Dissecting
culture and its
application to
business
What we’ll cover
1. What is the nature of culture?
2. Variety and variation in culture
3. How have globalisation, migration and diversity impacted on
national culture?
4. Use these insights to critically evaluate models of national culture
5. Culture traps: problems and pitfalls to avoid
6. Dynamic models of culture
7. Groupwork exercise: apply your cultural knowledge to business
practice
1. What is culture?
Read the following descriptions of national values
for China, India, Britain
•What do these descriptions tell us about the nature of
culture?
i.e. what kinds of things do we call ‘culture’?
• How long might it take an outsider to understand these
values?
So what is the nature of culture?
“a complex frame of reference that consists of patterns of traditions,
beliefs, values, norms, symbols, and meanings that are shared to varying
degrees by interacting members of a community”
(Ting-Toomey, 1999, p.10)
traditions rituals, ceremonies, rites of passage
beliefs, values, norms underlying principles governing behaviours
symbols language (verbal, non-verbal) also images
meanings Interpretations of symbols held by members
‘shared to varying degrees’ not every single member of the culture to the same degree!
‘a frame of reference’ for making sense of the world
Culture is socially constructed; a basis for shared, collective identities
What are the key
words to highlight
in this definition?
Another definition
“the coherent, learned, shared view of a group of people about life’s
concerns that ranks what is important, furnishes attitudes about what
things are appropriate, and dictates behaviour”
(Varner & Beamer, 2011, p.5)
coherent an entire, consistent world view
learned we are not born with it; culture is transmitted
view of a group agreed, shared views of a society
What are the key
words to highlight
in this definition?
The Iceberg of Culture
In awareness Visible
Out of conscious
awareness
Invisible
Self-awareness
The Iceberg of Culture Fine arts Literature
Drama Classical music Popular music
Folk dancing Games Cooking Dress
Notions of modesty Conceptions of beauty Ideas about child raising
Rules of descent Cosmology Relationship to animals Courtship practices
Patterns of superior/subordinate relations Definitions of sin
Conceptions of justice Notions of leadership Incentive to work Tempo of work
Attitudes to the dependent Approaches to problem solving
Patterns of group decision making Eye behaviour Conceptions of cleanliness
Theories of disease Conception of status mobility
Roles in relation to status by age, sex, class, occupation, kinship etc
Definition of insanity Nature of friendship Conception of self
Patterns of visual perception Body language Facial expression
Notions of logic and validity Patterns of handling emotions ...
Role Of Transgenic Animal In Target Validation-1.pptx
Dissecting culture and its application to business.docx
1. Dissecting
culture and its
application to
business
What we’ll cover
1. What is the nature of culture?
2. Variety and variation in culture
3. How have globalisation, migration and diversity impacted on
national culture?
4. Use these insights to critically evaluate models of national
culture
5. Culture traps: problems and pitfalls to avoid
6. Dynamic models of culture
7. Groupwork exercise: apply your cultural knowledge to
business
practice
1. What is culture?
Read the following descriptions of national values
for China, India, Britain
•What do these descriptions tell us about the nature of
2. culture?
i.e. what kinds of things do we call ‘culture’?
• How long might it take an outsider to understand these
values?
So what is the nature of culture?
“a complex frame of reference that consists of patterns of
traditions,
beliefs, values, norms, symbols, and meanings that are shared to
varying
degrees by interacting members of a community”
(Ting-Toomey, 1999, p.10)
traditions rituals, ceremonies, rites of passage
beliefs, values, norms underlying principles governing
behaviours
symbols language (verbal, non-verbal) also images
meanings Interpretations of symbols held by members
‘shared to varying degrees’ not every single member of
the culture to the same degree!
‘a frame of reference’ for making sense of the world
Culture is socially constructed; a basis for shared, collective
identities
What are the key
3. words to highlight
in this definition?
Another definition
“the coherent, learned, shared view of a group of people about
life’s
concerns that ranks what is important, furnishes attitudes about
what
things are appropriate, and dictates behaviour”
(Varner & Beamer, 2011, p.5)
coherent an entire, consistent world view
learned we are not born with it; culture is transmitted
view of a group agreed, shared views of a society
What are the key
words to highlight
in this definition?
