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IKK (Subject) / IKK (Lesson)

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• What are the cultural dimensions according to Hofstede and their extremes? (4) Describe the extremes. Power distance: low and high How well do less powerful members expect and accept unequally distributed power? Identity: individualistic and collectivistic Individualistic = everyone is expected to look after himself or close family. Trying to stick out be different. General rules for all. Low-context communication. Someones skills more important than group. Employer-employeee relationship based on contract. Collectivism = people are integrated in strong cohesive groups and need to be loyal to the group. Relationship comes before task. Try to maintain harmony. High context communication. Employer-employee relationship like an extenden family. Gender: masculine and feminine Masculine = material success, toughness, be the best, failure equals disaster Feminine = people and warm relationships, being average is ok, failure is a miner accident, work in order to live, managers strive for consensus and use intuition. Uncertainty Avoidance: low and high low = people are confortable with unfamiliar risks, tolerant of innovative ideas, rules only if strictly necessary. high = only familiar risks are accepted, uncertainty must be fought, need for strict rules (even if impractical), people are resistant to innovation and motivated by security
• What are the cultural dimensions according to Trompenaars (7) and their extremes? Also what are further cultural dimensions (1)? Rules vs. relationships: universalism and particularism Would you write a false review for a bad restaurant if your friend is the owner? (yes = particularist and no = universalist) Expression of feelings: affective and neutral Feeling upset at work, would you show it? Yes = affective, no = neutral Range of involvement: specific and diffuse People willing to paint their boss' house (specific = would not, diffuse = would) Specific: task-oriented, the authority of your boss does not go beyond your work life. Diffuse: person-oriented, boss will expect his authority to be respected outside of the office Status: achievement and ascription Achievement = rank, success, track counts. Ascription = family background, age, experience, class, gender count. Nature: control and harmony control: you shape your environment, measuring quantifying nature, fate is in your hands, try to dominate and influence customer behavior harmony: your environment shapes you, go along with the laws of nature, you live with and adapt to your fate, try to adapt to the market in business Time: short-term and long-term short-term: seeks quick effects and results, focus on the present, not keeping deadlines is seen as failure long-term: immediate success less important than long-term benefits, perserverence, patience to wait for slow results Time management: sequential (monochronic) and synchronic (polychronic) sequential (monochronic): tight schedules, schedule comes before relationships, punctuality valued synchronic (polychronic): flexible deadlines, delays are acceptable, relationships (giving time to significant people) are more important than deadlines Further dimensions: Context: high-context and low-context high-context: what is not said is important, intuitive communication, subjective elements low-context: very clear verbal messages to the point sometimes direct, factual communication, uncomfortable with silence Communication oral vs written In oral cultures the written has much less value than the oral. Once trust has been established, one side believes the other will trust with ones change of mind. Things are not taken literally.
• Important about Japan (12) - strive to be the best - expression of feelings = neutral, would not show emotions at work - competition & performance is not that important even though extremely masculine culture - consensus is very important even though extremely masculine culture - no singling out a Japanese even if its praise, it may make him feel awkward - high-context communication, repeated requests for more information can be an indirect way of criticising - hierarchy is very important, but MEDIUM PDI score - ascriptive society - patriarchal culture, women usually do not have management positions - long-term oriented, slow decision-making process, the Japanese like to build up relationships, inviting business partners for a drink or dinner after work can help show what the Japanese are really thinking - contracts are not necessarily final, they are the beginning of a business relationship not the end (like for westeners) - harmony highly valued no losing face, Japanese might be reluctant to say no to not upset, but might be displayed by a non-verbal gesture - high UAI, provide a lot of information and details
• Important about the U.S.A. (11) - specific culture, would not paint houses boss - sequential view of time, schedule over relationships, no interruption in meetings because the task comes first. - status by achievement, very competitive and performance-oriented - positive "can do" approach to problems - changing jobs frequently is normal - strong patriotism - desire for social recognition - ease of establishing social contacts - low PDI, hierarchies are flat managers and superiors are always acessible = Egalitarianism = everyone is euqal - high individualism, employees expected to show initiative and be self-reliant - masculine society, people strive to be the best and try to be the best, live-to-work mentality - low UAI, open to new ideas and innovation, little rules - short-term oriented culture, performance is measured short-term profit and loss issued on a quarterly basis, striving for quick results is important - universalist culture, rules apply to everyone - nature: controle, we decide our fate we can control our future
• Important about SWE (10) - low PDI, power is decentralised and managers count on the experience of team members, modest hierarchies - universalist culture, rules apply to everyone - individualistic society, look after close family and yourself - feminine society, modesty is important (inappropriate to show off or be over-confident), executives base decisions on consensus and are team-oriented (wilil not contradict a colleague openly) - low UAI deviance from the norm is tolerated - specific culutre, bosses authority only at work would not paint his house - low-context communication with little words and very direct - punctuality and structured agenda are appreciated - not profit-oriented, technical quality more important than price - inflexible over prices - silence is not necessarily negative - clear sepparation of colleagues and business partners and friends, invitation to someones house ia great honour
