Cross Culture Management

Mid-Term Review Class

Culture

• the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another group or category of people.

• the mind refers to the head, hand and heart (thinking,feeling,acting) • gives people a sense of who they are, of belonging, and of how they should behave • Comprises the shared values, understandings, assumptions, and goals

The Study of Culture in Management Literature

• Culture as Learned Behavior: How to negotiate with the __ • Culture as a Dialectic: two heads are better than one/ two many cooks spoil the broth • Culture in Context: Human behavior not determined by single cause (buyer/seller, occupation etc) • Culture as Shared Values: Value orientations are determinant to behavior.

Values:

• Basic convictions that people have regarding what is: – Right or Wrong – Good or Bad – Important/Unimportant – Should be avoided or accepted • Values learned from culture • Differing cultural values have shown to produce different management practice norms.

How Culture Affects Managerial

Centralized

Approaches

Decision Making

VS.

Decentralized Decision Making

In some societies, top managers make all important organizational decisions. In others, these decisions are diffused throughout the enterprise, and middle and lower-level managers actively participate in, and make, key decisions.

How Culture Affects Managerial Approaches

Safety

VS.

Risk

In some societies, organizational decision makers are risk averse and have great difficulty with conditions of uncertainty. In others, risk taking is encouraged, and decision making under uncertainty is common.

How Culture Affects Managerial Approaches

Individual Rewards

VS.

Group Rewards

In some countries, personnel who do outstanding work are given individual rewards in the form of bonuses and commissions. In others, cultural norms require group rewards, and individual rewards are frowned on.

How Culture Affects Managerial Approaches

Informal Procedures

VS.

Formal Procedures

In some societies, much is accomplished through informal means. In others, formal procedures are set forth and followed rigidly.

How Culture Affects Managerial Approaches

High Organizational Loyalty

VS.

Low Organizational Loyalty

In some societies, people identify very strongly with their organization or employer. In others, people identify with their occupational group, such as engineer or mechanic.

How Culture Affects Managerial Approaches

Cooperation

VS.

Competition

Some societies encourage cooperation between their people. Others encourage competition between their people.

How Culture Affects Managerial Approaches

Short-term Horizons

VS.

Long-term horizons

Some cultures focus most heavily on short-term horizons, such as short-range goals of profit and efficiency. Others are more interested in long-range goals, such as market share and technologic development.

How Culture Affects Managerial Approaches

Stability Innovation

VS.

The culture of some countries encourages stability and resistance to change. The culture of others puts high value on innovation and change.

Alternative Approaches to Cultural Study

• Emic: – Examines culture form the examinee’ perspective • Etic: – views the study of multiple cultures through a trans/meta perspective – requires a descriptive classification scheme that allows differences and similarities of underlying constructs to be visible across cultures

Schwartz Value Theory (SVT)

• Identifies 10 motivationally distinct value orientations and specifies the dynamics of conflict and congruence.

• This is the ‘structure of values’ – Conflicting: Benevolence and Power – Compatible: Conformity and Security • Value Priorities – Presumably these values encompass the range of motivationally distinct values recognized across cultures – Difference in behavior across cultures is the relative importance/priorities of one value to another – (see Schwartz reading for in-depth analysis of SVT)

Hofstede Cultural Dimensions:

•Individualism/Collectivism: • the relationship between the individual and group in society •Uncertainty Avoidance: •Typical reactions to situations considered different and dangerous •Power Distance : •Expectations regarding equality among people •Masculinity/Femininity: •Tendency of a society to emphasize traditional gender roles

Are all Individualists/Collectivists

?

Triandis: Within every culture there are people who are: • Idiocentric- think feel, behave like people with individualistic tendencies AND • Allocentric- think, feel, behave like people with collectivist tendencies • Collectivist cultures: 0-35% Idiocentric • Individualistic cultures:0-35% allocentric

Idiocentrics vs. Allocentrics

• Idiocentrics (Ind) Allocentrics (Coll) – High in expressiveness High on accommodating – Dominance – Initiation of action – Logical arguments – Strong opinions Avoidance of arguments Shift opinions easily Emotional arguments

• • • • • • Triandis: Vertical/Horizontal Triandis (1995) superimposed a vertical and a horizontal orientation to the original individualism-collectivism scale thereby creating a multidimensional cultural orientation for individualism and collectivism.

