Cultural issues in management in the international context

CULTURAL ISSUES IN
MANAGEMENT IN THE
INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT
Sharon M
MBG1505032
MBA (Gen) ,IMK
1SHARON M, INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA

GROUP MEMBERS
Aneesha PJ
Gopikrishnan M V
Nithin Chandran R
Sharon M
Muhammed Abdul Wali Muhammed Saleh Al-Shaibah

INTRODUCTION
Facilitated by rapid technological advances in communication and
transport, globalization has brought about growing
interconnectedness between people, organizations and governments
in global network.
In this era of international business, where people from different and
often conflicting cultures have to interact with each other, cultural
issues and clashes are common.
Through this presentation, we are aiming to explain some of the key
areas where cultural differences can be a cause of conflict. And to
better understand these conflicts, we shall explore the underlying
essence of culture, various assumptions and values associated with it.
We shall also look into the international context of subcultures.
The key areas of cultural issues explained are communication,
negotiation and decision making.

UNDERSTANDING CULTURE
Clothing, food, language, buildings, literature are often the ‘symbols of culture’
Prima facie, the cultures of different regions vary, but on closer observation,
similarities can be found
Culture is not purely inherited, but learned through experiences
Cultures emerge when a group of persons face and respond to challenges of life
Responses to challenges change with change in circumstances over time-adaptive
nature of culture

3 LEVELS OF CULTURE
Culture can be thought of as having three levels. They are:
-Artifacts
-Values
-Assumptions
They can be represented as the “Cultural Iceberg”

ARTIFACTS
Tangible aspects of culture
Manifestations of underlying values and assumptions

VALUES
Invisible rules that causes the artifacts
Influenced by assumptions, but not always acknowledged
Accompanied by rewards/punishments

ASSUMPTIONS
Causes values and artifacts
Invisible as the air we breathe, but plays a vital role (sub-conscious)
Accompanied by rewards/punishments

MATRIX OF CULTURE
Assumptions can vary within the culture, in different ways depending
on the culture
Illustrated in the ‘Matrix of Culture’
Narrowly
shared ,
deeply held
Widely
shared,
deeply held
Narrowly
shared,
shallowly
held
Widely
shared,
shallowly
held
WideNarro
w
Deep
Shallow 9SHARON M, INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA

(I)NARROWLY SHARED ,DEEPLY
HELD
Not every one has these assumptions
Violations usually result in informal but significant punishments
Example:
(i) Using left hand to receive a gift in India
(ii) Burping after a meal in USA

(II)WIDELY SHARED, DEEPLY HELD
Everybody believes in it
Violations results in formal and significant punishments
Examples:
(i)Kissing in public in India
(ii) Talking alone in public in USA

(III)NARROWLY SHARED,
SHALLOWLY HELD
Not everyone believes in it
Violations do not result in uniform reactions, but are more
idiosyncratic
Examples
(i) Some families of India give importance to astrological
findings, while others don’t

(IV)WIDELY SHARED, SHALLOWLY
HELD
Everyone believes in it
Punishments are rather mild, non frequent violations have no
punishments
Example
(i) Not interrupting someone who is talking to you

ASSUMPTIONS AND THEIR
MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONSAssumptions vary from culture to culture
Has differing implications of management
Basic Assumptions are :
(i)Assumptions on environment
(ii)Assumptions on human nature
(iii)Assumptions about relationships
(iv)Assumptions about activity
(v)Assumptions about truth & reality

(I)ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT
ENVIRONMENT
Assumptions about relationships between humans and environment
Specific Assumptions & Implication
(i) People are meant to dominate the environment
>Strategic plans should be developed to enable the firm to dominate
the industry
(ii) People must be submissive to the environment
>Firms should seek positions that allows them to coexist with others

(II)ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT HUMAN
NATURE
Regarding the behavior of humans
Specific assumptions and their implications
(i)People are generally lazy
>Implement procedures for monitoring behavior and establish clear
punishments for undesired behavors
(ii)Work is as natural as play for people
>Provide people with opportunities and responsibilities and
encourage their development

