Cross-Cultural Issues

What do we mean by Cross-

Cultural issues?
We mean that there are many clusters of people
who may share a national identity that also
overlaps with their cultural identity.
So, for instance we may say that Americans and
British or Indians and Pakistanis share a cultural
identity
But we are unlikely to say that Americans and
Japanese or Indians and Norwegians share a
cultural identity
Clusters based on Cultural
similarity
Some glaring absentees or
misclassification

Where is Australia?
Where is Iraq?
Where are the Slavic nations, i.e., Russia,
Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria,
Romania?
Where are Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, etc.
Where are the Central European nations?
Should France & Belgium be separate from
Latin European?
Clusters based on Cultural
similarity
Different Meanings
Different Meanings
Meanings of Blue
Holland -
warmth
Iran - death
Sweden -
coldness
India - purity
Meanings of
Yellow
U.S. - warmth
France - fidelity
Hofstedes dimensions
Power Distance
Individualism v. Collectivism
Uncertainty Avoidance
Masculinity v. Femininity
Short v. Long-term orientation

Hofstedes dimensions
Power
Distance
The distance between superiors and
subordinates in any institution or
organizations that is deemed acceptable
High power distance countries
people blindly obey the orders of their
superiors, centralized and tall organization
structures
Low power distance countries
flatter and decentralized organization
structures, smaller ratio of supervisors

Hofstedes dimensions
Uncertainty
Avoidance
Extent to which people feel threatened by
ambiguous situations and try to avoid them
High uncertainty avoidance countries
people have high need for security, strong
belief in experts and their knowledge,
structured organizational activities, more
written rules, less risk taking by managers
Low uncertainty avoidance countries
people are more willing to accept risks
associated with the unknown, less structured
organizational activities, fewer written rules,
more risk taking by managers, higher
employee turnover, more ambitious
employees

Hofstedes dimensions
Individualism/
Collectivism
The relative emphasis placed on oneself
and ones immediate family versus the
larger group, community or society
Countries with emphasis on individualism
tend to be wealthier, support protestant work
ethic, greater individual initiative, promotions
based on market value
Countries with emphasis on collectivism
tend to be poorer, less support for protestant
work ethic, less individual initiative,
promotions based on seniority

Hofstedes dimensions
Masculinity/
Femininity
The relative emphasis placed on the gender
roles and the relative value assigned them
Countries high in masculinity
great importance on earnings, recognition,
advancement, challenge, and wealth.
Countries high in femininity
great importance on cooperation, friendly
atmosphere, employment security, group
decision making, and more employee freedom

Hofstedes dimensions
Short v. Long
term orientation
The relative emphasis placed on immediate
or short-term gains versus eventual or long-
term gains
Countries high in short-term focus
tend to be more profit oriented and less
investment oriented
Countries high in long-term focus
tend to be more investment oriented and less
profit-oriented
Hi-Context v. Low-Context Societies
Relative weight placed on the actual verbal content
versus the contextual factors
Words carry more or less weight compared to
facial expression, body language, hand gestures,
etc.
Verbal v. Nonverbal Communication
How do you rate these societies?
USA
China
India
Brazil
Cross-Cultural Issues
Cross-Culture: A Framework for
Alternative Global Marketing Strategies


STANDARDIZED
COMMUNICATIONS
LOCALIZED
COMMUNICATIONS
STANDARDIZED
PRODUCT
Global strategy:
Uniform Product/
Uniform Message
Mixed Strategy:
Uniform Product/
Customized Message
LOCALIZED
PRODUCT
Mixed strategy:
Customized Product/
Uniform Message
Local Strategy:
Customized Product/
Customized Message
COMMUNICATION
STRATEGY
PRODUCT
STRATEGY
Discussion
The Western Toilet as a sign
How do the two cultures see the
toilet?
How do the two cultures see the act
itself?
Are there any other interesting
cross-cultural issues involved in this
comparison?

Project Assignment:
Country/Product
This is a group project. You are responsible for
developing a marketing plan for a product (athletic
shoes, casual apparel, unique Indian handicrafts,
perfume, carpets and durries, gems and jewelry,
pharmaceutical products, leather goods, Indian
masala & other food products, sport items or
equipment) to the following counties (Norway, New
Zealand, Singapore, UAE, Malaysia, Thailand,
France, Italy, Poland, Lithuania, Mexico, Argentina).

You will randomly select a country and a product
now.
Project Assignment: Written
Report
You will prepare the following report:

1. A report on the demographics of the country.
2. A review of how that country stacks on the
Hofstede dimensions.
3. A product/communication plan for marketing your
particular product.
4. Your sales revenue projection for the next five
years.
5. Anything else that you think will add value to your
report.

Project Assignment: Written
Report
1. This report must be printed and submitted
on behalf of the entire group.
2. The report must not exceed 10 pages of
written matter
3. It must include a cover page, a table of
contents, an executive summary, the
report, any tables/charts.
4. Please use 2.5 cm margin, 12-font, double-
space in preparing your report.
Project Assignment: Oral
Report
1. You are also responsible for
presenting this report to the class on
March 4
th
.
2. You will have 5 8 minutes for your
presentation.
3. If you are not present in class to
present in your group you will not get
any marks for presentation.
Project Assignment: Grade
Everyone in the group will receive the same points/grade for
the written report. If any group member has not contributed,
it is the responsibility of other group members to report to
me and I will assign that person anything from zero marks to
some percentage for the written part of the project.

Written report 10 points
Class presentation 5 points