...In order to be successful in international business one must be knowledgeable in other cultures. This includes knowing cultural beliefs: a set of learned interpretations that form the basis for cultural members to decide what is and what is not logical and correct. Cultural values which is what a culture regards as good or bad, right or wrong, valuable or worthless, appropriate or inappropriate, etc. Cultural norms consist of things such as greeting behaviors, what is considered good manners, and how to gain someone’s attention. And social practices tie it all together, because it is the outward manifestation of beliefs, values and norms; consisting of the typical behavior patterns that individuals of a specific culture follow (Intercultural Communication, n.d.). Italy is an Italian speaking country in south central Europe, it is beautiful not only for its landscape but for its history and culture. Rome has been religious and political center of western civilization as the capital of the Roman Empire. Italy is dubbed as the world’s “living art gallery” because you are always surrounded by magnificent pieces of art. Sculptures and paintings from some of the most brilliant artists in history were made and are found in Italy (World Explorer). Ninety percent of the population in Italy is Roman Catholic; therefore most of the cultural in Italy is based around the Church and the love for art. This could make it very difficult for another culture to feel comfortable in Italy and be able...
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...1. Introduction Over the last decades globalisation has led to diversification of workplaces within businesses. Today, international managers cooperate with business partners inheriting different national cultures. National culture can be defined as “historically evolved values, attitudes and meanings that are learned and shared by the members of a community and which influence their [...] way of life” (Tayeb, 2003, p.10). Hence, the crux for every international manager is to understand the differences in the ways employees, suppliers and clients think, feel and act in different business settings (Hofstede, 1997, p.4). International managers, being capable of managing this challenge, possess a set of intercultural competencies, allowing them to turn cultural diversity into a competitive advantage (Browaeys and Price, 2008, p.215). This information pack provides substantial information about Danish and Brazilian business practices. The subsequent analysis is based upon the theories of the Dutch anthropologists Geert Hofstede and Fons Trompenaars. In particular, Hofstede’s “Uncertainty Avoidance” and Trompenaars’ “Ascription vs. Achievement” have been applied. 2. Theoretical Background Hofstede and Trompenaar are proponents of the ‘etic’ approach. They hold that culture is linked to people’s values. Furthermore they argue that these values can be transferred into universal cultural characteristics. Underpinned by empirical and experimental evidence, both anthropologists...
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...where knowledge is our most valuable assets. The rapid technological development that have enabled this information age is also affecting the pace at which change is happening in the world. The pace of change is rapidly increasing and in order for organizations to be successful they need to keep up with this pace (Schwarz & Brock, 1998). In a recent business leader review with more than 400 senior executives around the world, forty-one percentages believed that new players from emerging markets will be the main development that will have impact on the business over the coming five years (Accenture, 2010). Their conclusion is understandable, as there have been a big change in the economic power ranking during the last 20 years. The BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries economy has...
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...Diller (2011), culture is viewed as a lens through which life is perceived (Diller, 2011, p. 5). A child’s first lesson in culture usually comes from the teachings of their parents. Swick (1986) points out that it is in the performance of various roles that parents introduce children to the basics of their culture (Swick, 1986, p. 72). Children also get to learn about culture through watching their parent’s behavior in various situations. Parents are usually the first people who a child can learn about their culture from and once they start school, their teachers also take on this role as well. Thomas (1998) said that within a family, culture can define boundaries, expectations, rules for interactions, ways of defining problems, communication patterns and specific coping skills (as cited in Crippen & Brew, 2007, p. 107). Culture plays a big role in the lives of children because it dictates how these children will do things in their everyday...
