Copyright 2011 Pearson Education,

Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Chapter Learning Goals

1. To understand how culture affects all
aspects of international interactions
and behaviour
2. To be able to distinguish the major
dimensions which define cultural
differences among societies or groups
3. To emphasize the need for
international managers to have
cultural intelligence in order to
interact successfully in host countries
4. To recognize the critical value
differences which frequently affect job
behaviors

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

publishing as Prentice Hall

National Culture
Definition

Culture
A set of shared values,
understandings, assumptions,
and goals that are learned
from earlier generations,
imposed by present members
of a society, and passed on to
succeeding generations
Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Prentice Hall

The visible and invisible

parts of culture

Expressions of Culture
Culture can be expressed
through:
Heroes
Symbols
Include:
Words, gestures,
objects, pictures,
jargon, dress,
clothing,
lifestyle
They carry a
meaning that is
recognized by
members of the
culture

Include:
Sporting stars,
politicians,
inventors and
Vic lecturers
Highly praised
individuals who
act as role models
to emulate

Rituals

Rituals

Include:

Marriage,
death,, new
year
celebrations,
the world cup!
Ceremonies and
even sporting
events!

Example: UK Culture

Symbol
s

The Pound

Heroes
&Villians
Villains

Big Ben

May Day
Wimbledon

Union Jack
The Royal Family

Bonfire Night
Rituals

New Year

Oxford & Cambridge

boat race

Approaches to the study of Culture

(Culture as an onion)
Hofstedes Model
Symbols

Outside layersbehavioural
conventions,
artefacts, food,
fashion etc
Inner layersassumptions,
values,
unspoken
beliefs etc.

Expressions of culture at
different levels of depth

Heroes

Rituals

Values

Practices

Components / Elements of Culture

Aesthetics
Physical
Environments/
Material culture

Education

Values &
attitudes

Culture

Personal
communication/
Language

Manners &
customs

Social Institutions
Religion

International Business 5e

Copyright 2010 Pearson

Education, Inc. publishing as
Pearson

Aesthetics
Music
Painting
Dance
Drama
Architecture

The Meaning of Color

Yellow
indicates a
merchant in
India

Red signifies
good luck and
celebration
in
4-10
China

In England
and the U.S.,
Something
Blue on a
brides garter
symbolizes
fidelity

Values and Attitudes

Values
The ideas, beliefs,
and customs to
which people are
emotionally
attached

What is right and

wrong,
bad or good,..
Freedom
Responsibility
Honesty

Attitudes
Positive or negative
evaluations, feelings,
and tendencies people
hold toward objects or
concepts
Time
Work
Cultural
change

Social Structure & Institutions

Social structure

Cultures groups, institutions, social

positions, and resource distribution
Family, political, economic
institutions

A. Social institutions affect the ways

people relate to each other
B. The concept of kinship, or blood
relations between individuals

Copyright 2010
Pearson Education, Inc.

C. Social organization also determines

the
roles
of
managers
and
subordinates and how they relate to
one another.

International Business 5e

Family Lifecycle
Stage
1
home
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Title
Bachelor

Characteristics
Young, single, not living at

Newly married
Young, no children
Full nest I
Youngest child under 6
Full nest II
Youngest child 6 or over
Full nest III
Older, married with dependent children
Empty nest I Older married, retired, no children living at home
Empty nest II Older married, retired, no children living at home
Solitary survivor I
In labour force
Solitary survivor II
Retired

Source: Pettitt, S and Brassington F (2005) Essentials of Marketing, FT Prentice Hall, page 89 citing Wells
and Gubar (1966).

A modern Family lifecycle

model
Single no children
Married/cohabiting- No children, young children, older
children
Divorced/living apart- No children, young children, older
children
Remarried/new partner No children, children from
previous relationship
Empty nest- Never had children, no children living at
home
Alone- Always single, widowed, divorced

Adapted from: Brassington F and Pettitt S (2005) Essentials of Marketing. Page 89,
FT Prentice Hall.

