MODULE 1
I. Introductory module: Culture and International Business & Ethnography
SUMMARY
In the introductory module we learned about the importance of the culture in international bussines,
we did it by having into account terms as ideology, nationality, social class and gender.
Also we learned the importance of knowing the meaning of international organitational behaviour, that consist in the study of the cultural differences and the cultural diversity that can affect work-related behaviour. We saw some mistakes we can have by not having a correct cross cultural comunication as stereotyping, selective perception, projecting similarities.
Is to important to know how cultural diversity works, that’s why we learned about some positions or views about this issues, those are, parochial view, ethnocentric view and synergistic view.
Finally we saw how to do the ethnograpic research and all the methods, principles, fieldwork guidelines and the ethics you must follow to do it in the rigth way.
QUESTION
How national culture impacts behaviour at work in developed countries like the ones in the United Kindom?
To understand better this issue is important to have into account some of the Hofstede’s knowledge as the cultural dimension he proposed according to the United Kingdom.
First by analysing the Power Distance that is the first dimension, we can see that people in high power distance cultures are much more comfortable with a larger status differential than low power distance cultures. Here climate is measured by geographical latitude, because cultures in high-latitude climate (moderate or cold climates) tend to have low Power Distance Index (PDI) scores and cultures that have tropical climate tend to have high PDI scores. In order to this United Kingdom have low degree of Power Distance and there is multiple research that shows the United Kingdom as a owner of a tigther hierarchy. There is also likely to be more mechanisms to allow feedback from the lower order to the top of the management order.
The second dimension in the Uncertainty Avoidance and this refers to the extent to which a culture feels threatened by uncertain situations and then tries to avoid them by establishing more structure. In the United Kingdom we can see that cultures with low Uncertainty Avoidance Index tend to have reached the level of modernization and have more stable or predictable in their rate of change.
The third dimesion is the Individualism-Collectivism that describes the degree to which a culture depends on and has allegiance to the self or the group. One of the main predictors here is economic development. Is surprising to know that cultures in colder climate are more individualistic and the warmer climate more collectivistic. In order to this the United Kingdom is an individualistic culture and it tends to do not perceive a large psychological distance between in-group and out- group members. They value self-expression, see speaking out as a means of resolving problems, and are likely to use confrontational strategies when dealing with interpersonal problems.
The last dimension is Masculinity-Feminity and It basically refers to expected gender roles in a culture. Is important to have into account here that climate is a predictive factor, because masculine cultures tend to live in warmer climate near the equator and feminine cultures are likely to locate in colder climates away from the equator, that’s why we see that members of high Masculine cultures believe that men should be assertive and women should be nurturing. In United kingdom this do not happen very offen, but there is still some low degree of this.
In conclusion we can see how Hofstede’s theories help us understand some of cultural behaviour in United Kingdom, but also is important to have into account that often the development of a country depends on these and other factors such as level of education of its population which may be just as indicative of why differences between work cultures exist.
Biliography
- Hofstede, (1991), Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind, McGraw-Hill, London
- Hofstede, (2004), Cultural Dimensions Explained: http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_india.shtml
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