Economic development, global business and cross cultural competence. Flinders Business School Max Smith | Associate Dean (International & Community)

Globalisation Comparative Advantage Emergence of global institutions Decrease in trade barriers Technology makes trade easier EOI development model works Therefore economic development depends on trade However, technological ladder an issue

What does all this mean? You MUST become educated and skilled (to go up the technological ladder) Nations must engage in global business in order to prosper Therefore businesspeople need to understand differences in business culture around the world Need to be able to operate globally

The determinants of culture The values and norms of a culture do not emerge fully formed. They are the evolutionary product of a number of factors, including the prevailing political and economic philosophies, the social structure of a society and the dominant religion, language and education as shown in this figure. Another example comes from the discussion of political and economic philosophies in Chapter 2. Such philosophies clearly influence the value systems of a society. Figure 3.1 – The Determinants of Culture, p. 93

Individuals and groups Western societies, focus on the individual and individual achievement is common high level of entrepreneurship, but… lack of company loyalty and competition between individuals in a company Asian societies, the group is the primary unit of social organisation cooperation in solving business problems, but… suppresses individual creativity and initiative

High-context Vs Low context cultures high-context cultures implicit communication attention is paid to the surrounding circumstances for interpretation This information is understood within the culture. words cannot be taken literally Reluctance to say “no” directly low-context cultures the information is conveyed in the message itself Good communication is one that is direct and doesn’t leave much room for interpretation depend much on written communication, all contingencies are clearly anticipated and written out (preference for contracts)

Dimensions of cultural values Culture and the workplace: Power distance focuses on how a society deals with the fact that people are unequal in physical and intellectual capabilities (Face) Individualism versus collectivism focuses on the relationship between the individual and his or her fellows. Uncertainty avoidance measures the extent to which different cultures socialise their members into accepting ambiguous situations and tolerating ambiguity. Masculinity versus femininity looks at the relationship between gender and work roles.

Hofstede’s cultural dimension scores

Other Cultural Differences Body language Personal space Shame Vs “Face” based Culture Strong Vs Weak Cultures Status Buyer is king

How to learn about foreign cultures? Read about it Watch documentaries Study at university Live in foreign country Study and live in foreign country (ie do both)

Flinders Business School

Flinders Business School Examples Qi Jun: Accounting student from Shanghai Currently working for KPMG in Adelaide. Undertook two work placements while studying at Flinders Business School. 2

Flinders Business School Examples Jia Shi: Master of Accounting student She undertook a placement with ANZ while studying and was offered a part-time job there. Now working full-time for ANZ since graduating

Flinders Business School Examples Andre Yu: Now working for Oceania Impex Australia Pty Ltd. (an Import/Export company).  Andre undertook a work placement with NAB during his studies at FBS.

Work Placements at FBS All the previous students undertook industry placements All students who have applied have been given an industry placement No fee charge to arrange industry placements Duration： 150 hours Industry placement = 1 topic http://youtu.be/2HfJjq_Uspc

Work Placements at FBS Strong Industry Links: Work with top 100 companies Investments, Superannuation and Insurance

FBS Successful ALUMNI Junling Liu YiHaodian CEO & Co-founder Was CEO Dell China & Hongkong Austrade Australia China Alumni Award for Entrepreneurship

FBS Successful ALUMNI Jody Burton Managing Partner, Deloitte Adelaide Lead audit partner for a number of SA energy and resource companies

Good Luck! The future belongs to the skilled and the globally competent I wish you well in your endeavours Any questions?