BUSINESS | CULTURE
Social Dimensions of Culture — A Complexity in the Business World
Beyond borders: A discussion on the implications of societal cultures for multinational organizations
Cultural attributes are enduring patterns of learned behaviors shared by a country, a society. These are demonstrated by attitudes, values, ideas, behaviors, and symbolic representations.
Much is unseen to outsiders.
Social cultures influence businesses. So before we begin here are a few facts to be aware of:
- No right or wrong: There is no absolute, culture is relative. People from different nationalities may just see the world differently then you do.
- Not individual behavior: It’s about groups, a collective phenomenon grounded in shared values and meaning.
- Not inherited: It derives from the social fabric. We’re not born with a shared set of values or beliefs, we acquire as we grow.
- Socialization: It’s a process of learning behavioral patterns and rules appropriate to one’s society.
- Acculturation: The adoption and adjustment to a culture other than our own, commonly experienced by expatriate workers.
Think of culture as an iceberg. What’s visible above the surface is just a small part of a culture (10%); beneath the surface lies an expansive collage of values, assumptions, attitudes, and beliefs that influence decisions, relations, and other facets in the workplace.
This article will explore the complexities of societal culture in business.
Social Differences
Differences across societies arise from values, language, education, religion, social systems, and meaning shared by people from a group or nation. The main elements include:
- Attitudes and values
- Education
- Language
- Societal organization
- Religion
- Technology
Attitudes
Americans are prompt but with a mañana attitude at times. They do have a drive and directness though, which can be perceived to be rude in other cultures.
“Americans live to work, Germans and Mexicans work to live.” — Geert Hofstede
Other factors that influence attitudes in western economies result from seeing others with desirable products, job prestige, or disdain for physical labor.
Education
This is another factor around the globe. One that can equip a person to take his or her seat in the business world.
National metrics look at literacy rate, enrollment at school/college, and national investment per capita on education.
Then there’s the Education ‘Brain-Drain’:
- Drain — Emigration of highly educated professionals to industrialized countries.
- Reverse — The return of highly educated professionals to their home country. Taiwan, Ireland, and Korea lure scientists and engineers home.
Women’s Education
Gender is also taken into account. Cultural metrics look at:
- The fall in illiteracy rate by gender
- If governments provide equal education for all
Research does shows that:
- Educated women have fewer, but healthier and better-educated children
- Educated women realize higher workplace participation and income
Education is just one of many factors in societal cultures.
Language
Language is key to culture, but without international or regional languages people can find themselves locked out, except in a cultural perimeter.
- Spoken languages demarcate cultures. Switzerland has four separate cultures, Belgium and Ireland have two based on language.
- Multiple languages can exist in a single country, although one tends to serve as the primary communication vehicle.
English is the primary language for business.
Nonverbal
Nonverbal communication, such as gestures and body language, varies tremendously from one country or region to another.
- Closed doors convey different meanings
- Office size differentiate across cultures
- Conversational distance is small in east
Even gift-giving has a specific etiquette in culture, a gift, or a bribe?
Societal Influence
From a wider perspective, there are a few areas of consideration for businesses operating on a global level.
Kinship
The extended family, including blood relatives and relatives through marriage. Kinship is a source of employment and business connections. Members also have a strong sense of responsibility.
Age
Retailers of consumer goods appreciate the importance of market segmentation, by age, gender, and interests.
Segmentation often cuts across cultural demographics or can be vastly different between cultures.
Associations
These are social sub-units. Groups based on gender, age, or shared interests, but not kinship.
Religion
Religion is responsible for the attitudes and beliefs that influence human behavior. Take work ethic for instance. Protestant work ethic is about a duty to glorify God through hard work, the practice of thrift.
Likewise, Confucian work ethic is about effort toward hard work, whereas some Catholics may never work on Sundays.
Material culture
Material culture is about to human-made objects with consideration about how people make things (technology) and who makes what and why (economics).
There are four elements of material culture.
- Technology — This includes skills in finance, marketing, or management to name a few.
- Tech-dualism — This is the presence of primitive technology alongside advanced technology.
