COMMUNICATING ACROSS CULTURES AT WORK 2ND EDITION

COMPANION WEBSITE Chapter 2 Cultural differences and work This chapter explains and illustrates cultural differences and their impact on work behaviour. Because, in this edition, Chapter One has explained the key concepts around culture, this chapter is more coherent than in previous editions. It also treats the topic of impact on work behaviour in greater depth. Section 2.1 deals with the values and high-context/low-context communication approaches, putting these together because they are the approaches that have produced research-based analyses of different cultures. Section 2.2 covers approaches to cultural difference that are, up to now, largely theoretical and untested. The breakdown in Sections 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5 into the impact of culture on work behaviour, the impact of culture on work organization and management and the impact of culture on organizational environments is on conventional and obvious lines. ANSWERS TO THE CH.2 QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS ON THE EXERCISES Q.1 According to Hofstede, the Belgians are 5th (Flemish Belgium) and 9th (Walloon Belgium) in uncertainty avoidance out of 74 countries. German bureaucracy reflects the point made by Boski (2002) that though Germans are only moderate in uncertainty avoidance they strongly emphasise order this corresponds to Hofstedes comments that cultures similar in one cultural value may behave quite differently in particular areas that might normally be expected to reflect cultural values; Q.2 This seems more likely to reflect recent history than long-standing national values since the Germans were one nation until 1945. Does it suggest that important values can shift rather easily communism having influenced east Germans in favour of equality? Or are the figures not different enough to be meaningful? Q.3 They are all influenced, but to varying degrees according to the culture, the individual and the situation. The purpose of the question is to draw attention to the broad but variable impact of culture. Q.3 Hofstedes argument is based on the variation in core cultures among countries with the same relation. (See the comment in this chapter on p.?? of the text.) Q.4 Partially. The French are high in PD (by European standards), low on collectivism (by world standards) medium-low (43 out of 74) on masculinity and, perhaps most importantly, high on uncertainty avoidance. Statism would appeal on both PD and UA grounds. Also important, of course, is the countrys history. Q.7 My explanation is given in Section 2.2. Q.8 The Anglo cultures (UK and USA), which separated gradually, beginning only 400 years ago, are generally quite similar; Japanese and Anglo cultures, which must have separated in prehistoric times are quite different. Sorry, I cant help with refutations. Q.9 The description of institutions as social structures which have attained a high degree of resilience that provide stability to social life (Scott) fits culture; unlike the normative and regulative elements, which, together with cultural-cognitive elements, compose institutions, however, culture is a more diffuse factor (Whitley) and is not, usually, intentionally created by a sub-group of the population. Q.10 I disagree with Tipton here. People perhaps choose their own subculture (to be openly gay or not, feminist or traditional, religious or humanist), though even that is arguable, but I think there are early limits to how far a cultural individualist can become a communalist or even a collectivist.

Q.11 The choice between a friend or the organisation accesses integrating versus analysing cultural styles of thinking; the different ways of describing a company access communitarianism versus individualism; agreeing with (c) indicates collectivist values, with (b) individualist values. These answers (and the research which used these distinction are based on Hampden-Turner, C. and Trompenaars, A. (1993) The Seven Cultures of Capitalism. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. I think the first could as well be used to access relationship (feminine) versus achievement (masculine) cultural values. Q.13 Lower masculinity/achievement values in Europe as compared with the USA. Q.18 Possibly: instrumental work values relate to the core physical and safety needs, which are chronically gratified in most (Western) European countries, so less salient; the expressive values relate to the higher order needs such as for relationships, esteem and achievment;: compared with the basic needs these are both less satisfied overall, and satisfied to different degrees in different countries. Q.19 Again, because work values are at least partly linked to needs, and the needs of these groups vary, work value differences are to be expected. Some teachers may wish to trace this answer through in more detail gender by gender, for instance. Q.20 Obviously that this behaviour could be culturally influenced and hard for the individual to control, even if he/she was aware of it and wanted to change it. Hall high-context detail imputed, mutually understood by presenter and audience; Hofstede collectivism important to set the scene (see Chapter 4); Trompenaars time-orientation high importance of timeliness. This example shows how the different systems of values are not identical and can combine to lead to an individual pattern of behaviour. Q.22 It suggests that Indians are collectivists, according to the following criteria: Unlike in collectivism, where the concern of the individual is with the adaptability of the selfpresentation image (Gudykunst & Ting-Toomey, 1988), in communalism the concern is the authenticity of community-presentation image. (Moemeka 1998) However, another Indian described his-fellow Indians as follows: After the age of 24 or 25, Indians believe that they should always show dignity. They will walk slowly, use very little gesture, keep their faces as composed as possible and talk quietly and slowly. This is all about being dignified. (Both originate in authors research). Q.25 Organizational cultures that clash with national cultures can create conflict within individuals and the organization itself. There are many examples in this chapter of how this can happen. Q.26 Brokerage is about coordinating people whom it would be valuable, but risky, to trust.The riskiness is a function of their being unknowns. For collectivists, trust can only be extended to those who are known, preferably well known. Q.27 That culture individualism, civil society, being accustomed to the rule of law are not sufficient to prevent businesses operating corruptly in the pursuit of profit?