The Iceberg of Culture
In awareness Visible
Out of conscious
awareness
Invisible
Self-awareness
4. The Iceberg of Culture Fine arts Literature
Drama Classical music Popular music
Folk dancing Games Cooking Dress
Notions of modesty Conceptions of beauty Ideas about child
raising
Rules of descent Cosmology Relationship to animals
Courtship practices
Patterns of superior/subordinate relations Definitions of sin
Conceptions of justice Notions of leadership Incentive to
work Tempo of work
Attitudes to the dependent Approaches to problem solving
Patterns of group decision making Eye behaviour Conceptions
of cleanliness
Theories of disease Conception of status mobility
Roles in relation to status by age, sex, class, occupation,
kinship etc
Definition of insanity Nature of friendship Conception of self
Patterns of visual perception Body language Facial
expression
Notions of logic and validity Patterns of handling emotions
Conversational patterns
Conception of past & future Ordering of time
5. Preference for competition or cooperation Social interaction
rate
Notions of adolescence Arrangements of physical space
The onion of
culture
The iceberg and the onion are
static models of culture
They view culture as
• a collection of things
(values, beliefs, views, assumptions …)
• shared by a group of people
Static models give rise to a popular view of culture in
business
• Identify people from 2 different countries who need to do
business with each other
• Look for likely problems/misunderstandings arising from their
country of origin.
• Provide tips and advice
So what is the problem with that?
6. 2. Varieties and
variation in culture
Varieties and levels of culture
The idea of ‘national culture’ is not straightforward
§ National boundaries rarely coincide with the boundaries of
culture
§ National borders are politically determined,
artificially created,
and shifting
• Today most “national” cultures are a collection of several,
separate
cultures.
Layers of culture: infra-national
Language
religion
ethnic
regional differences
are some of the main ways in which a national culture breaks
down into a
number of separate cultures.
• Some examples to think about: Nigeria
China
7. India
Spain
What other country examples can you think of that illustrate
this point?
Layers of culture: supra-national
Cultural identity can include identification with a region or
group above
the level of nation
• An example to think about: Europe
• What other country examples
illustrate this point?
MENA region/Arab world?
For citizens of
many countries,
cultural identity
may be multi-
levelled:
•Supra-national
identities
• Infra-national
identities
8. Layers of culture: sub-cultures
In every society there are also many other types of sub-cultures,
defined by, for example:
social class
gender
sexual orientation
occupation
age (youth culture)
Members of these subcultures vary in certain distinctive ways
from the
norms and values of the national culture
(spreading around the central tendency )
3. How have globalisation,
migration and diversity
impacted on national culture?
Multi-cultural societies
Worldwide migration contributes to diversity and change
Cultures shift from homogenous to heterogenous
An example … Long-established immigrant
communities in the UK
British people of
9. • Indian and Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin
• Caribbean and African origin
• east Asian origin
• European origin
Most may identify comfortably with both British and their
heritage
culture.
‘Super-diverse’ cities
Since the early 90s, the scale of migration has escalated to a
point
where ‘multiculturalism’ has now been replaced by
‘superdiversity’.
Cities are drivers of language innovation and change:
o they are working models of the future
o places of multi-culturalism and multi-lingualism
o places of young people working out new identities
Bi-culturalism and cultural hybrids
• Large global cities give us the opportunity to understand how
migrants
develop multiple cultural identities, as they learn to engage with
a new
language and culture.
• Bi-culturals navigate different worlds in their working and
social lives,
constantly switching cultural frames.
10. • They find different ways of relating to their heritage (original)
and host
(new) culture
4. Why should we be critical
of models of national
culture?
the problem with ‘national culture’
Globalisation (plus technology)
à has given rise to
communication and relationships
that cross and blur boundaries of
culture, nationality, ethnicity,
religion …
Many people are simultaneously members of different
cultural groups
Survey findings based on national culture capture only the
central tendency.
Nonetheless, the concept of national culture can be useful:
• it provides a framework for understanding general or
central tendencies that operate in a country.
