Summary lecture 4,5, 6 and 7, Cross cultural management

Lecture 4:

Strenghts of the Hofstede Study

• Homogenous population of IBM employees across countrie
• Cultural value dimensions allow do assess the influence of culuture and the comparison across countries
• High number of countries and a high number of individuals
• Starting point for a whole research stream
• Several replications support the study – stroing cultural characteristics

Weaknesses of the hofstede study:

• Data collection in the 60s and 70s
• Assumption that national terriory and boundaries of culture correspons (subvultures? Oversimplification? Static vs dynamic approach)
• Respondents worked within the same corporation – national vs corporate culture
• Statistical analysis and overlap in the dimension
• Face validity of the questions/statements that assesed the dimensions

Strenghts of the Globe study:

• A large number of countries and middle-managers from differennt firms (well-developed quatitative research design and high generelizability)
• Broader nature and classification of cultural dimensions than in Hofstede – more fine – grained picture of cultural facets
• GLOBE also provides a broader overview of the acceptance of leadership behaviors across countries

Weaknesses of the Globe study:

• Assumption that natinal territory and boundaries of culture correspond
• Face validity of the questions/statements that assessed the dimensions
• Very long questionnaire – potential survey fatigue of respondents (where you come from, determines how you answer a quesiton e.g. some give a five where others give a 7)
• Quality of the measures and the data collection process depends heavily on the country co-investigators
• Diifficult interpretation due to vague formulations and practice vs values differences

General limitation: negative correlation of Hofestede and Globe for some dimensions

Country profiles based on Hofstede’s dimensions

• When measured with a multi-dimensional approach, culture can be conceptualized as a specifc blend of these dimensions
• A specific blend of cultural values can be used to characterize a group of individuals and to distinguish different groups
• Archetype of gestalt perpective of culture
• Do archetypes represent societal/country-specifc blend of cultural value dimensions

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The global cultural map shows how scores of societies are located on these two dimensions. Moving upwards on this map reflects the shift from traditional values to secular-rational and moving rightward reflects the shift from survival values to self expression values.

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Ronen and Shenkar show that while different approaches differ in their of clustering, the resulting clusters largely overlap.

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Look at several approaches, because not for all countries all data is available, other approaches could have this data.

Measurement of cultural distance between different cultures or nations. Most indices build on the logic of squared Euclidian distances, which simply square differences between two cultural values ad sum these differences up. So calculate differences between dimension, square them and then sum them up

• The theory of cultural tightness and looseness posits that there is contrast between the degree to which social entities are tight (many strongly enforced rules and little tolerance for deviance) vs loose (few strongly enforced rules and greater tolerance for deviance)
• Tightness-looseness is part of a complex, loosely integrated multilevel system that comprises distal ecological and historical threats (e.g. resource scarcity). Broad vs narrow socialization in societal institutions (e.g. autocracy) the strength of everyday recurring situations and micro-level psychological affordances (e.g. need for structure)

• The theory provides a better understanding of how a society’s norms can be very different from one’s own, which is something different from knowing how individual values differ, within countries also differences

Lecture 5:

Stereotypes:

• Related to schemas
• Categorization of characteristics and behaviour of a set of people
• Usually negative

National stereotypes:

• Can be intense, but based on limited contact
• Categorizing cultures based on few dimensions

• People employ stereotypes, either consciously or unconsciously, because they are an easy means to judge situations and people

• Stereotypes are often erroneous and may lead to unjustified conclusions about others

• There are real differences among groups and societies: we should examine descriptive behaviour rather than evaluative stereotypes

• There can be overlapping between cultures even though there are differences and focus on the overlap

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Resistance to new information:

• Stereotyping expectations tend to be self-perpetuating
• New information often discounted as not representative

Complexity and evaluation:

• Learned
• More complex stereotypes about more familiar social categories

Social dominance

• Dominant groups have special privileges

Attributions help us react to our environment by linking an event to its causes – we often rely on cues