EXTRA QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. In 1946 the United Nations appointed a committee of philosophers, historians and lawyers to see whether agreement could be found among the worlds diverse cultures on a list of fundamental human rights. The committee began by sending an elaborate questionnaire to statesmen [sic] and thinkers around the world. Replies came in describing human rights from Chinese, Islamic and Hindu as well as American, European and Communist block perspectives. To the committees surprise, the basic rights listed by their far-flung sources were essentially similar. Discuss whether the committee should have been surprised. There are two areas for discussion here: do ideas about rights transcend culture? and/or do statesmen [sic] and thinkers ideas transcend culture? There is more evidence for the second than the first, but the jury is still out. 2. Individualism/collectivism is which of the following?

a. defined by the degree of separation between people of different social statuses; b. the value which decides whether people stress personal choice and decision-making or stress compliance and obedience; c. the value which decides whether people endorse assertiveness, competition and aggressive success or modesty and compromise;. 3. Discuss the following: Americans are renowned for their national optimism, the sense that anyone can do anything if they want to and try hard enough, the beliefs that when one door closes another opens, that after a fall you should pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again and that bankruptcy is a useful learning experience for which people should not be heavily penalised. This optimism stands in contrast to the fatalism, pessimism and defeatism of some other nations. Yet these contrasting characteristics do not appear as cultural values in any of the major taxonomies. . 4. Outline in your own words the main strengths and weaknesses of taxonomic approaches to defining and analysing culture. 5. Explain in your own words why Kincaid et al. placed communication at the centre of cultural differentiation. 6. Complete the table to show which of the following statements are true. In high In high power distance masculinity societies (achievement) societies Norm adherence is more enforced and methods of norm enforcement are more punitive. There is stricter adherence to job descriptions and formality. There is a competitive True atmosphere in group work.

In high uncertainty avoidance societies

7. Is emotional expressiveness related to climate? Discuss whether residents of warmer climates are more emotionally expressive than those living in cooler ones. 9. Perhaps religion is as often responsible for ethnic character as the latter is responsible for the faith. Discuss this assertion in the light of the following statement. Perhaps the greatest difficulty which confronts the historian of the Irish is that of differentiating between the specifically Irish and specifically Catholic aspects of their lives. They have emerged into a modern world from a past in which Catholicism had played a stronger role than among any other people of Western Europe.
Wrobel, P. (1979) Our Way: Family, Parish and Neighbourhood in a Polish-American Community New York: University of Notre Dame Press.

10. Try to work out your own definition of culture. What do you think of the importance of culture and its effect on us (a) in private life (b) at work? 11. Are you aware of your culturally acquired knowledge and behaviours? If you are, describe the process by which you have come to know the true face of your culture. If you are not, try to describe some of the ways by which you can get to know the true face of your culture. Do you agree that culture and communication are closely related? Why or why not? 12. Complete the following questionnaire on your own culture.

People in my group (culture) generally tend to:

Strongly Agree agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Disagree

Strongly disagree

1. prefer self-sufficiency. This means that they do not allow their behaviours to be strongly influenced and defined by others. 2. be strongly influenced, even defined, by others: they give full recognition to their interdependent roles and obligations to their ingroup. 3. have open, informal relations, and functional, unrestricted information flows. Companies tend to have flat hierarchies and matrix organisations 4. avoid ambiguity and prefer rules and set procedures to contain uncertainty. Families, groups and organisations tend to be closed to outsiders, to stress compliance and obedience, to punish error and noncompliance. 5. prefer flexibility in responses and find rules and procedures irksome or see them as obstacles to be circumvented. People tend to accept outsiders at all levels, stress personal choice and decision making, reward initiative, team-play, and risk-taking and stress development of analytical skills. They tend to endorse assertiveness, competition and aggressive success and to believe that wealth and status are related to ability. 6. place a high value on modesty, compromise and cooperative success. They believe that wealth and status are matters of birth, luck, or destiny. 7. place a high value on modesty, compromise and cooperative success. They believe that wealth and status are matters of their religious devotion, their social conscience, their intellectual or artistic abilities, their stature as a wise elder, or their rights as a fellow member of a caring society Scoring: 1,3,4,6,7: Strongly agree 5, Agree 4, Neither agree nor disagree 3, Disagree, 2, Strongly disagree 1. 2 and 5 reverse scored. Total 1 and 2: these indicate individualist or collectivist values: the higher the score the more individualist. 3 indicates power distance values: the higher the score the lower the power distance. Total 4 and 5: these indicate uncertainty avoidance values: the higher the score, the greater the uncertainty avoidance.

Total 6 and 7: these indicate masculine/feminine values; the higher the score the more feminine the values. ADDITIONAL MATERIAL AND COMMENTS ON THE TEXT 2.1 HOW CULTURES VARY p.43 Work by Schwartz (2000), has produced a set of motivational values, some of which can be applied at the individual level. The Schwartz (2000) values are based on the needs of individuals as biological organisms, requisites of coordinated social action, survival and welfare needs of groups.
Sagiv, L. and Schwartz, S.H. (2000) A new look at national cultures: Illustrative applications to role stress and managerial behavior, in Ashkanasy, N.N., Wilderom, C. and Peterson, M.F. (eds) The Handbook of Organizational Culture and Climate, Newbury Park, CA: Sage, pp. 41736.

