Culture, Management style, and Business

system

Chapter 5

Agenda/Topics To Be Covered

1. Required adaptation2. The impact of American culture on management

style3. Management styles around the world4. Gender bias in International Business5. Business ethics6. Culture’s influence on strategic thinking7. A synthesis, relationship-oriented versus

information-oriented cultures

Culture?

What is it?

How does it affects you?

1. Required adaptation

Cultural exclusives

–Customs or

behavior patterns

exclusively for the

locals and from

which the

foreigner is barred.

Cultural electives

–Relates to areas of

behavior or to

customs that

cultural aliens may

wish to conform to

or to participate in

but that are not

required.

Cultural imperatives

–Customs and

expectations that

must be met and

conformed or be

avoided if

relationship are to

be successful.

Degree of adaptation

-A need to

understand a

counterparts

custom

2. The impact of American culture on

management style

Independent enterprise as the instrument of social action

Wide sharing in decision making

Decision based on objective analysis

“master of destiny” viewpoint

Personnel selection and reward based on merit

3. Management

styles around the

world

•Authority and decision making

•Authority and decision making

•Management objectives and aspirations

Security and mobility

Personal life

Affiliation and social acceptance

Power and achievement

•Communication styles

Face-to-face communication

Internet communications

•Formality and tempo

•P-time versus M-time

-polychronic time and

monochronic time

•Negotiations emphasis

It is true that in many cultures – Asian, Middle Eastern, and Latin America – women are not typically found in upper levels of management and men and women are treated very differently.

4. Gender bias in International Business

5. Business ethics

The western focus on bribery

Bribery: variations on a theme

Bribery and extortion

Subornation and lubrication

Agent’s fees

Corruption

5. Business ethics: ethically and socially responsible decisions

Utilitarian ethics

Rights of parties

Justice or fairness

6. Culture’s influence on strategic thinking

How culture influences manager’s thinking about business strategy?

7. A synthesis, relationship-oriented versus information-oriented culture

What is "Culture"?

Culture is the acquired knowledge people use to interpret experience and generate behavior.

High and Low Context

"high context" and "low context" (popularized by Edward Hall) are used to describe broad-brush cultural differences between societies.

Low context refers to:

societies where people tend to

have many connections but of

shorter duration or for some specific

reason

Example: large US airports, a chain

supermarket, a cafeteria, a convenience store,

sports where rules are clearly laid out, a motel.

Low context

• Rule oriented, people play by external rules

• More knowledge is codified, public, external, and accessible.

• Sequencing, separation--of time, of space, of activities, of relationships

• More interpersonal connections of shorter duration

• Knowledge is more often transferable

• Task-centered. Decisions and activities focus around what needs to be done, division of responsibilities.

High context refers to:

• societies or groups where people have close connections over a long period of time

Examples:

Small religious congregations, a party with friends, family gatherings, expensive gourmet restaurants and neighborhood restaurants with a regular clientele, undergraduate on-campus friendships, regular pick-up games, hosting a friend in your home overnight.

High context

• Less verbally explicit communication, less written/formal information

• More internalized understandings of what is communicated

• Multiple cross-cutting ties and intersections with others

• Long term relationships

• Strong boundaries- who is accepted as belonging vs. who is considered an "outsider"

• Knowledge is situational, relational.

• Decisions and activities focus around personal face-to-face relationships, often around a central person who has authority.

Entering High and Low Context Situations?

THANK YOU..