2: Cross-Cultural Business

Question 1

What is culture?

Answer 1

Culture is the set of values, beliefs, rules, and institutions held by a specific group of people.

Question 2

What is the difference between ethnocentrism and cultural literacy?

Answer 2

Ethnocentricity is the belief that one’s own ethnic group or culture is superior to that of others, while cultural literacy is the detailed knowledge of a culture that enables a person to function happily and effectively within it.

Question 3

What is aesthetics?

Answer 3

Aesthetics is what a culture considers “good taste” in the arts, the imagery evoked by certain expressions, and the symbolism of certain colors.

Question 4

What is the favorable color in Islam?

Answer 4

Green

Question 5

How do the mourning colors differ in nations?

Answer 5

In Europe, Mexico, and the U.S., the color of death and mourning is black, while in Japan and most of Asia, it’s white.

Question 6

What is a cultural trait?

Answer 6

A cultural trait is anything that represents a culture’s way of life, including gestures, material objects, traditions, and concepts.

Question 7

What are some examples of cultural traits?

Answer 7

Bowing in Japan (gesture)
Buddhist temple in Thailand (material object)
Day of The Dead in Mexico (tradition)
Practice of democracy in the U.S. (concept)

Question 8

What is the difference between cultural diffusion and cultural imperialism?

Answer 8

Cultural diffusion is the spread of cultural traits across cultures, while cultural imperialism is the replacement of one culture’s traditions, folk heroes, and artifacts with substitutes from one another.

Question 9

What is the difference between nuclear and extended family?

Answer 9

Nuclear family consists of a person’s immediate relatives, while extended family broadens the nuclear family.

Question 10

What is social stratification?

Answer 10

Social stratification is the process of ranking people into layers or classes.