MMC 4300 Cultural Perspective

Cultural Quirks

• Colombia had radio programs aimed at people held hostage

• Some men in Africa still have multiple wives

• Local radio stations in Ireland have “an obsession with death” bc they read local death notices often

Introduction

• Culture: to be from a certain place or be part of a particular group, and all of the written and unwritten rules, values and behavior

• While mass media can influence its culture, its more the culture influencing the mass media

• American visitors are shocked by the amount of nudity shown on tv in Germany and England, but Europeans are shocked w the amount of violence in American media

  • Europe has more nude beaches and US has more guns

Country Comparison Tool: US v China

Power Distance: the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.

Individualism: the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members. It has to do with whether people's self-image is defined in terms of "I" or "We".

• In Individualist societies people are supposed to look after themselves and their direct family only

• In Collectivist societies people belong to 'in groups' that take care of them in exchange for loyalty

Motivation Towards Achievement and Success: How driven by competition, achievement and success a society is.

• High is decisive

• Low is Consensus-oriented

Uncertainty Avoidance: Should we try to control the future or just let it happen. This ambiguity brings with it anxiety and different cultures have learnt to deal with this anxiety in different ways.

Long Term Orientation: How do they maintain links to the past while dealing with challenges in the present and future

Indulgence:

• Indulgent is high

• Restrained is low

China

• Power Distance: 80

  • China believes inequalities amongst people are acceptable

  • Subordinate-superior relationship is polarized, no defense against power abuse by superiors.

  • Individuals are influenced by formal authority and sanctions

  • People should not have aspirations beyond their rank

• Individualism: 43

  • China is a collectivist culture

  • Closer in-groups (ex: family) get preferential treatment for hiring and promotions

  • Employee commitment to the organization is low

  • Relationships with colleagues are cooperative for in-groups they are cold or even hostile to out-groups

  • Personal relationships prevail over tasks and company

• Motivation Towards Achievement and Success: 66

  • Many will sacrifice family and leisure priorities to work

  • Students care a lot about exam scores

• Uncertainty Avoidance: 30

  • Adherence to laws and rules may be flexible to suit the actual situation and pragmatism is a fact of life

  • Comfortable with ambiguity; the Chinese language is full of ambiguous meanings

  • Comfortable with ambiguity; the Chinese language is full of ambiguous meaning

• Long Term Orientation: 77

  • People believe that truth depends very much on situation, context, and time

  • Show an ability to adapt traditions easily to changed conditions

  • A strong propensity to save and invest

  • Perseverance in achieving results

• Indulgence: 24

  • tendency to cynicism and pessimism

  • doesn’t put much emphasis on leisure time and control the gratification of their desires

  • feel that indulging themselves is somewhat wrong

United States

• Power Distance: 40

  • “liberty and justice for all”

  • Focus on equal rights

  • hierarchies established for convenience

  • managers rely on individual employees and teams for their expertise

  • managers and employees expect to be consulted and information is shared frequently

  • communication is informal, direct and participative

• Individualism: 60

  • society is loosely knit in which the expectation is that people look after themselves and their immediate families only and should not rely (too much) on authorities for support

  • high degree of geographical mobility in the United States

  • accustomed to doing business or interacting with people they don’t know well

  • not shy about approaching their prospective counterparts to obtain or seek information

  • that hiring, promotion, and decisions are based on merit or evidence of what one has done or can do

  • American culture is the melting pot of different cultures, with Caucasians scoring more individualistic than other ethnic groups

• Motivation Towards Achievement and Success: 62

  • strive to be the best they can be” and that “the winner takes all”

  • American assessment systems are based on precise target setting

  • a “can-do” mentality

  • Americans “live to work” so that they can obtain monetary rewards and status

• Uncertainty Avoidance: 46

  • There is a fair degree of acceptance for new ideas, innovative products and a willingness to try something new or different

  • tend to be more tolerant of ideas or opinions from anyone and allow the freedom of expression

  • 9/11 has created a lot of fear in the American society culminating in the efforts of government to monitor everybody through the NSA and other security organizations

• Long Term Orientation: 50

  • Americans are prone to analyze new information to check whether it is true

  • This should not be confused with the fact that Americans are very practical

  • American businesses measure their performance on a short-term basis, with profit and loss statements being issued every quarter, driving individuals to strive for quick results within the workplace.

• Indulgence: 68

  • Work hard and play hard.

  • waged a war against drugs and is still very busy in doing so, yet drug addiction in the States is higher than in many other wealthy countries.

  • prudish society yet even some well-known televangelists appear to be immoral