Hofstedes cultural value dimensions p.44 Collectivism: a Box from the 2nd edition: Against the odds, Congolese students are learning about IT. When the students graduate, they find their skills in demand. Kinshasa Universitys e-learners are excited about their prospects, but realistic. Etiennette Mukwanga says she is proud to be learning something useful, despite all the hardships. Her ambition? The same as all the other students: To become someone who can support her father, mother, brothers and sisters.
The Economist, 5 July 2003, p. 54

p.44 They [members of collectivist societies] expect to look after other members of their ingroup in need and expect their ingroup to look after them: as a Box from the 2nd edition illustrated: When we say, How are you? we are saying it in the plural; and when we reply Well, we are replying for all our family; or if I am well but my mother or grandmother is ill, we say, We are not well, because for us life is belonging.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a leader of the resistance movement against apartheid in South Africa, speaking on a radio programme about black South Africans: 27 March 1996.

p.45-6 Asian countries tended to cluster at the lower end of the rankings on UA: only Japan, at

11th, was in the top 20, while China, Malaysia, India and Indonesia, as well as Singapore and Hong-Kong, were in the bottom 20. I think this is important in relation to the rise of the Asian economies and worth a discussion, though admittedly rather tangential to the main purpose of the book.

p. 47 Hofstedes work has been both supported and refuted by replication: Smith et al (1996) analysed the Trompenaars (1993) data base in which data from 43 countries were derived from a questionnaire designed to show seven patterns of cultural variation. Smith et al identified two separate dimensions: conservatism-egalitarian commitment and loyal involvement-utilitarian involvement. These, it was asserted, had been conflated in Hofstede's (1980) discussion of collectivism. This empirical refinement of the collectivism construct is important, given its current ascendancy in cross-cultural studies and its further refinement at the individual level into horizontal as well as vertical components.
Bond, M.H. and Smith, P.B. (1996) Cross-cultural social and organizational psychology, Annual Review of Psychology, 47 20535.

p. 47 Individualism Boski (2002) contended that the authors who give individualism contrastingly different evaluations do not speak about the same issues. For those who discuss individualism in positive ways, this mode of life is associated with freedom, self-direction, active agency, happiness and progress in many societal domains. The critics of this perspective instead point to selfish (egotist) ways of life, to the damage done to the web of social connections, as well as depletion of social responsibility, all of which characterize advances of individualism.
Boski, P. (2002) Interactions, research and history embedded in Polish culture: Humanism and uncertainty nonavoidance, in Lonner, W.J., Dinnel, D.L., Hayes, S.A. & Sattler, D.N. (Eds.), Online Readings in Psychology and Culture (Unit 3, Chapter 7), URL http://www.wwu.edu/~culture.

p.46 High MAS cultures endorse assertiveness, competition and aggressive success; low MAS cultures prefer modesty, compromise and co-operative success. Icelanders are high in cultural femininity, which shows itself in modesty in self-presentation regardless of one's excellence or status, the search for consensus within organizations, and acceptance of failure. They are also low in uncertainty avoidance: Icelanders tend to lack selfdiscipline and are often not punctual or detailed. They also tend to be overly optimistic to the extent of appearing careless, making free use of a favorite saying in times of trouble: betta reddast it will sort itself out.
Eyjolfsdottir, H.M. and Smith, P.B. (1996) Icelandic business and management culture International Studies of Management & Organization, 26(3): 6173.

p.46 The following Box illustrated cultural differences in uncertainty avoidance in Edition 2: In Italy, I wanted to start a CD shop. I found I had to first rent premises, then to apply for a permit. That would take six to nine months. All that time I would be paying rent but would not be allowed to trade, and I might not even get the permit in the end. I gave up. In London, I saw a shop to rent, took it, moved in some stock and started selling. Later, I had to register to pay taxes, but no permits were needed.
Source: Interview with an Italian entrepreneur, authors research

p.48 Other sets of value dimensions have been promulgated and researched, though generally in rather limited contexts. One such dimension is modernity versus traditionalism. A comparison of Chinese and Indian tv commercials found that while both Chinese and Indian commercials emphasised modernity over tradition, the Indian ones did so to a greater degree than the Chinese.
Cheng, H. and Patwardhan, P. (2010) One region, two worlds? Cultural values in Chinese and Indian TV commercials, Asian Journal of Communication, 20(1): 6989.

p.48Trompenaars (1993) relationships and attitudes taxonomy p.49 Universalism and particularism These preferences for the universal or the particular are, however, complementary, not opposing preferences therefore they are reconcilable. In most situations universalistic and particular judgements reinforce one another. p.50 Concepts of time A study found that using time management techniques had more positive effects on the job performance of people with a polychronic sense of time than on that of people with a monochronic sense of time.
Nonis, S.A. Teng, J.K. and Ford, C.W. A cross-cultural investigation of time management practices and job outcomes, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29(4): 40928.

