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International Business: The Challenges of Globalization

Eighth Edition

Chapter 2

Cross-Cultural Business

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This chapter defines the scope of international business and introduces us to some of its most important topics.

Learning Objectives

2.1 Explain culture and the need for cultural knowledge.

2.2 Summarize the cultural importance of values and behavior.

2.3 Describe the roles of social structure and education in culture.

2.4 Outline how the major world religions can influence business.

2.5 Explain the importance of personal communication to international business.

2.6 Describe how firms and culture interact in the global workplace.

This chapter introduces the important role of culture in international business. We explore the main elements of culture and how they affect business policies and practices. We learn about different frameworks for studying cultures and how they apply to international business.

Hold the Pork, Please!

Germany-based Haribo (www.haribo.com)

Cultural Challenge and Blunders:

Pork-based product: off-limits to Muslims and Jews

Not meeting the needs of a globally dispersed subculture

Potentially worth $2 billion annually

Printing on packages: Backward, but Hebrew is read from right to left

Germany-based Haribo (www.haribo.com) gets its name from that of the company’s founder, Hans Riegel Bonn. Shown in the picture is Haribo CEO Hans Riegel Bonn, Jr., next to a life-sized Haribo gummy bear outside a Haribo factory in Germany.

Haribo supplies 105 countries from its 18 factories at home and abroad, producing more than 100 million gummy candies a day

But despite its success, Haribo was not meeting the needs of a globally dispersed subculture potentially worth $2 billion annually. The culprit: the pork-based substance that gives the candy its sticky, rubbery feel makes the candy off-limits to Muslims and Jews who adhere to a strict religious diet. So the company embarked on a four-year mission to create a gummy candy free of the pork-based gelatin.

Later, a local supplier committed a language blunder. The printing on the first packages of candies destined for Hebrew communities was backward—Hebrew is read from right to left, not left to right like English.

But today production is going smoothly. Haribo even has a Jewish rabbi (for kosher candies) or a Muslim cleric (for halal candies) inspect ingredients and oversee production to ensure that it adheres to religious customs. As you read this chapter, consider all the ways culture affects international business and how companies affect cultures around the world.

What Is Culture? (1 of 4)

National Culture

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

Nation-states support and promote the concept of national culture

Building museums and monuments to preserve the legacies of important events and people.

Nation-states intervene in business to preserve treasures of national culture

Regulate culturally sensitive sectors of the economy

Culture is a highly complex portrait of a people. It includes everything from high tea in England to the tropical climate of Barbados, to Mardi Gras in Brazil.

Rightly or wrongly, we tend to invoke the concept of the nation-state when speaking of culture.

Nation-states support and promote the concept of national culture by building museums and monuments to preserve the legacies of important events and people. Nation-states also intervene in business to preserve other treasures of national culture. Most nations, for example, regulate culturally sensitive sectors of the economy, such as filmmaking and broadcasting.

What Is Culture? (2 of 4)

Subcultures

Subculture: a group of people who share a unique way of life within a larger, dominant culture

A subculture can differ from the dominant culture in language, race, lifestyle, values, attitudes, or other characteristics

Subcultures sometimes exist across national borders

A group of people who share a unique way of life within a larger, dominant culture is called a subculture. A subculture can differ from the dominant culture in language, race, lifestyle, values, attitudes, or other characteristics.

Although subcultures exist in all nations, they are often glossed over by our impressions of national cultures. For example, the customary portrait of Chinese culture often ignores the fact that China’s population includes more than 50 distinct ethnic groups.

A multitude of subcultures also exists within the United States.

Cultural boundaries do not always correspond to political boundaries. In other words, subcultures sometimes exist across national borders. People who live in different nations but who share the same subculture can have more in common with one another than with their fellow nationals. These subcultures may share purchasing behaviors rooted in lifestyle or values that allow them to be marketed to with a single worldwide campaign.

What Is Culture? (3 of 4)

Physical Environment

Land features affect personal communication in a culture.

Physical environment affects consumers’ product needs.

Climate can play a role in determining work habits.

Land features affect personal communication in a culture. Surface features such as navigable rivers and flat plains facilitate travel and contact with others. By contrast, treacherous mountain ranges and large bodies of water that are difficult to navigate discourage contact.