• and a framework for multinational companies to operate
11. Limitations of data based on ‘national’ culture
5. Culture traps: problems
& pitfalls to avoid
Quick quiz
1. All people within a cultural community
are the same, and do and believe the
same things
TRUE / FALSE
1. A culture has a clear boundary and is
distinct from other cultures
TRUE / FALSE
2. An individual’s culture is fixed, stable,
and unchanging
TRUE / FALSE
Some things culture is NOT: Culture traps
• Homogenous
• All people within a cultural community are the same and do &
believe the
same things False
Cultures allow all sorts of differences; they are not uniform.
12. • Separate & distinct from other cultures
• A culture has a clear boundary and is distinct from other
cultures. False
Cultures share features and borrow influences from other
cultures; they
overlap, merge & blend.
• Static
• Culture is fixed, stable, never changes. False
All cultures are dynamic and change over time; they shift &
develop in the
modern world more rapidly through influence of other cultures.
6. Dynamic models of culture
Dynamic models of culture
Culture as a process, not an entity: practices with which people
engage
Argues that:
• culture cannot be measured or quantified
• Culture is changing, dynamic and evolving
• Culture is not a ‘thing’ we ‘get’ from our parents and families,
but
something we ‘do’: that we actively create and can change.
Not a ’thing’, but a tool for thinking/discovering/finding out
about
features that certain groups of people may share that may be
13. similar or
different from other groups of people.
Dynamic models of culture aim to avoid:
• Essentialising
viewing a cultural group as having definable ‘essences’, or
fixed attributes
• Reductionism
describing a complex phenomenon in simple terms
• Generalising
assuming all people within a cultural community are the same,
and do &
believe the same things
• Stereotyping
7. Applying your cultural
knowledge to business
practice
Watch the interview and answer the questions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W08H4sv6rLI
1. How have the needs of global business with regard to cultural
knowledge changed in recent years?
2. What is ‘cultural relativity’ in business?
24. Culture in Context: ‘Four Windows’
From: Dr. John Bing / President ITAP International
n INDIVIDUAL
n Personal History
n Family Background
n Personality
n ENVIRONMENTAL
n Economic Factors
n Market Issues
n Social Factors
n NATIONAL CULTURE
n Education
n National Values
n Religious Beliefs
n ORGANISATIONAL
CLIMATE
n Corporate Culture
n Organisational Structure
n Global Reach
32. LAURENT BARCHART
"It is important for a manager to have at hand precise answers
to most of the
questions that his subordinates may raise about their work."
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1
Country
Source: Andre Laurent, "The Cultural Diversity of Western
Conceptions of Management." Intl. Studies of Man & Org., Vol.
XIII, No. 1-2, PP. 75-96.
39. BETTER THAN
OTHER
CULTURES
WE ALL FIT IN
AND GET ALONG /
DIFFERENCES
DON’T MATTER
MUCH
DEEPLY
UNDERSTANDS
DIFFRENCES AND
THEIR IMPACT
ADJUSTS
MINDSET AS WELL
AS BEHAVIOUR
Based on The Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity
(DMIS), created by Dr. Milton
Bennett, Co-Director of the Intercultural Communication
Institute, Portland Oregon
42. ➢ Self-interest comes before that
of the group
➢ Separation of personal
& professional lives
➢ Competition between
individuals
➢ Efficiency prevails over
loyalty
➢ ‘Speaking your mind’ is
characteristic of honesty
➢ Hiring & promotion prioritises
skills & merit
➢ Focus on management of the
group
➢ Interests of the group prevail
over interests of the individual
➢ Emotional dependence of the
individual on the organisation
➢ Emphasis on co-operation
& harmony
➢ Loyalty prevails over efficiency
➢ Harmony should be maintained
& conflict avoided
➢ Hiring & promotion takes into
57. ➢ A perception of personal life
control
➢ Thrift is not very important
➢ Positive attitude / more
extroverted personalities
➢ E-mail and Internet used for
private contacts
➢ Smiling is a norm
➢ Lower proportion of police;
maintaining order is not a
high priority for society
➢ Lower percentage of ‘very happy
people’ / Higher ‘moral discipline’
➢ A perception of helplessness;
what happens to me is not my own
doing
➢ Thrift is important
➢ Cynicism / More neurotic
personalities
➢ Less use of E-mail and Internet for
private contacts
➢ Smiling is suspect
➢ Higher proportion of Police;
62. n INDIVIDUAL
n Personal History
n Family Background
n Personality
