Culture and Organizational Behavior

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Culture and OrganizationalBehavior

• Chapter 2

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Learning Objectives

• Understand what culture is and levels of culture
• Explain how culture develops
• Describe the major frameworks for explaining the
  cultures of different societies
• Discuss the relation of culture to the study of
  OB
• Debate the issue of cultural convergence Vs.
  divergence

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What is Culture?

• A way of life of a group of people
• That complex whole which includes knowledge,
  belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other
  capabilities and habits acquired by people as
  members of society
• Everything that people have, think, and do as
  members of society

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Sathes Levels of Culture
Manifest culture
Manifest culture
Expressed values
Expressed values
Basic assumptions
Water line
Basic assumptions
Iceberg
Onion
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How is Culture Learned?

• Primary Socialization
• Cultures and Subcultures
• Secondary Socialization

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Frameworks for Examining Cultures

• Cultural Orientations
• Work-related Values Dimensions
• Communication Patterns
• Chinese Value Survey
• Cultural Metaphors

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Kluckhohn and Strodtbecks Variations in Values
Orientations
Values Orientation Variations
Relation to Nature Time Orientation Basic Human
Nature Activity Orientation Relationships among
People Space Orientation
Subjugation Past Evil Being Individualistic Privat
e
Harmony Present Neutral/Mixed Containing/Controlli
ng Group Mixed
Mastery Future Good Doing Hierarchical Public
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How we cook and eat quite differently
You cook like that!
You cook this way!
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Hofstedes Four Dimensions of Cultural Values

• Individualism/Collectivism
• Power Distance
• Uncertainty Avoidance
• Masculinity/Femininity

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The Chinese Value Survey

• Confucian Work Dynamism
• Long Term Vs. Short Term Orientation
• Future
• Thrifty
• Persistence

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Hofstede and CVS Cultural Dimension Scores for 10
Countries
PD ID MA UA LT
USA 40L 91H 62H 46L 29L Germany 35L 67H 66H
65M 31M Japan 54M 46M 95H 92H 80H France 68H 7
1H 43M 86H 30L Netherlands 38L 80H 14L 53M 44M H
ong Kong 68H 25L 57H 29L 96H Indonesia 78H 14L 4
6M 48L 25L West Africa 77H 20L 46M 54M 16L Russia
95H 50M 40L 90H 10L China 80H 20L 50M 60M 118
H
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Trompenaars Seven Dimensions of Culture

• Universalism Vs. Particularism
• Individualism Vs. Collectivism
• Neutral Vs. Affective Relationships
• Specific Vs. Diffuse Relationships
• Achievement Vs. Ascription
• Relationship to Time
• Relationship to Nature

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Halls High-Context and Low-Context Cultural
Framework
High-Context Low-Context China Austria Egypt
Canada France Denmark Italy England Japan
Finland Lebanon Germany Saudi
Arabia Norway Spain Switzerland Syria Unit
ed States
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Cultural Metaphors
Country Metaphor England the traditional
British house Germany the symphony Italy the
opera Japan the garden Nigeria the
marketplace Russia the ballet Turkey the
coffeehouse United States football
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American Football and the U.S. Corporate Culture

• Members of the team come together and decide what
  to do as a group
• Individuals receive rewards based on individual
  performance and contribution to the team
• A masculinity culture that emphasis tough
  values such as Competition

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Dragons in Ancient China and the Contemporary
World
American Dragon Boat Association
Emperor Tai-Tsung, Tang Dynasty (626-649)
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Do the Frameworks Explain Cultural Differences?

• Represent average behavior within a culture
• Countries classified similarly may still be very
  different
• Reliability may vary

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Convergence or Divergence?

• Closer communication and trade links
• Worldwide marketing and product distributions
• Globalization of businesses
• Cultural impact and penetration

• Different cultural interpretations
• Need to maintain cultural identity
• Adaptation to different markets
• Trade disputes

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Implications for Managers

• Understanding culture is important even in home
  country
• Organizations stakeholders could be from another
  culture
• Need to look for underlying cultural meanings

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