The physical environment of a region also affects consumers’ product needs. For example, there is little market for Honda scooters (www.honda.com) in most mountainous regions because a scooter’s engine is too small to climb the steep grades. Such regions are better markets for the company’s more rugged, maneuverable, on-off road motorcycles that have more powerful engines. Climate affects where people settle and the distribution systems they create. In Australia, intensely hot and dry conditions in two large deserts and jungle conditions in the northeast pushed settlement to coastal areas. These conditions combined with the higher cost of land transport means coastal waters are still used to distribute products between distant cities.

Climate can also play a role in determining work habits. The heat of the summer sun grows intense in the early afternoon hours in the countries of southern Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East. For this reason, people often take afternoon breaks of one or two hours in July and August. People use this time to perform errands or to take short naps before returning to work until about 7 or 8 p.m. Companies operating in these regions must adapt to this local tradition.

What Is Culture? (4 of 4)

Need for Cultural Knowledge

A visual depiction of culture would resemble an iceberg.

Avoiding Ethnocentricity:

Ethnocentricity is the belief that one’s own ethnic group or culture is superior to that of others.

Ethnocentricity can seriously undermine international business projects.

Developing Cultural literacy:

Cultural literacy: detailed knowledge about a culture that enables a person to work happily and effectively within it.

A visual depiction of culture would resemble an iceberg. Cultural features that we can see are a very small portion of all that comprises it. The vast majority of a people’s cultural makeup remains hidden from view and below the surface. It takes knowledge, effort, understanding, and experience to uncover the essence of a culture and to develop a deep appreciation for it.

Avoiding Ethnocentricity: Our thoughts can harbor subconscious, unintentional, and inaccurate perceptions of other cultures. Ethnocentricity is the belief that one’s own ethnic group or culture is superior to that of others. Ethnocentricity can seriously undermine international business projects. It causes people to view other cultures in terms of their own and, therefore, disregard the beneficial characteristics of other cultures. Ethnocentricity played a role in many stories, some retold in this chapter, of companies that failed when they tried to implement a new business practice in a subsidiary abroad. Failure can occur when managers ignore a fundamental aspect of the local culture. This can provoke a backlash from the local population, its government, or nongovernmental groups. As suppliers and buyers increasingly treat the world as a single, interconnected marketplace, managers should eliminate the biases inherent in ethnocentric thinking.

Developing Cultural Literacy: As globalization continues, people directly involved in international business increasingly benefit from a certain degree of cultural literacy—detailed knowledge about a culture that enables a person to work happily and effectively within it. Cultural literacy improves people’s ability to manage employees, market products, and conduct negotiations in other countries.

Quick Study 1

How might a subculture differ from the dominant culture?

What do we call the belief that one’s own culture is superior to that of others?

What do we call detailed knowledge about a culture that enables a person to work happily and effectively within it?

Values and Behavior (1 of 5)

Figure 2.1 Components of Culture

Culture includes what a people consider beautiful and tasteful, their underlying beliefs, their traditional habits, and the ways in which they relate to one another and their surroundings. Let’s now go beneath the surface of the “iceberg” for a fuller understanding of the building blocks of society (see Figure 2.1).

Values and Behavior (2 of 5)

Values

Values: Ideas, beliefs, and customs to which people are emotionally attached.

Values include concepts such as honesty, freedom, and responsibility.

Values are important to business because they affect a people’s work ethic and desire for material possessions.

The influx of values from other cultures can be fiercely resisted.

Ideas, beliefs, and customs to which people are emotionally attached are called values. Values include concepts such as honesty, freedom, and responsibility. Values are important to business because they affect a people’s work ethic and desire for material possessions.

The influx of values from other cultures can be fiercely resisted. Many Muslims believe drugs, alcohol, and certain kinds of music and literature will undermine conservative values. This is why the Arab world’s reality TV programs tend to be short-lived. In Bahrain, the local version of Big Brother was canceled after people objected to the program’s format, which involved young unmarried adults of both sexes living under the same roof. The Lebanon-based program Hawa Sawa (On Air Together) was shut down because its “eliminate” format (a young man gradually eliminates women to finally select a date) was perceived as too Western. And Indonesia’s National Police denied Lady Gaga a permit to perform despite her concert being sold out. She is the first foreign artist ever to be denied a permit by authorities there. Conservative Muslim groups accused Gaga of “being vulgar, corrupting the morals of the country’s youth, and worshiping Satan.”

Values and Behavior (3 of 5)

Attitudes

Attitudes reflect a people’s underlying values.

Attitudes are positive or negative evaluations, feelings, and tendencies that individuals harbor toward objects or concepts.