n ENVIRONMENTAL
n Economic Factors
n Market Issues
n Social Factors
n NATIONAL CULTURE
n Education
n National Values
n Religious Beliefs
n ORGANISATIONAL
CLIMATE
n Corporate Culture
n Organisational Structure
n Global Reach
8
Hofstede model: Criticisms
65. Individualism / Individualist Individual Orientation
Collectivism / Collectivist Group Orientation
POWER DISTANCE (PDI) POWER DISTANCE (PD)
Large Power Distance Hierarchical Orientation
Small Power Distance Participative Orientation
UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE (UAI) CERTAINTY (CERT)
Strong Uncertainty Avoidance Need for Certainty
Weak Uncertainty Avoidance Tolerance for Ambiguity
MASCULINITY (MAS) ACHIEVEMENT (ACH)
Masculinity / Masculine Achievement Orientation
Femininity / Feminine Quality of Life Orientation
LONG TERM ORIENTATION (LTO) TIME ORIENTATION
(TO)
Long Term Orientation Long Term Orientation
Short Term Orientation Short Term Orientation
INDULGENCE vs RESTRAINT (IVR) INDULGENCE (IVR)
77. with Peter, right in the middle of budget season, when a ‘phone
call or VC would have been enough to get the ball rolling in
John’s view.
After the usual niceties and a few of his hilarious jokes to ease
the atmosphere, John tried to move the conversation on to
urgent business matters - despite the constant interruptions by
waiters and Peter’s clear need to discuss every detail of the
menu with them. Eventually, John got Peter on to the budget
issues that he thought would at least make the trip worthwhile.
It didn’t take long however for Peter to broaden the focus on to
how he saw John’s role and what he expected of John. One
remark really took John’s breath away – ‘In the end…’ Peter
said, ‘… your job is to take the blame’. John’s response was
delivered in nice clear British English - ‘I don’t think so Pal’ -
and the rest of the dinner was not very enjoyable. John was out
of there on the first EuroStar, despite an invitation to breakfast
delivered to his room later that night.
Very soon – John heard that his reputation at the board table
was being questioned, that his Asia re-organisation was being
characterised as flawed, and noticed that other businesses in the
region were being allowed budget expansion in critical IT areas
while his new division was being squeezed.
Cross Cultural Moments 2: When the Price is right
Mr. Takashima had been hired by an Australian company in
Japan and was now working for the company in Sydney. Today
he was reporting to Mr. Cannon, his manager, on the difficulties
he had with a negotiation meeting he recently held with another
Australian company in Sydney over a potential contract.
Mr. Takashima noted that Mr. Roberts, who represented the
Australian company, seemed tired and frustrated at the end of
the meeting. Takashima stated that he didn't understand why,
since he had found the meeting very informative. Takashima
admitted, however, that he was annoyed at Roberts' insistence
78. for an immediate decision and answers to questions regarding
the contract. These were matters Takashima felt would have to
be discussed with Mr. Cannon and his department.
‘It was uncomfortable for me to say that I had no answer now to
his questions’ Takashima said to Cannon ‘But it was even more
difficult for me when Roberts finally said “O.K., I am willing to
lower my price by 15%, but only if you would make a decision
on this contract right here and now at the table. No more
stalling please.” ‘
‘What did you do?’ Cannon asked. ‘I said I would get back to
him’ Takashima answered. ‘I couldn't answer all his questions
without first clearing the matter back here.’
“I agree that Roberts does seem a bit impatient but we need to
close the deal quickly. But I’m surprised you let a 15% price
reduction go begging though. Let’s get the team together
quickly and see if we can recover the situation” replied Cannon.
Cross Cultural Moments 3: When the Chips are down
A Canadian executive, Mr. Thompson of CompuCan, was sent
to South Korea to meet with his company’s partner company
there, Seoul Manufacturers. The two companies had formed a
joint venture to produce computer chips. There he met the
General Manager of Seoul Manufacturers, Mr. Park.
Mr. Thompson introduced himself and after a few days of
meeting and greeting other managers, they had a meeting alone.
‘Mr. Park, everyone at CompuCan is impressed with the quality
and timeliness of production here. In this respect, we believe
that the joint venture is producing excellent results.’ He stopped
for a moment. ‘But in one area, we need to be more aggressive.’
