The Role of Culture in
International Management
HA 390 Module 2
Culture
Helps us organize our world
 Shared values, understandings, assumptions
and goals (values, beliefs, norms)
 Learned from earlier generation
 Imposed by present members of society

Principles for Studying Other Cultures
Individuals may not conform
 Differences may not be culturally based
 Understand your own culture first
 Continuums

– Few fall at the extremes, most are somewhere
in the middle
Stereotyping/ Sociotyping
Mental files
 Natural
 Useful
 Can be misused

Ethnocentrism

Belief that one's cultural values,
beliefs and norms are better than
those of another culture are
Principles Summary
4 Principles for studying cultures
– Individuals may not conform
– Differences may not be culturally based
– Understand self first
– Continuums
 Stereotyping
– Natural, potentially useful or harmful
mental files
 Ethnocentrism
– Belief that one’s own culture is best

Team Work




Find several examples that demonstrate
how culture affects management
functions such as planning, organizing,
directing and controlling
Find examples of how culture affects
management style
Find several examples of how business
practices differ across cultures
Prepare to present findings to class
Country Profile
Cultural Characteristics
Understand the ways culture can
differ
 Understand ourselves
 Understand others
 Value different points of view
 Develop shared values, beliefs and
norms

What do you think?





Are subordinates the same kind of people as
management?
Should the boss know all the answers?
Is it ok for the boss to have privileges such as
drinking coffee on the job that the front line
workers do not have?
Is it ok to call the boss by his/her first name?
Which type of boss do you think is best - one that
is autocratic, persuasive or paternalistic, or
democratic?
Power Distance
High Power Distance
 Order of inequality
 Special privileges
 Subordinates are
different from
superiors
 Boss should know all




Low Power Distance
Minimize inequalities
Equal rights
Subordinates and
superiors are equals
Ok for boss to ask
subordinates for
answers
Power Distance Comparisons
Average = 51
High
90
Low
81
80
70
61
60
54
49
50
40
38
40
35
28
30
20
Ireland
Great Britan
Netherlands
USA
South Africa
Japan
Mexico
0
Taiwan
10
High Power Distance Employee
Expectations
Wrong to disagree with the boss
 Paternalistic (father-like)
management style
 Boss should know all the answers
 Boss should have more privileges

What do you think?





Do you think it is ok for employees to disagree and even argue
with their boss?
Do you think time has a monetary value or it is something that just
exists?
Do you prefer a boss who lays out the rules clearly and
specifically to you in written format or do you prefer one that only
sets out basic rules and assumes you will perform appropriately?
Why?
If you needed a marketing plan, would you hire a hospitality
marketing specialist, a general marketing specialist or would you
do it yourself?
How do you react when your boss tells you s/he is going to make
changes in the way things are done?
Uncertainty Avoidance
High
 Avoid risks
 Dissonance is
dangerous
 Time is money
 Need written rules
and regulations
 Believe in experts
Low
 Willing to take risks
 Accept disagreements
 Time is free
 Prefer common sense
to rules
 Logic and common
sense better than expert
opinions
Uncertainty Avoidance
Average=64
High avoidance of risk
120
Willing to take risks
112
100
92
82
80
69
53
60
49
46
35
40
29
Hong Kong
Great Britain
USA
South Africa
Netherlands
Mexico
Japan
Greece
0
Taiwan
20
Individualism




Responsible for self
and immediate family
Identity based on the
individual
Autonomy, variety,
pleasure and
individual financial
security
Individual decisions
Collectivism




Extended families,
loyalty, protection
Identity in the
social system
Expertise, order,
duty, security
provided by the ingroup
Group decisions
Individualistic
Collective
Average =51
100
91
89
90
80
80
70
60
46
50
40
30
25
30
17
20
Hong Kong
Mexico
Japan
Netherlands
Great Britain
USA
0
Taiwan
10
Collective
Individualistic
Affect of High Uncertainty
Avoidance on Employees






Career stability
Rules, regulations, direction
Consistency
Avoid conflict/disagreement
Resist change
Fear of failure
– May appear less ambitious

