AOF Business in a Global Economy Lesson 3 Cultural Factors This lesson introduces students to the cultural dimension of international business, including the impact of linguistic, organizational, and social norms. After learning about these elements of culture, students participate in a game designed to show how cultural misunderstandings affect business. They then learn about Geert Hofstede’s intercultural dimensions, devised after years of research to help international firms understand the cultures they do business with, and how to apply them for global business success. Finally, students role-play cross-cultural scenarios to underscore the importance of acculturation in the international business arena. This lesson is expected to take 5 class periods. Lesson Framework Learning Objectives Each student will: Define “culture” and explain its elements Explain how global business operations are affected by cultural differences Describe the risks inherent in cross-cultural business transactions Explain the importance of cross-cultural literacy for global business Academic Standards Analyze the effect of cultural differences, export/import opportunities, and trends on an entrepreneurial venture in the global marketplace (NBEA National Standards for Business Education 2007, Entrepreneurship VII. Global Markets) Describe the interrelatedness of the social, cultural, political, legal, and economic factors that shape and impact the international business environment (NBEA National Standards for Business Education 2007, International Business II. The Global Business Environment) Locate, organize, and reference written information from various sources to communicate with coworkers and clients/participants (States’ Career Clusters Standards 2008, ESS02.03) Copyright © 2009–2012 National Academy Foundation. All rights reserved. AOF Business in a Global Economy Lesson 3 Cultural Factors Interpret verbal and nonverbal cues/behaviors to enhance communication with co-workers and clients/participants (States’ Career Clusters Standards 2008, ESS02.07) Employ critical thinking skills independently and in teams to solve problems and make decisions (e.g., analyze, synthesize and evaluate) (States’ Career Clusters Standards 2008, ESS03.01) Assessment Assessment Product Means of Assessment Skit written and performed to illustrate culture clash (Student Resource 3.6) Assessment Criteria: Culture Clash Skit (Teacher Resource 3.4) Prerequisites Understanding of the forces that contribute to globalization Familiarity with basic American business etiquette Ability to reflect on American cultural norms Ability to identify geographic locations based on cultural clues Instructional Materials Teacher Resources Teacher Resource 3.1, Presentation and Notes: The Elements of Culture (includes separate PowerPoint file) Teacher Resource 3.2, Guide: Global Culture Game Teacher Resource 3.3, Guide: Guess the Country Teacher Resource 3.4, Assessment Criteria: Culture Clash Skit Teacher Resource 3.5, Key Vocabulary: Cultural Factors Teacher Resource 3.6, Bibliography: Cultural Factors Student Resources Student Resource 3.1, Worksheet: Restaurant Menu Puzzle Student Resource 3.2, Reading: The Elements of Culture Student Resource 3.3, Reading: Intercultural Dimensions Student Resource 3.4, Deduction: Guess the Country Student Resource 3.5, Chart: Cultural Norms Student Resource 3.6, Instructions: Culture Clash Skit Copyright © 2009–2012 National Academy Foundation. All rights reserved. -2- AOF Business in a Global Economy Lesson 3 Cultural Factors Equipment and Supplies LCD projector and computer for PowerPoint presentation Internet-enabled computers (at least one for every two or three students) Sufficient space for mock party game play and skit presentations Blackboard, whiteboard, or chart paper Lesson Steps Step Min. Activity CLASS PERIOD 1 1 25 Think-Group-Share: Restaurant Menu Puzzle By looking at and thinking about the different menu items offered in various countries by the same restaurant franchise, students will get an introduction to the importance of an organization’s ability to adapt based on culture. This menu provides students with an example they can relate to, preparing them to apply what they learn about culture to business scenarios later in the lesson. Without telling students that the menus are from the same franchise, refer them to Student Resource 3.1, Worksheet: Restaurant Menu Puzzle. Explain that each menu describes a common meal offered by restaurants in four different countries. Ask students to begin the activity by individually reading the four menus and guessing which country each menu is from. Instruct them to write down on the worksheet their guesses and what clues led them to these guesses. Next, ask students to form groups of three or four and share their answers with one another. Explain that they should discuss their reasoning and come up with a consensus for all four menus. Once each group is in agreement, reveal the countries from which each menu comes. (The answers in order are Japan, France, India, and Israel). Ask students to share what clues they found in each menu that led them to their answers. Finally, ask students to imagine what the restaurants these menus are from are like. Ask for students’ ideas before revealing that these menus are all from the same restaurantMcDonald’s! Invite students to share why they think restaurants create menus specific to countries, emphasizing that cultural norms vary across the world, and that these norms include food. This will prepare them for the next activity, in which they will learn about the elements of culture. 