Chapter 3 Flashcards
Culture
The collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.
4 manifestations of culture
Language, Religion, Social Structure, Education
Lingua franca
A global business language
Religion
A set of beliefs about the cause of events, both human and natural, which cannot be empirically proven. All religions have a sense of community, which enables group cohesion and identity, plus a path for rituals and traditions to be passed down to the next generation
- Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism
Social Stratification
The hierarchical arrangement of individuals into social categories (strata) such as classes castes, or divisions within a society
-Example: India
Social mobility
The degree to which members from a lower social category can rise to a higher status
Education
used to maintain social stratification or to break down social barriers
3 ways to understand cultures
Context, Cluster, Dimensions
Context
The underlying background upon which social interaction takes place
Low-context cultures
Communication is usually taken at face value without much reliance on unspoken context
-Germany, Scandinavia, America
High-context cultures
Communication relies a lot on the underlying unspoken context, which is as important as the words used
-China, Korea, Japan
Cluster
Countries that share similar cultures
Ronen and Shenkar clusters
Influential set of clusters proposed by management
Professors Simcha Ronen and Oded Shenkar
GLOBE clusters
Influential set of clusters named after the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness project led by managementprofessor Robert House
Huntington’s Cluster Approach
Influential set of clusters popularized by political scientist Samuel Huntington
Civilization
Highest cultural grouping of people and the broadest level of cultural identity people have
Power Distance
Extent to which less powerful members within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally
Individualism
Idea that an individual’s identity is fundamentally his or her own
Collectivism
Idea that an individual’s identity is fundamentally tied to the identity of his or her collective group
Dimension of sex role differentiation
masculinity vs. femininity (achievement vs. nurturing)
Uncertainty avoidance
Extent to which members in a culture accept or avoid ambiguous situations and
uncertainty
Long-term orientation
How much emphasis is placed on perseverance and savings for future betterment
Indulgence
Level at which society allows gratification related to enjoying life and having fun
Ethics
The principles, standards, and norms of conduct that govern Individual and firm behavior
Code of conduct
A set of guidelines for making ethical decision
Ethical relativism
- Follows the cliché, “When in Rome, do as the Romans.”
* Follow ethical standards of correlating country (weak argument)
Ethical Imperialism
Refers to the absolute belief that “there is only one set of Ethics (with a capital E), and we have it.”
Corruption
The abuse of public power for private benefits, usually in the form of bribery
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
A US law enacted in 1977 that bans bribery of foreign officials
Utilitarianism
maximizing the greatest utility (“happiness”) – cost/benefit approach
Norms
The prevailing practices of relevant players
In-Group
Individuals and firms regarded as a part of their own collective
Out-group
Individuals and firms not regarded as a part of “us”
Cultural intelligence
An individual’s ability to understand and adjust to new cultures
Local Analyst Natural Mimic Chameleon
4 Criticisms on Hofstede
- Doesn’t recognize sub-cultures within a main culture
* Scores are taking this into account, mixed scores - None of the researches spoke the language or were fluent in the culture, could not capture scores accurately
- All scores come from people that work for IBM – very subjective
- All test subjects were educated
