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Management an Introduction
Chapter 4 – Managing Internationally 4.1, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.
International management is the practice of managing business operations in more than one country
Socio-cultural context
Humans share common biological features those in particular society, nation or religion develop a distinct culture. Culture is distinct from human nature and individual’s personality.
Cultural diversity and evolution
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) Diversity of cultures between human societies has evolved from common ancestors. Societies adapt to their environment, experience military or religious conquest, or explot scientific discoveries. Nations develop distinct institutions that account for differences in behaviour between countries.
High-context and low-context cultures
Hall (1976) High-context cultures – Information is implicit and can only be fully understood by those with shared experiences in the culture. Low-context cultures – People being more psychologically distant so that information needs to be explicit if members are to understand it.
Hofstede’s comparison of national cultures Hofstede saw culture as a collective programming of people’s minds, which influences how they react to events in the workplace. He identified different dimensions of culture.
Power distance
…extent to which the less powerful members of organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unevenly.
Uncertainty avoidance
…extent to which members of a culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations
Individualism/collectivism
Individualism – Societies in which the ties between individuals are loose. Collectivism – Societies in which people, are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups that protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.
Masculinity/femininity
Masculinity – Societies in which social gender roles are clearly distinct: Men are supposed to be assertive, tough and focussed on material success Women are supposed to be modest, tender and concerned with the quality of life Femininity – Societies in which social gender roles overlap
Integrating the dimensions
Dimensions describe the overall culture of society, and each culture is unique. They do have differences though, and can fall into particular cultural clusters.