The following Box illustrated cultural differences in concepts of time in Edition2: In the West we tend to separate work and play. In the mid-1990s I was training top managers of the oil and gas industry of one of the Central Asia Stans. We were in an oil refinerys sanatorium, built for workers to have refreshing breaks. At lunchtime, having a siesta in the 45 degrees heat, after discussing corporate strategy in the morning, we were enticed out of our rooms by drumming and singing. Two of us from the UK (both women) ended up dancing traditional dances with the matron of the sanatorium and drummers and traditional stringed instruments playing. Our clients clapped and gave us money, which we gave to the band. Thirty minutes later we were onto business strategy again. It was a great break.
Source: Email from a financial expert, authors research

p.50 Specificity and diffuseness. A further aspect of Trompenaars distinction between specificity and diffuseness is the degree of separation from objective and impersonal matters. Americans, for example, are high in emotional expression but also high in separation; Italians are high in emotional expression but low in separation; Dutch and Swedish people are low in emoting visibly and high in separating. p.56 Instrumental and expressive work values The full Table was given in Edition 2. p.56 I have omitted coverage of Boskis (2002) humanism/materialism values dimensions from this edition, although I still think it adds something useful to the topic. Boski argued that there are two axes confounded in the concept of IC: agency/self-directionsubjugation, and self-interestsocial interest. Boski was particularly concerned with humanism, as reflecting the predominant culture of countries such as Poland; its opposite pole is materialism. Examples of measures of humanism materialism are: Offering selfless sympathy and helpful hand, generosity Always trying to tease out some profit or advantage and Caring for life long friendships Becoming a successful business person as life ideal. The scale measuring these dimensions (the HUMAT scale), used in a number of studies from 1987 on, showed large differences at the culture-level of measurement between Poland and North America. Poles (residing in Warsaw), Polish immigrants (in Canada and in the USA), and Polish Canadians or Polish Americans of first and second generations rated Polish culture on the humanist side, while American culture was on the materialist side. Americans (residents of Florida) also rated their culture as materialist, and so did foreign students (at the University of North Florida). The differences were smaller at the personal level. Research data have clearly shown that humanismmaterialism also differentiates distinctly and predictably between socio-economic groups in Polish society. Among samples of five socioeconomic groupings labourers in private and social sectors, teachers, bank employees and city councillors (regional politicians) the highest scores on humanism are earned by teachers and local community politicians; the lowest among people employed in banks. Research findings have also demonstrated that humanismmaterialism is a different value set from collectivismindividualism. City councillors, with their highest scores in humanism, are also lowest in collectivism. In Poland, life is regarded as too variable, multifaceted and uncontrollable to be moulded by rigorous rules and restrictions. Polish culture thrives on a spontaneous, free-floating stream of life. At the goal level, a broad spectrum of end-results will be considered as satisfying. The path of achievement is also planned in a sketchy way, so that many unforeseen events will happen at any time, demanding emergency measures, interventions and extra efforts to be exerted before coming to the end. Plans and actions [are] in a constant flux; negotiated and renegotiated. concepts of work time, job-employment, social roles, traffic rules, etc. appear(ed) fuzzy.

Boski (2002) did not describe humanism as necessarily virtuous. One may remark that the border between humanism and a form of Polish guanxi or corruption is thin: by appealing to other's heart and mercy and by yielding to these pleas, people on both sides agree to contravene heartless rules and regulations. This double edge between the virtues of humanism and transgressions of corruption are recognized in Polish mentality. The negative aspect of interpersonal relations, marked by lawlessness, irresponsibility and anarchy of unrestricted freedom has been identified as a separate dimension of Sarmatism.
Source: Boski, P. (2002) Interactions, research and history embedded in Polish culture: Humanism and uncertainty non-avoidance, in Lonner, W.J., Dinnel, D.L., Hayes, S.A. and Sattler, D.N. (eds) Online Readings in Psychology and Culture (unit 3, chapter 7), (http://www.wwu.edu/~culture), Center for Cross-Cultural Research, Western Washington University, Bellingham

p.58 Critiques of taxonomic approaches to culture Before the dimensional approach came to dominate research into cultural difference, some work adopted a richer perspective. An example is the following: Attempts to accelerate economic growth in less developed areas have met with little success, partly because economic theory deals with short-run analysis and because the effects of culture cannot be quantified. The study seeks to understand the importance of cultural factors in explaining the behavioral differences between Puerto Rican and U.S. entrepreneurs. This comparative study is based on about 70 interviews with Puerto Rican entrepreneurs, supplemented with other sources. Among the cultural values of upper class Puerto Rican businessmen: inward-looking or egocentric individualism that asserts one's personality against the group; evaluation of situations on the basis of personal feeling; passivity or resentment toward organizational activities; sensitivity to personal or face-to-face relationships; preference for the abstract or spiritual; acceptance of leadership by subalterns; acceptance of paternalistic responsibilities by the leader; and distrust of innovation. U.S. businesses persons, however, regard situations rationally, prefer common sense and the practical, and believe in the value of material progress and innovation. Business life in Puerto Rico is organized on family and friendship bases; shared information is personal, rather than technical. Owners prefer paternalistic control and shun delegating to middle managers. The concept of dignity makes supervision and discipline more difficult than in the United Srates. The preference for a comfortable, dignified living (along with general scarcity of capital) helps explain lesser interest in competition and expansion of business. The Puerto Rican individualism conflicts with use of modern technology, consultants, large-scale operations, and teamwork; businesses are unwilling to merge firms. From studying interactions of U.S. businesspersons in Puerto Rico, it was found there was little intermingling of the groups socially; the Puerto Ricans perceived the U.S. businessmen as lower in social status. Summarizes that certain traits in Puerto Rican culture have made timing and direction of economic growth different from that in the United States.
Cochran, T. (1958) Cultural factors in economic growth, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 102(2): 164-167. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1506326.

