Dimensions of culture in business

Values in Culture

•       Human values are defined as desirable goals, varying in importance that serve as guiding principles in people’s lives.

Values

–      Learned from the culture in which individual is reared (group)

–      Differences in cultural values may result in varying management practices

–      Basic convictions that people have about

•       Right and wrong

•       Good and bad

Important and unimportant

Values are beliefs

–      about desirable goals in life

–      arouse feeling when pursued or frustrated

 Values apply across situations

–      Values (e.g. honesty, security, freedom)   are relevant at home, office, with friends

•       motivate choice of behaviour - what we do

•        justify past behaviour - why we do it

•       determine standards to evaluate people and events - who and what we like

direct attention and perception - what we notice

Value priorities are relatively stable

•       form during childhood

•       become stable in adolescence

•       may change gradually in adulthood

•       change more in response to dramatic  experiences (death of partner; sudden poverty) or therapy

Forms of Address

•       Degree of formality

•       When do you use titles, what titles do you use (civil status, professional titles or educational title)?

•       First name or last name ?

–      In many cultures first names are only for family and friends

–      In China ? Explain the construction of Chinese names?

•       How do you show respect for a superior?

                - the way you speak, polite words, title, body language

Greeting Rituals

–      How do you introduce yourself to a business contact?

–      Exchange of business cards, in China and Australia

–      Greeting with or without exchange of names

–      Do you introduce your colleagues?

–      Are women supposed to shake hands?

–      Handshake, Kissing and Hugging Rituals,

•       After how long time is this required?

–      In most cultures it is polite to acknowledge that you have met the person before!

•       In Australia – important to remember name?

•       In France, Norway important to say Thank you for last time

•       In China and Thailand ?

Making Contact

Personal space

How much do you want to reveal of your private life.

How much of your space is public versus private space ?

Do you mix private life and work ?

Social interaction at work – Karaoke, alcohol and other issues. (eg. China and Japan)

Dress Codes at Work

Formal or informal (Australia vs Japan)

Different rules for men and women? (China, double measurement)

In Italy (Rome) I found that women could not dress up too much. (Men had it easy!)

In Norway, even at Ministerial level you could dress in T-shirt and Jeans, but different when meeting other officials.

What is the rule in China, Thailand, Saudi Arabic, Philippines?

Dress in a way to match your customer?

Written versus Verbal Contracts

Is your word more worth than a written paper ?

What guards you binding commitments ?

Written contracts and lawyers or your reputation/word?

Example:

US = 279 lawyers per 100,000 people

UK = 114, Germany = 77, France = 29      Japan = 11

Value Similarities and Differences
Across Cultures

1. Strong relationship between level of managerial success and personal values
2. Value patterns predict  managerial success and can be used in selection/placement decisions
3. Country differences in relationship between values and success; however, findings across U.S., Japan, Australia, India are similar
4. Values of more successful managers favor pragmatic, dynamic, achievement-oriented and active role in interaction with others
5. Values of less successful managers tend toward static and passive values; relatively passive roles in interacting with others

Understanding culture and management

Research on communication

                - Edward Hall

Research on different organizational functions

                - Nancy Adler

Research on organizational culture

                - Edgar Schein

Research on national culture

                - Geert Hofstede

                - Fons Trompenaars

National cultural dimensions in the business context

Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

•       Hofstede was one of the first researchers to analyze the influence of NATIONAL culture on management practices (1980s)

•       Empirical study at large multinational company (IBM)

•       66 national subsidiaries

•       116,000 questionnaires

•       60 out of 150 questions concerned values and opinions.

-Now scores showing relative positions of 70+ countries

-Rank ordered countries

Four aspects of national culture

Hofstede’s cultural dimensions

Four aspects of national culture that affect our thinking about organizations :

1. Power distance

2. Uncertainty avoidance

3. Individualism/Collectivism

4. Masculinity/Femininity

The fifth dimension

5. Short-term versus long-term orientation

–      This dimension was NOT found in the data used to determine the original dimensions (Hofstede, 2001)

–      This dimension emerges from a survey

–      the Chinese Values Survey (1985) which contained a Confucian dynamism scale.

Power distance dimension

Power distance: Less powerful members accept that power is distributed unequally

•       High power distance countries: people blindly obey superiors; centralized, tall structures (e.g. Mexico, South Korea, India, China)

•       Low power distance countries: flatter, decentralized structures, smaller ratio of supervisor to employee (e.g., Austria, Ireland, Norway)

- Is Australia a high power distance country or low power distance country?

Low/High power distance dimension

Collectivist/Individualist dimension

Individualism:  People look after selves and immediate family only

•       High individualism countries: wealthier, protestant work ethic, greater individual initiative, promotions based on market value (e.g., U.S., Canada, Sweden)

•       High collectivism countries: poorer, less support of Protestant work ethic, less individual initiative, promotions based on seniority (e.g., Indonesia, Pakistan)

Masculinity/Femininity

 dimension

Masculinity: dominant social values are success, money, and things

High masculine countries: stress earnings, recognition, advancement, challenge, wealth; high job stress (e.g., Germanic countries)

High feminine countries: emphasize caring for others and quality of life; cooperation, friendly atmosphere., employment security, group decision making; low job stress (e.g., Norway)

Uncertainty avoidance dimension

Uncertainty avoidance:  people feel threatened by ambiguous situations; create beliefs/institutions to avoid such situations

•       High uncertainty avoidance countries: high need for security, strong belief in experts and their knowledge; structure organizational activities, more written rules, less managerial risk taking (e.g., Germany, Japan, Spain) 

•       Low uncertainty avoidance countries: people more willing to accept risks of the unknown, less structured organizational activities, fewer written rules, more managerial risk taking, higher employee turnover, more ambitious employees (e.g., Denmark and Great Britain)

 The effect of Hofstede’s four dimensions

 on issues in management and business

Time Orientation Dimensions

•       Long Term Orientation is directed at the future and seeks future rewards through perseverance and thrift

•       Short Term Orientation is directed at the past and present through respect for tradition, fulfilling social obligations and seeking immediate rewards

Criticism of Hofstede’s model

Criticisms include

•       surveys to measure culture -> unsuitable

•       nations as units of analysis -> not the most appropriate

surveys at only one company -> information cannot be about entire national cultures