Attitudes are learned from role models, including parents, teachers, and religious leaders.

Attitudes differ from one country to another because they are formed within a cultural context.

A “European” attitude

Attitudes reflect a people’s underlying values. Attitudes are positive or negative evaluations, feelings, and tendencies that individuals harbor toward objects or concepts.

Similar to values, attitudes are learned from role models, including parents, teachers, and religious leaders.

Attitudes also differ from one country to another because they are formed within a cultural context. But unlike values (which generally concern only important matters), people hold attitudes toward both important and unimportant aspects of life. And whereas values remain quite rigid over time, attitudes are more flexible.

A “European” attitude has sunk into the psyche of young people across Europe as companies from different countries merge, industries consolidate, and nations grow closer together in the European Union. Many young people in Europe today consider themselves to be “European” as much as they identify with their native countries. Still, the underlying values of young Europeans tend to remain similar to those of their parents.

Values and Behavior (4 of 5)

Aesthetics

Aesthetics: what a culture considers “good taste” in the arts, the imagery evoked by certain expressions, and the symbolism of certain colors.

Aesthetics includes the art, images, symbols, colors, and so on.

Aesthetics are important when a company does business in another culture.

The importance of aesthetics is just as great when going international using the Internet.

What a culture considers “good taste” in the arts (including music, painting, dance, drama, and architecture), the imagery evoked by certain expressions, and the symbolism of certain colors is called aesthetics. In other words, it includes the art, images, symbols, colors, and so on that a culture values.

Aesthetics are important when a company does business in another culture. The selection of appropriate colors for advertising, product packaging, and even work uniforms can improve the odds of success. For example, companies take advantage of a positive emotional attachment to the color green across the Middle East by incorporating it into a product, its packaging, or its promotion. Across much of Asia, on the other hand, green is associated with sickness. In Europe, Mexico, and the United States, the color of death and mourning is black; in Japan and most of Asia, it’s white.

Music is deeply embedded in culture and, when used correctly, can be a clever and creative addition to a promotion; if used incorrectly, it can offend the local population. The architecture of buildings and other structures should also be researched to avoid making cultural blunders attributable to the symbolism of certain shapes and forms.

The importance of aesthetics is just as great when going international using the Internet. Many companies exist that teach corporations how to globalize their Internet presence. These companies often provide professional guidance on how to adapt websites to account for cultural.

Values and Behavior (5 of 5)

Appropriate Behavior

Manners: Appropriate ways of behaving, speaking, and dressing in a culture are called manners.

Customs: Habits or ways of behaving in specific circumstances that are passed down through generations in a culture.

Folk Custom: Behavior, often dating back several generations, that is practiced by a homogeneous group of people.

Popular Custom: Behavior shared by a heterogeneous group or by several groups.

Gift Giving Customs

Proper type of gift varies

Legal and ethical rules

When doing business in another culture, it is important to understand what is considered appropriate behavior. At a minimum, understanding manners and customs helps managers avoid making embarrassing mistakes or offending people. In-depth knowledge, meanwhile, improves the ability to negotiate in other cultures, market products effectively, and manage international operations. Let’s explore some important differences in manners and customs around the world.

Manners: Appropriate ways of behaving, speaking, and dressing in a culture are called manners.

Customs: When habits or ways of behaving in specific circumstances are passed down through generations, they become customs. Customs differ from manners in that they define appropriate habits or behaviors in specific situations.

Folk and Popular Customs: A folk custom is behavior, often dating back several generations, that is practiced by a homogeneous group of people. Celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival in China and the art of belly dancing in Turkey are both folk customs. A popular custom is behavior shared by a heterogeneous group or by several groups. Popular customs can exist in just one culture or in two or more cultures at once. Wearing blue jeans and playing golf are both popular customs across the globe. Folk customs that spread to other regions develop into popular customs. Despite their appeal, popular customs can be seen as a threat by conservative or xenophobic members of a culture.

Gift Giving Customs: Although giving token gifts to business and government associates is customary in many countries, the proper type of gift varies.

Cultures differ in their legal and ethical rules against giving or accepting bribes. Large gifts to business associates are particularly suspicious. The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits companies from giving large gifts to government officials in order to win business favors, applies to U.S. firms operating at home and abroad. Yet in many cultures, bribery is woven into a social fabric that has worn well for centuries. In some cultures large gifts remain an effective way to obtain contracts, enter markets, and secure protection from competitors.

Quick Study 2

What are examples of values?