Dissatisfaction with the limitations of the dimensional approach has provoked some return to this richer tradition, as in Guirdham (2009). 2.2 OTHER WAYS OF ANALYSING CULTURAL DIFFERENCE p.61 In addition to the values taxonomies and high-context/low-context communication, there are three other approaches to cultural analysis. a. Here is a fourth:

Grondona (2000) gave a list of cultural factors that may be affecting attitudes. The factors are not defined as values, and the list is more tentative and less complete than a taxonomy, but the article nevertheless includes some interesting ideas: Religion there are two different religious currents (attitudes) one that shows a preference for the poor over the rich, so that the poor feel justified in their poverty and the rich see themselves as sinners and another current that prefers the rich and successful so that the rich celebrate their success as evidence of Gods blessing and the poor see their condition as Gods condemnation. Weber labelled the first of these, which he linked to Catholicism, publican, and the second, linked to Protestantism, pharisaic. These differences affect attitudes to wealth and striving for betterment. (I have used this factor in the context of belief in Chapter 5). Trust in the individual high faith in individuals versus low faith, which leads to high control. (My note: in Western societies, people can do what is not forbidden; under the old Soviet system, people could only do what was explicitly permitted.) The moral imperative Grondona identifies three levels of morality: altruistic and selfdenying; criminal disregard for the rights or others and the law; the intermediate level is to reasonably seek his or her own well-being within the limits of social responsibility and the law. Concepts of wealth emphasis on land, property or business; also on what exists versus what does not yet exist (innovation) but could be made to through work. View of competition as positive or negative Grondona argued that the negative view expressed supposed preference for solidarity, loyalty, cooperation, but actually often expressed envy and utopian equality. Views of justice distributive versus integrationist. Value of work Protestant work ethic versus prestige attaching to being above the need to work. Role of heresy intellectual pluralism versus rigid orthodoxy, which suppresses innovation. Education one that encourages finding the truth for oneself, contrasted with a process that transmits dogma. The importance of utility versus grand cosmovisions, such as those favoured by Latin America (cf Uruguayan Jose Enrique Rodo). High versus low value placed on lesser virtues a job well done, tidiness, courtesy, punctuality. Time focus near future that can be planned for versus past or distant future. Grondonas (2000) value system clearly favours one pole of some of these attitudes over the other. The list could form the basis of a questionnaire or group discussion.
Grondona, M. (2000) A Cultural Typology of Economic Development in Harrison, L.E. and Huntington, S.P. (eds) Culture Matters, New York: Basic Books.

b. Here is a fifth: Fink, Neyer and Klling (2006-7) argued that new constructs of culture are needed in order to understand why critical incidents emerge and to interpret their importance in cross-cultural interactions. They suggested cultural standards, reflecting on the interrelations of cultural standards with cultural dimensions and personality traits, and developed a model of cross-cultural learning and adjustment, triggered by critical incidents and performance achieved. Fink, G., Klling, M., and Neyer, A.-K. (2005) The cultural standard method,
EI Working Papers / Europainstitut, 62. Europainstitut, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna.

c. I have been unable to find for European culture (or that of individual European countries) any equivalent of the several analyses of American culture that are extant. The World Values Survey asked the question Is there such a thing as a European cultural unity that arose under Christianity? Attempts were then made to typify Western European culture in terms of tradition, secularisation and individualisation but concluded that the peoples of Europe are not a culturally homogeneous group. Each country has its own specific national characteristics when it comes to interpreting and appreciating certain values and beliefs.

d. I give four typifications of American culture here. They could be used as a basis for group discussion or for students to examine their own cultures in comparison. 1. Aldridge (2002) argued that the bases for American culture were the following: Covenantal Freedom Religious Commitment Identity as a Configuration of Values and Themes
Aldridge, M.G. (2002) What is the basis of American culture? Intercultural Communication, 5, April.

2. Eisenach (1995) approached the central idea for the basis of being American within the framework of underlying values which link all Americans to an identity. This feeling of national identity is short-lived. It is fleeting. National identities shift as politics and social conditions may dictate. Eisenach also noted that we should look not to culture, but rather causal relationships inside culture to find national identity and core values. He raised interesting questions.
Eisenach, E., (1995) Does America have a civilizational or cultural Identity? from a speech presented at Tulsa University, 4th International Conference Global Paradigms: The Impact of Cultures and Trade on Diplomacy, Tulsa, OK.

