Definition of Culture
The word “Culture” has many different definitions. For some,
it is refers to literature, music, art and food. For other, it is the full
range of learning human behavior patterns. For me, the definition I like the
most is belonging to Hofstede (1980) “Culture is the collective programming of
the mind with distinguishes the members of one human group from another”.
Culture determines the way we see ourselves and the world around. Culture is inheritable
and not constant. It can be change due to time or the changing of surrounding environment.
There is no right or wrong in culture.
3 layers of Culture
Each culture has three layers. First, the outer layer is the
behavioral
or explicit level. It is what you notice immediately when you go abroad for the
first time such as language, food, architecture, houses, building and so on. In
addition, it is also the communication style. For examples, in Latin culture,
people prefer touching each other when talking, while in Finland, people always
keep a private space around, and they don’t like someone touch them.
The second layer is the norms and values. Norms are the
rules of a society, determining what is good or bad with people of that
culture. It can be written or not. Values are things that are considered
important or unimportant, beautiful or not beautiful, right or wrong. A value
is something experienced inwardly and which is not up for discussion. For
examples, in Japan, the norm is younger people always have to bow lower than
older ones when greeting to show the value of respecting the older.
The third layer is the most inner which lies at the core of “culture”
and contains its assumptions and beliefs. This layer is hard to describe or
explain. For example, why people in some countries eat with fork and knife
while in other countries people eat with chopsticks?
Values of societies
Due to Ruano (2002), there are 4 categories of society
1. Traditional society, in which religion plays an important
role, large families are encouraged, conformity is rewarded and individualism
rejected. For examples: Arab countries.
2. Rational society, in which interests of individual come
first, birth control is encouraged and
the authority of the state is recognized. For examples: Germany
3. Society in which survival is the primary concern, people
are unhappy and intolerant, materialism is predominant. For examples:
ex-communist countries.
4. Post-modern society: tolerant and democratic, Scandinavia
countries.
Level of culture in business context
According to Schein (1999), a culture starts developing in a
context where a group of people have a shared experience. In business context, culture can develop at
different levels, within a department or at the various ranks of a hierarchy.
There are 6 levels
Culture and nation
For examples, the Celtic culture includes different
countries and part of countries. This culture distinction can have a bearing on
the way organization operate. It influenced organization in both macro and
micro level.
At macro level, it has influence in law and economic
situation. The nation must be considered by organizations going about their
business.
At micro level, organization is influenced by cultural
elements relating to employer-employee relationships and to behavior among
employees.
National culture
In national culture, the elements that contribute to the
creation of culture are physical environment and history
of nation
Due to Tayeb (2003) the institutions that contribute to the
establishment of a national culture are
-
Family/Religion/Education
-
Mass communication media
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The multinational company
Organizational culture
In organization, culture affects the way strategy is
determined, goals are established and how the organization operates. Furthermore,
the key personnel involved are influenced by their own cultural backgrounds and
shared experience since these have helped shape their own values and
perceptions.
Corporate culture
Corporate culture is a combination of organizational culture
and national/region culture. The extent of the influence of corporate culture
is disputed among experts in the field. To be succeed, it is necessary to
clearly defined corporate culture and to be flexible culture.
Professional culture
There are three professional cultures in management. They
are operators (involve in production), engineers (design and monitor the
technology) and executives (senior managers). The questions for professional
culture is how they are co-exists. How they connect to each other to work
effectively.
Culture and management
Cross-culture management explains the behavior of people in
organizations around the world and shows people how to work in organizations
with employees and client populations from many different cultures.
Cross-cultural management describes organizational behavior within countries
and cultures; compares organizational behavior across countries and cultures; and
perhaps most important, seeks to understand and improve the interaction of
co-workers, managers, clients, suppliers, etc… from countries and culture
around the world.
Understanding cross culture management - Browaeys and Price
