International OB:
Managing
across Cultures
Chapter Four
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
© 2013
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2013 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Learning Objectives
LO.1 Define the term culture, and explain how societal
culture and organizational culture combine to influence
on-the-job behavior.
LO.2 Define ethnocentrism, and explain how to develop
cultural intelligence.
LO.3 Distinguish between high-context and low-context
cultures, and identify and describe
the nine cultural dimensions from Project GLOBE.
LO.4 Distinguish between individualistic and collectivist
cultures, and explain the difference between
monochronic and polychronic cultures.
4-2
Learning Objectives (cont.)
LO.5 Specify the practical lesson from the Hofstede crosscultural study, and explain what Project GLOBE
researchers discovered about leadership.
LO.6 Discuss the results and practical significance of the
recent Bloom and Van Reenen study of national
management styles.
LO.7 Explain why US managers have a comparatively high
failure rate on foreign assignments.
LO.8 Summarize the research findings about North American
women on foreign assignments.
LO.9 Identify four stages of the foreign assignment cycle and
the OB trouble spot associated with each stage.
4-3
Societal Culture Is Complex
and Multilayered
Societal culture
 a set of beliefs and values about what is
desirable and undesirable in a community of
people, and a set of formal or informal
practices to support the values
4-4
Cultural Influences on Organizational
Behavior
4-5
Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism
 belief that one’s native country, culture,
language, and behavior are superior to all
others.
4-6
Cultural Paradoxes Require
Cultural Intelligence
Cultural intelligence
 ability to interpret ambiguous cross-cultural
situations correctly
4-7
Contrasting High-Context and
Low-Context Cultures
4-8
Project GLOBE
GLOBE (Global Leadership and
Organizational Behavior Effectiveness)
 attempt to develop an empirically based theory
to describe, understand, and predict the impact
of specific cultural variables on leadership and
organizational processes and the effectiveness
of these processes
4-9
Countries Ranking Highest and Lowest
on the GLOBE Cultural Dimensions
4-10
Individualism versus Collectivism
Individualistic
culture
 characterized as “I”
and “me” cultures,
give priority to
individual freedom
and choice
Collectivist culture
 oppositely called
“we” and “us”
cultures, rank
shared goals higher
than individual
desires and goals
4-11
Cultural Perceptions of Time
Monochronic time
 revealed in the ordered, precise, scheduledriven use of public time that typifies and even
caricatures efficient Northern Europeans and
North Americans
4-12
Why Do US Expatriates Fail
on Foreign Assignments?
Expatriate
 refers to anyone
living and/or
working outside
their home country
4-13
The Foreign Assignment Cycle
4-14
Key Cross-Cultural Competencies
4-15