3. Prosperity as a Cultural Root In an analysis of Tocqueville Revisited, Handy (2001) suggested that earned wealth not inherited wealth is a value that was immediately embraced by American cultural values. The wealthy in the United States are encouraged to display their wealth by helping others. By giving back to the community and to the culture at large, Americans demonstrate that their life meant something and that wealth was earned legally and respectfully. The ability of Americans to believe in a bright future is another value embraced by Handy which he believes fuels Americas self-confidence.
Handy, C., (2001) Tocqueville revisited: the meaning of American prosperity, Harvard Business Review, January, p. 57.

4. The Natural Rights of Man It is the thesis of this paper that John Locke and Thomas Jefferson left America with the enduring value that does sustain the culture and glues people together. c,d That core value of America rests on the assertion for the natural rights of humankind. The shared feeling of belonging hovers always around individual and natural rights of man as outlined in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. To make natural rights work, means that there can be no special groups and any exercise which moves toward creating special needs of special groups, prima facie, defies the root value of natural rights.
Locke, J. (1690), Concerning civil government, second essay in Great Books of the Western World, Vol 35, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 1952, pp. 1-85. Jefferson, T. (1826) Last Letter: Apotheosis of Liberty To Roger Weightman, Monticello, in Thomas Jefferson, Library of America, 1984, New York, pp. 1516-17.

5. Interestingly, Samuel Huntington in Who Are We? Americas Great Debate, (2005) also placed liberty and religiosity as central to American identity. Finally, The Economist, as part of a Special Report on American Values, published the following survey findings from the Pew Research Centre: Percentage of respondents who: Country Think the spread of American ideas and customs is a bad thing Dislike American ideas about democracy Think the world would be more dangerous if another country matched Think that, when differences occur with America, its because of (my

Britain France Germany Italy Czech Republic Poland Russia Egypt Jordan Lebanon Pakistan Turkey Uzbekistan Indonesia Japan

50 71 67 58 61 55 68 84 82 67 81 78 56 73 35

42 53 45 37 30 30 46 na 69 45 60 50 22 40 27

America militarily 60 64 64 54 53 46 53 55 63 54 51 44 49 68 88

countrys) different values 41 33 37 44 62 27 37 38 35 35 14 35 54 66 61

Clearly, one issue in these findings is whether the survey really measured attitudes to American culture or attitudes to American geopolitics. However, taking the findings as given, a discussion of why American culture arouses such negative reactions around the world, would be revealing and could lead into some deeper understanding of what culture really means. The Economist article also published the following survey from the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations: European and American feelings (rated on a scale of 0-100 with 100 being very warm) towards selected countries and the European Union 2002 Feelings toward: Feelings of Europeans* EU 70 Britain 65 Germany 65 USA 64 France 62 Russia 47 Israel 38 Iraq 25 Poland N/a * average ratings of six respondent countries
The Economist 4.1.03, p.21

Feelings of Americans 53 76 61 N/a 61 61 55 23 50

A later Pew research finding reported in The Economist of 25.6.2005 found that the positive image of Americans [as opposed to the country, USA, or its government] has declined considerably since 2002. Other people [the survey covered 16 countries round the world] think Americans are hard-working and inventive, yes. But in most countries, more than half think of them as greedy and violent, and, in the Middle East, as immoral.
Still not loved. Now not envied. How others see Americans. The Economist, 25.6.2005, p.62.

Civilizations I have decided to remove the coverage of Civilizations from the 3rd edition on the grounds that whatever implications for communication it may have have not been researched so far as I can see. However, some teachers may find the material useful.

