Transcript File - HAIS Global Business

LESSON
3-1
CULTURE
AROUND
THE
WORLD
GOALS
 Describe influences of
culture on global
business activities.
 Explain the role of
subcultures.
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The International Business Environment
Geography
Cultural
and Social
Factors
Political
and Legal
Factors
Economic
Conditions
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Cultural Influences in
International Business
 A Culture is a system of learned, shared, unifying, and
interrelated beliefs, values, and assumptions.
 Beliefs are statements about the nature of a person,
thing, or concept
 Values are the positive and negative ideals, customs,
and institutions of a group
 Assumptions are statements that are taken for granted
as fact
 A Subculture is a subset or part of a larger culture. It
may have some values, beliefs, and assumptions that
are different than the larger culture Ex: Hispanic
subculture, senior-citizen subculture
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The Subcultures Within a Society
 Cultures and subcultures are important because they
influence the actions of their members
 Cultural Baggage is the idea that you carry your beliefs,
values, and assumptions with you at all times
 Subculture of U.S. business
 The U.S. subculture is composed of the business-related part of
the general U.S. culture
 Business people share a core of common beliefs, values, and
assumptions that shape their behaviors
 Variations in business subcultures worldwide
 No two business subcultures share identical sets of beliefs and
values. However, when two general cultures are similar, their
business subcultures are apt to be similar as well
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LESSON
3-2
CULTURE AND
SOCIAL
ORGANIZATION
GOALS
 Describe how family
relationships can
affect culture.
 Explain the role of
societal influences on
culture.
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Family Relationships
 Family units
 nuclear family: is a group that consists of a parent or
parents and unmarried children living together
 extended family: is a group that consists of the
parents, children, and other relatives living together
 Family-work relationships
 Many developing countries have societies organized
around extended family
 Family ties to business are weak in some cultures and
strong in others.
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Society’s Institutions
 The institutions of a society can be just as important to a culture as
family relationships
 Education: prepares people to function productively as members of
society
 Gender roles
 In some cultures, only males or females are allowed to fill certain roles
 Some business subcultures may favor males over females in the
workplace
 Mobility
 Some cultures, have little geographic attachment, are mobile for better
opportunities. For others, ties to a geographic location are much
stronger
 Class system
 Class system is a means of dividing the members of a cultural group into
various levels. The levels can be based on education, occupation, and
income, or heritage. In some cultures it is possible to move from one
class system to another, but in others it is difficult or even impossible.
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LESSON
3-3
GOALS
COMMUNICATION
ACROSS
CULTURES
 Understand the
importance of knowing
another language for
global business
success.
 Compare direct and
indirect communication.
 Describe the influence
of nonverbal
communication.
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Languages Differences
All cultures and subcultures use language
to communicate with other societies
Many languages are used for business
purposes
English is widely considered to be the
language of international business
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Major World Languages
Language
Mandarin
Hindi
Spanish
English
Arabic
Bengali
Portuguese
Number of Speakers
885,000,000
375,000,000
375,000,000
347,000,000
211,000,000
210,000,000
178,000,000
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Learning a second language
 Being a native speaker of English is both an
advantage and a disadvantage.
 Advantage because you already know the major
language of international business
 Disadvantage because you may decide wrongly that
there is little need to learn another language
 Learning any language will help you to
understand the culture of those who speak it
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Learning a Second Language
Recommended for U.S. native English speakers
Rank
1
2-3
4
5
6
7
8
9-10
Language
Japanese
French and Spanish
German
Chinese
Russian
Arabic
Portuguese
Italian and Korean
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Direct and Indirect Communication
 Contexting refers to how direct or indirect
communication is.
 A low-context culture is one that
communicates very directly.
 A high-context culture is one that
communicates indirectly.
 Face saving or minimizing personal
embarrassment is directly related to contexting
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Nonverbal Communication
Body language
Color
Eye contact
Numbers
Appearance
Emblems
Touching
Smells
Personal space
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Non-verbal communication
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Non-verbal communication
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World gestures
Can you guess the meaning of this Japanese gesture?
•I’m scared like a bunny
•I’ve been hearing things about you
•I’m angry
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World gestures
this woman from France demonstrates this gesture. Can you try
to guess what this French gesture means?
•I don’t believe you
•I wish I hadn’t seen that
•I’m looking at a very handsome
man
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World gestures
this gesture performed by a woman from Iran. Can you guess what
this Iranian gesture means?
•Good luck to you
•You will always be number one for me
•“Screw you” (obsene)
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LESSON
3-4
VALUES
AROUND
THE
WORLD
GOALS
 Identify and explain five
major types of values
that vary from culture to
culture.
 Describe the two major
reactions to cultural
differences.
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Values Vary Among Cultures
Individualism and collectivism
Technology
Leadership, power, and authority
Religion
Time
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Adjusting to
Cultural Differences
Ethnocentrism: the belief that that one’s
culture is better than other cultures
Reactions to cultural differences
 Culture shock: normal reaction to all the
differences of another culture
 Reverse culture shock: reaction to becoming
reacquainted with your own culture after
having accepted another culture.
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