Chapitre 4 Flashcards
What is cross-cultural literacy
How cultural differences across countries affect business practices. e.g. class division in Britain increases disputes between managers and employees, decreasing efficiency therefore increasing cost
What is a culture and what are its 6 determinants (societal level)
System of values and norms shared
Religion, Political Philosophy, Economic Philosophy, Education, Language & Social Structure
What are values
Idea of what is right or wrong. They justify the norms
What are norms and list the two types
Social rules/Appropriate behaviour.
Folkway: business etiquette (bow in Japan)
Mores: Convention of a community (drinking in Saudi Arabia)
What is a society
People sharing a common set of values & norms. Not necessarily one society per nation-state, e.g. Qc & Canada
How to classify a social structure (2 criteria)
1- Emphasis on the individual as opposed to the group (emphasis individual performance US leads to increase entrepreneurship/innovation but higher turnover)
2- Degree to which the society is stratified
What is social stratification
Hierarchical social categories based on family background, occupation & income
4 principles of social stratification
1- Trait of society
2- Passed to next generation
3- Generally universal
4- Involves inequality and beliefs
Fancy way of explaining simple principle: Individuals born into a stratum toward the top of the social hierarchy tend to have better life chances than those born into a stratum toward the bottom of the hierarchy.
What is social mobility
Extent to which individuals can move out of the strata they were born into
Type of social stratification
Rigid: Caste system (India), no social mobility, i.e. can’t move out of your strata during your lifetime
Less rigid: High social mobility, can move out of strata based on accomplishments and luck
How does social stratification affect business operations?
Through class consciousness: How ppl identify with their strata and how it shapes their relationships. Reason for dispute between managers and employees in Britain = class consciousness, leading to decrease efficiency and increase cost of operations
Economic implications of protestantism
Values of hard-work and frugality leads to them being owners of capital
Economic implications of muslims
Islam & capitalism can coexist but wealthy have to help disadvantaged ppl & they keep their word.
Islamic bank can’t pay interest, they either share profits from lending projects or buys what client wants and resells w markup
Economic implications of confucianism
China/confucianism: Value: High moral/ethics, reduces cost of business bc no breach of contract
Economic implications of hinduism
They are valued by their spiritual growth not wealth creation, less entrepreurship/innovation
Language in culture
Countries w more than 1 language often have more than one culture & non-verbal communication (Latin America talk close to ppl, can come off as aggressive to American)
Education in culture
Where values & norms are taught directly and indirectly, can be national competitive advantage & indicator of what sells (poor education = less sales in books)
6 elements of Hofstede’s dimension of culture
Power distance
Individualism vs collectivism
Uncertainty avoidance
Masculinity vs Femininity
Long-term vs short-term
Indulgence vs restraint
Power distance
Level of acceptance towards power inequality (accept bosses authority)
Individualism vs Collectivism
Individual achievement and freedom values vs attachement to a group
Masculinity vs Femininity
Relationship between gender & work roles
Long-term vs short-term orientation
time horizon people in a society display
Indulgence vs restraint
Enjoying life vs regulating indulgence by means of strict social norms
Problem with daddy Hofstede’s results
There’s not always a one-to-one correspondence between culture and nation-state, e.g. Qc & Canada
Ethnocentrism
Belief in superiority of your own culture
Managerial implications of values/culture/norms
They influence the cost of doing business in different countries and the ability of a country to develop a competitive advantage. E.g. Japan values of honesty/loyalty = decrease cost of doing business but they are less supportive of entrepreneurial activity, so harder for Japan to gain competitive advantage