• Important about the British (1) ?? - low PDI, inequalities should be minimized - high individualism, look after close family and yourself and try to stand out - masculine society, sucess-oriented - low UAI, -admiration for eccentric people (people who are different, exotic, innovation), presentations without too many details, creativity and brain-storming over numbers - short-term oriented, short planning horizons - relatively low-context communication but they try to always be polite even when criticising - what is said is not always meant "that's quite good" = disappointing - management by walking around
• Important about GER (11) - low PDI - low-context communication, very direct - individualistic society - masculine society - medium-high UAI - rely on expertise to succeed - short-term, achieving quick results is important - plan things clearly, clear responsibilities who's responsible for what? - task-oriented, little small talk and distance from personal questions - customers stay with the product even if the sales representative changes - logical arguments, laws and contracts are important - people dont mix colleagues and friends they concentrate on the task
• Important about China (13) - lots of small talk and personal questions - relationships at work are very important - diffuse - customers might value a sale representative more than the product and buy a different product if the sales rep changes - results from harmony and face rather than logical arguments and contracts - mix of work and life, colleagues are also friends - contracts are not necessarily final, they are the beginning of a business relationship not the end (like for westeners) - high PDI, hierarchy is important - ascriptive society - collectivist - masculine society - low UAI - particularist - long-term oriented, persistence and perserverence are normal, relationships might take long to build up and deals to close - nature = harmony, we don't control our fate 100% - high-context communication, harmony highly valued no losing face, Chinese might be reluctant to say no to not upset, but might be displayed by a non-verbal gesture
• Important about Russia (7) - high UAI, lots of planning and detailed meetings, Russians prepare for the worst and different outcomes are not surprising to them - high PDI, strong concentration of power at the top, vertical chain of command, few middle managers, the top managers decide - ascriptive society, respect for seniority and age - collectivist you need to be loyal to the group and family - particularist recruiting friends and family over other more qualified people is normal - high-context communication - long-term oriented, lots of details and lots of planning and building up relationships - meetings often exceed time limit and move away from agendas because problems are discussed without a solution in hand
• Important about the Arab World (14) - high PDI, everyone has his place, people with power are supposed to show it - medium-high masculinity, live in order to work mentality, managers expected to be assertive and decisive but benevolent - ascriptive - strongly collectivist - high UAI, need to follow the norm, intolerant of unorthodox behaviour - affective culture, no display of emotion show sdisintierest - syncrhonic time management - particularist culture, Family and people you know comes first, giving out deals to those people and doing business with people you like and know rather then being profit-oriented - influence of Islam in everything also business, Allah decides the future - synchronic view of time, constant interruptions in meetings normal, punctuality is expected of foreigners but rarely practices by Arabs - Arabs love to negotiate so they will demand a far higher price than expected. Do not be too pushy and disturb harmony in negotiations - Meetings follow no pattern and the language in business is important, eloquence instead of evidence
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• Important about India (11) - high PDI, dependant on the boss, employees expect to be directed - collectivist culture, actions of the individual are influenced by one's extended family, loyalty between employer-employee - masculine culture, display of success and power, work is the center of one's life - low UAI, acceptance of imperfection, tolerance for the unexpected, rules often get circumvented - diffuse culture - relationships are valued (particularist) and are important to do business - long-term oriented, impatience is seen as agressive, punctuality is not too important, slow decision-making - ascription culture - high-context communication - meetings start w/ lots of small-talk for relationship-building, business decisions are made on the basis of good relationships not facts or statistics - avoid open criticism, it is taken personally - try to maintain harmony and not make Indian business partners lose face - expect last-minute bargaining and have sth. up your sleeve
• Important about France (11) - egalitarian business set up = everyone is equal, medium-high PDI - high individualism, take care of themselves and immediate family - feminine country, work in order to live high quality of life - formality and being reserved is important, sending a senior executive to initiate a relationship is important, credentials and experience need to match, only use the first name of someone if you are invited to - high UAI, completely new innovations might not be accepted but innovation with track records noting the benefits might - short-term oriented, focus on short-term results - failure causes a long-term loss of confidence, negative implications need to be examined thoroughly - controlled-time culture, adherence to schedules is important and expected, missing a deadline is a sign of poor management - high concentration of power at the top, decision-making is usually done at the highest levels without consulting subordinates - strict adherence to protocool might make business conduct slowly, high degree of formality in a meal you might be told where to sit - every detail will be analyzed, good debating skills are important - business and personal lives are seperate - English might not be spoken - a lot of bureacracy links between government and business