Stable employees
What do you think?
1.
Do you live to work or work to live?
2.
What are your feelings about who should do what at
home? How do you view the responsible of each
spouse for taking care of the children?
3.
Do you feel a sense of responsibility to help when you
see a homeless person begging? What is your
philosophy on giving to the poor?
4.
Would you take your family out of a home and
community they love where they are surrounded by
friends and family for a new position that offers you a
considerably higher salary?
5.
How would you rank yourself on the
masculine/feminine continuum?
6.
How do your feelings contrast with others you know?
Masculine/Feminine
Masculine
 Material success
 Ambition,
assertive
 Competitive
 Live to work
 Women are
nurturers
 Achievement
Feminine
 Quality of life
 Relationships
 Concern for weak
 Work to live
 Men & Women
nurture
 Disapprove of high
achievers
0
60
50
20
10
Sweden
62
Netherlands
Average = 51
Taiwan
63
Hong Kong
66
USA
69
South Africa
70
Great Britain
80
Mexico
100
Japan
Masculine
Feminine
95
90
57
45
40
30
14
5
Particularistic





Focus more on
relationships than rules
Legal contracts easily
modified
Changing mutualities
honored
Reality is relative to
participant
Relationships evolve
Universalistic





Focus on rules rather
than relationships
Legal contracts should
be honored
Word and legal
contracts honored
One reality, one truth
A deal is a deal
37
64
US
A
Ne
th
So
ut
h
er
M
K
Ja
l
e
a
or
xi
UK nd pa
ea
co
n
s
Percent who prefer universalistic
system
68
88
90
93
Team Discussion
How would the expectations of
employees from a particularistic
culture differ from those of a
universalistic culture?
 Which system do you prefer? Why?
What is the value of each of these
systems?

What do you think?
1. Do you think Americans respected John Kennedy,
Jr. because of what he accomplished or because of
his family?
2. Do you think many people voted for our current
president because of his father?
3. Would you have the same level of respect as a
hospitality manager as a relative of Bill Marriott
or Roy Crock would?
4. What difference do you think the school you
attended make in your career after you have been
working in the field at least five years?
Achievement




Respected for what
you do
Respect of superior
based on performance
Limited use of titles
Senior managers vary
in age and gender,
qualified by
achievements
Ascription




Respected for who
you are
Respect for
superior seen as
commitment to the
organization
Extensive use of
titles
Senior managers
are male, middleaged, qualified by
background (who
they are)
Respect depends on family background
Percent who disagree
UK
89
USA
87
Mexico
81
China
81
Japan
Hong Kong
Ascription
79
58
Achievement
What do you think?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Do you believe you can control your life
or do you believe you have to accept the
ways things are?
Is your life pre-destined?
Do you have a fate over which you have
little or no control?
How do other people you know differ in
their believes about controlling fate or
destiny?
Locus of Control
Internal
 Belief in one’s ability
to control fate
 Respect for conflict
and resistance
 Focus on self rather
than others
 Discomfort with lack
of control
External
 Belief that something
outside oneself is in
control
 Harmony and
responsiveness
 Focus on other
 Comfortable with
changes
Control Fate: Percent who believe
they are captains of their fate
90%
USA
80%
70%
S Korea
Hong Kong
Japan
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Venezuela
Netherlands
UK
Neutral/Affective
Neutral
 Hide feelings
 Tension accidentally
revealed
 Admire poise
 Avoid hugs, broad
smiles and broad
gestures
 Monotone
Affective
 Openly reveal
emotions
 Expressive
 Animated expressions
 Touching, and broad
gestures admired
 Expression and
emotion
Diffuse (High context)
/Specific (low context)
Diffuse (high context)
 Indirect
 Evasive, tactful,
ambiguous
 Context more important
than words
 Highly situational
morality
 Prefer neutral
expressiveness
 Report conclusions at end
Specific (low context)
 Direct, to the point
 Precise, blu8nt
 Words more important
than context
 Consistent moral
stands regardless of
circumstances
 Prefer animated
expression
 Report conclusions
and important points
first
Cultural Dimensions Summary
Power Distance – how should the boss act
 Uncertainty Avoidance – rules or common
sense
 Masculine/Feminine – material rewards or
quality of life
 Individualism/Collectivism – I versus we
 Universalistic/Particularistic – treat all
equally versus do favors for friends

Cultural Dimensions Summary




Achievement/Ascription – respect for what
you do or respect for who you are
Locus of Control – I am in control of my
destiny versus outside forces are in control
Neutral/Affective – hide versus display
emotions
Diffuse/Specific (high/low context) – indirect
versus direct communication