CULTURE Part II Hofstedes Dimensions Globalization and antiglobalization

CULTURE, Part II • Hofstede’s Dimensions • Globalization and anti-globalization • Negotiations • Western vs. Asian culture MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 1

Globalization of Culture • Books by Thomas Friedman – The Lexus and the Olive Tree – The World is Flat • Technology allows easier communication and exchange between people – International media – Internet • Increased trade among nations MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 2

Anti-Globalism • Johny Johansson, In Your Face: How American Marketing Excess Fuels Anti-Americanism – “Three strikes: ” • Strike 1: Anti-marketing • Strike 2: Anti-globalism • Strike 3: Anti-Americanism MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 3

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Based on interviews with • Individualism (vs. IBM executives throughout collectivism) the World--1980 s • Power distance • Masculine vs. feminine • Strong vs. weak uncertainty avoidance • Short vs. long term orientation (Confucianist dynamics) – “The Foolish Old Man Who Moved the Mountain” MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 4

Individualism vs. collectivism • The extent to which – Individuals as opposed to groups are rewarded – It is desirable to “stand out” from others • In collectivism, the unit of responsibility can be (sometimes depending on context) – Work group – Family – Nation, community, or society as a whole MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 5

Power Distance • The extent to which “rank” is important in work and relationships • Rank can be based on – Position – Family/ethnic status – Age • Implications for – Strategy formation – Delegation – Correcting mistakes MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 6

“Masculine” vs. “Feminine” • “Masculine” values: Dominating environment, “conquering” nature, “progress” – E. g. , damming, tunnels, land development, land reclamation • “Feminine” values: Harmony, preserving environment – E. g. , environmental impact, working around nature MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 7

Uncertainty Avoidance • Low uncertainty avoidance – Willingness to • Take risks – Investments – Social situations – Consider new ideas • High uncertainty avoidance – Reliance on authority for decision making MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 8

Long vs. short term orientation • Not included in Hofstede’s original work • Complications—is U. S. shortsighted? – Short term financial performance – Investment in new technologies; firms with high price/earnings ratios • Net present value (NPV) analysis/discounted cash flows • Economic structure – Accountability to stockholders; disclosure of information MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 9

Characteristics of Culture • Comprehensive • Acquired (learned) • Manifested in boundaries of acceptable thought and behavior-norms and sanctions • Conscious awareness limited (frequently taken for granted) • Dynamic vs. static MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 10

Homogeneity of Culture—Some Dimensions • • Linguistic Religious Ethnic Climatic Geographic Institutional/political Social/income Source: Usinier and Lee, 2005 MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 11

Issues in Negotiation • Non-verbal messages • What the other side is likely to hear (or fail to “hear”) • Background of individual – Within the given society (ethnic issues) – Within the company – Within the negotiating group • Timing of concessions MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 12

Negotiation Content • • Non-task sounding Task-related exchange of information Persuasion Concessions and agreements MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 13

Eastern vs. Western Culture • Differences in – Values – Perceptions of • Objects • Reality – Stability vs. change – Control – Perceived roles MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 14

Time Issues in Culture • Time as tangible, valuable commodity – “Time is money” vs. – Traditional means of relations • Monochronic vs. polychronic approach to combining events • Eating times – – MKT 769 Regularity vs. flexibility Social purpose Meal purpose and content Distribution of food consumption across the day CULTURE, Part II • Life as “single continuous event” vs. a series of repeating cycles – Impact of religion, attachment to nature’s cycles • Preferred temporal orientation – Past – Present – Future Lars Perner, Instructor 15

Relating to Outsiders • Perceptions of outsiders—may be seen as – – “barbarian” “lazy” “backward” “inefficient” vs. “uncultured” – profane (relative to in-group’s religion) • Tendency to perceive “outgroups” as more homogeneous than one’s own group— the Sherif Boys’ Camp studies • Locus of in-group —may depend on context Source: Usinier and Lee, 2005 MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 16

Cultural “borrowing” • Adoption of elements from other cultures—e. g. , – Language and writing systems – Products (e. g. , jeans, pizza) • Adjustments/adaptations • Hidden process; origin may be unknown to contemporary members of the culture Source: Usinier and Lee, 2005 MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 17

Some Examples of Borrowing • Japanese writing system (sound and concept pictorals) —adapted with difficulty from Chinese (concept only pictorals) • Arabic numeral system and mathematics MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II • English language words from – Latin – Arabic – Germanic and Nordic languages • Major world religions Lars Perner, Instructor 18

Perceived Control Over Reality • World is not generally seen as predictable – Trends are not expected to continue • Individual has little control over the world • BUT – Outcome is believed to be tied to effort, not individual skill MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 19

Some Tendencies Issue Western Culture Eastern Culture Focus of attention Objects Environment Composition of the World Objects Substances Controllability of environment More perceived control Less perceived control Perceived stability More stable More change Organization of the world Categories Relationships Reasoning Formal logic Less use of formal logic Resolution of disagreement Dialectic “Middle way” Source: Richard E. Nisbett, The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently … and Why, New York, 2003, The Free Press MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 20

