Because learning changes everything.

International
Management:
Culture, Strategy, and
Behavior

Part Two: The Role of

Culture

Chapter 4: The Meanings and

Dimensions of Culture

© McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom.
No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
 Chapter Objectives

1. DEFINE the term culture, and discuss some of the

comparative ways of differentiating cultures.
2. DESCRIBE the concept of cultural values, and relate some of
the international differences, similarities, and changes
occurring in terms of both work and managerial values.
3. IDENTIFY the major dimensions of culture relevant to work
settings, and discuss their effects on behavior in an
international environment.
4. DISCUSS the value of country cluster analysis and relational
orientations in developing effective international management
practices.

© McGraw-Hill Education 2
Culture Clashes in Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions:
Class discussion

1. Identify and discuss the cultural attitudes mentioned in the article that
contributed to the problems in an organization.

2. Identify and discuss the impact of cultural differences on business and

why MNCs need to recognize and incorporate cultural differences in their
strategic decision-making.

3. Consider the differences between the cultures of a country of their

choice and the United States and tell how those differences influence the
behavior of managers.

© McGraw-Hill Education 3
 The Nature of Culture

Culture is the acquired knowledge that people use to interpret

experience and generate social behavior.
• Learned: Culture is acquired by learning and experience.
• Shared: People share culture; it is not specific to single individuals.
• Transgenerational: Passed down from one generation to the next.
• Symbolic: Culture is based on the human capacity to symbolize.
• Patterned: Culture is integrated; change in one part, changes another.
• Adaptive: Culture is based on the human capacity to change or adapt.

© McGraw-Hill Education 4
 Cultural Diversity

Specific examples where the culture of a society can directly affect

management approaches.

• Centralized vs. decentralized decision making.

Culture can affect
• Safety vs. risk.
technology transfer,
• Individual vs. group rewards. managerial
attitudes,
• Informal vs. formal procedures. managerial
ideology, and even
• High vs. low organizational loyalty.
business-
• Cooperation vs. competition. government
relations.
• Short-term vs. long-term horizon.
• Stability vs. innovation.

© McGraw-Hill Education 5
 Priorities of Cultural Values

© McGraw-Hill Education 6
 Figure 4-1: A Model of Culture

Another way of depicting cultural diversity is through visually separating

its components.

Access the text alternative for this image.

© McGraw-Hill Education Source: Trompenaars, Alfons, and Charles Hampden-Turner. Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998. 7
 Business Customs in South Africa

vArrange a meeting before discussing business

over the phone
vMake appointments as far in advance as possible
vMaintain eye contact, shake hands, provide
business card
vMaintain a win-win situation
vKeep presentations short

© McGraw-Hill Education 8
 Figure 4-2: Comparing Cultures as Overlapping Normal
Distributions

Sources: Revised and adapted from various sources, including Trompenaars, Alfons, and Charles Hampden-Turner. Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in
© McGraw-Hill Education Global Business. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998. 9
 Figure 4-3: Stereotyping from the Cultural Extremes

Access the text alternative for this image.

Sources: Revised and adapted from various sources, including Trompenaars, Alfons, and Charles Hampden-Turner. Riding the Waves of Culture:
© McGraw-Hill Education Understanding Diversity in Global Business. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998. 10
 Values in Culture

Values are basic

Learned from the culture in
convictions that people
which the individual is
have regarding what is right
reared, and they help direct
and wrong, good and bad,
the person’s behavior.
important and unimportant.

© McGraw-Hill Education 11
 U.S. Values and Possible Alternatives

© McGraw-Hill Education 12
 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

Sources: Revised and adapted from various sources, including Trompenaars, Alfons, and Charles Hampden-Turner. Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in
© McGraw-Hill Education Global Business. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998. 13
 Values in Transition

Do values change over time?

Personal value systems are relatively stable and

do not change rapidly. Individualism in
Japan is on the
However, managerial values are changing.
rise, indicating that
• For Japanese managers working in Japanese Japanese values
firms in the U.S. are changing.
• Lifetime employment is not as accepted. The culture is
starting to embrace
• Obedience and conformity is not as what is being
important and you can question a superior. called the “era of
personal
• They support team values but remain
responsibility.”
individuals.