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...Fachhoschule Frankfurt International Business Administration Cultural Diversity Professor: Hans Hahn Summer Semester 2014 Cultural Dimensions of Geert Hofstede: Analysis of Colombia 10.06.2014 Soraya A. Suarez I. Register Number: 969800 Darmstädter Landstr. 64 60598 Frankfurt Tel: 0176- 708 59654 E-mail: sorayasuarez@gmail.com Cultural Dimensions of Geert Hofstede: Analysis of Colombia 2 Content 1. Introduction............................................2 2. Culture.................................................3 3. Colombia................................................5 4. Cultural Models and Cultural Dimensions.................9 4.1 Geert Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions.................9 4.1.1. Power Distance Index...........................10 4.1.2. Uncertainty Avoidance..........................12 4.1.3. Individualism vs. Collectivism.................13 4.1.4. Masculinity vs. Femininity.....................15 4.1.5. Long vs. Short-term Orientation................16 4.1.6. Indulgence vs. Restraint.......................17 5. Conclusion.............................................20 6. References.............................................21 Table of Figures Colombia Facts & Figures...................................6 Colombia Location, Flag and Coat of Arms...................8 Colombian Population According to Ethnocultural Identity..11 Colombian Culture through the 6-D Model...................13 Cultural Dimensions of Geert Hofstede: Analysis of...
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...MANAGING CHANGE WITH AN INTERCULTURAL TEAM Master’s (one year) thesis in Informatics (15 credits) Lee Wennerström 2012MAGI11 I Title: Managing change with an intercultural team Publishing year: 2013 Author: Lee Wennerström Supervisor: Anders Hjalmarsson Abstract: The study explores the subjects of organizational change and management of intercultural teams. The goal of the study is to spread knowledge about how an intercultural team should be managed in order to assure the best possible success of an organizational change initiative. It has long been recognized that organizations constantly need to change in order to stay competitive. At the same time it has also been recognized that organizations today operate on the global arena with operations spread to many different parts of the world. It is thus important to understand how an intercultural team should be managed in order to assure the success of an organizational change initiative. The aim of this study has been to provide information and guidelines that may be used by academia as well as professionals to better understand how to manage an intercultural team that conducts an organizational change. A total of six different guidelines have been presented in this research - each one important in assuring an effective teamwork and a successful organizational change. The study has been conducted using a qualitative research approach and the method used for gathering data has been interviews as well as literature studies...
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...MANAGING CULTURAL DIFFERENCES SIXTHEDITION MANAGING CULTURAL DIFFERENCES SERIES Managing Cultural Differences: Global Leadership Strategies for the 21 st Century, Sixth Edition Philip R. Harris, Ph.D., Robert T. Moran, Ph.D., Sarah V. Moran, M.A. Managing Cultural Diversity in Technical Professions Lionel Laroche, Ph.D Uniting North American Business—NAFTA Best Practices Jeffrey D. Abbot and Robert T. Moran, Ph.D. Eurodiversity: A Business Guide to Managing Differences George Simons, D.M. Global Strategic Planning: Cultural Perspectives for Profit and Non-Profit Organizations Marios I. Katsioulodes Ph.D. Competing Globally: Mastering Cross-Cultural Management and Negotiations Farid Elashmawi, Ph.D. Succeeding in Business in Eastern and Central Europe—A Guide to Cultures, Markets, and Practices Woodrow H. Sears, Ed.D. and Audrone Tamulionyte-Lentz, M.S. Intercultural Services: A Worldwide Buyer’s Guide and Sourcebook Gary M. Wederspahn, M.A. SIXTH EDITION MANAGING CULTURAL DIFFERENCES GLOBAL LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES ST FOR THE 21 CENTURY 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION PHILIP R. HARRIS, PH.D. ROBERT T. MORAN, PH.D. SARAH V. MORAN, M.A. JUDITH SOCCORSY Editorial Coordinator Elsevier Butterworth–Heinemann 200 Wheeler Road, Burlington, MA 01803, USA Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP, UK Copyright © 2004, Philip R. Harris, Robert T. Moran, Sarah V. Moran. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a...
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...life and approach. If we wish to convince them, we have to use their language as far as we can, not language in the narrow sense of the word, but the language of the mind. That is one necessity. Something that goes even much further than that is not the appeal to logic and reason, but some kind of emotional awareness of other people. ... Jawaharlal Nehru, Visit to America All international business activity involves communication. Within the international and global business environment, activities such as exchanging information and ideas, decision making, negotiating, motivating, and leading are all based on the ability of managers from one culture to communicate successfully with managers and employees from other cultures. Achieving effective communication is a challenge to managers worldwide even when the workforce is culturally homogeneous, but when one company includes a variety of languages and cultural backgrounds, effective two-way communication becomes even more difficult (16:1; 10:3-5, 121-128). CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION Communication is...
