INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT MANAGING
ACROSS BORDERS AND CULTURES 2026 FINAL
PAPER REVIEW QUESTIONS ANSWERS
BUNDLED PRACTICE COLLECTION
◉ Structuralism.
Answer: 1950- (FR/US) Decolonization
(Levi-Strauss, Leach): emphasis on unconscious deep-structure of
myths (textual/ belief systems), etic, strong relativism, roots in
psycho-analysis & linguistics (Freud, Lacan)
◉ Postmodernism.
Answer: 1970- (US/EU) Decolonization
(Geertz, Derrida): interpretive, focus on texts, ethnography as text
(dethronement of the ethnographer), tension between researcher
and researched, strongly emic and relativistic
◉ Organizational Culture.
Answer: 1990- (US/EU) Globalization (neo-imperialism) : focus on
organizational cultures in a globalizing world, managing diversity
Organizational culture reflects the norms, values and approved
behaviors of particular companies, divisions or departments within
,organizations. The organizational culture can accept or reject the
national culture's values and norms
◉ Ruth Benedict.
Answer: Assigned to the study of Japanese culture for the Pentagon
during WW II
No opportunity for fieldwork
How to understand (fight) this alien culture that seemed to be both
aggressive and temperate, militaristic and aesthetic, brutal and
polite, rigid and flexible?
Probably 'saved' the empirical structure of Japanese society
(In)famous for her distinction of guilt and shame cultures (were
shame cultures 'inferior'?)
◉ Guilt and Shame Cultures.
Answer: Guilt and shame as instruments of social control exist in all
cultures but will receive different emphasis
◉ Shame.
Answer: Linked to pre-oedipal stage of infant development (ego-
ideal) - bonding with the group, social harmony
(collectivism)
Public disgrace
Fear of abandonment
,Related to personal identity (incompetence)
◉ Guilt.
Answer: Linked to oedipal stage of infant development (super-ego) -
separation from the group, independence
(individualism)
Internal conscience
Fear of punishment
Related to individual action (transgression of norms)
◉ Guilt Cultures.
Answer: Tend to:
View children as dependent creatures that need to acquire
autonomy
Provide separate sleeping arrangements for infants very early (after
6 weeks)
May spank, ground or deny privileges to bring kids in line
View competitiveness as "standing out" or being "ahead" of the
crowd
Emphasize moral rules as absolute (to avoid inherent evil in people's
impulses; sin)
◉ Shame Cultures Tend to:.
, Answer: View children as separate creatures that need to be
provided a place in the group
Share sleeping accommodation until sexual maturity (until appr. 12
years of age)
May use ostracism and 'denial' of children's existence to bring them
in line
View competitiveness as "keeping up" with the group, not "staying
behind"
Emphasize moral rules as situational (in which proper behavior
depends on who you're dealing with)
◉ Emic Insight.
Answer: the unconscious culture
studying or describing a particular language or culture in terms of
its internal elements and their functioning rather than in terms of
any existing external scheme.
of, relating to, or involving analysis of cultural phenomena from the
perspective of one who participates in the culture being studied —
compare etic
◉ Evans-Pritchard and the Nuer.
ACROSS BORDERS AND CULTURES 2026 FINAL
PAPER REVIEW QUESTIONS ANSWERS
BUNDLED PRACTICE COLLECTION
◉ Structuralism.
Answer: 1950- (FR/US) Decolonization
(Levi-Strauss, Leach): emphasis on unconscious deep-structure of
myths (textual/ belief systems), etic, strong relativism, roots in
psycho-analysis & linguistics (Freud, Lacan)
◉ Postmodernism.
Answer: 1970- (US/EU) Decolonization
(Geertz, Derrida): interpretive, focus on texts, ethnography as text
(dethronement of the ethnographer), tension between researcher
and researched, strongly emic and relativistic
◉ Organizational Culture.
Answer: 1990- (US/EU) Globalization (neo-imperialism) : focus on
organizational cultures in a globalizing world, managing diversity
Organizational culture reflects the norms, values and approved
behaviors of particular companies, divisions or departments within
,organizations. The organizational culture can accept or reject the
national culture's values and norms
◉ Ruth Benedict.
Answer: Assigned to the study of Japanese culture for the Pentagon
during WW II
No opportunity for fieldwork
How to understand (fight) this alien culture that seemed to be both
aggressive and temperate, militaristic and aesthetic, brutal and
polite, rigid and flexible?
Probably 'saved' the empirical structure of Japanese society
(In)famous for her distinction of guilt and shame cultures (were
shame cultures 'inferior'?)
◉ Guilt and Shame Cultures.
Answer: Guilt and shame as instruments of social control exist in all
cultures but will receive different emphasis
◉ Shame.
Answer: Linked to pre-oedipal stage of infant development (ego-
ideal) - bonding with the group, social harmony
(collectivism)
Public disgrace
Fear of abandonment
,Related to personal identity (incompetence)
◉ Guilt.
Answer: Linked to oedipal stage of infant development (super-ego) -
separation from the group, independence
(individualism)
Internal conscience
Fear of punishment
Related to individual action (transgression of norms)
◉ Guilt Cultures.
Answer: Tend to:
View children as dependent creatures that need to acquire
autonomy
Provide separate sleeping arrangements for infants very early (after
6 weeks)
May spank, ground or deny privileges to bring kids in line
View competitiveness as "standing out" or being "ahead" of the
crowd
Emphasize moral rules as absolute (to avoid inherent evil in people's
impulses; sin)
◉ Shame Cultures Tend to:.
, Answer: View children as separate creatures that need to be
provided a place in the group
Share sleeping accommodation until sexual maturity (until appr. 12
years of age)
May use ostracism and 'denial' of children's existence to bring them
in line
View competitiveness as "keeping up" with the group, not "staying
behind"
Emphasize moral rules as situational (in which proper behavior
depends on who you're dealing with)
◉ Emic Insight.
Answer: the unconscious culture
studying or describing a particular language or culture in terms of
its internal elements and their functioning rather than in terms of
any existing external scheme.
of, relating to, or involving analysis of cultural phenomena from the
perspective of one who participates in the culture being studied —
compare etic
◉ Evans-Pritchard and the Nuer.