© McGraw-Hill Education 14
 Cultural Dimensions—Hofstede

• Power distance.
• Uncertainty avoidance.
• Individualism versus Collectivism.
• Masculinity versus Femininity.
• Time orientation—long-term or short-term.
• Indulgent versus restraint.

© McGraw-Hill Education 15
 British culture vs Vietnamese culture

© McGraw-Hill Education 16
 Power distance
and
individualism

© McGraw-Hill Education 17
 Uncertainty
avoidance and
Power distance

© McGraw-Hill Education 18
 Masculinity and
Uncertainty
avoidance

© McGraw-Hill Education 19
 Cultural Dimensions—Trompernaars

• Universalism vs. particularism.

• Individualism vs. communitarianism.
• Neutral culture vs. emotional culture.
• Specific culture vs. diffuse culture.
• Achievement culture vs. ascription culture.
Trompenaars also looked at attitudes toward both time and the
environment.
• Time can be viewed as sequential, synchronous, future-oriented, or
past- and present-oriented.
• Environment is the degree people believe they can control outcomes
(inner-directed) or let things take their own course (outer-directed).

© McGraw-Hill Education 20
 Integrating Culture and Management: The GLOBE Project

The Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness

(GLOBE) research program measures cultural differences.
• GLOBE extends and integrates the previous analyses of cultural
attributes and variables published by Hofstede and Trompenaars.
• Phases one and two focused on middle management.
• Phase three examined the interactions of culture and leadership in
upper-level management positions.

© McGraw-Hill Education 21
 Culture and Management

The GLOBE project set out to answer many fundamental questions about
cultural variables shaping leadership and organizational processes.

• Are there leader behaviors, attributes, and organizational practices that

are universally accepted and effective across cultures?
• Are there leader behaviors, attributes, and organizational practices that
are accepted and effective in only some cultures?
• How do attributes of societal and organizational cultures affect the kinds
of leader behaviors and organizational practices that are accepted and
effective?
• What is the effect of violating cultural norms relevant to leadership and
organizational practices?
• What is the relative standing of each of the cultures studied on each of
the nine core dimensions of culture?
• Can the universal and culture-specific aspects of leader behaviors,
attributes, and organizational practices be explained in terms of an
underlying theory that accounts for systematic differences across
cultures?

© McGraw-Hill Education 22
 GLOBE’s Cultural Dimensions

• Uncertainty avoidance by • Assertiveness, confrontation,

relying on norms, rituals, and and aggression in social
practices. relationships.
• Power distance is how power is • Future orientation—planning,
shared. investing, and delaying
• Collectivism I: Societal gratification.
collectivism— • Performance orientation—how
encourage/reward collective they encourage/reward group
distribution of resources. performance improvement.
• Collectivism II: In-group • Humane orientation—encourage
collectivism—how they express or reward fair, altruistic, friendly,
pride, loyalty, and generous, and caring behavior
cohesiveness. toward others.
• Gender egalitarianism—how
they minimize gender role
differences.
© McGraw-Hill Education 23
 Figure 4-10: Comparing the Cultural Dimension Research:
Hofstede and the GLOBE Project

Access the text alternative for this image.

Source: Original graphic by Professor Jonathan Doh based on data from Hofstede, Geert. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New
© McGraw-Hill Education York: McGraw-Hill, 2005, and the GLOBE project research. 24
 Figure 4-11: Comparing Values and Practices in Brazil

Access the text alternative for this image.

Source: Original graphic by Professor Jonathan Doh based on data from Hofstede, Geert. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New
© McGraw-Hill Education York: McGraw-Hill, 2005, and the GLOBE project research. 25
© McGraw-Hill Education 26
 GLOBE Country Analysis

The GLOBE analysis corresponds generally with those of

Hofstede and Trompenaars, with some variations resulting from
the variable definitions and methodology.

The GLOBE analysis is sometimes seen as complicated,

but so are cultures and perceptions.

GLOBE provides a current, comprehensive overview of general

stereotypes that can be further analyzed for greater insight.

© McGraw-Hill Education 27
 Review and Discuss

1. What is meant by culture?

2. What is meant by value?
3. What are the dimensions of Hofstede’s model?
4. Will cultural differences decline or intensify as
roadblock to international understanding?
5. How did project GLOBE build on and extend
Hofstede’s analysis? What unique contributions
are associated with project GLOBE?

© McGraw-Hill Education 28