BSB119 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Enculturation, Cultural Diversity, Geert Hofstede
Week 4 Global Business Lecture Notes
Business Environments: Cultural Diversity
What is Culture?
• There is no single accepted definition of culture – soe oted defiitios ilude…
o Culture is the total a of life i a soiet Flether,
o Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the
eers of oe hua group fro aother Hofstede,
• I geeral, ulture…
o describes forms of behaviour
o is dynamic (often complex and fluid)
o Is a relative term (with different interpretations)
o can be subjective (based on personal opinions and feelings)
• Culture refers to:
o the sum total of accumulated learned values, attitudes, norms and beliefs
that comprise the collective or shared meanings of a community in its
material and non-material ways of life
• Culture is:
o acquired and inculcated, not inherited at birth
o subtly passed down through the generations by a process called
'enculturation'
o what we feel, see and accept - the a e do thigs aroud here, the
collective programming of the mid.
o Learned, shared, adaptive and integrated
• Some Academic Views:
1. Culture is a complex concept
o definitions tend to be inadequate (Francesco & Gold 2005)
2. Culture is socially constructed
o ulture a e osidered as a soiets soial ostrutio of realit
(Berger & Luckmann 1966)
3. Culture is learned
o learned from earlier generations, imposed by present members of society,
and passed on to succeeding generations (Varner & Beamer 2011)
4. Culture evolves
o influenced by economic advancement, technological change, globalization
(Hill 2011)
o doiat ultural traditios reflet soiets uderlig poer dais
(Berger & Luckmann 1966)
• Values and Norms
• Values:
o are abstract ideas about what a group believes to be good, right and
desirable
o provide context withi hih a soiets ors are estalished ad justified.
• Norms:
o are social rules and guidelines that prescribe appropriate behaviour in
particular situations
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• can be subdivided into: (1) the routine conventions of everyday life and (2) other
norms seen as central to the functioning of a society and to its social life.
• Routine conventions of everyday life
o Social conventions concerning things such as the appropriate dress code in a
particular situation, good social manners, eating with the correct utensils,
neighbourly behaviour and so on.
▪ Eaple: Attitude toards tie Tie is oe s. Tie is elasti
• Rituals and symbols
o These are the most visible manifestations of a culture.
o They constitute the outward expression of deeper values.
• Culture, society and the nation-state
o A society can be defined as a group of people that share a common set of
values and norms; that is, a group bound together by a common culture.
Country Profile: The Cultural Landscape
• Elements of Culture
o Culture is portrayed in artefacts, institutions and behaviours - reflect and
ipat o ors ad alues…
1. Material culture
o technology, material goods, logistics, urbanisation.
2. Social structure
o institutions, strata, mobility, kinship, family, group.
3. Attitudes
o promptness, value of work, education, prestige.
4. Religion
o beliefs, superstitions, morality.
5. Aesthetics
o beauty, taste, colour.
6. Language
o verbal, non-verbal, space.
o Numbers.
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