Transcript What do you think of the following?

CULTURE
IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT
Dr. Rayna Dimitrova
19 October 2009
Culture
• Understanding the concept
• Multi-faceted nature
• Over 164 definitions, lack of overriding
one
• Understanding culture has become an
area of academic study in its own right
Exploring culture
• Difficult since not all members of the
society share the same values
• Risk of stereotyping
• There is propensity for people to have
multiple of overlapping identities, which
are constantly changing
Macro level perspective
• Political/economic system
• Religion/philosophical beliefs
• Economic prosperity
• Language (Belgium vs. Switzerland)
• Educational system
• Values/shared meanings
Cultural aspects
• Attitudes, beliefs, values, rituals,
taken for granted assumptions
• Behaviour
• Shared meaning and understanding
Hofstede’s classic quote
• “collective programming of mind that
distinguishes the members of one group
or category of people from another.”
Hofstede’s work
• Genesis in 1960, two major surveys on
cross-cultural differences in IBM in 64
countries
• Further developed in 1980
• Continues to publish in 21 century
• With five dimensions seeks to
conceptualize differences between
cultures
Hofstede model of Cultural
Dimensions
• Power distance
• Individualism
• Masculinity
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Long term orientation
Power distance (PDI)
• The degree of inequality that members of
a culture expect and accept
• Importance of status, hierarchy
• Suggests level of inequality is endorsed by
followers as much as by leaders
• Arab countries – high
Austria, Israel – very low
Individualism/collectivism (IDV)
• The extent to which people in a culture act
as individuals and stress their own interests
• Latin countries rank among most collectivistic
• Western, such as US, UK, Australia most
individualistic
• Individualism is correlated w/ national wealth
Masculinity/femininity (MAS)
• Refers to values placed on traditional male
or female values
• Masculine cultures: competitiveness,
assertiveness, ambition, accumulation of
wealth
• Feminine cultures: relationship and
quality of life
• Japan, Slovakia vs. Sweden, Norway
Uncertainty avoidance (UAI)
• The extent to which members welcome
uncertainty and change as opposed to
desiring structured situations
• High: One could expect preponderance of
unambiguous rules, policies and
regulations in work organizations
• Japan vs. Singapore
• Germany scores 65
Long term orientation (LTO) *
• Describes society’s time horizon
• Importance attached to the future vs. past
and present
• LT values: thrift, perseverance
• ST: respect for tradition, fulfilling social
obligations
• China vs. US, African countries
Synthetic cultures…..
• Are the ten “pure” cultural types derived
from the extremes of the five dimensions
Country ratings
Country
PDI
IDV
MAS
UAI
LTO
China
80
20
66
40
118
Japan
54
46
95
92
80
Brazil
69
38
49
76
65
India
77
48
56
40
61
US
40
91
62
46
29
Organizational vs. national culture
• National cultures distinguish similar people,
•
institutions/organizations in different countries.
Organizational cultures, distinguish different
organizations within the same country.
• Managing international business means handling
•
both national and organization culture
differences at the same time.
Corporate never trumps national !
Surviving in multicultural world
• One does not need to think, feel, and act
in the same way in order to agree on
practical issues and cooperate
• Agree to be different
• Diversity should be seen less as part of HR
and more as something owned by the
business
Managing intercultural
communication
• Guidance on work processes and
procedures
• Recognize different types of
contributions
• Observe the communication of
international staff
• Watch out for relational conflicts
(hierarchy)
Managing intercultural
communication (continued)
• Ensure clarity of language
• Choose the most appropriate
communication channels
• Recognize and deal with problems
promptly
• Offer cross-cultural integrating sessions
Case study: IATA
• International Air Transport Association
• Represents 230 airlines, employs 1,600
staff of 140 nationalities in 74 countries
• HQs in Geneva and Montreal
• Fast growing markets India, China
• “We cannot sell in Mumbai with a Montreal
mindset”
IATA’s cross-cultural program
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Identify the cultures that need to collaborate
Identify leaders in each culture
Identify pairs of co-leaders
Identify real projects
Identify realistic timeframe
Share practices
Adapt for the next challenge
Case study: call center in India
• 2600 employees in India provide call
center and home office support for
Norwich Union, Aviva’s UK insurance
business
Seven failings of useless leaders
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Kill
Kill
Kill
Kill
Kill
Kill
Kill
enthusiasm
emiotion
explanation
engagement
reward
culture
trust
Thank you!
• Let’s see the movie now!