79. Mr. Park nodded. ‘Please proceed.’
‘Our financial results are alright, but our shareholders are
expecting a much higher return on investment from this joint
venture. And they want results now. We need to cut costs and
improve margins so that the next quarterlies are more
impressive.’
Mr. Park sat quietly for a moment. ‘Ah, but you understand, we
are building our relationship with your company and with our
employees for the long term. We need everyone’s support to
make this a successful effort. In addition, it is not customary to
change quickly in this environment.’
‘Frankly, Mr. Park, if we can’t show results quickly, there may
not be a long term’ Mr. Park responded ‘Ah but Mr. Thompson,
if we show results too quickly by cutting staff to increase
margins, there will also not be a long term. Perhaps we could
look at alternative ways to reduce costs gradually as we
improve our efficiency in the production line over time.’
Cross Cultural Moments 4: From riches to rags
Joe Colman, the European Marketing Director for a major high-
street clothing retailer, was proud of his team’s new product
merchandising strategy and wanted to get it out into the stores
asap; he was convinced it would impact revenues quickly and
positively in a highly competitive market – and better numbers
would do no harm to his bonus prospects as the annual board
reviews were coming up.
While Joe knew there was a bit of detail that could be more
80. explicit, his view was that they were intelligent people and
could work that out in the stores – the general thrust was clear,
it was radical, and it was time to make it happen.
A few countries ran with it straight away – notably the UK
network and the Skandi’s weren’t far behind – but the ‘Conti’s’
as he called them – the French, Germans, Belgians… seemed
slow on the uptake. The new displays were very different from
the previous look – but the concept was clear and frankly there
wasn’t time to get every detail mocked-up and illustrated in the
merchandising manual. One conversation with the Marketing
Manager in Frankfurt was typical – ‘How do you expect us to
feel confident that we can take down the existing displays when
we don’t know what we should put in its place?’ was Hans-
Christian’s leading question. ‘Where is the research that says
this is a good strategy? We don’t even have display mock-ups
for all the key categories, just the examples your local team
have arranged in the London stores…’
Joe was in danger of not delivering on his implementation plan
– a key commitment to his board. He got his team to do a few
more mock-ups in the studio and sent them out – with an
instruction to get on with it. Results varied – they ‘got on with
it’ in France and Belgium but the displays were to Joe’s mind
more guess-work than ‘intelligent interpretation’ while the
Germans kept demanding more information and complained that
the plan was unrealistic.
His bonus was not as thrilling as he had hoped.
Cross Cultural Moments 5: When ‘hello’ is not enough
Rowan Tindale was the northern Europe project lead for
implementing a new global CRM system for a major Pharma
company. The team was mostly made up of UK and Swedish
81. nationals, since the Euro HQ was in London and the IT centre
was in Stockholm. This team had worked together before, quite
successfully, but Rowan was new to the company and was keen
to make a quick impact; this was his first opportunity, and he
wanted to get on with it.
Since the team had delivered projects together before, and the
only new team member was him, Rowan decided he would
quickly get a team VC organised and so sent them a skeleton
project plan he had already created, for them to review in
advance of the meeting. That way, he could start to get to know
them as they worked on refining the plan, and would get off to a
flying start on this urgent project. His boss had not yet sent out
the announcement of his appointment to the team, so Rowan
sent them all an invitation email, announcing his appointment as
project team leader and attached the skeleton plan with
directions that they should all be prepared to discuss it at the
VC meeting in a few days.
Rowan received a few responses in the days before the meeting
– all just formal thanks for the note and looking forward to the
meeting, though one troubled him a bit. It was from a London-
based Swedish colleague whom Rowan had met at his induction,
Bjorn, who seemed to want to put the brakes on the process.
Bjorn said that he thought it premature to be sending out a
skeleton plan at this stage and that in his experience the team
would appreciate a chance to understand something of Rowan’s
background and general approach to team leadership, before
driving into the work. Rowan did a quick reply saying there was
a lot of urgency and the team needed to be seen to be moving
quickly. There was no further response from Bjorn but Rowan
thought he may have trouble with him in the meeting.
