BUSINESS ACROSS CULTURES
Objectives and outcomes
o define culture
o use common vocabulary often used in business
and/ or cross-cultural communication
o identify and apply cultural frameworks
interpersonal scholar dimension
framework complexity stereotype
inequality unequally tolerance
1. Question 1
Choose the BEST word to complete the following sentence: It took
several years to solve the problem due to its ____ and the
numerous elements involved in the process.
o framework
o dimensions
o stereotypes
o complexity
2. Question 2
Choose the BEST word to complete the following sentence:
Due to recent occurrence of cross-cultural misunderstanding
at the new Asian office, we need a manager with good ____
communication skills.
o scholar
o intercultural
o scholarly
o inequality
3. Question 3
Choose the BEST word to complete the following sentence:
People in our country often avoid public disputes because
they have low ____ for conflict.
o tolerance
o stereotype
o dimensions
o frameworks
4. Question 4
Choose the BEST word to complete the following
sentence:
Jack has excellent ____ skills and is able to maintain good
relationships among his co-workers.
o interpersonal
o scholarly
o dimensional
o tolerance
5. Question 5
Choose the BEST word to replace 'system' in the following
sentence:
The theory provides a system for understanding modern
politics.
o scholar
o stereotype
o dimension
o framework
The sum total of all the beliefs, values and norms shared by a
group of people.
The way you have been conditioned in a society to
think, feel, interpret and react.
CULTURE
The collective programming of the human mind.
All you need to know and believe in order to be accepted
in a society.
A large pool of experience composed of learned programmes for
action and passed on from generation to generation.
Cultures and Culture
• corporate culture (the culture of Microsoft)
• professional culture (the culture of lawyers or doctors)
• gender (the different cultures of men and women)
• age (the different cultures of young, middle-aged, and old
people)
• religious culture (Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam)
• regional culture (Northern and Southern Italy)
• class culture (working class, middle class, and upper
class).
Cultural frameworks
G. Hofstede – “the collective programming of the
mind, which distinguishes the members of one
human group from another”(1991)
Cultural frameworks: The Culture
Iceberg (E.T. HALL, 1991)
things which you can
recognise quite easily
things which take some
time to recognise
things which you recognise
only when you are very
familiar with a culture.
Cultural frameworks: The Onion
CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
General barriers to effective communication
(environmental barriers, physiological barriers,
psychological barriers)
Barriers that affect cross-cultural communication
Misperception
Misinterpretation (categorization, stereotyping)
Misevaluation
PERCEPTION
STEREOTYPES
Dimensions of cultures (Geert Hofstede, 1991)
Masculinity/ Power
Femininity Distance
NATIONAL
CULTURE
Uncertainty Individualism
Avoidance / Collectivism
Language of
Time
Hofstede's cultural framework
Power Distance
Hofstede's cultural framework
Individualism/
Collectivism
Hofstede's cultural framework
Masculinity/
Femininity
Hofstede's cultural framework
Uncertainty
Avoidance
Hofstede's cultural framework
Pragmatic/
Normative
Hofstede's cultural framework
Indulgence
Restraint
Hofstede's cultural framework
Long Term
Orientation
a. The degree to which people can:
Power Distance Index • Take risks
(PDI) • Accept conflict and stress
• Work without rules
Uncertainty b. The degree to which people:
Avoidance Index (UAI) •Have a short- or long-term view of their work
•Accept convention
•Persevere with a job
•Spend or invest
Individualism/ c. Acceptance of unequal distribution of power – the degree to
Collectivism (IDV) which:
Employees are independent
Structures are hierarchical
Bosses are accessible
People have rights or privileges
Progress is by evolution or revolution
Masculinity/ d. The degree to which people:
Femininity (MAS) •Work in groups or alone
•Relate to their tasks or to their colleagues
Long-Term e. The degree to which people:
Orientation (LTO) •Believe in consensus
•Put work at the centre of their lives
•Expect managers to use intuition
Cross-cultural competence
The way in which people:
◦ Act toward one another
◦ Deal with customers
◦ Approach work
◦ Dress
◦ Fit the organization’s values, beliefs and norms
◦ Move away from the ‘silo’ mentality, cultural stereotypes
and cultural behaviours
7. Though many people think the biggest obstacle to
international business is understanding foreign
behavior, it is actually ____________.
o becoming aware of your own cultural conditioning and
how it affects your interpretations.
o asking a foreigner to describe people from your own
country and listening to the responses.
o using our own cultural meanings to make sense of a
foreigner’s reality.
