Culture,

Management Style,
and
Business Systems
Chapter 5

What Should You Learn?

The necessity for adapting to cultural differences
How and why management styles vary around
the world
The extent and implications of gender bias in
other countries
The importance of cultural differences in
business ethics
The differences between relationship-oriented
and information-oriented cultures
5-2

Global Perspective
Do Blondes Have More Fun in Japan?
Culture, including all its elements, profoundly
affects management style and overall business
systems
Max Weber (1930)

Americans
Individualists

Japanese
Consensus oriented & committed to the group

Central & Southern Europeans

Elitists and rank conscious
5-3

Global Perspective
Do Blondes Have More Fun in Japan?
Knowledge of the management style existing in
a country and a willingness to accommodate the
differences are important to success in an
international market

Business culture
Management values
Business methods
Behaviors

5-4

Required Adaptation
Adaptation is a key concept in international and
global marketing
Ten basic criteria for adaptation
1) open tolerance
2) flexibility
3) humility
4) justice/fairness
5) ability to adjust to varying tempos
6) curiosity/interest
7) knowledge of the country
8) liking for others
9) ability to command respect
10) ability to integrate oneself into the environment

5-5

Degree of Adaptation
Essential to effective adaptation
Awareness of ones own culture and the
Recognition that differences in others can cause anxiety,
frustration, and misunderstanding of the hosts intentions

The self-reference criterion (SRC) is especially

operative in business customs
The key to adaptation is to remain American but
to develop an understanding of and willingness
to accommodate the differences that exist

5-6

Imperatives, Electives,
and Exclusives
Cultural imperatives
Business customs and expectations that must
be met and conformed to or avoided if
relationships are to be successful
The

significance friendship cannot be overemphasized

In some cultures a persons demeanor is

more critical than in others
Imperatives vary from culture to culture

5-7

Imperatives, Electives,
and Exclusives
Cultural electives
Relate to areas of behavior or to customs that cultural
aliens may wish to conform to or participate in but that
are not required
A cultural elective in one county may be an imperative
in another
Cultural electives are most visibly different customs

Cultural exclusives
Customs or behavior patterns reserved exclusively for
the locals

5-8

The Impact of American Culture

on Management Style
Master of destiny viewpoint
Independent enterprise as the instrument of social
action
Personnel selection and reward based on merit
Decisions based on objective analysis
Wide sharing in decision making
Never-ending quest for improvement
Competition producing efficiency
5-9

Authority and Decision Making

Influencers of the authority structure of business:
High PDI Countries

Mexico, Malaysia

Low PDI Countries

Denmark, Israel

Three typical authority patterns:

Top-level management decisions
Decentralized decisions
Committee or group decisions

5-10

Management Objectives
and Aspirations
Security and mobility
Relate directly to basic human motivation and therefore have
widespread economic and social implications

Personal life
Worldwide study of individual aspirations, (David McClelland)

Affiliation and social acceptance

In some countries, acceptance by neighbors and fellow workers
appears to be a predominant goal within business

Power and achievement

South American countries
5-11

Annual Hours Worked

Exhibit 5.1

5-12

Communication Styles
Face-to-face communication
Managers often fail to develop even a basic understanding of just one
other language
Much business communication depends on implicit messages that are
not verbalized

Internet communications
Nothing about the Web will change the extent to which people identify
with their own language and cultures

78% of todays Web site content is written in English

An English e-mail message cannot be understood by 35% of all Internet users

Country-specific Web sites

Web site should be examined for any symbols, icons, and other
nonverbal impressions that could convey and unwanted message
5-13

Formality and Tempo

Breezy informality and haste characterize American
business relationships
Europeans not necessarily Americanized
Higher on Hofstedes Power Distance Index (PDI)
May lead to business misunderstandings

Haste and impatience most common mistakes

Middle East

For maximum success marketers must deal with foreign

executives in acceptable ways
Developing friendships

5-14

Contextual Background
of Various Countries
Exhibit 5.2

5-15

P-Time versus M-Time

Monochronic time
Tend to concentrate on one thing at a time
Divide time into small units and are concerned with promptness
Most low-context cultures operate on M-Time