The day of the VC meeting arrived and Rowan quickly
introduced himself, taking a bit more time on it than he had
planned, finishing by saying that he ‘didn’t want to bore them
with his life story.’ So after five minutes of introductions, he
moved on to the project objectives and skeleton plan.
82. To his disappointment, the meeting seemed to quickly dissolve
into two groups – the Brits were mostly happy to get on with it
and had clearly read the plan prior to the meeting, while the
guys in Stockholm didn’t want to engage, other than asking
vague questions about Rowan’s past management of projects
like this and what he expected of them as team members. Rowan
was conscious that he probably sounded frustrated as the
meeting went on, but he couldn’t understand what the problem
was. He suspected the Swedish contingent had not read the
skeleton plan and were just stalling.
Rowan ended the meeting before the allotted time and said he
would get back to them with next steps. Bjorn – who was in the
room in London – just avoided looking at him and quickly left
the scene.
A day later – Rowan’s boss pulled him aside and said he had
heard the meeting hadn’t gone well. ‘It was a pity you couldn’t
wait for me to properly announce your assignment’ his boss
said. Not a good start.
Cross Cultural Moments 6: Taking the Credit
As the senior executive in charge of customer service for a
major US credit card, Bruce Kuppersmith drove the strategy for
outsourcing their customer call-centres to India. The move made
great sense in business terms; costs were around 25% of US
numbers, and the local workforce was highly educated,
83. motivated and eager to work for US-based business. Training
would not be an issue, and while there might be some accent
and other challenges, customers would soon get used to the
differences; the business risks were minimal.
The planning of the move was exemplary; Bruce and his team
worked everything out in detail and delivered the transition plan
exactly. The local recruitment and training looked good – and
was supported by a US-based training needs assessment with
local support. It was all going to plan.
The first stage involved initiating simple service support – the
India-based agents helping customers to understand how their
credit cards worked and resolving their payment, charging and
other queries. They worked 24 hours, so the time-zone issue was
not a concern. At first, there were some issues with the new
Agents being over-reliant on the scripted answers to customer
questions – something about ‘need for certainty’ which the US-
based consultancy had highlighted early in the process. That
was addressed in the training and became less of an issue, once
Agents grew their personal confidence.
The second-stage of Agent training worried Bruce a bit more,
since it was technically more demanding and involved Agents
being more perceptive, articulate and persuasive, rather than
just delivering information. They were required to ‘cross-sell’
the products of the Bank – expanding the customer’s use of
credit products and services beyond their initial credit
arrangement, provided, of course, that the customer had the
credit rating to qualify. This was where the Bank made their
money – and at 25% of the US operating costs, this is how
Bruce would really make his reputation in the Bank. The big
bonus was coming.
The training regime was tried and tested; it always succeeded in
the US locations. And technically – the early evidence was that
the India workforce learned the details just as quickly as the
US-based teams they were replacing. Monitored calls with the
pilot group of Agents showed that they had grasped the
85. impacted, positively and/or negatively, by national cultural
differences. a)Referring to dimensions of national culture,
assess and explain how national culture may have influenced the
actions and behaviours of the organisations in your example.
b)Referring to the Organisational Culture Inventory, explain
how organisational culture may have played a role in the
success or failure of the venture in your example.
Guidelines:
1. Demonstrate your understanding of the 6 Hofstede
dimensions (you could think of using a few country
comparisons to illustrate) and how the model was developed.
Think about criticisms of the model, particularly in the context
of the modern world; what do you think of these criticisms? Are
there alternative models and research (e.g. Trompenaars, Hall,
the World Values Survey, GLOBE research) that you find more
persuasive?
2. At the level of individual organisations, identify an example
of a cross-border business expansion – perhaps by organic
growth, by merger and acquisition, joint venture, market entry,
or franchise – that was/is affected by differences in national
culture of the companies involved. Outline the context of the
example venture.
a) Referring to dimensions of national culture, discuss: What
were the cultural challenges for the organisations involved?
What were the outcomes? How do models of national culture,
such as Hofstede’s, help to explain successes or failures in the
venture?
b) Referring to the Organisational Culture Inventory and what
you have learned about organisational culture, discuss: What
role do you think was played by corporate culture in the
successes or failures of the venture?
3. Provide some well-thought-through conclusions.
