1. Chapter 3 Understanding the Role of Culture
Power Points by
Kristopher Blanchard
North Central University

2. Overview Culture and its effects on organizations Cultural variables
Cultural value dimensions
The Internet and culture
Developing cultural profiles
Culture and management styles around the world

3. Key Terms Culture Savvy Cultural Sensitivity or Cultural Empathy
Culture of a society
Self reference criterion
Parochialism
Ethnocentrism

4. Culture and Its Effects on Organizations

5. Culture and Its Effects on Organizations
Once upon a time there was a great flood, and involved in this flood were two creatures, a monkey and a fish. The monkey, being agile and experienced, was lucky enough to scramble up a tree and escape the raging waters. As he looked down from his safe perch, he saw the poor fish struggling against the swift current. With the best of intentions, he reached down and lifted the fish from the water. The result was inevitable.

6. Cultural Variables
Never assume that a manager can transplant American, or Japanese, or any other country’s styles, practices, expectations, and processes
Managers need to develop a cultural profile that identifies the specific differences found in each country

7. Subcultures
Residents of the country only conform to the national character to a certain degree
Could be from ethnic, geographic, or other variables
Good managers treat people as individuals and they avoid any form of stereotyping

8. Influences on National Culture
Kinship – guides family relationships
Education – formal or informal education of workers affects workplace expectations
Economy – means of production and distribution in a society influences all aspects of the resource allocation
Politics – system of government imposes varying constraints on an organization

9. Influences on National Culture
Religion – spiritual beliefs of a society are so powerful that they overpower all other cultural aspects
Associations – the formal and informal groups that make up a society
Health – system of health care affects employee productivity
Recreation – the use, attitude, and choice of how to use leisure time

10. Cultural Value Dimensions
Values are a society’s ideas about what is good or bad, right or wrong - such as the widespread belief that stealing is immoral and unfair. Values determine how individuals will probably respond in any given circumstance

11. Project GLOBE Cultural Dimensions
Assertiveness: refers to how much people in a society are expected to be tough, confrontational and competitive versus modest and tender.
Future Orientation: refers to the level of importance a society attaches to future-oriented behaviors such as planning and investing in the future.
Performance Orientation: measures how important performance improvement and excellence is in a society.
Humane Orientation: refers to the extent to which a society encourages and rewards people for being fair, altruistic, generous, caring, and kind.

12. Hofstede’s Value Dimensions
Early research that developed a framework for understanding how basic values underlie organizational behavior
Power Distance – Level of acceptance by a society of the unequal distribution of power
Uncertainty Avoidance – Extent to which people in a society feel threatened by ambiguous situations

13. Hofstede’s Value Dimensions
Individualism – Tendency of people to look after themselves and their immediate families only and to neglect the needs of society
Masculinity – Degree of traditionally ‘masculine’ values of assertiveness, materialism, and a lack of concern for others

14. Trompenaar’ Value Dimensions
The Universalistic approach applies rules and systems objectively, without consideration for individual circumstances; whereas the Particularistic approach puts the obligation toward relationships first and is more subjective.
In the Neutral versus Affective dimension, the focus is on the emotional orientation of relationships.

15. Trompenaar’ Value Dimensions
Managers in Specific-oriented cultures separate work and personal issues and relationships. In Diffuse-oriented cultures there is spill-over from the work into the personal relationship and vice-versa.
In an Achievement society the source of status and influence is based on individual achievement. In an Ascription-oriented society, people ascribe status on the basis of class, age, gender, etc.

16. Critical Operational Value Differences
Time: differences in temporal values
“the clock is always running” vs. “mañana” which
means “tomorrow” in Latin America or “bukra” which
means “tomorrow” or “some time in the future” in
Arabic.
Change: based largely on long-standing religious beliefs, values regarding the acceptance of change and the pace of change can vary immensely among cultures.

17. Critical Operational Value Differences
Material factors: Americans’ attitude toward nature – that it is there to be used for their benefit – differs from the attitudes of Indians or Koreans, for example, whose worship of nature is part of their religious belief.
Individualism: Americans tend to value individual achievement over group goals; for others, conformity and cooperation takes precedence over individual achievement

18. Developing Cultural Profiles.

19. Looking Ahead Chapter 4 - Communicating Across Cultures
The Communication Process
The Culture – Communication Link
Information Technology