2 25 Presentation: The Elements of Culture The objective of this activity is to provide students with a more in-depth understanding of the three elements of culture: organizational, linguistic, and social. It will also get them thinking about how and why businesses expanding globally must learn about and respect the local culture in order to be successful. Before class begins, prepare notes to guide class discussion using Teacher Resource Copyright © 2009–2012 National Academy Foundation. All rights reserved. -3- AOF Business in a Global Economy Lesson 3 Cultural Factors Step Min. Activity 3.1, Presentation Notes: The Elements of Culture. Instruct students to take notes on the presentation by using the “thinking in 1-2-3” notetaking strategy, in which they write down: 1 question they have 2 things they found interesting 3 important facts or ideas they learned Present Teacher Resource 3.1, Presentation: The Elements of Culture (separate PowerPoint file) to the class. There are various options for using this presentation with your students, depending upon your situation and preferences: 1. This teacher resource can be presented as a PowerPoint slideshow using an LCD projector. To activate the slideshow, click View and select Slide Show. Every time you click the mouse, the next slide will appear. Use the presentation notes you prepared prior to class to introduce the content of each slide and encourage class discussion. Note that this activity is not a lecture but rather a participatory experience for the students; the presentation is interactive and designed to provoke inquiry. 2. This complete presentation is also included for students to use as Student Resource 3.2, Reading: The Elements of Culture. You can have them read it and answer the discussion questions in their notebooks, and then come together as a class to share ideas for the answers. No matter which approach you take with this teacher resource, keep in mind that the presentation is interactive and designed to provoke inquiry. Many of the slides contain a discussion question to explore with your students. Students can pair up and share their notes after the presentation. You may also wish to have them answer the discussion questions on each slide in their notebooks, or aloud, depending on your preference and the time available. After the presentation, explain to students that they will be playing a cultural game in the next class period that will give them more insight into the need for cross-cultural understanding. CLASS PERIOD 2 3 50 Game: Global Cultures This activity teaches students cross-cultural awareness and how perceptions and misperceptions affect our feelings about others. Explain to students that they will be playing a game in which each member of the class will belong to one of two cultures. The purpose of the game is to interact with members of the other culture to glean information about their culture by observing their behavior. They will then get a chance to share and correct their observations. For specific instructions on how to conduct the Global Culture Game, see Teacher Resource 3.2, Guide: Global Culture Game. Feel free to modify the logistics of the game to suit your classroom. Copyright © 2009–2012 National Academy Foundation. All rights reserved. -4- AOF Business in a Global Economy Lesson 3 Cultural Factors Step Min. Activity After breaking the class into two groups, allow each a few minutes to read their culture’s norms and practice behaving that way. Begin the “party” and ask students to interact, attempting to glean information from members of the other culture. After 10–15 minutes, stop the party and ask students to record their impressions of the other culture. If there’s time, begin the party again, allowing students a chance to gather more information. Next, have the two members share their impressions before allowing each side to explicate its cultural norms. Conclude by sharing your observations and emphasizing that cultural misunderstandings can impede relationships, including professional ones. Explain that in the next activity, students will discover how many business people learn to relate effectively with people of other cultures using Geert Hofstede’s Intercultural Dimensions scale. CLASS PERIOD 3 4 25 Reading: Intercultural Dimensions This activity introduces students to Geert Hofstede’s Intercultural Dimensions scale, which rates cultures on their Power Distance, Individualism, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Masculinity. Invite students to think about one important piece of cultural information a businessperson would need to understand before doing business in another country. Ask them to share their answers with you or a partner. Explain that Geert Hofstede is a researcher who has created a scale, called Intercultural Dimensions, that help international business people