Appunti di Inglese monografico 3 (Prof. Rossi)

The Failure of International Companies and the Importance of Understanding Culture

The failure of companies that go international usually occurs because someone didn't understand the why of culture: 'why people think as they do' and 'why people value what they do'.

When we take for granted that our culture is the best we stop asking questions about the others, especially why which is a very important question.

When we deal with people's thoughts, we may make assumptions.

What is 'culture' for you? The word has many meanings and is open to many interpretations.

The aim of this mind map is to try to identify as many of the components of culture as possible.

1. Schools; churches; buildings; skyscrapers
2. 9 to 5 (American/British concept); 24/7 (typically American concept – this is a cultural concept)
3. Pizzeria (typically Italian)
4. The volume is typically Italian (you can be misunderstood because of your tone)

'Culture' can mean different things to different people.

Think about:

How culture is created – by geography,

climate, history, coincidence?

What groups of people can be said to have a culture – races, countries, companies?

In what ways you see, hear or experience it – by behaviour, attitude, gestures?

Five definitions of culture:

1. The sum total of all the beliefs, values and norms shared by a group of people;
2. The way you have been conditioned in a society to think, feel, interpret and react;
3. The collective programming of the human mind;
4. A large pool of experience composed of learned programmes for action and passed on from generation to generation;
5. All you need to know and believe in order to be accepted in a society.

Culture:

The vision of the world that has been shaped by the context you have been raised in.

Way of thinking and acting.

Historical and geographical background: some cultures give a lot important to the past, like the Italian, other cultures rely only on the future, like the American culture; you build your routine according to the weather

condition. Different perceptions of the reality around us and different interpretation. The way people interpret things is influenced by the different perception.

Values. People have different values and beliefs.

Food (it's typically Italian when it comes to time) and family (for Italians family comes first).

Education, which shapes the way you interpret the reality.

Once understood why people and companies think as they do, then it will be easy to comprehend, and even to predict as those same people and companies will act... often avoiding heavy business losses and failure.

It's essential to ask questions.

Onstage and backstage elements of Culture- Onstage behaviour is 'what people who are in contact with one another find easiest to observe and react to' (Beamer L.). It's something which you can observe and see. It involves culturally identifiable actions such as: shaking hands, bowing, kissing upon meeting (Italian or French), holidays and traditional ways of

celebrating them, food and dances, costume and music and many more. In a few words: onstage behaviour is often what people refer to when asked to describe another culture, or what people simply see. - Backstage culture is something that is not easily recognizable and identifiable and is absolutely not visible to someone who is unfamiliar with (people are scared of things they don't know). But, although backstage culture can seem very difficult to grasp, it definitely holds the reason why. 5 Individuals' specific cultural background give rise to the backstage reasons why people believe, act and look at things the way they do. The culture iceberg When you observe people from a certain culture, some characteristics - such as dress and the way people greet each other - are easy to see. Others are not so easy. Culture is sometimes compared to an iceberg, some of which is visible, but much of which is difficult to see or invisible. A: artefacts: art and architecture; directness ofbeliefs -> invisible - Language -> visible - Dress code -> visible - Social norms -> invisible - Food preferences -> visible - Communication style -> visible - Education system -> invisible - Art and music -> visible - Values and beliefs -> invisible - Customs and traditions -> visible - Work ethic -> visible - Gender roles -> invisible - Political system -> invisible - Sense of humor -> invisible - Attitudes towards time -> visible - Treatment of outsiders/foreigners -> visible Understanding and respecting these cultural aspects is crucial in business and personal interactions. It helps to avoid misunderstandings, build relationships, and foster effective communication.rituals -> visible Importance of time -> it takes some more time to be visible Paintings -> visible Values -> invisible Literature -> visible Child raising beliefs -> invisible Concept of leadership -> visible Gestures -> visible Holiday customs -> visible Concept of fairness -> invisible Nature of friendship -> invisible (it's very personal) Notions of modesty -> visible Foods -> visible Eating habits -> visible Understanding of the natural world -> invisible Concept of self -> invisible Work ethic -> visible Concept of beauty -> visible Music -> visible Styles of dress -> visible General world view -> invisible Concept of personal space -> invisible and very dangerous, it's something you need to be familiar with Rules of social etiquette -> invisible (it depends on the culture you belong to)

waterline and those that appear below it. In most cases, the invisible aspects of culture influence or cause the visible ones. Religious beliefs, for example, are clearly manifest in certain holiday customs, and notion of modesty affect style of dress.