Huntington, in The Clash of Civilizations, argued that a civilization is a cultural entity the broadest there is. Nations, regions, even villages are also cultural entities, but the most significant in the modern world is the civilisation.55 Huntington identified eight civilisations. These are Western, Latin American, African, Islamic, Sinic, Hindu, Orthodox and Japanese. Unlike Hofstede, who saw language and religion as rather insignificant in cultural terms, Huntington saw them as the central elements of any culture or civilization. Religion was seen as having grown in importance in recent decades. Both the psychological, emotional and social traumas of modernisation, which in many countries compressed into 50 years what in the West took 200, and the end of the Cold War led to religious revival. Huntington distinguished consummatory cultures, such as Confucian and Islamic societies, from instrumental cultures, such as Japanese and Hindu societies. In consummatory cultures, means are closely linked to ends; equally, society, the state and authority are all part of a system pervaded by religion. In instrumental cultures, social, cultural and political institutions are more autonomous. Instrumental cultures are better able use Western technology to modernise and to bolster their existing culture. Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, and, to a lesser degree, Iran have become modern societies without becoming Western. Modernization, instead, strengthens those cultures and reduces the relative power of the West. In fundamental ways, the world is becoming more modern and less Western. European colonialism is over; American hegemony is receding. The erosion of Western culture follows, as indigenous, historically rooted mores, languages, beliefs, and institutions reassert themselves. As Western power declines, the ability of the West to impose Western concepts of human rights, liberalism and democracy on other civilizations also declines and so does the attractiveness of those values to other civilizations. This global process of indigenization is manifest broadly in the revivals of religion occurring in so many parts of the world and most notably in the cultural resurgence in Asian and Islamic countries generated in large part by their economic and demographic dynamism. Religion, indigenous or imported, provides meaning and direction for the rising elites in modernizing societies. The attribution of value to a traditional religion, Ronald Dore noted, is a claim to parity of respect asserted against dominant other nations, and often, simultaneously and more proximately, against a local ruling class which has embraced the values and life-styles of those dominant other nations. The religious resurgence throughout the world is a reaction against secularism, moral relativism and self-indulgence, and a reaffirmation of the values of order, discipline, work, mutual help and human solidarity. The breakdown of order and of civil society creates vacuums that are filled by religious, often fundamentalist, groups. Huntingtons civilisations approach is based on broad geographical and historical entities but treats religion and language as central. Here are some quotes from his best-known book: America is a multicultural group with many ethnic groups, bound by a market economy and representing many cultures. (p. 74) A Chinese cultural nationalism is emerging, epitomized in the words of one Hong Kong leader in 1994: We Chinese feel nationalist which we never felt before. We are Chinese and feel proud in that. In China itself in the early 1990s there developed a popular desire to return to what is authentically Chinese, which often is patriarchal, nativistic, and authoritarian. Democracy, in this historical re-emergence, is discredited, as is Leninism, as just another foreign imposition. (p.106) For East Asians, East Asian success is particularly the result of the East Asian cultural stress on the collectivity rather than the individual. (p. 108) The Resurgence will also have shown that Islam is the solution to the problems of morality, identity, meaning and faith, but not to the problems of social injustice, political repression, economic backwardness and military weakness. These failures could generate widespread disillusionment with political Islam, a reaction against it, and a search for alternative solutions to these problems. (p. 121)
Source: Huntington, S. (1997) The Clash Of Civilizations And The Remaking of World Order, London: Simon & Schuster

Both the psychological, emotional and social traumas of modernisation, which in many countries compressed into 50 years what in the West took 200, and the end of the Cold War, led to religious revival. Tehranian (1990) argued that the resurgence of Islam should be interpreted, not as it usually is, as a reaction against modernity, but as part of a process of communication and control for hegemonic domination. The failure of the secular ideologies of progress to address the human conditions of finitude, fragility, and evil has reawakened religious consciousness. Modernization has privileged a new Western-oriented, technocractic and managerial elite at the expense of the old middle classes (the ulama, merchants, and intelligentsia) and the new, salaried middle classes. The latter have resorted to religious ideologies to launch counterhegemonic projects.
Tehranian, M. (1990) Communication and revolution in the Islamic world: An essay in interpretation, Asian Journal of Communication, 1(1): 133.

2.3 THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON WORK BEHAVIOUR p.66 Under the influence of traditional Chinese culture, including personalism and guanxi (connections), Chinese employees behaved differently from their western counterparts. a. In general terms, until recently, guanxi has been the basis by which people have managed to get things done in China because nothing was transparent there was no information, no desks/lines in offices or government departments, no publicly available instructions or procedures/systems. As transparency improves, guanxi will be used increasingly less for every aspect of life, and targeted more when trying to access the highest levels of government or executive management.
Joanne Wood, after five years working in Corporate Finance in China; quoted in Cultivating Relationships in China alumni explain guanxi to newcomers, London Business School Alumni News, 103, 2005, pp.201.

b. A study found that Chinese workers Confucian values of collectivism, working hard, endurance and harmonious social relationships (guanxi) and their high levels of organizational commitment alleviated job stress and improved job performance. Researchers concluded, It is essential to nourish work values among employees and cultivate employees' commitment to their organizations. However, in very high stress situations, it is more appropriate to alter the work environment to reduce stressors at work, in order to enhance job performance. This was because work values did not reduce stress in high stress situations. These findings could lead to a class debate about the link between other cultures work values, job stress and job performance.
Lingnan, O.S. (2003) Job stress and job performance among employees in Hong Kong: The Role of Chinese work values and organizational commitment, International Journal of Psychology, 38(6): 337347.

p.61 Unlike Hofstede (1981), who saw language and religion as rather insignificant in cultural terms, Huntington (1997) saw them as the central elements of any culture or civilization. a. Hofstedes view is supported by the variation on core values among countries with the same predominant religion: For example, three predominantly Catholic countries Portugal, Italy and the Philippines scored 104, 75 and 44 (ranks 2, 23 and 44) on the uncertainty avoidance index; 31, 70 and 64 (ranks 45, 4/5 and 11/12) on masculinity of values; 27, 76 and 32 on Individuals (ranks 33/35, 7 and 31); and 63, 50 and 94 (24/5, 34 and 4) on power distance. Similarly for Islamic countries: on uncertainty avoidance, the Arab countries scored 68 (rank 27), Iran 59 (rank 31/2) and Malaysia 36 (rank 46); on masculinity, they scored respectively 53 (rank 23), 43 (35/6) and 50 (25/6); on individualism, 38 (26/7), 41 (24) and 26 (36); and on power distance 80 (7), 58 (29/30) and 104 (1).