Polychronic time
Dominant in high-context cultures
Characterized by the simultaneous occurrence of many things
Allows for relationships to build and context to be absorbed as parts of highcontext cultures

Most cultures offer a mix of P-time and M-time behavior

Have a tendency to be either more P-time or M-time in regard to the role
time plays

As global markets expand more businesspeople from

P-time cultures are adapting to M-time.
5-16

Negotiations Emphasis
Business negotiations are perhaps the most
fundamental business rituals
The basic elements of business negotiations are
the same in any country
They relate to the product, its price and terms, services
associated with the product, and finally, friendship between
vendors and customers

One standard rule in negotiating is know

thyself first, and second, know your
counterpart
5-17

Marketing Orientation
A companys marketing orientation has been
positively related to profits (U.S.)
Other countries have more traditional approach
Production orientation (consumers will prefer products that are
widely available)
Product orientation (consumers will favor products that offer the
most quality performance, or innovative features)
Selling orientation (consumers and businesses alike will not buy
enough without prodding)

Encouraging a marketing orientation across

global business units can be difficult
5-18

Gender Bias
in International Business
Women represent only 18% of the employees who are
chosen for international assignments
In many cultures women not typically found in upper levels
of management, and are treated very differently from men
Asia, Middle East, Latin America

Prejudices toward women in foreign countries

Cross-mentoring system
Lufthansa

Executives who have had international experience

More likely to get promoted,
Have higher rewards, and have
Greater occupational tenure

5-19

Few and Far Between Female

Directors on Corporate Boards
Exhibit 5.4

5-20

Corruption Defined
Types of Corruption

Profits (Marxism)
Individualism (Japan)
Rampant consumerism (India)
Missionaries (China)
Intellectual property laws (Sub-Sahara Africa)
Currency speculation ( Southeast Asia)

Criticisms of Mattel and Barbie

Sales of Barbie declined worldwide after the global standardization
Parents and government did react
Mattels strategy boosted sales of its competition
5-21

The Western Focus on Bribery

1970s, bribery became a national issue with public
disclosure of political payoffs to foreign recipients by
U.S. firms
The decision to pay a bribe creates a major conflict
between what is ethical and proper and what is
profitable and sometimes necessary for business
OECD Convention on combating the bribery of
foreign public officials in international business
transactions
Transparency International (TI)
5-22

Transparency International
Corruption Perception Index
Exhibit 5.5

5-23

Transparency International
Bribe Payers Index
Exhibit 5.6

5-24

Bribery
Variations on a Theme
Bribery and Extortion
Voluntary offered payment by someone seeking unlawful advantage is
bribery
If payments are extracted under duress by someone in authority from a
person seeking only what he are she is lawfully entitled to that is
extortion

Subornation and Lubrication

Lubrication involves a relatively small sum of cash, a gift, or a service
given to a low-ranking official in a country where such offerings are not
prohibited by law
Subornation involves giving large sums of money, frequently not properly
accounted for, designed to entice an official to commit an illegal act on
behalf of the one offering the bribe
5-25

Ethical and Socially

Responsible Decisions

Difficulties arise in making decisions, establishing policies, and

engaging in business operations in five broad areas

Employment practices and policies

Consumer protection
Environmental protection
Political payments and involvement in political affairs of the country
Basic human rights and fundamental freedoms

Laws are the markers of past behavior that society has deemed
unethical or socially irresponsible

Ethical principles to help the marketer distinguish between right and

wrong, determine what ought to be done, and justify actions

Utilitarian Ethics
Rights of the Parties
Justice or Fairness
5-26

A Synthesis Relationship-Oriented
vs. Information-Oriented Cultures
Studies are noting a strong relationship between Halls
high/low context and Hofstedes Individualism/Collective
and Power Distance indexes
Not every culture fits every dimension of culture in a
precise way
Information-oriented culture
United States

Relationship culture
Japan

Synthesis of cultural differences allows us to make

predictions about unfamiliar cultures
5-27

Dimensions of Culture, A Synthesis

Exhibit 5.7

5-28