What type of custom might a conservative group oppose in a culture?

The law that restricts the gift giving by U.S. firms at home and abroad is called what?

Social Structure

Social Group Associations

Collection of two or more people who identify and interact with each other

Family: Nuclear vs. Extended

Gender

Social Status

Positions within the structure

Social Stratification

Social Mobility

Ease with which individuals can move up or down a culture’s “social ladder”

Caste System

Class System

Social structure embodies a culture’s fundamental organization, including its groups and institutions, its system of social positions and their relationships, and the process by which its resources are distributed. Social structure plays a role in many business decisions, including production-site selection, advertising methods, and the costs of doing business in a country. Three important elements of social structure that differ across cultures are social group associations, social status, and social mobility.

People in all cultures associate themselves with a variety of social groups—collections of two or more people who identify and interact with each other. Social groups contribute to each individual’s identity and self-image. Two groups that play especially important roles in affecting business activity everywhere are family and gender.

There are two different types of family groups: The nuclear family consists of a person’s immediate relatives, including parents, brothers, and sisters. This concept of family prevails in Australia, Canada, the United States, and much of Europe. The extended family broadens the nuclear family and adds grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and relatives through marriage. It is an important social group in much of Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America.

Gender refers to socially learned habits associated with, and expected of, men or women. It includes behaviors and attitudes such as styles of dress and activity preferences. Though many countries have made great strides toward gender equality in the workplace, others have not.

Another important aspect of social structure is the way a culture divides its population according to status—that is, according to positions within the structure. Although some cultures have only a few categories, others have many. The process of ranking people into social layers or classes is called social stratification.

Moving to a higher social class is easy in some cultures but difficult or impossible in others. Social mobility is the ease with which individuals can move up or down a culture’s “social ladder.” For much of the world’s population today, one of two systems regulates social mobility: a caste system or a class system.

Caste System: A caste system is a system of social stratification in which people are born into a social ranking, or caste, with no opportunity for social mobility. India is the classic example of a caste culture. Although the Indian constitution officially bans discrimination by caste, its influence persists. Little social interaction occurs between castes, and marrying out of one’s caste is taboo. Opportunities for work and advancement are defined within the system, and certain occupations are reserved for the members of each caste. For example, a member of a lower caste cannot supervise someone of a higher caste because personal clashes would be inevitable.

Class System: A class system is a system of social stratification in which personal ability and actions determine social status and mobility. It is the most common form of social stratification in the world today. But class systems vary in the amount of mobility they allow. Highly class-conscious cultures offer less mobility and, not surprisingly, experience greater class conflict. Conversely, lower levels of class-consciousness encourage mobility and lessen conflict. A more cooperative atmosphere in the workplace tends to prevail when people feel that a higher social standing is within their reach.

Education (1 of 3)

Table 2.1 Illiteracy Rates of Selected Countries

Country	Adult Illiteracy Rate (% of People Age 15 and Up)
Burkina Faso	71
Pakistan	45
Nigeria	39
Morocco	33
Cambodia	26
Egypt	26
Zimbabwe	16
Saudi Arabia	13
Brazil	10
Peru	10

Education is crucial for passing on traditions, customs, and values. Each culture educates its young people through schooling, parenting, religious teachings, and group memberships. Families and other groups provide informal instruction about customs and how to socialize with others. In most cultures, intellectual skills such as reading and mathematics are taught in formal educational settings.

Data that a government provides on its people’s education level must be taken with a grain of salt. Comparisons from country to country can be difficult because many nations rely on literacy tests of their own design. Although some countries administer standardized tests, others require only a signature as proof of literacy. Yet searching for untapped markets or new factory locations can force managers to rely on such undependable benchmarks. As you can see from Table 2.1, some countries have further to go than others to increase national literacy rates. Around 800 million adults remain illiterate globally. And although global illiteracy rates are higher for women, the gap with men is closing.

Education (2 of 3)

Table 2.1 [continued]

Country	Adult Illiteracy Rate (% of People Age 15 and Up)
Colombia	6
Mexico	6
Portugal	5
Jordan	4
Philippines	4

Source: Based on The World Factbook 2013-14. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html).

Education (3 of 3)

The “Brain Drain” Phenomenon

Brain Drain

Departure of highly educated people from one profession, geographic region, or nation to another

The quality of a nation’s education system is related to its level of economic development. Brain drain is the departure of highly educated people from one profession, geographic region, or nation to another. Over the years, political unrest and economic hardship has forced many Indonesians to flee their homeland for other nations, particularly Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States. Most of Indonesia’s brain drain has occurred among Western-educated professionals in finance and technology—exactly the people needed for economic development.

