Ch.3-5 Flashcards
cultural intelligence
A critical skill for managing people and processes in other countries
cultural intelligence or cultural quotient
a measure of how well
a person can adapt and manage effectively in culturally diverse settings.
Cultural sensitivity
is a sense of awareness and honest
caring about another individual’s culture. Such sensitivity requires the ability to
understand the perspective of those living in other (and very different) societies
and the willingness to put oneself in another’s shoes
cultural awareness
enables managers to develop appropriate policies and
to determine how differently to plan, organize, lead, and control in a specific
international setting
40
percent of expatriate managers leave their assignments early because of poor
performance or poor adjustment to the local environment T OR F
true
culture
shared values, understandings,
assumptions, and goals that are learned from earlier generations, imposed by
present members of a society, and passed on to succeeding generations.
Culture
results in a basis for living grounded in shared communication, standards,
codes of conduct, and expectations. T OR F
T
cultural diffusion
spread of cultural beliefs and social activities from one group to another.
creolization
When immigrants adopt some aspects
of the local culture while keeping aspects of their culture of origin
Organizational culture
represents those expectations, norms, and
goals held in common by members of that group.
Contextual
intelligence
refers to the ability to understand the limits of our knowledge
and to adapt that knowledge to an environment different from the one in
which it was developed.
Convergence
the phenomenon of shifting individual management
styles to become more similar to one another.
The convergence argument is
based on the belief that industrialization and worldwide coordination and
competition tend to factor out differences in organizational level processes,
such as choice of technology and structure T OR F
T
The effects of culture on specific management functions are particularly
noticeable when we attempt to impose our own values and systems on another
society. t or f
t
The first step toward cultural sensitivity is for the international manager to
understand his or her own culture. This awareness helps to guard against
adopting either a parochial or ethnocentric attitude. T OR F`
T
Parochialism
means that
one expects those from or in another country to automatically fall into patterns
of behavior common in their own country.
Ethnocentrism
describes the
attitude of those who operate from the assumption that their ways of doing
things are best—no matter where or under what conditions they are applied.
self reference criterion
unconscious reference point of one’s own cultural values
One way for managers to anticipate the probable effects of an unfamiliar
culture on an organization’s outcomes and processes
cultural
profile.
Managers should never assume that they can successfully transplant
America’s, or Japan’s, or any other country’s styles, practices, expectations, and
processes. t or f
true
contingency management
requires managers to adapt to the local environment
and people and to manage accordingly.
stereotype
generalizations in cultural
profiles will produce only an approximation
subcultures
a cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those of the larger culture.
people conform only in varying degrees to the national character.
Good managers treat people as individuals, and they consciously avoid
any form of stereotyping. t or f
t
subsystems in a society
are a function of where
people live; these subsystems influence, and are influenced by, people’s
cultural values and dimensions and so affect their behaviors both off and
on the job
Harris and Moran identified eight categories that form the subsystems in any
society:
kinship, education, economy, politics, religion, associations, health,
and recreation
kinship system
one adopted by a given society to guide family
relationships
formal or informal education
greatly affects expectations
of people in the workplace, recruitment and staffing practices, training
programs, and leadership styles
nation’s economic system
powerful influence on such organizational
processes as sourcing, distribution, incentive systems, and repatriation of
capital.
system of government
imposes varying constraints on the
organization and its freedom to do business
spiritual beliefs
often so powerful that they transcend
other cultural aspects. Religion commonly underlies both moral and
economic norms
Many and varied types of social associations
arise in cultures out of formal
and informal groups.
system of health care
employee productivity,
employee expectations of who is responsible for their health programs,
and attitudes toward physical fitness.
Recreation
manner in which people use their leisure time and
attitudes toward leisure
Cultural variables
result from unique sets of shared values among different
groups of people
values
society’s ideas about what is good or bad, right
or wrong. Values will influence people to likely behave differently under
similar circumstances
cultural dimensions, which distinguish one society from another
a. Assertiveness
b. Future orientation
c. Performance orientation
d. Humane orientation
e. Gender differentiation
f. Uncertainty avoidance
g. Power distance
h. Institutional collectivism versus individualism
i. In-group collectivism
Assertiveness
refers to how much people in a society are expected to be
tough, confrontational, and competitive, versus modest and tender
. Future orientation
refers to the level of importance a society attaches to
future-oriented behaviors such as planning and investing in the future
performance orientation
measures how important performance
improvement and excellence are in society and whether people are
encouraged to strive for continuous improvement.
humane orientation
s the extent to which a society encourages and
rewards people for being fair, altruistic, generous, caring, and kind.
power distance
level of acceptance by a society of unequal
distribution of power in institutions. The extent to which subordinates
accept unequal power is socially determined.
uncertainty avoidance
refers to the extent to which people in a society
feel threatened by ambiguous situations. In a business context, this
value results in formal rules and procedures designed to provide more
security and more career stability
individualism
refers to the tendency of people to look after themselves
and their immediate family only and neglect the needs of society.
Hofstede’s findings indicate that most countries scoring high on
individualism have both a higher gross national product and a freer
political system than those scoring low on individualism