Cross-Cultural Management online Tutor support
CHAPTER 2
THE MEANING(S) OF CULTURE
Understanding core values
In order to understand other people’s values, attitudes and behaviour it is necessary to
have a clear view of ourselves – what psychologists term a ‘self-concept’. In the same
way, learning about other cultures involves re-examining the values we take for
granted. It is often said that the best way of understanding our own society is to travel
abroad because we are then forced to explain differences by reflecting on how things
are done back home (and why). Once we have made the comparison we could decide
to change our behaviour to adapt to the new culture or decide that this would involve
our compromising our own personal values too much.
Before you digest the frameworks for understanding culture set out in this book, make a
list of the values you think form part of the culture in which you were raised as a child.

Which, if any, of these values would you be unwilling to compromise on?
This activity could form an early opportunity for student groups to
interact and consider the nature of culture. It is common for students on
cross-cultural management modules to be drawn from a wide range of
backgrounds, so the ice-breaking element is potentially important. The
activity is best undertaken without reference to specific academic
models explaining culture and cultural variation. Tutors may, nonetheless,
wish to shape discussion to some extent, conceivably introducing the
concepts of cultural layers and the influences on a society’s culture — see
also Figure 1 below.
Values/shared
meanings
Education
system
Language
CULTURE
Economic
prosperity
Political/
economic
system
Religion/
philosophical
beliefs
Figure 1: Society-wide factors contributing to a multifaceted model of culture
Refer to Figure 2 and identify ways in which your own values are influenced by factors
impinging at the following levels:






personal
community
regional
community/occupational
national
global
Which of these are most important to you, and why?
The exercise encourages students to reflect on the multiple influences on
their own values. Ensuing discussion can be guided to show how culture
itself is a concept which relates not only to the national or country-level
sphere but takes effect at — for example — regional and occupational
level too. It may also be that strongly-held core values have emerged
from early life experience, through the influence of parent and guardians.
Such influences may be more or less obviously linked to specific cultures.
Required responses to which are the most important influences, and why,
can help in eliciting these possibly complex interrelationships.
No more ‘stiff upper lips’?
The reaction to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997, seemed to many to
signify a cultural change in the UK. Across the country people spontaneously set up
impromptu floral memorials, and there were numerous examples of publicly-expressed
grief. In the days following the Princess’s death, many people took to the streets, or at
least the parks of London and other cities, to express their sadness collectively. Some
observers found these public displays of emotion to be at odds with the typical
perception – or stereotype – of the British as a private and emotionally-reserved
people. Others took a more judgemental view. A BBC News report dated 23 February
2004 summarised the report of a ‘think-tank’, Civitas, which was quoted as claiming
that ‘Britons are feeding their own egos by indulging in “recreational grief for murdered
children and dead celebrities they have never met”.’ The Civitas report went on to claim
that ‘wearing charity ribbons, holding silences and joining protest marches all indicated
the country was in emotional crisis’. Although to many the public displays of grief were
a new phenomenon in the UK, it can be noted that they represented an example of
cyclical change since there are documented cases of similar outpourings in the past,
and the (possibly stereotypical) notion of the British ‘stiff upper lip’ can itself be
emerging from a particular historical time – in this case, the Victorian era.

Identify one example of culture change in the country in which you either were born
or currently reside. Have all or only some members of the population been affected
by the change? How would you explain your example of ‘culture shift’?
The example given of the aftermath of Diana Princess of Wales’ death in
1997 provides the introduction to a discussion of culture shift. This
example points to generational differences, which might be picked up on
in students’ examples. There is also scope for analysing the reasons
underlying changes within cultures. It might be useful to identify whether
‘shifts’ are deeply rooted — thereby resulting in changes to core values —
or more shallow (and maybe less enduring).
The Nokia Way and Values
In 2005, Nokia’s corporate website – nokia.com – contained a section on Nokia as an
Employer, which in turn included a brief summary of some of its core principles, as
articulated in The Nokia Way and Values.
CASE STUDY
Read the case study above, and respond to the following.
1
2
Identify some possible factors, both cultural and non-cultural, which could have
influenced Nokia’s organisational culture, and in particular the values set out in the
above statements.
Which of the factors identified in your response to Question 1 do you think may
have been most significant in shaping Nokia’s expressed values? Give reasons for
your answer.
This end-of-chapter case study affords wider consideration of the
influences on the ways in which work organisations operate. Although it
might be fruitful to explain Nokia’s expressed values in terms of its
development in Finland (with consequent reference to that country’s
cultural profile), the preceding section in the chapter sets out other noncultural explanations, including size, product/sector and technology.
The second question in the case encourages students to consider the
relative importance of these factors. The intention is not to reach firm
conclusions at this stage — rather to open up a debate on the potential
impact of culture on organisations.