Many countries in Eastern Europe experienced high levels of brain drain early in their transition to market economies. Economists, engineers, scientists, and researchers in all fields fled westward to escape poverty. But as these nations continue their long transition from communism, some of them are luring professionals back to their homelands—a process known as reverse brain drain.

Quick Study 3

Social structure embodies a culture’s fundamental organization, including what?

A person and his or her immediate relatives including parents and siblings, is called a what?

The departure of highly educated people from one profession, region, or nation to another is called what?

Religion (1 of 11)

Christianity

Christianity was born in Palestine around 2,000 years ago.

Christianity boasts more than 300 denominations:

Most Christians belong to the Roman Catholic, Protestant, or Eastern Orthodox churches.

With 2 billion followers, Christianity is the world’s single largest religion.

Christianity was born in Palestine around 2,000 years ago among Jews who believed that God sent Jesus of Nazareth to be their savior. Although Christianity boasts more than 300 denominations, most Christians belong to the Roman Catholic, Protestant, or Eastern Orthodox churches.

With 2 billion followers, Christianity is the world’s single largest religion.

Religion (2 of 11)

The Roman Catholic

Refrain from placing material possessions above God and others

Protestants

Salvation comes from faith in God

Hard work gives glory to God—a tenet known widely as the “Protestant work ethic”

Development of capitalism and free enterprise in nineteenth-century Europe

Christian organizations sometimes get involved in social causes that affect business policy.

The Roman Catholic faith asks its followers to refrain from placing material possessions above God and others.

Protestants believe that salvation comes from faith in God and that hard work gives glory to God—a tenet known widely as the “Protestant work ethic.” Many historians believe this conviction was a main factor in the development of capitalism and free enterprise in nineteenth-century Europe.

Christian organizations sometimes get involved in social causes that affect business policy.

Religion (3 of 11)

Islam

With 1.3 billion adherents, Islam is the world’s second-largest religion.

Islam thrives in north Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Pakistan, and some Southeast Asian nations, including Indonesia.

Muslim concentrations are also found in most European and U.S. cities.

The prophet Muhammad founded Islam around A.D. 600 in Mecca.

With 1.3 billion adherents, Islam is the world’s second-largest religion.

The prophet Muhammad founded Islam around A.D. 600 in Mecca, the holy city of Islam located in Saudi Arabia.

Islam thrives in North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Pakistan, and some Southeast Asian nations, including Indonesia. Muslim concentrations are also found in most European and U.S. cities.

Religion (4 of 11)

Islam means “submission to Allah,” and Muslim means “one who submits to Allah.”

Islam revolves around the “five pillars”:

Reciting the shahada (profession of faith)

Giving to the poor

Praying five times daily

Fasting during the holy month of Ramadan

Making the hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca

Religion strongly affects the kinds of goods and services acceptable to Muslim consumers.

Islam means “submission to Allah,” and Muslim means “one who submits to Allah.”

Islam revolves around the “five pillars”: (1) reciting the Shahada (profession of faith), (2) giving to the poor, (3) praying five times daily, (4) fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, and (5) making the Hajj (pilgrimage) to the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca at least once in a person’s lifetime.

Religion strongly affects the kinds of goods and services acceptable to Muslim consumers. Islam, for example, prohibits the consumption of alcohol and pork. Popular alcohol substitutes are soft drinks, coffee, and tea. Substitutes for pork include lamb, beef, and poultry (all of which must be slaughtered in a prescribed way so as to meet halal requirements). Because hot coffee and tea often play ceremonial roles in Muslim nations, the markets for them are quite large. And because usury (charging interest for money lent) violates the laws of Islam, credit card companies collect management fees rather than interest, and each cardholder’s credit line is limited to an amount held on deposit.

Nations governed by Islamic law sometimes segregate the sexes at certain activities and in locations such as schools.

Religion (5 of 11)

Hinduism

Hinduism formed around 4,000 years ago in present-day India.

More than 90 percent of Hinduism’s 900 million adherents live India.

It is also the majority religion of Nepal and a secondary religion in Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka.

Considered by some to be a way of life rather than a religion.

Hinduism recalls no founder and recognizes no central authority or spiritual leader.

