Cross-CulturalCross-CulturalBusinessBusiness

© Prentice Hall, 2006 International Business 3e Chapter 2 - 2

Chapter PreviewChapter Preview

• Define culture and list its components

• Discuss attitudes toward time, work and cultural

change

• Describe the roles of religion and communication

in a society

• Discuss how physical environment affects culture

• Describe two frameworks for classifying cultures

© Prentice Hall, 2006 International Business 3e Chapter 2 - 3

What is Culture?What is Culture?

• Set of values, beliefs, rules and institutions held by a specific group of people

• Ethnocentricity– Belief that one’s own ethnic group or

culture is superior to that of others• Cultural literacy

– Detailed knowledge of a culture that enables a person to function effectively within it

© Prentice Hall, 2006 International Business 3e Chapter 2 - 4

Nations and CultureNations and Culture

• National culture– Nation states build museums and

monuments to preserve the legacies of important events and people

• Subculture– Group of people that share a unique way of

life within a larger culture (language, race, lifestyle, attitudes, etc.)

© Prentice Hall, 2006 International Business 3e Chapter 2 - 5

Components of CultureComponents of Culture

– Aesthetics– Values & attitudes– Manners & customs– Social structure– Religion– Personal communication– Education– Physical environments

© Prentice Hall, 2006 International Business 3e Chapter 2 - 6

AestheticsAesthetics• Music• Painting• Dance• Drama• Architecture

© Prentice Hall, 2006 International Business 3e Chapter 2 - 7

Values and AttitudesValues and Attitudes

• Values– The Ideas, beliefs and customs to which people are

emotionally attached• Freedom• Responsibility• Honesty

• Attitudes– Positive or negative evaluations, feelings and

tendencies people hold toward objects or concepts• Time• Work• Cultural change

© Prentice Hall, 2006 International Business 3e Chapter 2 - 8

Manners and CustomsManners and Customs

• Manners– Appropriate behavior, speech and

dressing in general

• Customs– Traditional ways or behavior in specific

circumstances

© Prentice Hall, 2006 International Business 3e Chapter 2 - 9

Social StructureSocial Structure

• Social structure– Culture’s groups, institutions, social

positions and resource distribution• Social stratification

– Process of ranking people into social layers

• Social mobility– Ease of moving up or down a culture's

"social ladder"

© Prentice Hall, 2006 International Business 3e Chapter 2 - 10

World ReligionsWorld Religions

• Origin of Human Values-Christianity-Islam-Hinduism-Buddhism-Confucianism-Judaism-Shinto

© Prentice Hall, 2006 International Business 3e Chapter 2 - 11

Language BlundersLanguage Blunders

• Braniff Airlines’ English-language slogan “Fly in Leather” was

translated into “Fly Naked” in Spanish.

• Sign in English on a Majorcan storefront read, “English well-

talking” and “Here speeching American.”

• Sign for non-Japanese-speaking guests in a Tokyo hotel read, “You

are respectfully requested to take advantage of the

chambermaids.”

• English sign in a Moscow hotel read, “If this is your first visit to the

USSR, you are welcome to it.”

• Japanese knife manufacturer labeled its exports to the United

States with “Caution: Blade extremely sharp! Keep out of children.”

© Prentice Hall, 2006 International Business 3e Chapter 2 - 12

EducationEducation

• 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

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• These influence a culture’s development and pace of change

• Topography– Physical features characterizing the

surface of a geographic region• Climate

– Weather conditions of a geographic region• Material Culture

– Technology used to manufacture goods and provide services

Physical and Material CulturePhysical and Material CulturePhysical and Material CulturePhysical and Material Culture

© Prentice Hall, 2006 International Business 3e Chapter 2 - 14

Kluckhohn-Strodtbeck Kluckhohn-Strodtbeck FrameworkFramework

• Relation to nature • Material or spiritual • Time orientation • Responsibility to others• Trust and control • View of personal space

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Hofstede FrameworkHofstede Framework

• Individualism vs. collectivism

• Power distance

• Uncertainty avoidance

• Achievement vs. nurturing