Hodgetts4 S08

Meaning and Dimensions of
Culture
Chapter 4

Chapter Outline


The nature of culture
 The nature of culture
 Values and folkways
 Comparing cultural values
 Sub-cultures and cultural change
 How culture affects management – see page
95
 How cultures view each other

Chapter Outline (2)
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Cultural dimensions – how people look at life
 Hofstede's dimensions

Country clusters – countries with similar cultural dimensions
 Trompenaar's dimensions

The Nature of Culture
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Culture is the acquired knowledge that people use to interpret experience and generate social behavior
Cultural knowledge forms values, creates attitudes, and influences behavior Not everyone in a culture has exactly the same values.

The Nature of Culture (2)


Characteristics of culture include:
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Learned
Shared
Transgenerational
Symbolic
Patterned
Adaptive

See page 94 for definitions.

Values and Folkways


Culture sets norms (expectations) for behavior 



Values are cultural beliefs about right and wrong. Values have moral significance and are often included in law.
Folkways are customary ways of behaving, with little or no moral significance.
Examples: wedding customs, what to wear to a funeral

Table 4-1: Cultural Values
United
States
1. Freedom
2. Independence
3. Self-reliance
4. Equality
5. Individualism
6. Competition
7. Efficiency
8. Time
9. Directness
10.Openness

Japan
1. Belonging
2. Group harmony 3. Collectivenes s 4. Age/seniority
5. Group consensus 6. Cooperation
7. Quality
8. Patience
9. Indirectness
10. Go-between

Arab
1.Countries
Family security 2. Family harmony 3. Parental guidance 4. Age
5. Authority
6. Compromise
7. Devotion
8. Patience
9. Indirectness
10. Hospitality

Sub-cultures and Cultural
Change
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



Groups within a culture may form a sub-culture that varies in some ways from the national culture.
Cultures can change gradually over time. People who have worked outside their own country or have friends from other cultures may