Hinduism formed around 4,000 years ago in present-day India, where more than 90 percent of Hinduism’s 900 million adherents live. It is also the majority religion of Nepal and a secondary religion in Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka.

Considered by some to be a way of life rather than a religion, Hinduism recalls no founder and recognizes no central authority or spiritual leader. Integral to the Hindu faith is the caste system described earlier in this chapter.

Religion (6 of 11)

Hindus believe in reincarnation—the rebirth of the human soul at the time of death.

Highest goal of life is moksha

Moksha: escaping from the cycle of reincarnation and entering a state of eternal happiness called nirvana

Hindus tend to disdain materialism.

Strict Hindus do not eat or willfully harm any living creature because it may be a reincarnated human soul.

Hindus believe in reincarnation—the rebirth of the human soul at the time of death.

For many Hindus the highest goal of life is moksha—escaping from the cycle of reincarnation and entering a state of eternal happiness called nirvana.

Hindus tend to disdain materialism. Strict Hindus do not eat or willfully harm any living creature because it may be a reincarnated human soul.

Because Hindus consider cows to be sacred animals, they do not eat beef. Yet, consuming cow’s milk is considered a means of religious purification. Firms such as McDonald’s (www. mcdonalds.com) must work closely with government and religious officials in India in order to respect Hindu beliefs.

Religion (7 of 11)

Buddhism

Buddhism was founded about 2,600 years ago in India.

Buddhism has around 380 million followers, mostly in China, Tibet, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and Thailand.

Unlike Hinduism, Buddhism rejects the caste system of Indian society.

Like Hinduism, Buddhism promotes a life centered on spiritual rather than worldly matters.

In a formal ceremony, Buddhists take refuge in the “three jewels”:

Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha

Buddhism was founded about 2,600 years ago in India by a Hindu prince named Siddhartha Gautama, who later became the Buddha.

Today, Buddhism has around 380 million followers, mostly in China, Tibet, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and Thailand, and there are pockets of Buddhists in Europe and the Americas.

Although founded in India, Buddhism has relatively few adherents there. Unlike Hinduism, Buddhism rejects the caste system of Indian society. But like Hinduism, Buddhism promotes a life centered on spiritual rather than worldly matters.

Buddhism teaches that seeking pleasure for the human senses causes suffering. In a formal ceremony, Buddhists take refuge in the “three jewels”: the Buddha, the dharma (his teachings), and the sangha (community of enlightened beings).

Religion (8 of 11)

They seek nirvana through

Charity

Modesty

Compassion for others

Restraint from violence

General self-control

Although monks at many temples are devoted to lives of solitary meditation and discipline, many other Buddhist priests are dedicated to lessening the burden of human suffering. They finance schools and hospitals across Asia and are active in worldwide peace movements. In Tibet, most people still acknowledge the exiled Dalai Lama as the spiritual and political head of the Buddhist culture. In the United States, a coalition of religious groups and human rights advocates continue to press the U.S. Congress to apply economic sanctions against countries that are seen as practicing religious persecution.

They seek nirvana (escape from reincarnation) through charity, modesty, compassion for others, restraint from violence, and general self-control.

Religion (9 of 11)

Confucianism

Confucius began teaching his ideas in China nearly 2,500 years ago.

China is home to most of Confucianism’s 225 million followers.

Confucian thought is also ingrained in the cultures of Japan, South Korea, and nations with large numbers of ethnic Chinese.

South Korean business practice reflects Confucian thought in its organizational structure.

An exiled politician and philosopher named Kong-fuzi (pronounced “Confucius” in English) began teaching his ideas in China nearly 2,500 years ago.

Today, China is home to most of Confucianism’s 225 million followers.

Confucian thought is also ingrained in the cultures of Japan, South Korea, and nations with large numbers of ethnic Chinese, such as Singapore.

South Korean business practice reflects Confucian thought in its rigid organizational structure and unswerving reverence for authority.

Some observers contend that the Confucian work ethic and a commitment to education helped spur East Asia’s phenomenal economic growth. But others respond that the link between culture and economic growth is weak.

Religion (10 of 11)

Judaism

More than 3,000 years old, Judaism was the first religion to preach belief in a single God.

Judaism has roughly 18 million followers worldwide.

Important days in the Jewish faith:

Sabbath, Rosh Ha-Shanah, Yom Kippur, Passover, and Hanukkah

Marketers must take into account foods that are banned among strict Jews.

More than 3,000 years old, Judaism was the first religion to preach belief in a single God. Nowadays, Judaism has roughly 18 million followers worldwide.