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...CROSS-CULTURAL/INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION Photo by: Yuri Arcurs Business is not conducted in an identical fashion from culture to culture. Consequently, business relations are enhanced when managerial, sales, and technical personnel are trained to be aware of areas likely to create communication difficulties and conflict across cultures. Similarly, international communication is even further strengthened when businesspeople can anticipate areas of commonality. Finally, business in general is enhanced when people from different cultures find new approaches to old problems creating solutions by combining cultural perspectives and examining the problem at hand from each other's differing cultural perspectives. ETHNOCENTRISM Problems in business communication conducted across cultures often arise when participants from one culture are unable to understand culturally determined differences in communication practices, traditions, and thought processing. At the most fundamental level, problems may occur when one or more of the people involved clings to an ethnocentric view of how to conduct business. Ethnocentrism is the belief that one's own cultural group is somehow innately superior to others. 1 It is easy to say that ethnocentrism only affects the bigoted or those ignorant of other cultures, and so is unlikely to be a major factor in one's own business communication. Yet difficulties due to a misunderstanding of elements in cross-cultural communication may affect even enlightened...
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...Introduction With the initiation of global economy comes an increased interaction between people of different countries and an increase in the need to deal with cultural differences. Thus, there must be an understanding of how the international project will affect people and how people will affect the project. This requires an understanding of economic, demographic, educational, ethical, ethnic, religious, and other characteristic of the people for whom the project affects or who have an interest in the project (Egeland, 2011). Today’s projects have dramatically increased in complexity, which requires a culturally and functionally diverse mix of individuals who must be assimilated into an effective unit – a project team. In order for the project to succeed it will be predicated upon the effectiveness of teamwork during all phases of the project life cycle (Knutson, J, 2001). Therefore, it is critical that organizations involved in international projects take into consideration “cultural risk”, which, if not consciously recognized may lead to ineffectiveness and in some cases prove to be very costly (Sennara & Hartman, 2002). Therefore, it must be understood that the most crucial element in international projects is “culture” (PM Hut, 2012). What is Culture? “Culture” refers to a way of life for a group or community that practices and shares values and common experiences that shapes the way in which the group or community understands the world. These values and practices...
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...Cross-Cultural Communication Theory and Practice Barry Tomalin; Brian J. Hurn ISBN: 9780230391147 DOI: 10.1057/9780230391147 Palgrave Macmillan Please respect intellectual property rights This material is copyright and its use is restricted by our standard site license terms and conditions (see palgraveconnect.com/pc/connect/info/terms_conditions.html). If you plan to copy, distribute or share in any format, including, for the avoidance of doubt, posting on websites, you need the express prior permission of Palgrave Macmillan. To request permission please contact rights@palgrave.com. Cross-Cultural Communication 10.1057/9780230391147 - Cross-Cultural Communication, Brian J. Hurn and Barry Tomalin Copyright material from www.palgraveconnect.com - licensed to Griffith University - PalgraveConnect - 2014-04-12 This page intentionally left blank 10.1057/9780230391147 - Cross-Cultural Communication, Brian J. Hurn and Barry Tomalin Copyright material from www.palgraveconnect.com - licensed to Griffith University - PalgraveConnect - 2014-04-12 Cross-Cultural Communication Theory and Practice Brian J. Hurn and Barry Tomalin Copyright material from www.palgraveconnect.com - licensed to Griffith University - PalgraveConnect - 2014-04-12 10.1057/9780230391147 - Cross-Cultural Communication, Brian J. Hurn and Barry Tomalin © Brian J. Hurn and Barry Tomalin 2013 Foreword © Jack Spence 2013 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this...
