Chapter 3

Sam Hunter

3-1 Culture around the world

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• Culture matters for international business meetings. This is because people might have to act a certain way in order to agree better with a certain culture and subcultures
• Cultural differences like meanings of colors, numbers, etc. could force a company to change its advertising to not offend people and gain customers by appealing to their culture

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• Subcultures are also very important to know. It could result in companies decreasing its target audience to try and appeal to more specific people. Cultural baggage can change between the members of a culture and if they originally were apart of a different culture, advertisement might not offend one person in a location, but another person might be offended

3-2 Culture and social organizations

Family relationships

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• Describe how family relationships can affect culture
• Explain the role of societal influences on culture

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3-2 Culture and social organizations

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In most western countries, people do not find it strange to work with other people that are not related to them. In Asia, a cultural difference is that many businesses are owned by one family or a company employs many members of the same family. So people cannot assume what a workforce is internationally and results in changes in culture.

In most countries, education, gender, and class brings assumptions towards who can accomplish something

In some countries these ideas aren’t taken as serious than others, one can learn more, be undefined for gender, change work location, and change class. But not all the time is that the case

Gender may determine that a female is not strong enough for certain work, some countries see a college education more valuable than others, in some cases a person may be locked to their certain area, and a person from a lower class may remain in poverty for their life.

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3-3 Communication across cultures

Language differences

Learning a second language

• Understand the importance of knowing another language for global business success
• Compare direct and indirect communication
• Describe the influence of nonverbal communication

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3-3 Communication across cultures

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It is not necessary to learn another language to do business internationally, but useful.

Learning a language shows commitment to your business associates and respectful of their culture.

Knowing a language fluently will also help someone effectively communicate in business interactions. It will help someone speak clearly and directly, and also understand their culture through language.

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Nonverbal communication is just as important as spoken words in most cultures.

How someone can speak about their confidence, will show based off of body language

Appearance, eye contact, touching, personal space, numbers, emblems, and smells are all factors of non-verbal communications.

In some cultures one may keep personal space and prevent from touching a potential business partner, not use unlucky numbers in advertizing, and they may only use specific emblems when expanding to a new culture.

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3-4 values around the world

Values vary among cultures

Adjusting to cultural differences

• Identify and Explain five values that vary from culture to culture
• Describe the two major reactions to cultural differences

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3-4 values around the world

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1. The value of someone often varies between countries. Some countries may value someone greatly and trust them to handle certain tasks on their own and have an independent life. Some cultures believe that the best work can only be accomplished when people join together.
2. Technology is also an important. Some countries such as China might restrict content on the internet, while other countries or subcultures may fully resist technology because it is against spiritual beliefs. Other countries believe technology brings companies certain abilities to connect individuals.
3. Leadership also varies between cultures. In more democratic cultures like the US, power is split up between government branches and most of the population can have a say in the authority of the country. In other countries even protesting is thought of as a threat to the government, and subcultures have little to no say in the leadership of their respective countries.

4. Respecting the vastly different religions is important. In some countries this may mean changing a company’s image to fit into a specific religion. If multiple religions exist in a country, a company must be sure to directly appeal towards every religion, but also to not offend any of them.
5. Time is also important to understand interaction with a new country or culture. In more developed countries, specific appointment times must be set. In others, time is less valuable and instead time is defined more simple.

A very common reaction to a new culture is to be surprised by their standards. This can vary very differently. A different culture can be accepted after one has first adapted to a new culture’s beliefs.

Depending on the amount of time in a new culture, when returning to a more familiar one, someone may experience a certain amount of reverse culture shock. Similar to how they felt when in a new culture, this feeling can be strange but improves with time.

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vocab

Culture - system of learned, shared, unifying, and interrelated beliefs, values, and assumptions

Subculture - subset of a larger culture

Cultural baggage - idea that you carry your beliefs, values, and assumptions with you at all times

Nuclear family - group that consists of a parent or parents and unmarried children living together

Extended family - group that consists of the parents, children, and other relatives living together

Class system - means of dividing the members of a cultural group into various levels

Contexting - refers to how direct or indirect communication is

Nonverbal communication - communication that does not involve the use of words

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Vocab cont.

Body language - refers to the meaning conveyed by facial expressions, upper and lower body movements, and gestures

Individualism - the belief in the individual and her or his ability to function relatively independently

Collectivism - the belief that the group is more important than the individual

Ethnocentrism - the belief that one’s culture is better than other cultures

Culture Shock - a normal reaction to all the differences of another culture

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