2017-19 Class Presentation (a series of classes) for a University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain 4th year undergraduate course: CULTURAL ASPECTS OF ENGLISH_SPEAKING COUNTRIES by Prof. Anuradha Mitra Ghemawat UB Dept. of Language & Literature

1. CULTURE
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Anuradha Mitra Ghemawat
DAY 13-14: 06-09 April 2018
Cultural Aspects of English-speaking Countries
2017-18 University of Barcelona

2. THE VALUE OF MONEY ACROSS CULTURES
• Money for Financial Stability
• Money to Spend
• Money to Save
• Money to ‘Waste’ or to spend ‘Frivolously’
MONEY: ‘’..anything that can be used ….. in exchange for goods of a certain ‘value’.’’
(James Tobin, American economist, 1918-2002)
Could we guess which English-speaking countries could be classified in the categories
above?

3. FAMILY AND MONEY
• Earning member: male or female
• Monthly Earnings: Who handles them?
• groceries & basic clothing: woman* e.g. Indian sub-continent (extended or
joint families)
• Major decisions: man/head of household*
• farm animals, equipment,
• education,
• weddings/ deaths/religious offerings)
§ Inheriting Property: African vs. Asian English-speaking countries
*mother, wife or eldest daughter, grandmother
*father, husband, eldest son, uncle, grandfather

4. OFFSPRING AND MONEY
Affluent cultures
• ‘pocket money’
• feeling of Entitlement
• Spending of Money:
• Usually personal/ consumer items
• Adult children usually NOT living
with parents
• Married/unmarried
Agricultural cultures (e.g. AFRICA)
Everyone contributes earnings to family
Younger members contribute in kind.
Spending of Money:
• Usually items for family structure
• rarely for personal items
• Adult children living with parents
•Married/unmarried

5. COUNTING BANKNOTES!!!
Cultural differences!!
How money is physically counted in
different countries
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g87H
Vlu55mQ

6. MONEY LAUNDERING & CORRUPTION
Global phenomenon but more prevalent in ‘developing’ countries
Can you name a few?
How has this phenomenon affected certain English-speaking countries?
Watch
http://www.businesspundit.com/10-most-notorious-money-laundering-cases-of-the-20th-century/9/
http://www.transparency.org/news/feature/corruption_in_africa_75_million_people_pay_bribes
Nigeria (Abacha ’93-’98), Liberia, Zimbabwe (Mugabe’s million$ 93rd
birthday party)
Nauru (world’s smallest republic – 2003 scandal),
Philippines (Pres. Marcos family), Indonesia (Pres. Suharto)
• Economic Development
• Political Development
• Financial stability
Ref: http://www.businesspundit.com/10-most-notorious-money-laundering-cases-of-the-20th-century/2/

7. CULTURE AND BUSINESS ETHICS
Every country has distinctive culture and different beliefs of what is
acceptable in terms of:
Bribery or Gift-giving
Money-laundering practices
Nepotism and Clientelism
Embezzlement and Fraud

8. CULTURE AND MONEY
1. Talking or asking about one's personal wealth, possessions
2. Enquiring about one’s salary or having discussions about how much others earn
§ Social norm OR
§ Vulgar invasion of one’s privacy?
3. Enquiring how successful one is in business
§ Openly talk about it at a social gathering OR
§ Reserved for close relations ONLY?
4. Talking publicly about sum of money spent at your daughter’s wedding/ son’s
puberty ceremony/ wedding anniversary party
§ sign of success OR
§ display of bad manners?
Which English-speaking countries do you guess fit (1) – (4) above?

9. MONEY DANCE
AFRICA: unique code of conduct reserved for weddings, christenings or funerals
http://africanweddingtraditions.com/wedding-reception-etiquette.html
Nigerian Money Dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFoB9280Enc
Imo State (Nigeria): Traditional Wedding
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alKia492Sjc
INDIA/ PAKISTAN: wave money above heads of bride & bridegroom and then give to
strangers
Punjabi Money Dance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6lh0njTlRk
Manipur Wedding blessings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djsaa1ND1Ds

10. HW6 DUE 13 APRIL 2018
How does YOUR culture affect YOUR money habits?
Read the article: http://womenintheblack.com.au/does-
culture-influence-your-money-habits/
Write a short (150 words) summary of its salient points.
Upload HW6: How does YOUR culture affect YOUR money
habits? on the interactive blog of this course.
Title of your HW: Last name, First name HW6

11. REFERENCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY
African Wedding Reception Etiquette and Activities. African Wedding Traditions (2010-2013).
http://africanweddingtraditions.com/wedding-reception-etiquette.html
Brooks, Leonard J. and Paul Dunn (2015). Business and Professional Ethics. Cengage Learning. USA: Stamford, CT
Corruption in Africa: 75 million people pay bribes. Transparency International, 30 Nov 2015.
http://www.transparency.org/news/feature/corruption_in_africa_75_million_people_pay_bribes
Crowley, Julia (11Aug2011). 10 most notorious money-laundering cases of the 20th century. Business
Pundithttp://www.businesspundit.com/10-most-notorious-money-laundering-cases-of-the-20th-century/9/
Fadiman, Jeffrey A. (1986). A Traveler’s guide to Gifts and Bribes. Harvard Business Review, July 1986. https://hbr.org/1986/07/a-
travelers-guide-to-gifts-and-bribes
Fallola, Toyin and Akanmu G. Adebayo (2000). Culture, Politics and Money among the Yoruba. Transaction Publishers, USA: New
Brunswick, NJ.
Ferrell, O.C., John Fraedrich and Linda Ferrell (2009). Business Ethics 2009 Update: Ethical Decision Making and Cases. USA: South
Western Cengage Learning (2009).
Gallego, Tamia (2012). Does Culture Influence your Money Habits? WITB: Women in the Black, Australia. 16 September
2012.http://womenintheblack.com.au/does-culture-influence-your-money-habits/
NAURU country profile: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-15433616
Major Money-laundering country in the world (PHILIPPINES)http://www.manilatimes.net/major-money-laundering-country-in-the-
world/251947/
RAK (2009). How Money is Counted in Different Countries. YouTube.com. 08 March 2009.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g87HVlu55mQ
Smits, CWD (2013). The Effect of Culture on the Implementation of Anti-Corruption Policies. Masters thesis, Public Administration.
Enschede, The Netherlands: University of Twente.

12. REFERENCES FOR IMAGES
MANJUL (2013)https://i1.wp.com/www.manjul.com/cartoons/wp-
content/uploads/2013/01/MANJUL_CARTOON_131112irr_diwali_laxmi_corrupti
on.jpg
Royston-Robertson. Cartoon Stock (2018).
https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/b/bribing.asp

13. IN-CLASS WRITING: 06 APRIL 2018
Discuss in 200-250 words the salient points that you
learnt in one of the compulsory readings assigned to
you in this course.
• Storytelling in the Classroom
• Promoting Culture through Education
• Teaching Tolerance in the Classroom
• Student Activism as a Social Movement
• Gender Issues in the Language Classroom