More Tendencies • Westeners tend to rate themselves – More unique than average and what they are – “Above average” in ability • Easteners tend to rate themselves – Less unique than they really are – “Below average” MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 21

Parenting • Western – Child given choices – In play, parent asks questions about objects • Eastern – Choices made for the child – Child reared to stay with mother most of the time – Parent asks questions about feelings – Feelings in disciplinary talks • “The farmer feels bad that you did not eat everything…” • “The toy is crying because you threw it. ” MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 22

Teaching Language to Children • Emphasis is on verbs, not on – Nouns – Adjectives, adverbs (except if related to emotions) MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 23

Categorization • Tendency to group into categories based on members that go together (e. g. , monkey/banana rather than monkey/panda) MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 24

Proverbs • Western: “The early bird gets the worm” • Eastern: – “The first bird in the flock gets shot” – “A nail that stands out will be hammered down. ” MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 25

Values Source: Richard E. Nisbett, The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westeners Think Differently … and Why, New York, 2003, The Free Press Issue Western Value Eastern Value Distinctiveness of people Want to be distinctive Not valued; emphasis on tie to group Perceived control Significant; values determine choices Modest—societal values are already established Emphasis Success and achievement; relationships may get in the way Best outcome for relevant group (e. g. , family, work group) Self-esteem Strive to feel good; assurances wanted Tied to belonging with group Relationships Equality or superior position Clearly defined; hierarchical Rules Same rules apply to all Depend on context and relationship MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 26

Some implications • Thanking people—for things they are clearly supposed to do? • Why the need for a choice between 40 different brands of cereal? MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 27

Socialization • Western textbook: “See Dick run. See Dick play. See Dick run and play. ” • Chinese: “Big brother takes care of little brother. Big brother loves little brother. Little brother loves big brother. ” MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 28

Perception of People • Western: People have characteristics independent of the situation – Fundamental attribution error: People attribute their own behavior to the circumstances but that of others to innate characteristics. • Eastern: Person is connected; behavior is the result of specific roles played at the time MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 29

Contrasting Advertising Perspectives (Aithison 2002) • Western • Asian – “Atomistic”—broken down to smallest component parts – “Unique selling propositions” – “How to” – Positioning – May be “dull and boring” – “Copy focused” MKT 769 – Holistic – “Everything relates to everything else” – How things “fit together” and “relate” – Visual and oral Jim Aitchison, How Asia Advertises, New York: Wiley, 2002. CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 30

Advertising Content Comparisons • American: – Individual benefit and pleasure (e. g. , “Make your way through the crowd) • Korean – Collective values (e. g. , “We have a way of bringing people together) MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 31

“Priming” and learning in a culture • U. S. professor in Hong Kong started letter apologizing for his unworthiness for the job • U. S. manager left room so that an employee could “snoop” on unfavorable report MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 32

Debate and Conflict • “The first person to raise his voice has lost the argument. ” (Chinese proverb) • Use of indirection and projection • Face-to-face vs. anonymous comments • Western adversarial “rule of law” based on consistent universal ideals vs. solution for the case at hand in context 33 MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor

Resolving Disputes • Not based on – Universal principles – Formal logic (not because of inability but because this is not a “mature way” to resolve disputes) • Emphasis on – Compromise – Discouragement of bringing about conflict • Inherent belief that “contradicting” statements can each have some truth (attraction to paradoxes) MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 34

Relationships, Education, and Work • Western – – Standing out; being “better” Self perceived favorably Self-esteem building Work longer on successful job • Eastern – Harmony – Must “weed out” personal characteristics that might annoy others – Taught self-criticism – Not recognized in profession until after many years of practice – Work longer on unsuccessful job MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 35

Chinese Involvement in Product Selection • Low for products consumed individually in private—emphasis on price and quality • Higher for products consumed in public setting—social significance becomes more important—e. g. , – Status – Harmony with others MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 36

Mexican vs. U. S. culture • Cautions – Mexico is a large, heterogeneous country – “Urban” areas vs. indigenous cultures – Large regional variations – Some differences based on income and lifestyle – Some impact of religion MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 37

Mexican Culture: General Issues • • • High power distance Strong uncertainty avoidance Tendency toward “theoretical” education Strong patriotism Relatively formal etiquette Strong emphasis on family – Extended family – Strong family emphasis within private life – Relatives may be favored for jobs/business MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 38

Wealth, Positions, Power, and Privileges • “He can’t be the owner; he works there!” • Emphasis on titles—e. g. , licenciado/licenciada • Titles may be part of address • Importance of connections – U. S. : “Networking” – Mexico: Greater emphasis on family and social class connections • Manager/subordinate relationships: – Less question of “why” directions are given MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 39

Time and Planning • Balance of reality and stereotypes • Often less of a feel of urgency • Speech may be less clear on timing (e. g. , “I did” vs. “I am going to”) • Keeping customer waiting may not be recognized as inconvenience—but… • Planning may be limited due to changing environment (e. g. , laws) MKT 769 CULTURE, Part II Lars Perner, Instructor 40