b. Contrary to prevailing assumptions, Parboteeah et al (2003) found that the higher the religiosity of a country, the more people justified illegal behaviour. (The results for controversial but legal behaviour were in the expected direction, while those for peccadilloes, such as illegal parking, were unrelated to country-level religiosity.) The authors wrote, This finding is particularly interesting in light of the individual-level control variable Importance of God, which demonstrates a clearly negative impact on all three kinds of sanctioned behavior, and thus lends some support for religion as a factor decreasing individuals' justification of socially sanctioned behavior. Why would country-level religiosity have a definite positive contextual impact, above and beyond individual-level explanations for justifying illegal behaviour? The authors stated, Such results are peculiarly intriguing and we can only speculate on their nature. Perhaps, as argued by modernization theorists, as nations become more modern their religious beliefs decline. Thus although church attendance is high, it is possible that religious beliefs are declining. Indeed, it seems plausible to argue that individuals in countries with high levels of religiosity face strong pressures to go to church, but may not adhere entirely to the religious beliefs. In addition, it is possible that with modernization, the traditional strict religious guidelines and beliefs are being relaxed to adapt to current times. Such changes imply that religious teachings are not addressing sanctioned behavior as was the case in the past. Or perhaps, with the realities of today's harshly competitive life, people in more religious countries are having difficulty living in the confines of religious beliefs and are reacting by justifying illegal behaviors and peccadilloes.
Parboteeah, K.P. Hoegl, M. and Cullen, J.B., (2003) Social institutions and sanctioned behaviors: a cross-national study, International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 44(3): 23965.

2.4 THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON WORK ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT A survey of 82 French and 101 German product champions found that their effectiveness (ability to enlist top management support for an innovation project) and crucial characteristics (status and seniority) varied across national cultures.
Roure, L. (2001) Product champion characteristics in France and Germany, Human Relations, 54(5): 66382.

p.69 Organizational cultures a. Brown and Starkey (1994) criticised the organization culture approach as follows: An approach which interprets organisations as meaning systems and attempts to explain organisational structures and processes in terms of beliefs, values and assumptions has problems adequately accounting for the impact of financial constraints, spatial distance, the nature of the work performed and the availability (or otherwise) of external information sources. These factors, and others like them, appear to be extrinsic to an organisation's culture, and exercise their influence independently of employee beliefs and values. However, it may be argued that it is not limited internal resources or actual distance that are significant, but cultural perceptions of these. Thus while the financial resources of the case study organisation were undoubtedly small, cultural orientations determined how they were distributed, i.e. into new capital plant and machinery rather than information technology systems. Similarly, it is not actual distance but perceived distance that influences the decision to communicate or to communicate in a particular way.
Brown A.D. and Starkey, K. (1994) 'The effect of organizational culture on communication and information' Journal of Management Studies, 31(6): 80728.

b. McGuire and Dow (2003) showed, in the case of Japanese keiretsu organisation, that the industrial organisation preferred by a culture may be robust to economic and regulatory changes.

McGuire, L. J. and Dow, S. (2003) The persistence and implications of Japanese keiretsu organisation, Journal of International Business Studies, 34(4): 37488.

p.70 Research into the direct effects of national cultures on organizational cultures has, however, produced conflicting results.

a. A study in Saudi Arabia found that traditional values were more prevalent in governmental than business organizations. These traditional values included accepting nepotism, eschewing being rule-bound (bureaucratic) and not using performance-based criteria to evaluate employees. This government/business difference suggests that stakeholders, including employees, do not expect profitoriented business organizations to reflect their national values.
Al-Aiban, K.M. and Pearce, J.L. (1993) The influence of values on management practices: a test in Saudi Arabia and the United States, International Studies of Management & Organization, 23:(3): 3252.

b. In theory, too, the question is debated. Hickson pointed out the culture-free hypothesis which stresses homogeneity in management throughout the world.
Hickson, D.J. (1993) Management in Western Europe: Society, Culture and Organisations in Twelve Nations, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.

p.70 While similar people were significantly more productive in individualist than collectivist [organisational] cultures, dissimilar people were equally productive across the two cultures. Etc. One possible explanation for these findings is that the organizations culture may have an effect. Chatman () hypothesised that organizations that focus on individualism may reduce the salience (importance or centrality) of being a member of the organisation as a social category and thus its members perceptions of having interchangeable interests and a common fate with their co-workers. Organizations that foster a collectivist culture might do the reverse. The salience of demographic categories was higher in individualistic organizational cultures than collectivist, in which organizational attributes were more salient. This study had admitted limitations it was a simulation with MBA students at the same university as subjects. However, the authors argued for their findings: Despite these limitations, our results suggest that social categorization may be a linking mechanism between various attributes and behaviors influencing work processes and outcomes, though the extent to which the salience of categories is context-dependent increases the complexity of these links.
Chatman, J.A. (1998) Being different yet feeling similar: the influence of demographic composition and organizational culture on work processes and outcomes, Administrative Science Quarterly, 43: 74980.