- Technological fit — This is about selecting the most appropriate technology to fits a society using it. The risk is capital or labor-intensive costs.
- The boomerang effect — Occurs when technology is sold to organizations in other countries to produce competing goods.
With societal influences in mind, Hofstede’s research is quite apt. So read on.
Hofstede’s Framework
From 1967 to 1973 Hofstede analyzed a database of employee values at IBM, covering over 70 countries. The largest 40 countries were utilized initially, extending to the top 50 across 3 regions for deeper insights.
To validate the IBM data and results, subsequent studies included airline pilots and students (23 countries), civil services (14 counties), ‘high-end’ consumers (15 countries), and ‘social elites’ (19 countries).
From the results, Hofstede developed a model that identified four primary dimensions to differentiate across cultures:
№1 — Power Distance (PDI)
This refers to the extent to which members of a society accept an unequal distribution of power among individuals.
Some examples are:
- Low PDI— Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Israel, Sweden, USA
- High PDI — France, Malaysia, France, Japan, Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Philippines
№2 — Individualism (IDV)
There are two-parts to IDV:
- Collectivism — People that belong to groups look after one another in exchange for loyalty. Examples include China, Singapore, and Korea.
- Individualistic — Where people tend to look after themselves and their immediate family. Examples include Australia, the UK, and USA.
№3— Masculinity (MAS)
There are also two-parts to MAS:
- Masculinity — The achievement of tangible and/or symbolic rewards and recognition in an organization.
- Femininity — A focus on relationships, with concern for other people and overall quality of life for self and others.
Some examples include low MAS in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden and high MAS in Austria, Japan, and Italy.
№4— Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI)
Uncertainty avoidance is the degree to which members of a society feel under threat by ambiguity and exist in a rule-oriented environment.
Some examples are:
- Low UAI — Denmark, Sweden, the UK, and the USA.
- High UAI —UAE, Greece, Japan, and Peru.
Further studies led to Hofstede adding the fifth dimension. Chinese Managers and employees were instrumental in this expansion.
This fifth dimension is based on Confucian dynamism known as Long-Term Orientation (LTO), initially collected from 23 countries.
№5 — Long-Term Orientation (LTO)
The LTO dimension focuses on the degree a society beholds (or not) the long-term devotion to traditional values.
High LTO indicates that the country prescribes to the values of long-term commitments with respect to tradition. This is believed to support a strong work ethic where long-term rewards are expected as a result of hard work today. That said, a business is likely to take longer to develop in this type of society, particularly for outsiders.
Low LTO indicates a country does not reinforce the concept of traditional orientation in the long-term. In this type of culture change occurs rapidly as long-term traditions do not impede change.
Some examples are:
- Long term LTO — China, Japan, and Taiwan.
- Short term LTO — Canada, the UK, and the USA.
Clearly, society and diversity are huge considerations for organizations that operate on a global scale.
But it’s a lot to take in, right?
Final Thoughts
The benefits of cultural appreciation in business is that:
- It helps companies understand aspects of a culture.
- It helps companies understand risk, mobility, innovation, team cohesiveness, hiring, and pay structure.
There’s much to consider from a cultural perspective. So to conclude, allow me to share two points from Hill’s cultural context.
Two key-takeaways
Hall proposed two dimensions of culture, simplified as follows:
- Low-context — These cultures rely on an explicit explanation through the spoken word. They seek clear, efficient, and logical delivery of verbal messages. Communication is direct to agree specific, binding contract.
- High-context — The emphasis in this culture is on nonverbal or indirect language. The communication objective is to promote a harmonious relationship. A lean towards a polite approach with a mutual sense of respect. Care is taken not to insult, embarrass, or offend others.
Culture is an ever-evolving sea of uncertainty, on a national and a commercial level. It’s a complex dimension that businesses will rarely perfect at the first attempt, but that’s okay.
Making the effort, trying to understand others solidifies diverse connections beyond fiscal metrics. Why? because human dimensions engage us in a sphere that no balance-sheet can ever measure.
Embracing our differences is not just the essence of humanity, it’s the secret sauce of business success.