(III)ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT
RELATIONSHIPS
Assumptions about how humans should relate to each other
(i)Individuals have certain freedoms
>Individual performance should be measured and rewarded
(ii)People exist because of others and owe and obligation to
them
>Cooperation with and contributions to the group should be
rewarded

(IV)ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT ACTIVITY
Assumptions about the proper types and targets of human activity
(i) People create their own destinies and must plan for future
>People who fail to plan should plan to fail
(ii)People should react to and enjoy whatever the present
provides
>Planning the future only gets in the way of enjoying the
culture

(V)ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT TRUTH &
REALITY
Assumptions about the nature of truth and reality
(i)Truth objectively exists
>Facts and statistics are presented to convince and influence
people
(ii)Truth is what is socially accepted
>Opinion leaders are utilized to influence decisions

PURPOSE OF UNDERSTANDING
ASSUMPTIONS
To understand the source of values & behaviors
To better understand the visible artifacts of culture
To uncover and understand the fundamental assumptions, which are
invisible and take for granted

IMPACT OF CULTURE ON
MANAGERIAL BEHAVIORS
Culture affects managerial behavior and can create counterproductive
clashes when managers from different areas interact
The vital areas of managerial behavior affected by culture are:
(i) Communication
(ii)Negotiation
(iii) Decision making

(I)COMMUNICATION
Two aspects of communication differ dramatically with culture:
(i)Context of sayings-high context v/s low context
“High context” cultures (Eg:Japan) changes what is said & how its is said
significantly depending on the context
“Low context” cultures (Eg:USA) will not vary what is said or how it is said
dramatically in response to a situation
High context culture individuals view the low context culture ones as
‘immature’ or ‘unsophisticated’, whereas low-context culture individuals see
others as ‘insincere’ or ‘chameleon’ type. 22SHARON M, INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA

(I)COMMUNICATION (CONTD.)
(ii)Explicit language V/s Implicit language
In explicit language culture, communication is clear cut and direct
Vague directions and instructions are viewed as poor communication
In implicit language, speaker and listener both share the burden of
effective communication
This helps avoid unpleasant & direct confrontations and
disagreements
***********************************************************************
*******
For global managers, trying to determine what is better-low context
or high context, explicit or implicit is not relevant. But they should
understand and respect the significant variations by cultures in 23SHARON M, INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA

NEGOTIATION
Negotiations around the world has some similarities as well as differences
Negotiations around the world broadly consists of 5 stages:
(i)Planning-background study, information gathering, deciding what to give &
gain prior to face-to-face negotiations
(ii)Non-task time-Introductions and acquaintances
(iii)Exchanging information-provide background, establish common facts,
context of negotiation
(iv)Influence-Parties tries to influence each other on quantity/quality
(v)Agreement-Mutually acceptable exchange is agreed upon 24SHARON M, INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA

NEGOTIATION (CONTD.)
Though 5 stages are common across cultures, there’s differences in their
context and timings
(i)Timing of stages:
Americans prefer to ‘get straight to the point’ and spend less time on non-
task stage
On the contrary, Japanese and Mexicans spend significant time on non-task
stage, as agreements are a function of relationship in these cultures
Americans have long and detailed contracts, whereas in Japan, where
relationships play a major role, the contracts are brief showing only the general
terms
Its therefore important to understand to research norms of culture before
entering into a discussion with individuals from a different background

(ii)Location of Stages
In US, almost all stages will take place in a formal setting, like offices or
conference rooms
In Japan, at least some portion of non-task stage will take place in a informal
environment, like a golf course or restaurant
In Korea, the final contract is likely to be signed in a formal and public style
than in someone’s office
(iii)Participants
In rank & status sensitive cultures (India, Japan) both parties must have
similarity in terms of rank, authority and age
Countries like USA likes to have small teams (mistaken for lack of importance),
whereas countries like Taiwan like to have larger teams (mistaken for
intimidating with numbers)
In some countries, buyers have only slightly more power (USA) whereas in
some, like Japan, buyers enjoy more power and status 26SHARON M, INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA

(iv)Influence tactics
Brazilians tend to make lesser promises and commitments than Americans
Japanese use silence as a means of responding
Brazilians are twice as likely than Americans or Japanese to begin talking
before the other party has finished
These general tendencies and differences is not valid for all individuals from a
specific culture
But, before entering into negotiations with individuals from an alien culture,
the differences in the five stages must be studies with respect to that culture

DECISION MAKING
Cultures can have an impact on by whom and how decisions are made
Who makes the decision?- Collectivist oriented cultures like Japan arrives at
decision through consensus, opposed to individualistic countries like USA
How decisions are made?- Countries like USA & Sweden relies on rationality
and quantitative information, whereas French, Italians and Argentinians rely
on past experience and qualitative information
Managers from USA, Germany are more tolerant in taking decisions during
uncertainties whereas managers from Japan are less tolerant

SUBCULTURES IN INTERNATIONAL
CONTEXTSubcultures refers to a group of people within a culture differentiating themselves
from others in their parent culture with their peculiar characteristics and traits
Subcultures often maintains some aspects of its parent cultures
We will look into two dimensions of subcultures:
1. Business subcultures-Specific traits of businessmen from different
nations
2.Subculture as a business- The international business opportunities
offered by subcultures

1.BUSINESS SUBCULTURES
We’ve seen cultural traits and behaviors that are generally applicable to whole
population of a nation previously
In business subcultures, we will see traits exclusive to businessmen from
various regions
Examples:
1.Europeans give priority to dress codes and attitudes. They are likely to
come in full formal attire, complete with coat and tie, and will address with
courtesy titles than first name (‘Mr.Bill Gates)
2.Americans give priority to punctuality. They comparatively casual in
relationships and are comfortable in addressing each other using first names
(‘Bill’)
3. Asians give priority to politeness, calling someone by name or a direct
no may be considered offending. Also, giving gifts to the families of clients is a
normal practice
It is not necessary that all individuals of the business subculture behave30SHARON M, INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA

2.SUBCULTURE AS A BUSINESS
Subcultures in the general population is often symbolism attached to
movies, music, sports, clothing etc and can be often conflicting with the
parent culture
Identifying subcultures within parent cultures can often open ‘niche of
markets’, giving an opportunity for international trade
Example:
1.India is a poor performer in international football. National team has
very less active supporters. But despite this, in states like Kerala, there is a
fairly large subculture of football fans, supporting foreign clubs (Manchester
United) and soccer nations (Brazil) more actively than the national team. This
has created a good market for authentic merchandise, which has to come
from abroad.
Widespread and cheap internet combined with social media platforms like
facebook has given raise to a online subculture (Netizens,Trollers)

2.SUBCULTURE AS A BUSINESS
(CONTD.)This has been used by businesses around the world to reach people over the
internet, transcending borders and cultural differences
Example:When Apple launched Iphone 6, it was plagued with the issue of the
cellphone ‘bending’ in the pocket of the users. This incident was used not only
by Apple’s competitors (Samsung, LG) but a variety of other companies to ‘troll’
Apple and thereby reach millions of ‘Netizens’ around the globe.

CONCLUSION
Thus we have seen and understood the various elements that forms
the culture of a region, the values and assumptions associated with it
and how it can vary from region to region. We have seen the possible
issues that can rise from cross-culture interactions. The subcultures
in the international context has also been looked into.Differences in
communications, negotiations and decision making can have grave
consequences unless they are understood and compensated for.
There is no rigid guidelines that can be formulated to avoid cultural
clashes in international business environment. The best that can be
done is that, the essence and underlying differences of culture be
understood and treated with mutual respect.

THANK YOU

Cultural issues in management in the international context

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