Chapter 2 Culture and Organizational Behavior

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Chapter 2Culture and OrganizationalBehavior
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Case 1 A cultural clash in the entertainment
industry

• Can any nation protect its cultural
  characteristics and uniqueness?
• In a world of instant communications via the
  Internet?
• World wide distribution of movies?
• World wide transmission of television?
• World wide travel?
• What is the potential of subsidies, trade
  restrictions, quotas, and governmental control of
  sustaining a unique national culture?

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Case 6A BEllen Moore-Living/working in Bahrain

• Culture in Bahrain Saudi Arabia
• Role of professional women
• Adjustments to stereotypes
• When to adjust when to challenge?

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Cases

• Case 6 Ellen Moore
• Did Ellen compromise her values (too much) in
  accepting the Customer Service position?
• How useful are her tips for women in becoming
  successful in management?
• Meeting fellow employees or others?
• Obtaining recognition?
• Adjusting to stereotype female roles (when
  required)?
• Finding and using a mentor?
• Adjusting to the culture?
• Negotiating with her husband on relative roles?

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Defining Culture An unbounded definition

• 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 man as a
  member of society
• Everything that people have, think, and do as
  members of society

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Narrowing the definition 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?

• Enculturation
• Non-intentional process that includes all of the
  learning available as the result of what is in an
  environment to be learned
• Primary Socialization
• more intentional learning process that occurs in
  the family and local community
• Subcultures
• Develop because a group has an ethnic background,
  language, or religion that is different from the
  majority population
• Secondary Socialization
• Occurs after primary socialization and usually
  equips people with the knowledge, skills, and
  behavior to enact adult roles successfully

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Classifications of culture

• Broad classifications Halls High-Context and
  Low-Context Cultural Framework
• Detailed classifications
• Tonnies and Loomiss amplification
• Kluckhohn and Strodtbecks Variations in Values
  Orientations
• Hofstedes definition of culture Bonds
  addition
• Schwartz's classification
• Trompenaars 7 Dimensions of Culture

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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 Fi
nland Lebanon Germany Saudi Arabia Norway Spai
n Switzerland Syria United States
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Kluckhohn and Strodtbecks Variations in Values
Orientations

• Framework to describe how different societies
  cope with various issues or problems
• Includes 6 Values Orientations
• A culture is defined by one or more variations
  of a values orientation

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Kluckhohn Strodbeck definition of national
culture
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Relation to Nature

• Subjugation
• Accept nature dont try to change it
• Harmony
• Coexist with nature (feng shui)
• Mastery
• Change nature through technology when necessary
  or desirable

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Time Orientation

• Past
• Emphasizes tradition
• Present
• Focuses on short-term
• Future
• Emphasizes long-term

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Basic Human Nature

• Good
• People trust each other
• Mixed-Neutral
• Generally trusting but need to be cautious and
  protect self
• Evil
• Lack of trust

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Activity Orientation

• Doing
• Emphasis on action, achievement, learning
• Containing/Controlling
• Emphasis on rationality and logic
• Being
• Emphasis on enjoying life and working for the
  moment

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Relationships among People

• Individualistic
• People define themselves through personal
  characteristics and achievement
• Group-oriented
• People relate to and take responsibility for
  members of the family, network, or community
• Hierarchical
• People value group relationships but also within
  the society emphasize relative ranking of groups

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Space Orientation

• Public
• Space belongs to all
• Mixed
• There is a combination of public and private
  space
• Private
• People consider it important to have their own
  space

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Hofstedes Dimensions of Cultural Values

• Focuses specifically on work-related values
• Developed in 1980 with data over 116,000
  employees in 72 countries
• Average scores for each country used to develop
  national profiles to explain differences in work
  behaviors

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Hofstedes definition of culture Bonds
addition

• individualism-collectivism
• uncertainty avoidance
• power distance
• masculinity/femininity
• Confucian work dynamism (time orientation)

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Hofstedes definition of culture Bonds
addition
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Individualism/Collectivism

• Collectivistic
• People value the overall good of the group
• Individualistic
• People have concern for themselves and their
  immediate families

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Power Distance

• The extent to which less powerful members of
  organizations accept that power is unequally
  distributed
• Large
• Differences among people with different ranks are
  acceptable
• Small
• Less comfortable with power differences

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Uncertainty Avoidance

• Indicates preferred amount of structure
• Weak
• People prefer unstructured situations
• Strong
• People prefer more structure

