Lecture 2

How Cultural Factors Affect

Management

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Opening Profile: TikTok: Paving the Way
for Short Video–Making Apps in India (1
of 2)
• The massive popularity of short video–sharing apps in India
can be attributed to its evolving demographic, economic,
social, and cultural environment.
• The originality and authenticity offered by TikTok has
especially appealed to India’s semi-urban youth.
• Celebrities and influencers from the Indian film, television, and
sports industries who used TikTok played a significant role in
driving the early adoption across the country.
• Many brands partnered with celebrities and sports
personalities to run campaigns on TikTok.

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Opening Profile: TikTok: Paving the Way
for Short Video–Making Apps in India (2
of 2)
• A young population with increased exposure and access
to affordable smartphones and the Internet, along with
millions of songs and editable content, offer a very
promising market for the social video–sharing apps.
• In April 2020, TikTok was banned by the government of
India, resulting in a huge gap in the short video–sharing
market.
• Many local and homegrown apps such as Chingari, Josh,
Moj, and Mitron scrambled to take advantage of the
ready market that had suddenly become available.

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Culture and Its Effects on Organizations

Culture
A set of shared values, understandings, assumptions, and
goals that are learned from earlier generations, imposed by
present members of a society, and passed on to
succeeding generations
Cultural Sensitivity or Cultural Empathy?
An awareness of and an honest caring about another
individual’s culture

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Environmental Variables Affecting
Management Functions
Exhibit 3-1

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Organizational Culture

1. Exists within and interacts with societal culture

2. Varies a great deal from one organization, company,
institution, or group to another
3. Represents those expectations, norms, and goals held
in common by members of that group
• Example:
– Apple—informal organizational culture

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The Effect of Culture on Organizational
Process
Exhibit 3-2
U.S. Culture Alternative Function Affected
Individual influences Life is preordained Planning, scheduling
future
The environment is People adjust to the Morale, productivity
changeable environment
Hark work leads to Wisdom and luck are Motivation, rewards
success also needed
Employment can be Employment is for a Promotions,
ended lifetime recruitment

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Culture’s Effects on Management
• Convergence—the phenomenon of the shifting of individual
management styles to become similar to one another
• Self-Reference Criterion—the subconscious reference point of
one's own cultural values. Many people in the world
understand and relate to others only in terms of their own
cultures
• Parochialism—occurs, for example, when a Frenchman
expects those from or in another country to automatically fall
into patterns of behavior common in France
• Ethnocentrism—describes the attitude of those who operate
from the assumption that their ways of doing things are best—
no matter where or under what conditions they are applied

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Influences on National Culture
Subcultures Stereotyping
• Many countries comprise • A cultural profile that
diverse subcultures whose tends to develop some
constituents conform only tentative expectations—
in varying degrees to the some cultural context—as a
national character. backdrop to managing in a
Example: Canada specific international setting

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Under the Lens: Religion and the
Workplace
• Since the basis of a religion is shared beliefs, values, and
institutions, it is closely aligned with societal culture
• Religion and culture are inextricably linked
• Religion underlies moral and economic norms and
influences everyday business transactions and on-the-job
behaviors
• Foreign managers must be sensitive to the local religious
context and the expectations and workplace norms
• Failure to do so will minimize or negated the goals of the
firm in that location

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Cultural Value Dimensions

Society’s idea
what is
good/bad,
right/wrong
Determines
Varies how
across individuals
subcultures will respond

Values

Allow for Communicated

and passed
contingency through
management generations
Help
managers
anticipate
likely cultural
effects

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Project GLOBE Cultural Dimensions
(1 of 2)

Assertiveness
• Low: Sweden, Japan, Switzerland
• High: Greece, Austria, the United States
Performance Orientation
• Low: Venezuela, Argentina, Italy
• High: the United States, Hong Kong, Netherlands

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Project GLOBE Cultural Dimensions
(2 of 2)

Future Orientation
• Low: Russia, Argentina, Italy
• High: Netherlands, Canada, Singapore
Humane Orientation
• Low: Germany, Brazil, France
• High: Malaysia, Ireland, Philippines