Culture and family

Lightfoot and Wavell (1995) state
that the number of single, teenage
mothers had rapidly increased in the
UK, to 3 percent of girls aged 15 -19.
This is the highest figure in the UK.

World Religions
Christianity
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism
Confucianism
Judaism
Shinto

Origin of
Human Values

World Religions
Religions
influence:
- lifestyles,
-beliefs,
-values,
-attitudes
- the way people
in a society act
toward each
other and
towards those in
other societies.
- Religion also
influences politics
and business

Origin of
Human Values

Education
Cultures pass on traditions, customs, and values
through schooling, parenting, group memberships,
etc.
Education level

Well-educated attract high-paying jobs, while poorly

educated attract low-paying manufacturing jobs

Brain drain

Departure of highly educated people from one

profession, geographic region, or nation to another

The Four Roles of

Language

Language aids in information gathering and

evaluation.
Language provides access to local society.
Language capability is increasingly important in
company communications.
Language provides more than the ability to
communicate because it extends beyond
mechanics to the interpretation of contexts
that may influence business operations.
Language can be divided into: verbal and nonverbal

Roles of Language
continued
In global marketing, language is an
important tool for communicating
with customers, suppliers, channel
intermediaries and others such as the
media.
There has been many costly blunders
caused by incorrect or inept
translations of product names and
advertising copy.

Nonverbal/Silent
language
Distinctions must be made in five key topics:
Time
Space

Material Possessions

Friendship Patterns
Business Agreements

Proxemics (Space)
Intimate distance
Personal distance
Social distance
Public distance

18
18 to 4

4 to 8
8 to 10

8-22

Language Blunders
Japanese knife manufacturer labeled its exports to the United States with
Caution: Blade extremely sharp! Keep out of children.
English sign in a Moscow hotel read, You are welcome to visit the cemetery
where famous Russians are buried daily, except Thursday.
Sign for non-Japanese-speaking guests in a Tokyo hotel read, You are
respectfully requested to take advantage of the chambermaids.
Sign in English at Copenhagen ticket office read, We take your bags and
send them in all directions.
Braniff Airlines English-language slogan Fly in Leather was translated into
Fly Naked in Spanish.

Body Language Is Not A Universal

Language

2-24

High and Low Context

cultures
Hall and Hall (1990); context refers to the information that
surrounds an event; it is inextricably bound up with the meaning
of that event
Low context;
Interaction explicit, unambiguous and formal
Emphasis on time management, deadlines and punctuality
Work and home life rigidly separated
Examples; Scandinavia, Switzerland North America
High Context
Emphasis on interpersonal chemistry and body language/ word of
mouth
Simultaneous carrying out of tasks/ less emphasis on time
management
Blurred division between home and work
Examples; Japan, Asia, Latin America, Middle East and Southern Europe
Created by Graham Hollinshead,
Copyright McGraw-Hill Education
2010

The contextual continuum of

differing cultures

Hofstedes model of national

cultures

Based on a study of IBM 1967-73 and studies in Asia in 1980s. Identified 5 values that
were the basis of cultural difference and caused differences in business practices and
behavuiour

Power distance
Uncertainty avoidance
Individualism
Masculinity

Time perspective

Hofstede dimensions (1994)

http://www.geert-hofstede.com

Power distance- the extent to which members of a society

are prepared to accept a hierarchical or unequal power
structure
Uncertainty avoidance- the extent to which members of a
society are prepared to tolerate ambiguity and risk (extent
to which we feel threatened by ambiguity)
Individualism- the extent to which primary loyalty is to self
or collective/extended grouping
Masculinity/ femininity- the orientation of societies towards
competitive/ materialist or welfarist values
Long or short term orientation

the degree the society embraces, or does not embrace, long-term

devotion to traditional, forward thinking values.
Created by Graham Hollinshead,
Copyright McGraw-Hill Education
2010