to gain understanding of the cultures with which they door would like to dobusiness. Refer students to Student Resource 3.3, Reading: Intercultural Dimensions. Ask them to read the descriptions of each dimension. Explain that these are simplified versions of the intercultural dimensions Hofstede researched, but that they apply to the people, and the cultures they come from generally. Check for understanding by probing students’ reactions to the examples and ratings discussed in the reading. Answer any questions and clarify any points. Finally, ask students to pair up and discuss the questions on the reading that appear at the end of each section. Call on students to share their answers. Let students know that now that they have a basic grasp of the dimensions, they will work with a partner in the next activity to match countries with Hofstede’s Intercultural Dimensions ratings. 5 25 Matching: Doing Business in Various Countries This activity gives students the opportunity to put their comprehension of Hofstede’s Intercultural Dimensions to the test by matching countries with their intercultural dimension ratings. Ask students to take out Student Resource 3.4, Deduction: Guess the Country. Instruct them to pair up and read the short country descriptions and the intercultural dimensions ratings. After each pair has had a chance to make a guess at matching the countries with the ratings, reveal the correct answers as explained on Teacher Resource 3.3, Guide: Guess the Country. Provide appropriate background information as you see fit. Copyright © 2009–2012 National Academy Foundation. All rights reserved. -5- AOF Business in a Global Economy Lesson 3 Cultural Factors Step Min. Activity You may find it helpful to mark the assignment for credit/no credit. Explain that now that students understand the importance of cultural knowledge for international business success, they will have a chance to practice their skills by writing and participating in acculturation scenarios. CLASS PERIOD 4 6 25 Research: Cultural Norms This activity gives students a chance to research the cultural norms of a country they have interest in. Refer students to Student Resource 3.5, Chart: Cultural Norms. Read the first two columns about the United States’ cultural norms to the class and clarify any necessary points. Next, break students into groups of two or three and ask them to research the cultural norms of a country in which an American company wants to conduct business. Each group should investigate the norms of a different country and complete the third column of the chart. You may wish to mention that in some countries there’s more than one significantly different culture, sometimes (but not always) in different geographic regions. It’s often very important to know which one you’re dealing with. The student resource provides two different websites students can use to complete their research. If Internet access is unavailable, print out relevant websites and provide applicable newspapers, magazines, books, and so on for students to use as reference for the scenarios. Circulate and assist students as necessary. You may wish to assign this research as homework. Explain that now that students have researched the norms of a country, they will share their newfound knowledge with their peers by writing and performing a short skit about it in the next activity. 7 25 Skit Writing: International Business Culture Clashes This activity allows students to build upon their cultural research by creating a scenario that exhibits a culture clash. It focuses on the following career skills: Demonstrating teamwork and cooperation Framing, analyzing, and solving difficult problems Ask students to continue to work with their research groups for this activity. Refer them to Student Resource 3.6, Instructions: Culture Clash Skit, which provides instructions for the skit. Instruct them to read through the instructions and the criteria for assessment with their group members. Answer any questions they have. Explain that they will be using their research to write a short skit that portrays a culture clash between two businesses, one in the United States and the other in country they researched. This skit should show a typical business interaction between two members of different cultures during which a conflict, caused by differences in the two cultures’ norms, arises. The student resource provides an example about South Korea. Encourage students to be creative, but realistic, when composing their skits, working to come up with a possible resolution for the culture clash that encourages cross-cultural Copyright © 2009–2012 National Academy Foundation. All rights reserved. -6- AOF Business in a Global Economy Lesson 3 Cultural Factors Step Min. Activity understanding. Remind them to avoid negative stereotyping, such as “funny” accents, when creating their skits. Circulate among groups as they write, and remind them to use Student Resource 3.6, Instructions: Culture Clash Skit, to guide them. Once they have completed the skits, ask them to practice. They may wish to practice for homework, since they will have only a few minutes to practice before performing for their peers in the next class period. Alternatively, you may wish to build another class period into this lesson for the skits if time permits. CLASS PERIOD 5 8 10 Skits: Practice This activity allows students to rehearse their culture clash skits before they share them with their peers. Ask students to join with their groups and rehearse their skits one last time, working out any kinks before they present them in the next activity. 