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Cultural Clusters
Exhibit 3-3: Geographic Cultural Clusters

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Hofstede’s Value Dimensions (1 of 5)

Power Distance
The level of acceptance by a society of the unequal
distribution of power in institutions

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Hofstede’s Value Dimensions (2 of 5)

Uncertainty Avoidance
The extent to which people in a society feel threatened by
ambiguous situations

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Hofstede’s Value Dimensions (3 of 5)
Individualism
The tendency of people to look after themselves and their
immediate families only and to neglect the needs of society

Collectivism
The desire for tight social frameworks, emotional
dependence on belonging to “the organization,” and a
strong belief in group decisions
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Hofstede’s Value Dimensions (4 of 5)
Masculinity
The degree to which traditionally masculine values—
assertiveness, materialism, and lack of concern for
others—prevail

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Hofstede’s Value Dimensions (5 of 5)
Long-term/short-term orientation
The extent to which a culture programs its members to
accept delayed gratification of their material, social, and
emotional needs

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Trompenaar’s Dimensions (1 of 2)

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Trompenaar’s Dimensions (2 of 2)

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Critical Operational Value Differences

• Time—differences in temporal values

• Task versus Relationship Orientation—in making
business decisions
• Change—control and pace of change
• Material Factors—physical goods and status symbols
versus aesthetics and the spiritual realism
• Individualism—“me/I” versus “we"

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The Internet and Culture

• Over 92.6 percent of Korean homes have high-speed

Internet service
• Sweden requires all databases of personal information to
be registered with the Data Inspection Board, their
federal regulatory agency
• About 75 percent of the world’s Internet market lives
outside the United States: websites must reflect local
markets, customs, languages, and currencies

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Under the Lens: Seoul Fights Back against
Workaholic Culture: Labour Law

• South Korea is one of the most overworked nations in

Asia
• South Korea—notorious for its workaholic culture
• Maximum weekly work hours cut from 68 to 52
• New labor law puts a cap on working hours

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Developing Cultural Profiles

• Managers can gather considerable information on cultural

variables from current research, personal observation,
and discussion with people.
• Managers can develop cultural profiles of various
countries.
• Managers can use these profiles to anticipate drastic
differences that may be encountered in a given country.
• It is difficult to pull together descriptive cultural profiles in
other countries unless one has lived there and been
intricately involved with those people.

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Comparative Management in Focus (1 of 2)
Japan Germany
• “Wa”-peace and harmony • Preference for rules and
order, privacy
• A mix of authoritarian and
humanism in the workplace • Dislike of inefficiency and
tardiness
• Emphasis on participative
management, consensus, • Assertive, but not aggressive
and duty
• Organizations are centralized
• Open expression and conflict but still favor consensus
discouraged decision making

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Comparative Management in Focus (2 of 2)
Latin America
• Not homogenous, but common similarities
• “Being-oriented” compared with “doing-oriented”
• Work and private lives are more closely integrated
• Very important to maintain harmony and save face

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Under the Lens: Doing Business in Brazil—
Language, Culture, Customs, and Etiquette
• Almost everyone has a combination of European, African, and
indigenous ancestry
• Individual relationships are important
• Brazilians take time when negotiating
• Brazilian business is hierarchical, and meetings are required
• Brazilians avoid confrontations
• They dress well and conservatively
• Business cards are exchanged
– Having your business card printed in Portuguese on the
opposite side is a good idea

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Developing Management Styles and Ways
of Doing Business: Chinese Family Small
Businesses
• Small, family businesses predominate
• “Guanxi” connections
• People are put ahead of business—human-centered
management style
• Globalization has resulted in more competitive
management styles: the new generation manager is more
individualistic, more independent and takes more risks

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Conclusion

• Each society has its own unique culture

• Managers must develop cultural sensitivity
• Researchers such as Hofstede and Trompenaar have
created studies which help describe cultural profiles;
GLOBE study created a body of data on cultural
dimensions
• Managers can use research results and personal
observations to develop cultural profiles of countries

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