POWER DISTANCE (PD)

High Power Distance
Unequal power
distribution accepted
Social Arrangements
reflect this
Importance of titles
and status
High dependence on
bosses
Centralized control
Tall hierarchical
organizational
structures

Low Power Distance

A wish to equalize
power in society
Low dependence
on bosses
Decentralized
control with
delegation
Flatter
organizational
structures

UNCETAINTY AVOIDANCE
High Uncertainty Low Uncertainty
Avoidance
Avoidance
Greece, Portugal,
Japan
Rejection of deviant

ideas
-Careful consideration
of proposals
Procedures to avoid
ambiguity - rules, low
job mobility
Slow decision-making

Singapore, Sweden,
UK
Welcome new ideas
Relaxed attitude to rules
Fast decision-making

INDIVIDUALISM-COLLECTIVISM
Individualism
USA, Australia, UK,
Netherlands
Focus on self and
immediate family
Loose social networks

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Pearson Education, Inc.

Collectivism
Central America,
Indonesia, S. Korea
Collaboration for the
collective good
Importance of the
extended family
Strong wide networks

International Business 5e

MASCULINITY-FEMININITY
Masculinity

Femininity

(Japan, Austria,
Italy)

(Sweden, Norwary)

Assertiveness
Competitive and
concern for performance
Focus on financial
rewards
Clear differentiation of
male and female roles

Sensitivity towards
others
Concern for welfare
and security
Concern for quality of
life
Overlap of male and
female roles

LONG VERSUS SHORT TERM ORIENTATION

Long-termism
China, Japan, S. Korea
- Pursuit of long-term
goals
- Long-termism
associated with
Confucian dynamism:
Commitment to the
work ethic
Respect for tradition
Perseverance &
Savings

Short-termism
Pakistan, Nigeria,
USA, UK
- Pursuit of shortterm gain and
advantage
Market
share

versus profit motive

Traits of Long Term / Short Term

Short-Term Orientation

Long-term Orientation

Emphasis on perseverance
Relationships ordered by
statuse
Personal adaptability
important
Face considerations
common but seen as a
weakness

Leisure time not too important

Save, be thrifty
Invest in real estate
Relationships and market
position important
Good or evil depnds on
circumstances

Emphasis on quick results

Status not a major issue
in relationships
Personal steadfastness
and stability important
Protection of ones face is
important
Protection of ones face is
important
Spend
Invest in mutual funds
Bottom line important
Belief in absolutes about
good and evil

Trompenaars seven
dimensions of culture
Fons Tromenaars (1993)
built on Hofstedes work
by focusing more on the
management
implications of cultural
differences.
Research was based on
involving 15,000
employees in 50
countries.

Trompenaars arrived at
seven distinct
dimensions of culture
and used the
questionnaire responses
in his study to map a
variety of countries
along a continuum from
one extreme to the
other within each
dimension.

Trompenaars seven
dimensions of culture
(continued)
Seven dimensions were as
follows:-

Universalism versus
particularism
Individualism versus
collectivism
Neutral versus emotional
Specific versus diffuse
Achievement versus
ascription
Sequential versus
synchronic

Attitudes towards the

environment

How are the 7 dimensions

used?
Used to measure changes in cultural
values and behaviour over time
Research indicates that both in China
and Japan, achievement orientation is
increasing with some elements of
individualism
There are however wider concerns
regarding the cost and benefits of self
interest

Conclusion
Cultural theories provide a powerful
conceptual frame for analysing and explaining
international variations in communication and
marketing practices.
While care needs to be taken to avoid overly
deterministic links between such theoretical
perspectives and actual manifestations of
marketing within national or regional settings,
which denies the significance of enterprise
autonomy and independent corporate
strategies, complementarities exist in the
predictions of cultural theories.
Created by Graham Hollinshead,
Copyright McGraw-Hill Education
2010

The End!

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