Week 2 & 3 Flashcards
(31 cards)
How do cultures differ?
Every country, workplace, sports group etc have their own culture. Culture is most readily seen in ‘norms’ and ‘practices’, such as language, clothing and behaviour.
How do we engage in the world around us?
- Harmony: A belief that we are not separated from the world - that we and the ‘world around us’ are all part of the same system.
- Mastery: A belief that humans are separated from the world around us, and that our role is to influence and control our environment.
- Subjugation: A belief that the environment is dominated by something other than humans, typically God, fate or a supernatural force. Life in this context is viewed as predetermined or an exercise in chance.
Most cultures prefer one over the others in most situations. People are expected to act according to that preference and actions are interpreted from that perspective.
Outline the six issues referred to ‘cultural orientations’ that effect international mangement
- Relation to environment
- Relations among people
- Mode of normal activity
- Orientation to time
- Belief about basic human nature
- Use of space
Outline the cultural functions of groups
Cultures serves two important functions for groups. First, it makes action more simple and efficient. When people know what to prioritize and how to interact with each other, business and social interactions take place quickly and easily.
Second, culture provides an important source of social identity for its members. Humans have a basic need to belong to social groups. Belonging to a culture brings safety and security from the group, and separates the group from outsiders.
Explain the social perception process of D.I.E
Stands for: Describe, Interpret, Evaluate
We observe something and take note of its characteristics, we describe it.
We interpret facts, or give them meaning, based on assumptions.
We evaluate the facts and take action based on evaluation.
How does culture influence our view and behaviour?
Influences on culture (history, language, religion, climate)
–>
Culture (shared assumptions and values)
then branches off to either:
–> Cultural institutions (education, social, political, legal)
–> Individual perceptions (describe, interpret, evaluate)
Then the output is –> Individual behaviour
Explain the orientation to relations among people with regard to power and responsibility. Who has power? Who is responsible?
- Collectivism: the group is dominant. Member of the group look after each other, and subordinate their own wishes to those of the group. (The group can be family, company, society as a whole)
- Individualism: a belief that is people look after themselves and if no one has absolute power over anyone else then we will be better off. Individuals make their own decisions and live with consequences. Usually based on personal achievements. Egalitarian cultures.
- Hierarchy: Relationships of power and responsibility are arranged such that those higher in the hierarchy have power of those in the lower hierarchy.
In business terms, a major difference lies in business negotiation styles. In individualist cultures, negotiators assume large personal responsibilities. In collective cultures decisions are committee based.
How do we coordinate collective action? That is, what are the two variations of activity found across business cultures.
- Doing: In ‘doing’ cultures, “when in doubt, take action”. This action may be to fix or resolve an issue, as tends to be the case of pragmatic Finland, or it may be to do something to get feedback - to learn more - as in process-oriented Japan.
- Thinking: Thinking-cultures place a high value on being rational and carefully thinking everything through before taking action. I thinking-cultures, “when in doubt, get more information and plan more”. These cultures also place priority on reflecting, analyzing past performance.
How does our ‘timeframe’ impact on culture?
There are two ways to think about time. First involves a general orientation towards time and the second is about how people think about or use time.
- Past-oriented culture: people respond to a new challenge by looking to tradition and ask “how have others dealt with this before?”
- Present-oriented culture (or future-oriented): the chief concern is “what is the long term consequence of this choice?”
Explain Monochronic cultures
Time is a valuable commodity. People save, spend and waste time. People live by their schedules and punctuality is valued.
What are the cultural contributions in multicultural teams?
Members of multicultural teams will bring different perspectives to the team, not just the task, but how they engage with the team and task.
See page 101 for table
What are some limitations of cross-cultural mapping?
- Individuals don’t always conform to their cultures. We are all different, so don’t always act as predicted. Within cultures, some people hold more strongly to the cultural norms and values than others (referred to as ecological fallacy).
- All individuals belong to multiple cultures, and types of cultures simultaneously. We are guide our perceptions and behaviours based on the context. If we are e.g. very religious our behaviour will always influence us regardless of the culture we are a part of.
- Cultures are much more complex than can be described simply by these orientations with their aggregate variations.
- Cultures are dynamic, always changing. They must change otherwise they will stagnate and die.
Define ‘Polychronic cultures’
In Polychronic cultures, human interaction is valued over time and material things, leading to a lesser concern for ‘getting things done’ – they do get done, but more in their own time. Aboriginal and Native Americans have typical polychronic cultures, where ‘talking stick’ meetings can go on for as long as somebody has something to say.
Polychronic people tend also to be high context.
Give an example of high power distance countries
High Power Distance exists in countries where inequalities grow over time into inequalities of power and wealth – examples – India, Mexico, South Korea
Give an example of a lower power distance country
Lower Power Distance is found in where these inequalities are not so prominent – example Australia
Discuss individualism/collectivism
The degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members, where people´´´s self-image is defined in terms of “I” or “We”.
Individualism – Tendency of people to look after themselves and their immediate family. Country examples – USA, Australia, Canada, Sweden.
Collectivism – People belong to groups or collectives, or look after each other in exchange for loyalty.
» Country examples –Japan, China, Pakistan, South American countries
Discuss masculinity (achievement) vs femininity (nurturing)
Masculinity (Achievement) – Where the dominant values in society are success, money, competition and possessions
Femininity (Nurturing) – where the dominant values of society are caring for others and quality of life and standing out from the crowd is not admirable.
Later renamed Achievement vs Nurturing orientation –
to avoid gender stereotyping
Discuss uncertainty avoidance
Uncertainty Avoidance
The extent to which the members of a culture deal with anxiety and feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations, and create beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these. The extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguous situations and create beliefs and institutions to avoid these situation.
Country examples – Germany and Japan
Discuss long-term/short-term view
Long-Term / Short-Term
The extent to which a society shows a pragmatic future-oriented perspective rather than a conventional historical short-term point of view.
Long-Term – values oriented to the future – thrift and persistence
Short-Term – values oriented to past and present –respect for tradition/fulfilling social obligations
Explain Hall’s view of ‘context’
CONTEXT is information that surrounds an event. It contains the elements that combined together convey the
meaning. Event and CONTEXT are in different proportion depending on the culture. The cultures of the world can be compared on a scale from high and low cultures.
Explain ‘high context’
HC message is one in which most of the information is already in the person. Very little is in the coded, explicit, transmitted part of the message.
Example – twins communicating
Explain ‘low context’
LC message is one in which the mass of the information is vested in the explicit code (decipher, assume, expect = get).
Example – Lawyers representing angry clients
Explain monochronic people/culture
Monochronic People » One thing at a time » Focused on deadlines » Low Context – need information » Strictly adhere to plans » Short-term relationships » Follow rules of privacy Monochronic Culture » Time comes first, people come second » Time is sequential and rigorously scheduled » Insult time - being late » Deadline and delivery is serious
Monochronic cultures - prefer compartmentalisation,
closed doors, sound-proof office
Explain polychronic people/culture
Polychronic People
» Many things at once
» Disrupted flows
» Commitments kept if possible
» High context- already hold information
» Change plans frequently
» Tendency for LT relationships
» More concerned with close relationships – family & business
Polychronic Culture
» ‘Characterized by the simultaneous occurrence of many things and a great involvement with people’
» More focus on completing human transactions than holding to schedules.
» Examples – Latin American and Arabic Cultures
Polychronic people do not like private space
