Ex: Japans group oriented society stresses harmony and loyalty, translated into lifetime employment and minimal job switching

Power orientation

The appropriateness of power/authority within organizations -power respect: authority is inherent in ones POSITION within a hierarchy -power tolerance: individuals assess authority in view of own perceived rightness of their own personal interests

Discuss the differences in pay systems between U.S. and Japanese firms. To what extent are these differences culturally determined?

U.S. employees are typically compensated according to their individual accomplishments. Japanese employees are compensated on the basis of the group's achievements. These differences in pay systems are very much rooted in the differences in the two countries' cultures. The Japanese culture is a group-oriented one, while the United States stresses individualism

Social mobility

ability of individuals to move from one stratum of society to another -tends to be higher in less stratified societies

Adaptive

culture changes in response to external factors that affect the society

Shared

culture shared by members of the society and indeed defines the membership in the society - those who do not are outside the boundaries of society

Culture

collection of values, beliefs, behaviors, customs, and attitudes that distinguish one society from another

Individuals, Families, and Groups

differ in the way they define family, individuals role within group, importance of the individual relative to the group

Time orientation

extent to which members adopt a long term vs short term outlook on work, life, and other aspects of society

Uncertainty Orientation

feeling people have regarding uncertain and ambiguous situations -uncertainty acceptance: stimulated by change and thrive on new opportunities -uncertainty avoidance: dislike ambiguity and avoid whenever possible - structure and routine

Language as a competitive weapon

linguistic ties often create important competitive advantages because the ability to communicate is so important in conducting business transactions

Social orientation

persons beliefs about the relative importance of the individual and the groups a person belongs -individualism: high degree of self respect and independence, care about themselves -collectivism: group comes first

Translation

some differences may be overcome through translation -must focus on translating ideas and not the word themselves backtranslation: used to help avoid communication mistakes

Lingua Franca

to conduct business, international business people must be able to communicate -predominate or common language: English

Learned behavior

transmitted from one member of a society to another -can be interfenerationally such as parents teaching children

Goal orientation

ways people are motivated to work toward different kinds of goals -aggressive goal behavior: tend to place a higher premium on material possessions, money, and assertiveness -passive goal behavior: place higher value on social relationships, quality of life, and concern for others

Saying no

words may have different meanings