9 30 Skits: Becoming Acculturated for Business Success This activity allows students to see their peers perform international business culture clash scenarios and their possible solutions and form opinions on the solutions. It focuses on the following career skills: Being open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives Articulating disagreement in a courteous and constructive manner Ask students to act out their skits in front of the other groups, After each group performs, ask students to identify the culture clash. If time permits, solicit alternative solutions for each scenario from the class. Explain to students that they should think about the most important things they learned in the lesson for the next and final activity, in which they will write international business success tips. Assess the skits, using each group’s written version as helpful, with Teacher Resource 3.4, Assessment Criteria: Culture Clash Skit. 10 10 Reflection: Tips for Business Success In this activity, students synthesize newly learned information about the importance of cultural sensitivity in international business. Explain to students that they will be creating a list of the top tips for international firms to know about dealing successfully with other cultures. Emphasize that these tips should apply to all cultures rather than be culture-specific, and model an example, such as “Make sure to understand the education and skills of the workforce in the country in which you would like to expand so you can find the right workforce,” NOT “In Japan white is the color of mourning, so be aware not to present white flowers for any occasion but a death” to show the difference. Ask students to share the tip they felt was most important and record the tips on the blackboard, whiteboard, or chart paper. Let students know that they will next learn Copyright © 2009–2012 National Academy Foundation. All rights reserved. -7- AOF Business in a Global Economy Lesson 3 Cultural Factors Step Min. Activity about the political and economic factors that affect global business. Extensions Enrichment Build on students’ understanding of Hofstede’s Intercultural Dimensions by asking students to create new cultures and rate these cultures according to Hofstede’s Intercultural Dimensions. Examples could include “Kansas City Teens” or “freshmen at this school.” Have them share their findings and make a chart of all the new cultures to display in the classroom. Delve even further into Hofstede’s Intercultural Dimensions by assigning students to research one country and prepare a pamphlet for a US business wishing to expand there. The pamphlet should include aspects of the four dimensions and what the American businesspeople should know about doing business there to ensure success as well as explanatory text and helpful images. To share the knowledge that students have obtained in the reflection activity, ask them to publish their tips online or in print. For more in-depth coverage of cultural factors, break students into regional groups and research and write tips specific to these areas. Share these tips with NAF academy advisory board members, other NAF schools, and so on. In order to reinforce the concept that traffic signs give universal information, ask students to take one cultural faux pas and make a traffic sign about it that will hang in the classroom. Have students research and use universal symbols for their signs, including symbols of color and shape, for their signs. Post signs in the classroom. To put a face on globalization, ask student to look at her own family, or a friend’s family, for the influence of globalization. Have students create globalization family trees that connect ancestors with a globalization event and how it affected them. To learn more about cross-cultural norms, read the travel tips at http://travel.yahoo.com/pinterests-25465358. Ask students to work in teams to add another tip to the list. Cross-Curricular Integration English/Language Arts/Drama: Ask students to flesh out the culture clash scenarios they wrote into short plays. Ensure that they research the countries represented in the scripts before writing detailed scripts that include appropriate verbal and nonverbal language. Once students have written the scripts, have them gather costumes and create sets. If possible, perform these skits for other NAF students and/or NAF academy advisory board members. Ask representatives from each group to answer questions from the audience about their skit. Math: Have students choose a region of the world and gather Hofstede’s Intercultural Dimension ratings for all the countries in that region. Average all the ratings of the countries and create a document with each regional score and what assumptions we can make about it based on the ratings. Copyright © 2009–2012 National Academy Foundation. All rights reserved. -8-