Week 4 - Culture

Question 1

What is corporate imperialism? How does corporate imperialism hinder firms from being successful in emerging markets?

Answer 1

• 1980s, Imperialist mindset – assumed that the big emerging markets were new markets for their old products, gear their products to those who most resemble the prototypical Western consumer.
o Tended to see countries like China and India simply as targets – vast agglomerations of would-be consumers hungry for modern goods and services.
• Succeeding in broader markets requires companies to spend time building a deep and unbiased understanding of the unique characteristics and needs of developing countries and their peoples.

Question 2

What are the 5 basic questions that MNEs must answer to compete in the big emerging markets?

Answer 2

1. Who is the emerging middle-class market in these countries, and what kind of business model will effectively serve their needs?
2. What are the key characteristics of the distribution networks in these markets, and how are the networks evolving?
3. What mix of local and global leadership is required to foster business opportunities?
4. Should the MNE adopt a consistent strategy for all its business units within one country?
5. Will local partners accelerate the multinational’s ability to learn about the market?

Question 3

What is culture?

Answer 3

Broad definition: Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts.

Question 4

What are the 4 characteristics of culture?

Answer 4

1. Culture is SHARED
2. Culture is LEARNED
3. Culture is CUMULATIVE, but can change over time
4. Culture is PARTIALLY OBSERVABLE (iceberg metaphor)

Question 5

What are some of the different levels of culture that we may experience in our own lives?

Answer 5

• National culture
• Industry culture
• Organizational culture
• Group culture
• Team culture
• Family culture

Question 6

What is the difference between culture-general and culture-specific training methods?

Answer 6

Culture-general training consists of personal safety, principles of culture learning, culture theories, and sociopolitical and economic aspects. Culture-general approaches organize culture-specific data in ways that facilitate cross-cultural comparison and generalizability of knowledge.

Culture-specific consists of country-, industry-, and organization-level knowledge and skills. Culture-specific approaches encourage deep understanding of one cultural context through detailed cultural knowledge.

Question 7

What are Hofstede’s 6 dimensions of culture?

Answer 7

1. Power Distance - indicates the extent to which the members of a society expect and accept that power is distributed unequally
2. Uncertainty Avoidance - indicates the extent to which the members of a society feel threatened by uncertain and ambiguous situations
3. Individualism/Collectivism - indicates to which extent the members of a society are integrated into groups
4. Masculinity/Femininity - indicates to which extent a society distinguishes between the roles of genders and to which extent a society emphasizes feminine values
5. Long-term Orientation - indicates the extent to which a society shows a pragmatic future-oriented perspective
6. Indulgence - indicates the extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses

Question 8

What type of culture facilitates innovation?

Answer 8

An organizational culture that supports innovation is the product of two things: the people in the organization—their leadership style, shared values, behaviours, attitudes, communication styles and working practices—and the infrastructure (e.g. policies, processes and systems).

An environment that has the agility to respond to change and provides the psychological safety, process and tools to leverage the creative thinking needed to innovate and gain economic and social value through new or improved products, services or processes.

If an organization wants a culture of innovation, the leadership team must take the lead by setting their intention, communicating it to the wider organization, and demonstrating their commitment to innovation through their own behaviours and involvement in the process of achieving innovation.