In Israel, Orthodox (“fully observant”) Jews make up 12 percent of the population and constitute an increasingly important economic segment.

Employers and human resource managers must be aware of important days in the Jewish faith. Because the Sabbath lasts from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday, work schedules might need adjustment. Devout Jews want to be home before sundown on Fridays. On the Sabbath itself, they do not work, travel, or carry money. Several other important observances are Rosh Ha-Shanah (the two-day Jewish New Year, in September or October), Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement, 10 days after New Year), Passover (which celebrates the Exodus from Egypt, in March or April each year), and Hanukkah (which celebrates an ancient victory over the Syrians, usually in December).

Marketers must take into account foods that are banned among strict Jews. Pork and shellfish (such as lobster and crab) are prohibited. Meat is stored and served separately from milk. Other meats must be slaughtered according to a practice called shehitah. Meals prepared according to Jewish dietary traditions are called kosher. Most airlines offer kosher meals for Jewish passengers on their flights.

Religion (11 of 11)

Shinto

Shinto (meaning “way of the gods”) arose as the native religion of the Japanese.

Shinto can claim only about 4 million strict adherents in Japan.

Shinto teaches sincere and ethical behavior, loyalty and respect toward others, and enjoyment of life.

Shinto beliefs are reflected in the workplace.

Shinto (meaning “way of the gods”) arose as the native religion of the Japanese. But today, Shinto can claim only about 4 million strict adherents in Japan. Because modern Shinto preaches patriotism, it is sometimes said that Japan’s real religion is nationalism. Shinto teaches sincere and ethical behavior, loyalty and respect toward others, and enjoyment of life.

Shinto beliefs are reflected in the workplace through the traditional practice of life-time employment (although this is waning today) and through the traditional trust extended between firms and customers. Japanese competitiveness in world markets has benefited from loyal workforces, low employee turnover, and good labor–management cooperation. The phenomenal success of many Japanese companies in recent decades gave rise to the concept of a Shinto work ethic, certain aspects of which have been emulated by Western managers.

Quick Study 4

Which denomination of Christianity has a “work ethic” named after it?

India is home to more than 90 percent of the adherents of which religion?

The Dalai Lama is the spiritual and political head of which religion?

Personal Communication

Communication: System of conveying thoughts, feelings, knowledge, and information through speech, writing, and actions

Forms of Communication:

Spoken and Written Language

Implications for managers

Language blunders

Lingua franca

Culture’s Body Language

People in every culture have a communication system to convey thoughts, feelings, knowledge, and information through speech, writing, and actions. Understanding a culture’s spoken language gives us great insight into why people think and act the way they do. Understanding a culture’s body language helps us avoid sending unintended or embarrassing messages.

Linguistically different segments of a population are often culturally, socially, and politically distinct.

Implications for managers:

The importance of understanding local languages is becoming increasingly apparent on the Internet. Roughly two-thirds of all Web pages are in English, but around three-fourths of all Internet users are nonnative English speakers.

Language proficiency is crucial in production facilities where nonnative managers are supervising local employees.

Marketers prize insights into the interests, values, attitudes, and habits of teenagers.

Language blunders: Advertising slogans and company documents must be translated carefully so that messages are received precisely as intended. If they are not carefully translated, a company can make a language blunder in its international business dealings.

A lingua franca is a third or “link” language understood by two parties who speak different native languages.

Body language communicates through unspoken cues, including hand gestures, facial expressions, physical greetings, eye contact, and the manipulation of personal space. Similar to spoken language, body language communicates both information and feelings and differs greatly from one culture to another.

Language Blunders

An English-language sign in a Moscow hotel read, “You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian composers, artists, and writers are buried daily except Thursday.”

A sign for English-speaking guests in a Tokyo hotel read, “You are respectfully requested to take advantage of the chambermaids.”

An airline ticket office in Copenhagen read in English, “We take your bags and send them in all directions.”

A Japanese knife manufacturer labeled its exports to the United States with “Caution: Blade extremely sharp! Keep out of children.”

Braniff Airlines’ English-language slogan “Fly in Leather” was translated into “Fly Naked” in Spanish

Quick Study 5

Every culture has a communication system that it uses to convey what?

A special language understood by two parties who speak different native languages is called what?

An interesting fact about body language is what?

