2. What we learnt in Chap 3
Overviewed participants in International Business
Arranging those participants in value chain
Focal firms in IB
International entry strategies of focal firms
Intermediaries & Facilitators in IB
3. What we will learn in Chap 4
Nature of Cross-cultural Risk
Characteristics of Culture
Lenses to understand Culture
Dimensions of Culture
Cultural Change
Context in IB
5. Essentials for Understanding Culture in IB
Culture
Cross
Cultural Risk
Characteristics of
Culture
Models and
Explanations
Managerial
Implication
IB Context
Cultural
Change
Language
Religion
7. Nature of Cross Cultural Risk
Cross cultural mis-understanding can ruin a business deal, some
examples are of mis understanding are
1. Head Nod
2. Hand shake/Greeting
3. Card Sharing
4. Gift exchange
5. Slurping/Drinking tea
6. Eating habits
8.
9. Orientation in Culture
- Ethnocentric Orientation: Using our own culture as the standard
for judging other cultures
- Polycentric Orientation: A host country mind set in which the
manager develops a strong affinity with the country in which
she/he conducts business
- Geocentric orientation: a global mindset in which a manager is
able to understand a business or market without regard to
country boundaries
10. Culture can be viewed as “Collective Mental Programming” or
“Software of Mind”
Culture captures how members of a society behave i.e. how they
eat, dress, talk and live. It also explains how they interact with
others
Characteristics of Culture
11. Culture is Not:
Right or wrong: it is relative, there is no
cultural absolute
Is not about individual behavior: it is a
group thing not by individual
Not inherited: people are not born with
a culture, they take from the
environment they are brought up into.
What Culture is Not
12. Socialization: the process of learning rules and behavioral patterns
appropriate to one’s given society
This is not how we do it here
Acculturation: process of adjusting and adapting to a culture other
than one’s own
We experience this when we go abroad to live/work
Many Dimensions of Culture:
Culture can be seen as iceberg.
Characteristics of Culture (contd.)
13.
14. - While studying culture,
anthropologists
encounter 2
perspectives:
- Emic
- Etic
Lenses to understand culture
15. High & Low context Cultures
A culture that relies on
elaborate verbal,
explanations, putting much
emphasis on spoken words
is low context culture
A culture that emphasizes on
nonverbal messages and
views communication as a
means to promote smooth,
harmonious relationships.
Lenses to understand culture (contd.)
16.
17. A distinctive tradition or institution strongly associated with a
particular society.
Cultural Metaphors
18. Culture can broadly be grouped into:
Dimensions of Culture
Subjective Dimension Objective Dimension
Values & Attitudes Symbols
Deal vs relationship orientation Material and creative production
Manners and customs
Religion
Perception of space
Perceptions of time
19. Often described as expression or mirror of culture
It not only been used for expression or communication but also give
insights into culture
Language
20. Managers not only need to develop empathy and tolerance toward
cultural differences but also must acquire a sufficient degree of
factual knowledge about beliefs and values of foreign parties. Some
consideration can be:
Context in IB
Editor's Notes
Some language has hand signals along with words, while other language are purely wordy. Chewing styles in Chinese and Iranian
Head Nod in India and UK
Americans giving invitation, Come if you want to?. It will be very awkward in Asian Societies.
1st point, in japan and turkey, wearing shoes in home is considered a taboo.
2nd point, some men can have logn hair, it does not mean entire society is having that preference. EMOs etc.
It is a subtle process, we often adapt our behavior as per society which does not conform to the society rules.
High context culture never say no. seating of managers, negotiations are slow and tedious.
Dutch Anthropologiest, Geert Hofstede, did data collection from 116000 IBM employees.
Value represent a person’s judgment about what is good or bad.Perception of time, monochronic and polychronic, Religion (Karma). Symbols, Flags, Anthems, seal, symbol of religion