• Inconclusive information

1. Situational cues can be inconclusive
2. Use prior information to make judgement (stereotypes)

• Fundamental attribution error

1. Influenced by whether the behaviour is by a member of out cultural group
2. Favourably biased towards our cultural group

• Cultural differences in attribution

1. Not consistent across cultures – less fundamental attribution error in Asia than North America or Europe

Cross-cultural communication process:

• Communication: the act of transmitting messages, including information about the nature of the relationship, to another person who interprets these messages and gives them meaning
• Grounding: vast amount of common information that the sender and receiver must share for the communication event to be successful

Problematic because:

• Language is so essential to culture that many consider linguistic groups synonymous with cultural groups
• Whorf hypothesis: a society’s language determines the nature of its culture
• Words provide the concept of understanding the world, language structures the way we think about it
• All languages have limited sets of words
• Restricted word sets constrain the ability to conceptualize the world

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Cultural field effects à background influences communication

Language:

• Second language
• Strain or exhaustion
• Competency atrributions
• Foreigner speak

Different communication styles across cultures:

• Explicit vs implicit

1. High-context and low-context cultures
2. Difference in individualistic and collectivist socieeties

• Formal vs informal
• Direct vs indirect

1. Directness associated with individualistic cultures indirectness with collectivist cultures
2. Can depend on social context
3. Direct answer: no
4. Indirect answer: your question is very difficult to answer

Communication styles:

1. Direct communication: communication that asks questions, states opinions, comes to the point and lacks ambiguity
2. Indirect communication: people attempt to state their opinions or ask question by implied meaning, believing, direct communication is impolite
3. Formal communication: communication that acknowledges rank, titles and ceremony in prescribed social interaction

• People in the U.S. are among the least formal in communication, casually using first names and dispensing with titles
• Most other cultures communicate with more formality especially in business settings, taking care to acknowledge rank and titles when addressing others

4. Silence vs verbal overkill

• Collectivistic cultures value silence
• Individualistic cultures value talking
• Exaggeration, assertion and repetition

5. Use of praise à frequency, subject, elaboration and response vary across cultures

Other aspects of language that interfere with cross-cultural communication:

• Repertoire of language styles and registers
• Tone of voiceà like volume and speed, but also cultural norms about the tone of voice
• Slang and jargon (nonstandard forms and usage)

1. Slang is informal
2. Jargon is used by particular subgroups, often very specialized
3. Helps define group membership
4. Increases possible variations in expression
5. Might last for only a few years
6. May enhance communication ability of culturally different individuals

Nonverbal communication means communicating without words (can have different meanings in different cultures)

• One may communicate without speaking, people gesture, smile, hug and engage in other behaviours that supplement or enhance spoken communication
• Body positions and gestures à can mean different things, avoid gestures until one is sure of meaning
• Facial expression à basic expression are the same around the world, culture can influence facial expression
• Eye contact à cultural difference in gaze patterns

Kinesics means communication through body movements:

• Every culture uses posture, facial expressions, hand gestures and movement to communicate non-verbally
• Most Asian cultures use bowing to show respect
• It is easy to misinterpret the meaning of body movements in another culture
• The safest strategy is to minimize their use

Proxemics focuses on how people use space to communicate

• Each culture has an appropriate distance for various levels of communication, violations of space may be uncomfortable or even offensive
• The personal space may range from 9 inches to over 20 inches
• North American prefer more than Latin and middle-east culture

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Haptics or touching is communication through body contact and is related to proxemics

The type of touching deemed appropriate is deeply rooted in cultural values. Generally:

• No touching cultures are Japan, U.S. and other Northern European countries
• Moderate touching cultures are e.g. Ireland and Australia
• Touching cultures are Greece and Latin American countries

Oculesics refers to communication through eye contact or gazing, including all eye movement