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...College of Distance Education NAVAL WAR COLLEGE Newport, R.I. IT’S ABOUT TIME THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE IMPLEMENTED MANDATORY FOREIGN LANGUAGE TRAINING FOR ALL MEMBERS By Samuel W. Bettwy Lieutenant Colonel, Judge Advocate, U.S. Army Reserve A paper submitted to the Faculty of the Naval War College in partial satisfaction of the requirements of the Department of Joint Military Operations. The contents of this paper reflect my own personal views and are not necessarily endorsed by the Naval War College or the Department of the Navy. Signature: s/ Samuel W. Bettwy 28 January 2013 _______________________________ John F. Sussilleaux, Professor INTRODUCTION It is generally recognized that future U.S. military operations will be multinational. As the Naval War College instructs: “There is no reason to believe American military forces will ever undertake a major operation alone without some other nations participating.”[i] As the Army states in its field manual on Training for Full Spectrum Operations, leaders must prepare to operate at the tactical level in operations involving multinational forces.[ii] And as Joint Publication 3-16 states, “US forces cannot assume that the predominant language will automatically be English”[iii] in coalition operations. Recognizing that multinational operations are the inevitable way of the future, the Department of Defense (DOD) acknowledges...
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...International Management, 7e (Deresky) Chapter 3: Understanding the Role of Culture 1) International firms like Starbucks and McDonald's most likely modify their business practices in Saudi Arabia because of . A) prevalent religious customs and beliefs B) poor international business relationships C) low demand for American products D) tight restrictions on foreign trade Answer: A Diff: 3 Page Ref: 91 Chapter: 3 Skill: Concept AACSB: Multicultural and Diversity 2) Women in Saudi Arabia are permitted to work alongside men as . A) lawyers B) architects C) engineers D) doctors Answer: D Diff: 2 Page Ref: 91 Chapter: 3 Skill: Concept AACSB: Multicultural and Diversity 3) All of the following statements about women in Saudi Arabia are true EXCEPT that they are . A) allowed to earn a college degree B) restricted from owning businesses C) allowed to buy designer clothing D) restricted from driving cars Answer: B Diff: 3 Page Ref: 91-92 Chapter: 3 Skill: Concept AACSB: Multicultural and Diversity 4) What is the primary reason that high-end department stores operate in Saudi Arabia given the country's dress restrictions? A) Dress restrictions only apply to certain regions of Saudi Arabia. B) Women wear designer clothes for public functions when abayas are not required. C) Wealthy men and women in Saudi Arabia are interested in the latest fashion trends. D) Saudi Arabia draws travelers from Europe who want the latest designer...
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...Licensed to: iChapters User Licensed to: iChapters User 6e FIFTH EDITION COMMUNICATION in Our Lives LINEBERGER DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF HUMANITIES CAROLINE H. AND THOMAS S. ROYSTER DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF GRADUATE EDUCATION THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL Australia . Brazil . C anada . M exico . Singap ore . Spain . Uniited Kingdom . United States Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: iChapters User This is an electronic version of the print textbook. Due to electronic rights restrictions, some third party content may be suppressed. Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. The publisher reserves the right to remove content from this title at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. For valuable information on pricing, previous editions, changes to current editions, and alternate formats, please visit www.cengage.com/highered to search by ISBN#, author, title, or keyword for materials in your areas of interest. ...
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...The Handbook of Negotiation and Culture Michele J. Gelfand Jeanne M. Brett Editors STANFORD BUSINESS BOOKS The Handbook of Negotiation and Culture The Handbook of Negotiation and Culture Edited by miche le j. ge lfand and jeanne m. brett Stanford Business Books An imprint of Stanford University Press Stanford, California 2004 C Stanford University Press Stanford, California C 2004 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford, Jr., University. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of Stanford University Press. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The handbook of negotiation and culture / edited by Michele J. Gelfand and Jeanne M. Brett. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0-8047-4586-2 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Negotiation. 2. Conflict management. 3. Negotiation—Cross-cultural studies. 4. Conflict management—Cross-cultural studies. I. Gelfand, Michele J. II. Brett, Jeanne M. bf637.n4 h365 2004 302.3—dc22 2003025169 Typeset by TechBooks in 10.5/12 Bembo Original printing 2004 Last figure below indicates year of this printing: 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 Contents List of Tables and Figures Foreword Preface xi xv ix ...
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