So, surface behaviours are influenced by beneath-the-surface values and assumptions. In other words, backstage culture underlies what others see- backstage behaviour reasons are usually unconscious (it's driven by our personal background)- actors are not aware that they are behaving in a culturally driven way- usually people think that their own backstage culture is simply normal.

Linking values to behaviour

In the iceberg exercise, you saw how certain aspects or features of culture are visible – they show up in people's behaviour – while many other aspects of culture are invisible, existing only in the realms of thought, feeling, and belief. The examples in this exercise show how these two realms, the visible and the hidden,

are related to each other, how the values and beliefs you cannot see affect behaviour.

To understand where behaviour comes from – to understand why people behave the way they do – means learning about values and beliefs. The behaviour of people from another culture may seem strange to you, but it probably makes sense to them, and vice versa. The reason any behaviour makes sense is simply because it is consistent with what a given person believes in or holds dear. Conversely, when we say that what someone has done ‘makes no sense’ what we mean is that that action contradicts what we believe that person feels or wants.

In the exercise below, match the value or belief in the column on the left to a behaviour in the column on the right.

• Directness – disagreeing openly with someone at a meeting.
• Centrality of family – taking off from work to attend the funeral of an aunt.
• External control – accepting without question, that something cannot be changed.

Saving face – at a meeting, agreeing with a suggestion you think is wrong. Respect for age – not laying off an older worker whose performance is weak. Informality – asking people to call you by your first name. Deference to authority – asking the headmaster's opinion of something you're the expert of. Indirectness – use of understatement. Self-reliance – not helping the person next to you on an exam. Egalitarianism – inviting the teaboy to eat lunch with you in your office. Cultures consists of concepts, values and assumptions about life that guide behaviour and are widely shared by people. These are transmitted generation to generation, rarely with explicit instructions, by parents and other respected elders. (Richard Brislin and Tomoko Yoshida) Behaviour makes more sense when you understand the value or belief behind it. The basis of cultural differences Every culture distinguishes itself from others by the specific solutions it

Chooses to certain problem which reveal themselves as dilemmas. It is convenient to look at these problems under three headings: those which arise from our relationships with other people; those which come from the passage of time; and those which relate to the environment. Our research examines culture within these three categories. From the solutions different cultures have chosen to these universal problems, we can further identify seven fundamental dimensions of culture.

Five of these come from the first category: the relationship with people. There are five orientations covering the ways in which human beings deal with each other. We have taken Parsons's five relational orientations as a starting point.

These are Fons Trompenaar's seven fundamental dimensions of culture that will help you understand how we all behave (Tompenaar is an expert in the field of business and intercultural communication):

1. Universalism vs. particularism

People follow rules in different ways:

development of the community, or is it more important to prioritize the well-being and harmony of the community as a whole? Individualistic cultures prioritize the individual and their personal goals and achievements. They value independence, self-reliance, and personal freedom. In these cultures, individuals are encouraged to pursue their own interests and make decisions based on their own needs and desires. On the other hand, communitarian cultures prioritize the group and the collective well-being. They value cooperation, harmony, and social cohesion. In these cultures, individuals are expected to prioritize the needs and goals of the community over their own personal interests. 3) High context vs. low context communication High context communication refers to cultures where a lot of information is conveyed through non-verbal cues, context, and shared understanding. In these cultures, people rely heavily on implicit communication and assume that others will understand the underlying meaning without it being explicitly stated. Low context communication, on the other hand, refers to cultures where communication is more explicit and relies heavily on verbal communication. In these cultures, people tend to be more direct and explicit in their communication, and they expect others to be clear and specific in their messages. 4) Monochronic vs. polychronic time Monochronic cultures view time as linear and sequential. They value punctuality, efficiency, and completing tasks one at a time. In these cultures, time is seen as a limited resource that needs to be managed and used efficiently. Polychronic cultures, on the other hand, view time as more fluid and flexible. They value relationships and prioritize them over strict adherence to schedules. In these cultures, people tend to be more relaxed about time and may engage in multiple activities simultaneously. By understanding these cultural dimensions, we can gain insights into how different cultures approach rules, relationships, communication, and time. This knowledge can help us navigate intercultural interactions and foster understanding and collaboration across cultures.