Culture, Management

style, and Business

system

Chapter 5
 Agenda/Topics To Be Covered

1. Required adaptation
2. The impact of American culture on management
style
3. Management styles around the world
4. Gender bias in International Business
5. Business ethics
6. Culture’s influence on strategic thinking
7. A synthesis, relationship-oriented versus
information-oriented cultures
Culture?

What is it?

How does it affects

you?
 1. Required adaptation

–Relates
-A
Customs
need totoand
orareas of
Cultural
Degree exclusives
of adaptation
electives
imperatives behavior or
understand patterns
expectations to
a that
exclusively
customs
counterparts
must that
be met for
andthe
locals and
cultural
custom
conformedaliens
from may
or be
whichtothe
wish
avoided conform
if to
foreigner
or to participate
relationshipis barred.
in
are to
butsuccessful.
be that are not
required.
 2. The impact
of American
culture on
management
style

“master of destiny” viewpoint

Wide sharing in decision making

Personnel selection and reward based on merit

Decision based on objective analysis

Independent enterprise as the instrument of social action

 a n a g e m e nt
3. M
s a r o u n d the
style
world
 ec i s i o n m akinging
•Authorriitty y anddddecision mak
an
•Autho
d a s p i r a tions
n t o b je c tives an
e
•Managem t y a n d m obility
Secur i
life ptance
Personal c ia l a c c e
f i lia t io n and so
A f
a c h i e v e ment
d
Power an
 i ca t i o n styles
•Commun
m m u n i cation
- t o - f ace co
Fa c e
m u n i ca tions
com
Internet
 l i ty a n d tempo
•Forma

v e r s u s M-time
•P-time i c t i m e and
r o n
-polych n i c time
h r o
monoc

n s em p hasis
io
•Negotiat
 4. Gender bias in
International Business

It is true that in many

cultures – Asian, Middle
Eastern, and Latin America
– women are not typically
found in upper levels of
management and men and
women are treated very
differently.
 5. Business ethics

Corruption

The western focus on bribery

Bribery: variations on a theme
Bribery and extortion
Subornation and lubrication
Agent’s fees
 5. Business ethics: ethically
and socially responsible
decisions

Utilitarian ethics
Rights of parties
Justice or fairness
6. Culture’s influence on
strategic thinking

How culture influences

manager’s thinking about
business strategy?
7. A synthesis, relationship-oriented versus
information-oriented culture

What is "Culture"?

Culture is the acquired

knowledge people use
to interpret experience and
generate behavior.
High and Low Context

"high context" and "low context"

(popularized by Edward Hall) are
used to describe broad-brush
cultural differences between
societies.
 Low context refers to:

societies where people tend to

have many connections but of
shorter duration or for some specific
reason

Example: large US airports, a chain

supermarket, a cafeteria, a convenience store,
sports where rules are clearly laid out, a motel.
Low context
• Rule oriented, people play by external rules
• More knowledge is codified, public, external, and accessible.
• Sequencing, separation--of time, of space, of activities, of
relationships
• More interpersonal connections of shorter duration
• Knowledge is more often transferable
• Task-centered. Decisions and activities focus around what needs to
be done, division of responsibilities.
 High context refers to:
• societies or groups where people have close connections over a
long period of time

Examples:
Small religious congregations, a party with friends, family
gatherings, expensive gourmet restaurants and neighborhood
restaurants with a regular clientele, undergraduate on-campus
friendships, regular pick-up games, hosting a friend in your home
overnight.
 High context
• Less verbally explicit communication, less written/formal
information
• More internalized understandings of what is communicated
• Multiple cross-cutting ties and intersections with others
• Long term relationships
• Strong boundaries- who is accepted as belonging vs. who is
considered an "outsider"
• Knowledge is situational, relational.
• Decisions and activities focus around personal face-to-face
relationships, often around a central person who has authority.
Entering High and
Low Context
Situations?
THANK YOU..