• Often associated to kinetic movements
• The degree of comfort with eye contact varies widely
• U.S and Canada, people are very comfortable and expect eye contact to be maintained for a short moment
• China and Japan: eye contact is very rude

The role of an interpreter is to provide a simultaneous translation of a foreign language

• This requires greater linguistic skills than speaking a language or translating written documents
• The interpreter must have the technical knowledge and vocabulary to deal with technical details common in business transactions
• Even if a negotiator understands both languages its best to have an interpreter to ensure the accuracy and common understanding of agreements

Using interpreters:

• Spend time with the interpreter, so he gets to know your accents and general approach to conversation
• Go over technical and other issues with the interpreter to make sure they are properly understood
• Insist on frequent interruptions for translation rather than translations at the end of statements
• Learn about appropriate communication styles and etiquette from the interpreter

Lecture 6:

cross cultural negotiation: the process of making business deals across cultures; it precedes any multinational project

• Without successful negotiation and the accompanying cross-cultural communication, there are seldom successful business transactions
• International negotiation is more complex than domestic negotiation
• Differences in national cultures, political, legal and economic systems can separate business partners
• Successful international negotiation requires successful cross-cultural communication
• Negotiators must understand all components of culturally different communication styles, both verbal and nonverbal including

1. Subtle gestures of hand and face
2. The use of silence
3. What is said or not said

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Step 1, preparation:

• Determine if the negotiation is possible
• Know exactly what your company wants
• Be aware of what can be compromised
• Know the other side
• Send the proper team
• Understand the agenda
• Prepare for a long negotiation

Step 2, building the relationship:

• At this stage, negotiators do no focus on the business issues, but on social and interpersonal matters
• Negotiation partners get to know each other
• They develop opinions regarding the personalities of the negotiators, including whether they can be trusted
• The duration, importance of this stage vary by culture
• U.S. negotiators are notorious in their attempts to get down to business after brief socializing

Step 3: exchanging information and the first offer

• Parties exchange task-related information on their needs for the agreement, which pertains to the actual details of the proposed agreement
• Typically, both sides make a formal presentation of what they desire out of the relationship
• Then both sides usually present their first offer, which is their first proposal of what they expect from the agreement.

Step 4, persuasion:

• In the persuasion stage, each side in the negotiation attempts to get the other side to agree to its position
• This is the heart of the negotiation process
• Numerous tactics are used, but two general types: standard verbal and nonverbal negotiation tactics

Step 5, concession:

• Concession making requires that each side relax some of demands to meet the other party’s needs
• Styles differ among cultures

1. Sequential approach: each side reciprocated concessions made by the other side à north America
2. Holistic approach: each side makes very few, if any, concession until the end of the negotiation à Asia

Step 6, agreement:

• Successful negotiations result in the final agreement: the signed contract, agreeable to all sides
• The agreement must be consistent with the chose legal system or systems
• The safest contracts are legally binding in the legal system of all the signers
• Most important, people from different national and business cultures must understand the contract in principle and has true commitment beyond legal

Step 7, post agreement:

• A commonly ignored step is the post agreement phase, which consists of an evaluation of the success of a completed negotiation
• Post agreement analysis can be beneficial because it allow the garnering of insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the approach used during negotiation
• Post agreement analysis can also enable members of the negotiating team to develop a closer relationship with the counterparts

Cultural differences in negotiations:

1. Culture has been found to have significant effects on the negotiation process, including:

• How negotiators plan
• The offer made during negotiation
• The communication process
• How information is shared during negotiation

2. Effect of culture on negotiator ethics and tactics:

• Differences exist in the tolerance of different negotiation tactics in different cultures
• Negotiators who trusted the other party were less likely to use questionable negotiation tactics

3. Effects of culture on conflict resolution

• Within collectivistic countries, disagreements are resolved based on rules, whereas in individualistic countries, conflicts tend to be resolved through personal experience and training

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A conceptual model of where culture may influence negotiation has been developed by brett. His model identifies how culture of both negotiators can influence:

• The setting of priorities and strategies
• The identification of the potential for integrative agreement
• The pattern of interaction between negotiation

Brett suggest that cultural values should have a strong effect on negotiation interests and priorities , while cultural norms will influence negotiation strategies

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Basic negotiating strategies:

1. Competitive negotiation: each side tries to give as little as possible and win the maximum for its side

• Seek win-lose resolution, uses dirty tricks
• Seldom leads to long-term relationships or trust

2. Problem solving: negotiators seek mutually satisfactory ground beneficial to both parties (more successful)

• Search for possible win-win situations; no dirty tricks
• Builds long-term relationships; more successful strategy

To what extent should a negotiator adapt to the cultural values of the other party. Are international negotiators expected to adapt totally

Simplistic approach:

• It does not account for the dominant role of one or the other party
• Is it ever possible to do as the romans
• It assumes that a roman will always acts as a Roman with a non-Roman in Rome

Weiss things One-size-fits-all approach to be inappropriate proposes a range of strategies which are

• Culturally responsive
• Reflect the skills of the individuals involved
• Take account of the circumstances in which they are working

One basic aim in any communicative event: to make sense of the interaction

In negotiations this means that the least both parties must be able to do this:

• Recognize each other’s ideas and the types of behaviour evident
• Detect common and differing standpoints as well as changes made to these during the negotiating process
• Ensure the communication is maintained as the negotiation proceeds

However, the knowledge and skills required to perform these crucial acts is often limited

Weiss proposes a strategic framework which allows parties to:

• Make sense of the negotiating process as best they can
• Use their own attributes
• When necessary the skills of others

Select the strategy which is:

• The most feasible i.e. the extent to which it will fit the counterpart’s possible approach
• The most appropriate in terms of the relationship and circumstances surrounding the interaction
• The most acceptable in terms of the manager’s own values

Choosing the strategy therefore involves:

• Considerable reflection on one’s own culture as well as careful investigation into the counterpart’s culture
• Both parties considering their relationship as individuals as well as members of different cultures

The five steps which Weiss proposes for selecting a negotiating strategy account of these complexities:

1. Reflect on your culture’s negotiation script
2. Learn the negotiation script of the counterpart’s culture
3. Consider the relationship and circumstances
4. Predict and influence the counterpart’s approach
5. Choose your strategy

Strategies are arranged based on the level of familiarity (low, moderate, high) that a negotiator has with the other party’s culture

Low familiarity:

• Employ agents or advisors à useful for negotiators who have little awareness of the other parties culture
• Bring in a mediator à encourages one side or the other to adopt one culture’s approach or mediator culture approach
• Induce the other part to use your approach à the other party may become irritated or be insulted

Moderate familiarity:

• Adapt to the other negotiator’s approach à involves making conscious changes to your approach so it is more appealing to the other party
• Coordinate adjustment à involves both parties making mutual adjustments to find a common process for negotiation

High familiarity:

• Embrace the other negotiator’s approach à adopting completely the approach of the other negotiator (bilingual and bicultural)
• Improvise an approach à crafts and approach that is specifically tailored to the negotiation situation, other party and circumstances
• Effect symphony à the parties create a new approach that may include aspects of either home culture or adopt practices from a third culture

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Lecture 7:

Motivation is psychological process through which unsatisfied wants or needs lead to drives that are aimed at goals or incentives

Basic motivation process:

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The nature of motivation:

The universalist assumption

• Motivation is universal; all people are motivated to pursue goals they value

1. Process is universal
2. Culture influences specific content and goals pursued
3. Motivation differs across cultures

The assumption of content and process:

• Content theories of motivation: theories that explain work motivation in terms of what arouses, energizes or initiates employee behaviour
• Process theories of motivation: theories that explain work motivation by how employee behaviour is imitated, redirected and halted

Content theory: Malsow’s theory:

• Lower needs must be satisfied before higher-level needs become motivators
• A need that is satisfied not longer motivates
• More ways to satisfy higher-level than there are ways to satisfy lower-level needs

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International findings:

• Haire study indicated all needs important to respondents across cultures:

1. International mangers (not rank and file employees) indicated upperlevel needs of particular importance tot them
2. Findings for selected country clusters (U.S/U.K) indicated autonomy and self-actualization were most important and least satisfied needs for respondents

• A study of East Asian managers in eight countries found autonomy and self-actualization in most cased ranked high
• Some research have suggested modification of Maslow’s western orientated hierarchy by re-ranking needs
• Chinese hierarchy of needs might have four levels ranked from lowest to highest : belonging (social), psychological; safety; self-actualization (in service of society)

Process theories: equity theory

• When people perceive they are treated equitably, it will have a positive effect on their job satisfaction
• If people believe they aren’t treated fairly (especially relative to relevant others) they will be dissatisfied leading to negative effect on job performance; they will attempt to restore equity
• While considerable support for theory in western world, support is mixed on an international basis

Work centrality:

Importance of work in an individuals life can provide important insights into how to motivate human resources in different cultures:

• Japan has highest level of work centrality
• Israel has moderately high levels
• U.S. and Belgium have average levels
• Netherlands and Germany have moderately low levels
• Britain has low levels

Job design:

• Shift from workers efficiency to worker motivation
• Job characteristics model

1. Skill variety: different abilities requiring different abilities
2. Task identity: completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work
3. Task significance: substantial effect on other people
4. Autonomy: substantial freedom, independence and discretion
5. Feedback: activities provide direct and clear information on performance

Culturally-based differences in the perception  of these job characteristics

The choice of job design might be best informed by cultural dimension that relate to the way in which the characteristics of the job fulfil culturally based expectation of what work is/should be about

Questions to address:

• Is leadership a global concept
• Are some leader behaviours and styles universal
• Are universal leader behaviours conceptually and functionally equivalent
• Are leadership characteristics and behaviours enacted differently

GLOBE leadership dimension:

• Charismatic/value-based leadership: ability to inspire, motivate, and expect high performance from other based on strongly held core values, visionary, inspirational, self-sacrificing, trustworthy, decisive, performance orientated
• Team-orientated leadership: emphasizes team building and a common purpose among team members – collaborative, integrative, diplomatic, administratively competent
• Participate leadership: the degree to which leaders involve other is making and implementing decision – participate, non-autocratic
• Human orientated leadership: emphasizes being supportive, considerate, compassionate and generous -modesty, sensitivity to people
• Autonomous leadership: refers to independent and individualistic leadership – autonomous, unique
• Self-protective leadership: reflects behaviours that ensure the safety and security of the leader and the group – self-centred, status conscious, conflict inducing, face saving

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Three mechanism that can influence such a model

1. Cultural norms

• Mix of cultural norms in the groups
• Different orientations of what is appropriate in terms of workgroup function and structure

2. Cultural diversity

• Number of different cultures present in a group
• Cultural diversity may have both positive and negative effects
• Potential sub-groups

3. Relative cultural distance

• Extent to which each individual is different from the other group members (group identity
• Influence on the identification with the group task

• The nature and the structure of the work group influence how much is cultural composition affects its outcomes
• Limited opportunity for group characteristics to influence group task with limited employee discretion

Virtual team: group of individual who predominantly use technology to communicate, collaborate, share information and coordinate their efforts in order to accomplish a common work-related objective

Virtual communication:

• Provides foundation for group work but does not truly replicate face-to-face interaction
• Reduces ability to sense
• Hinders openness

Relationship building and conflict management

• Group members are separated by time, geography and culture: trust, respect, cooperation, and commitment are influence by the added degree of distance between work group members

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Task management:

• Different virtual teams require different strategies and processes
• Advantage à no restrictions of time and space
• Disadvantage à must overcome additional barriers