Horizontal attributes emphasize Hofstede’s feminism dimensions of equality, or a sense of equity among individuals in which ones self is more or less like every one else. The Vertical attributes emphasis is more hierarchical based, similar to Hofstede’s power distance, in which ones self is different from others and the acceptance of inequity and the existence of difference ranks in society.

Vertical Individualism (VI) is the tendency to be especially concerned with comparing oneself to others and being distinct. (Darkish &Huber 2003).

Horizontal Individualism (HI) is the tendency describes a social situation of low social distance and flat hierarchical relations (Darwish &Huber 2003).The emphasis is towards seeking individuality without distinctiveness.

Vertical Collectivism (VC) stresses the hierarchical structure of society and more distant relations, characterizing a social setting in which the individuals are primarily parts of the collective and accept social inequality (Darwish &Huber 2003).

Horizontal Collectivism (HC) is the hallmark of social settings in which hierarchy and distance are minimal; therefore, people belonging to a group ideally experience themselves as members in an equal collective. (Darwish &Huber 2003).

Trompenaars Cultural Dimensions

• The 7D model builds on the traditional anthropological approaches to understanding culture.

• 5 dimensions deal with the challenges of how people relate with people.

• 1 dimension deals with how a culture manages time.

• 1 dimension deals with how a culture manages nature.

• Universalism vs. Particularism: the choice of dealing with other people based on rules or based on personal relationships.

• Collectivism vs. Individualism: the focus on group membership versus individual characteristics.

• Neutral vs.. Affective: the range of feelings outwardly expressed in the society • Diffuse vs. Specific: the types of involvement people have with each other ranging from all aspects of life to specific components

• Achievement vs. Ascription: the assignment of status in the society based on performance (eg. college graduation) versus assignment based on heritage • Control of ‘versus accommodation with’ nature: nature viewed as something to be controlled versus something to be accepted • Time: Synchronous or Sequential: Importance given to time and its use and order of tasks.

•

Schwartz Seven Value Orientations.

All societies confront and must cope with basic problems in regulating human activity in order to survive ((Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck, 1961; Parsons, 1951). • Three societal problems as most critical: • (1) defining the boundaries between the person and the group and the optimal relations between them; • (2) ensuring coordination among people to produce goods and services in ways that preserve the social fabric; • (3) regulating the utilization of human and natural resources. Cultural value emphases reflect and justify preferred societal responses to these problems.

Embeddedness

Characteristic of societies based on

interdependent social relations

, where

security, conformity and tradition

are priorities. – emphasize the status and propriety, and try to

avoid actions by individuals

which attempt to alter the traditional established order (

social order, obedience, respect for tradition, family security, self discipline

).

Affective Autonomy

Interest in promoting and protecting the attainment of positive affective experiences (

pleasure, exciting life, varied life

).

– These values share with

intellectual autonomy the same

concept of an autonomous person that implies relating to others in terms of

self-interest

and negotiated agreements (Schwartz, 1994).

Intellectual Autonomy

Comprises the values that situate the person as an autonomous entity to pursue his or her goals and

intellectual interests (curious, open minded, creative

).

Hierarchy

Places emphasis in the legitimacy of the hierarchical ascription of roles and fixed resources (

social power, authority, humility, wealth

). Together with the value type of embeddedness, this constitutes the nucleus of the

collectivism

dimension that has been widely used to describe cultures and societies (Hofstede,1984; Triandis, 1990).

Egalitarianism

Typical of societies that

share a concern for the well-being of others

(equality, social justice, responsible, help). not very important in collectivist cultures where the identification with those who matter (in-groups) assures the preoccupation for well being. positively related with

intellectual and affective autonomy (individualism)

and

negatively related to collectivism.

Harmony

Harmonious

fit with nature

and perhaps

as well with the environment

(unity with nature, protection of the environment, world of beauty).

Mastery

Values give priority to

the dominance of the surroundings

through self affirmation (

ambition, success, risk

). – It is related with affective individualism through sharing the desire for activity and stimulation and presupposing the legitimacy of changing the status quo.