• Important about Spain (6) - high PDI - collectivistic for a European country, for other parts of the world seen as individualistic - feminine country, consensus and harmony is important, managers consult their subordinates - high UAI, people like rules for everything, change causes stress - many regional differences in Spain - short-term oriented, like to live in the moment without great concern about the future - face-to-face communication is important, personal relationships are important, attending social invitations is important and talking about family is normal, the relationship needs to be positive - status is important, driving the right car, living at the right address and having graduated form the right university for example - negotiations might take time, long dinners, counterparts may interrupt you, several people talking at once, it is important to think quick and be spontaneous when negotationg rather than preparing meticulously but maintain harmony in negotiations do not embarass someone openly - formal dressing
• Important about the Ice-Berg Model (2+2) The Iceberg Model is divided into two: Below the waterline: - attitudes, beliefs, values, basic assumptions Above the waterline: - looks, clothes, behaviours
• Structure of a presentation (8) - Good morning and welcome to our intercultural workshop - my presentation will deal with intercultural problems you may encounter when working with your (Chinese) business partners - I have divided it into three parts - tirst, I would like to talk about... - second, I would like to talk about... - third, I would like to talk about... - to sum up I'd like to highlight.... - I would be glad to answer further questions. Thank you very much for your attention
• Examples for countries with high PDI and low PDI and possible conflicts high PDI: Arab Emirates, India Employees may be seen as slavishly obediente, people without initiative low PDI: GER, USA, SWE Employees may be seen as disrespectful and don't respect their superiors
• Example for individualistic and collectivistic countries and possible problems. Individualistic: USA May be seen too over-confident and pushy, imposing oneself on the environment Collectivistic: China, Russia May be seen as too modest and polite, not assertive enough, passive lacking initiative
• Example for countries with high UAI and low UAI and possible problems high UAI: GER, Japan may be seen as too rigid, not open and flexible, too conservative, addicted to rules (example: Bank in U.S. good businesss idea is enough in GER you need sufficient securities) low UAI: UK, USA, India may be seen as risking too much, lacking planning
• Example for masculine and feminine cultures and possible problems Masculine: Japan, USA, GER May be seen as macho cultures that overstate their achievements in CVs Feminine: SWE, France, Spain, Russia May be seen as wtihout strength and pride, not reliable since just striving for the norm, might understate achievements in CVs
• Example for short-term and long-term oriented cultures and problems Short-term:GER, USA problems: allow too little time for talks to develop a relationship Long-term: China, Japan problems: building up trust and a relationship is need to do business first
• Examples for achievement and ascription-oriented cultures and problems achievement-oriented: North America, Northern & Central Europe problems: may not show a leader with ascribed status due respect for his/her wisdom and experience and be too impatient ascriptive cultures: Japan, China problems: may underestimate the level of knowledge of a leader in an achievement-oriented culture becuase of his age/background
• Examples for universalist and particularist cultures and problems Universalist: USA, UK, GER problems: They don't even help their friends! Particularist: Russia, Asia problems: They don't respect their rules and laws
• Examples for control and harmony cultures and problems Control:  Spain, France, UK problems: will blame partners for being too passive and lacking initiative Harmony: China, Russia problems: offended seeing their partners "above the law" and trying to control nature and their fate which is shaped by the environment
• Examples for sequential and synchronic cultures and problems Western World prblems: find frequent interruptions impolite, person keeps turning away to talk to other people Arab World, Asia: problems: American does not care about his relatives, puts meeting and schedule before important personal relationships
• Example for low-context and high-context cultures and problems low-context: Western cultures (GER, SWE...) problems: Japanese might be offended by a straight "no" and find it rude. Violation of harmony and loss of face. Lack of respect and sensitivity high-context: Asian cultures problems: Germans might feel lost, dont know what to make with quiet hosts, long phaeses of silence. Intuitive communication is important and being receptive to body language.
• Examples of diffuse and specific cultures and problems: Specific: GER, UK, SWE, Russia problems: Egyptian or Chinese employee might feel rejected and humiliated if his Swedish boss doesn't accept his help outside the work-place Diffuse: China, Egypt problems: a boss from a diffuse culture might be offended that he is treated like anyone else when work is over (if he wants to go out drinking and the employee says "no").
• Examples of private and public cultures and problems Private (coconut): GER would give car only to close friends problems: pleased with openness and friendlyness of an American but disappointed when he finds out it is superficial and they might not be "real" friends Public (peach): USA normal to help yourself from the fridge, everyone does it. Everyone uses everyone's car. problems: Germans seem very distanced and inaccessible to them, everything is private
• Example of affective and neutral cultures and problems Affective: Spain problems: a Japanese may be offended at the outburst of emotion and might lose respect for his colleague Neutral: Japan problems: an Italian, French or Spanish manager may think everything is alright because his Japanese workers are working quietly although some employees are very dissatisfied

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