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Masculinity/Femininity

• Extent to which people prefer traditional male
  or female values
• Feminine
• Tender values dominant - personal
  relationships, care for others, quality of life,
  service
• Masculine
• Tough values dominant - success, money,
  status, competition

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The Chinese Value Survey

• Reaction to the Hofstede study
• Developed in Chinese based on traditional
  Chinese values
• Translated and administered to students in 23
  countries
• 4 dimensions, 3 match Hofstede (PD, I/C, and
  M/F) plus Confucian Work Dynamism

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Long-term/Short-term Orientation

• High Confucian work dynamism/Long-term oriented
• Concern with future, value thrift and persistence
• Low Confucian work dynamism/Short-term oriented
• Oriented toward past and present, respect for
  tradition but here and now is most important

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Schwartz's classification

• Focuses on universal aspects of individual value
  content and structure
• Based on issues that confront all societies
• The nature of boundaries between the individual
  and the group.
• How to support responsible behavior.
• How to regulate the relation of people to the
  social and natural world.

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Embeddedness Versus Autonomy

• Embeddedness
• People view others as inherently part of
  collectives. Meaning in life comes from social
  relationships shared way of life goals.
• Autonomy
• Individuals seen as autonomous, bounded entities
  who find meaning in their own uniqueness
• Intellectual autonomy - people follow their own
  ideas and value curiosity, creativity, and
  open-mindedness
• Affective autonomy - individuals independently
  pursue positive experiences that make them feel
  good

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Hierarchy Versus Egalitarianism

• Hierarchy
• The social system has clearly defined roles to
  identify obligations rules of behavior
• Egalitarianism
• Think of each other as equals sharing basic
  human interests that values equality, justice,
  honesty responsbility

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Mastery Versus Harmony

• Harmony
• Emphasizes understanding and fitting in with the
  environment, rather than trying to change it
• Mastery
• Encourages people to master, change, and exploit
  the natural and social environment for personal
  or group goals

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Trompenaars Dimensions of Culture

• Dimensions represent how societies develop
  approaches to managing problems and difficult
  situations
• Over a 14 year period, data collected from over
  46,000 managers representing more than 40
  national cultures

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Trompenaars 7 Dimensions of Culture

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

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Universalism Versus Particularism

• Particularist
• Circumstances and relationships influence
  judgments of what is good or true
• Universal
• Judgment of what is good or true applies to every
  situation

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Individualism Versus Communitarianism

• Communitarian
• Emphasizes group membership, social
  responsibility, harmonious relationships, and
  cooperation
• Individualist
• Focus on self, personal freedom, and
  competitiveness

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Specificity Versus Diffusion

• Level of particularity or wholeness used by the
  culture to define different constructs
• Diffuse
• Focus on conceptual wholeness and relationships
  of all kinds are valued
• Small public spaces and larger private spaces
• Specific
• Objective, break things down into small parts
• Large public spaces and smaller private spaces

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Achieved Status Versus Ascribed Status

• Ascription
• Believe people are born into influence, and who
  you are, your potential, and your connections are
  all important
• Achievement
• Emphasize attainment of position and influence
  through a demonstration of expertise

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Inner Direction Versus Outer Direction

• Outer-directed
• Believe virtue is outside the person and located
  in nature and relationships
• Inner-directed
• See virtue as being inside the individual and
  believe that conscience and convictions are
  internal

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Sequential Time Versus Synchronous Time

• Synchronic
• Do several activities simultaneously, the time
  for appointments is approximate, and
  interpersonal relationships are more important
  than schedules
• Sequential
• Do one thing at a time, make appointments and
  arrive on time, and generally stick to schedules.
  

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The World Values Survey

• Study of sociocultural and political change
• Collected data from more than 65 societies
• Four waves of data collection 1981, 1990-1991,
  1995-1996, and 1999-2001

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Traditional Versus Secular-Rational Orientations
Toward Authority

• Traditional
• Values reflect preindustrial society and the
  centrality of the family
• Secular-Rational
• Opposite preferences to traditional

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Survival Versus Self-Expression Values

• Survival
• Put priority on economic and physical security
  over self-expression and quality of life
• Self-expression
• Opposite preferences to survival

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Do the Frameworks Explain Differences?

• Represent average behavior within a culture
• Countries classified similarly may still be very
  different
• Reliability may vary
• Range of differences on any dimension exists
  within the population of a single country
• Can explain differences in individual peoples
  behavior within the same country

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Convergence or Divergence?

• Closer communication and trade links
• Worldwide markets and products

• Different cultural interpretations
• Need to maintain cultural identity

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Implications for Managers

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