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Chapter 5: Summary

1. Culture is a complex whole that includes knowledge, beliefs, art,


morals, law, customs etc. acquired by people as members of society.
2. Values and norms are the central components of a culture. Values are
abstract ideals about what a society believes to be good, right and
desirable. Norms are social rules and guidelines that prescribe
appropriate behaviour in particular situations.
3. Values and norms are influenced by political and economic philosophy,
social structure, religion, language and education.
4. Social structure of a society refers to its basic social organisation. 2
main dimensions along which social structures differ are the individual-
group dimension and stratification dimensions.
5. In some societies, individual is the basic building block of social
organisation. These societies emphasise individual achievements
above all else. In other societies, group is the basic building block.
These emphasise group membership and group achievements.
6. All societies are stratified into different classes. Class-conscious
societies are characterised by low social mobility and high degree of
stratification. Less class-conscious societies characterised by high
social mobility and low degree of stratification.
7. Religion a system of shared beliefs and rituals thats concerned with
the realm of the sacred. Ethical systems refer to a set of moral
principles or values that are used to guide and shape behaviour.
a. Major world religions are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and
Buddhism.
b. Confucianism, not a religion, ahs an impact on behaviour as
profound as many religions.
c. Value systems of different religious and ethical system have
different implications for business practise.
8. Language is 1 defining characteristic of a culture. Has spoken and
unspoken dimension. In countries with more than one spoken
language, there's usually more than one culture.
9. Formal education is the medium through which individuals learn skills
and are socialised into the values and norms of a society. Education
plays an important role in the determination of national competitive
advantage.
10. Hofstede studied how culture relates to values in the workplace,
identifying 5 dimensions:
a. Power distance
b. Uncertainty avoidance
c. Individualism vs. collectivism
d. Masculinity vs. femininity
e. Long-term vs. short-term time orientation
11. Culture isnt constant it evolves. Economic progress and
globalisation are 2 important drivers of cultural change
12. To develop cross-cultural literacy, IBs need to employ host-country
nationals and guard against the dangers of ethnocentric behaviour.

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