International business 5th griffin chapter 04

the role of culture

international business, 5th edition

chapter 4


Chapter Objectives 1
• Discuss the primary characteristics of
culture
• Describe the various elements of culture
and provide examples of how they
influence international business
• Identify the means by which members of
a culture communicate with each other

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Chapter Objectives 2
• Discuss how religious and other values
affect the domestic environments in which
international businesses operate
• Describe the major cultural clusters and
their usefulness for international managers
• Explain Hofstede’s primary findings about
differences in cultural values
• Explain how cultural conflicts may arise

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Culture
Culture is the collection of values,
beliefs, behaviors, customs, and
attitudes that distinguish one society
from another. A society’s culture
determines the rules that govern how
firms operate in the society.

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Characteristics of Culture
• Learned behavior
• Interrelated elements
• Adaptive
• Shared

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Figure 4.1 Elements of Culture

Language
Social
structure

Communication

Culture

Values/
attitudes
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Religion


Social Structure

Individuals, families, and groups
Social stratification
Social mobility

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Language
• 3000+ different languages
worldwide
• 10,000+ different dialects
• Primary delineator of cultural groups

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Map 4.1 World Languages

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Map 4.2 Africa’s Colonial Legacy

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Translation Disasters
• KFC’s Finger Lickin’ Good
– Eat your fingers off (China)

• Pillsbury’s Jolly Green Giant
– Intimidating green ogre (Saudi Arabia)

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Caterpillar Fundamental English

Caterpillar has
developed its own
simplified language
instruction program.

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Yes and No Across Cultures
• Latin America
– meaning of “manana”

• Japan

– meaning of “yes” versus “yes, I
understand”

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Nonverbal Communication
Nonverbal communication
may account for
80-90 percent of all information
transmitted among members
of a culture
by means other than language.

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Table 4.1 Forms of Nonverbal
Communication 1
• Hand gestures

• Touching

• Facial expression

• Eye contact

• Posture and stance

• Architecture/interior

design

• Clothing/hair style
• Walking behavior

• Artifacts and nonverbal symbols

• Interpersonal
distance

• Graphic symbols

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Table 4.1 Forms of Nonverbal
Communication 2
• Art and rhetorical
forms

• Taste, symbolism of
food, oral gratification

• Smell

• Cosmetics

• Speech rate, pitch,
inflection, volume

• Sound signals

• Color symbolism
• Synchronization of
speech and
movement
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• Time symbolism
• Timing and pauses
• Silence


Gift Giving and Hospitality
Gift giving is an
important means of
communication,
but what is
appropriate varies.

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Religion
• Imposes constraints on roles of
individuals in society
• Affects the types of products
consumers may purchase
• Varies from country to country

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Religion
Christianity
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism

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Map 4.3 Major World Religions

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Religion
Two million
Muslims annually
descend on the
Grand Mosque in
Mecca, Saudi
Arabia as part of
the Haij

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Values and Attitudes

Values are the principles and
standards accepted by the members;
attitudes encompass the actions,
feelings, and thoughts that result
from those values.

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Values and Attitudes

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Time

Age

Education

Status


Theories of Culture
• Hall’s Low-Context, High-Context
Approach
• Cultural Cluster Approach
• Hofstede’s Five Dimensions

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Hall’s Low-Context
High-Context Approach
An approach to understanding
communication based on the
relative emphasis on verbal and
nonverbal cues to transmit meaning

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