Notes International Business
WEEK 1:
Definition of a culture:
A set of implicit agreements, ideas, customs and behaviors within a
specific group of people.
Meaning culture according to Hofstede:
“The programming of the human mind by which one group of people
distinguishes itself from another group” It is a shared collective
phenomenon.
National culture
- In most publications in the field of intercultural communication.
Culture, is equal to national culture (the culture of a country)
Cultural Blindness:
When we are unable to see specifics of another culture and we’re biased
by seeing the world based on our own culture.
- Companies fail when they go international because they want to
copy and paste a successful brand without taking the other cultures
into consideration.
Intercultural problems were overlooked:
- It was assumed that in international business everything would go
mainly the American way.
What happens if someone is intercultural unprepared?
- Emotional distress
- The company may lose millions
- For expatriates at least 1/10 comes back home early because of
failure
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis:
Language influences worldview or cognition (thought), also called linguistic
relativity.
, - The native language we use shapes the way in which we view and
categorize the world.
Legitimate reasons for a company to move abroad:
It can help the company to gain access to new markets or resources.
Cultures overlapping
- Many authors warn against the error of always assuming that the
characteristics of a group(culture) is te same as every individual of
that group.
- The culture one belongs to defines the human being ( not always of
course but overall)
- If I was born in Uganda and grown up there and in Japan and the USA
my values and behaviour would be different than when I was born
and raised in Japan only
The relationship between values and practices
- Hofstede’s Onion model suggests that the core of a culture are it’s
values.
- Values are expressed in behavior / practices.
,
WEEK 1:
Definition of a culture:
A set of implicit agreements, ideas, customs and behaviors within a
specific group of people.
Meaning culture according to Hofstede:
“The programming of the human mind by which one group of people
distinguishes itself from another group” It is a shared collective
phenomenon.
National culture
- In most publications in the field of intercultural communication.
Culture, is equal to national culture (the culture of a country)
Cultural Blindness:
When we are unable to see specifics of another culture and we’re biased
by seeing the world based on our own culture.
- Companies fail when they go international because they want to
copy and paste a successful brand without taking the other cultures
into consideration.
Intercultural problems were overlooked:
- It was assumed that in international business everything would go
mainly the American way.
What happens if someone is intercultural unprepared?
- Emotional distress
- The company may lose millions
- For expatriates at least 1/10 comes back home early because of
failure
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis:
Language influences worldview or cognition (thought), also called linguistic
relativity.
, - The native language we use shapes the way in which we view and
categorize the world.
Legitimate reasons for a company to move abroad:
It can help the company to gain access to new markets or resources.
Cultures overlapping
- Many authors warn against the error of always assuming that the
characteristics of a group(culture) is te same as every individual of
that group.
- The culture one belongs to defines the human being ( not always of
course but overall)
- If I was born in Uganda and grown up there and in Japan and the USA
my values and behaviour would be different than when I was born
and raised in Japan only
The relationship between values and practices
- Hofstede’s Onion model suggests that the core of a culture are it’s
values.
- Values are expressed in behavior / practices.
,