Culture in the Global Workplace (1 of 2)

Perception of Time

View of Work

Material Culture

Cultural Change

Cultural Trait

Cultural Diffusion

Cultural Imperialism

Perception of Time: People in many Latin American and Mediterranean cultures are casual about their use of time. They maintain flexible schedules and would rather enjoy their time than sacrifice it to unbending efficiency. By contrast, people in Japan and the United States typically arrive promptly for meetings, keep tight schedules, and work long hours.

View of Work: Some cultures display a strong work ethic; others stress a more balanced pace in juggling work and leisure.

Material Culture: All the technology used in a culture to manufacture goods and provide services is called its material culture. Material culture is often used to measure the technological advancement of a nation’s markets or industries.

A cultural trait is anything that represents a culture’s way of life, including gestures, material objects, traditions, and concepts. Such traits include bowing to show respect in Japan (gesture), a Buddhist temple in Thailand (material object), celebrating the Day of the Dead in Mexico (tradition), and practicing democracy in the United States (concept).

The process whereby cultural traits spread from one culture to another is called cultural diffusion. As new traits are accepted and absorbed into a culture, cultural change occurs naturally and, as a rule, gradually. Globalization and technological advances are increasing the pace of both cultural diffusion and cultural change. The global spread of media today along with the expanding reach of the Internet and services such as YouTube and Facebook play a role in cultural diffusion. These forces expose (sometimes isolated people) to the traits and ideas of other cultures.

Cultural imperialism: the replacement of one culture’s traditions, folk heroes, and artifacts with substitutes from another. Fears of cultural imperialism still drive some French to oppose the products of the Walt Disney Company (www.disney.com) and its Disneyland Paris theme park. They fear “Mickey and Friends” could replace traditional characters rooted in French culture.

Culture in the Global Workplace (2 of 2)

Studying Culture in the Workplace

Kluckhohn-Strodtbeck Framework

Relation to nature

Time orientation

Trust and control

Material or spiritual

Responsibility to others

View of personal space

Hofstede Framework

Individualism versus collectivism

Power distance

Uncertainty avoidance

Masculinity vs. femininity

Long-term orientation

Indulgence versus restraint

Kluckhohn–Strodtbeck framework: Framework for studying cultural differences along six dimensions, such as focus on past or future events and belief in individual or group responsibility for personal well-being.

This framework compares cultures by answering the following six questions:

1. Do people believe that their environment controls them, that they control the environment, or that they are part of nature?

2. Do people focus on past events, on the present, or on the future implications of their actions?

3. Are people easily controlled and not to be trusted, or can they be trusted to act freely and responsibly?

4. Do people desire accomplishments in life, carefree lives, or spiritual and contemplative lives?

5. Do people believe that individuals or groups are responsible for each person’s welfare?

6. Do people prefer to conduct most activities in private or in public?

Hofstede Framework compares cultures along five dimensions:

Individualism versus Collectivism. Individualist cultures value hard work, entrepreneurial risk-taking, and freedom to focus on personal goals. Collectivist cultures emphasize a strong association with family and work groups to maintain harmony and to work toward collective goals.

Power Distance. Large power distance means greater inequality between superiors and subordinates, more hierarchical organizations, and power derives from prestige, force, and inheritance. Small power distance implies more equally shared prestige and rewards, and power derives from hard work and is often considered more legitimate.

Uncertainty Avoidance. Cultures having large uncertainty avoidance tend to value security, systems of rules and procedures, low employee turnover, and relatively slower change. Those with low uncertainty avoidance are more open to change and new ideas.

Masculinity versus Femininity. Cultures with high masculinity versus femininity scores emphasize assertiveness, the accumulation of wealth, and an entrepreneurial drive. Cultures rating low on masculinity versus femininity value relaxed lifestyles and are more concerned for others than they are with material gain.

Long-term Orientation. Cultures scoring high on long-term orientation place value on respect for tradition, thrift, perseverance, and a sense of personal shame. Cultures scoring low on long-term orientation tend to value individual stability and reputation, fulfilling social obligations, and reciprocation of greetings and gifts.

Indulgence versus restraint This dimension captures the extent to which a society allows free expression. An indulgent society (one scoring high on this dimension) allows people to rather freely satisfy human needs related to enjoying life and having fun. By contrast, a restrained society uses varying degrees of social norms to suppress the free satisfaction of such needs.

Quick Study 6

People living in different cultures often have different views regarding their what?

What is an example of cultural imperialism?

The Kluckhohn-Strodtbeck framework does not directly investigate whether people do what?

In the Hofstede framework the term “power distance” refers to what?