Saudi Arabian Culture

Understanding the Role of Culture

Chapter 3

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Saudi Arabian Culture (contd.)

The intersection of culture and business A land of contrasts and paradoxes Super-modern cities and modern economic and technical realities clashing with strict Islamic religious convictions and ancient social customs McDonalds stops serving five times a day when men are called to prayer Saks has separate women-only floors Pizza hut has dining rooms divided by gender

Saudi Arabian Culture (contd.)

Women: Outnumber men in universities Own 20 percent of all businesses But account for only 7 percent of the workforce 60 percent of the workforce is foreign Saudis also have become accustomed to foreigners holding most lower-level jobsso much so that it made the front page of the newspaper when a Saudi accepted a bellboy job

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Social Culture and Organizations

Culture Defined
Culture A set of shared values, understandings, assumptions, and goals that are learned from earlier generations, imposed by present members of a society, and passed on to succeeding generations

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Organizational Culture
Exists within and interacts with societal culture Varies a great deal from one organization, company, institution, or group to another Represents those expectations, norms, and goals held in common by members of that group Examples: KLMs travel-benefit policies to any couple who formally registered as living together McDonalds in Russia provides more extensive training to employees because Russians are less familiar with working within a capitalist system
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Cultures Effect on Organizational Process

U.S. Culture
Individual influences future The environment is changeable Hark work leads to success

Alternative
Life is preordained

Function Affected
Planning, scheduling

People adjust to the Morale, productivity environment Wisdom and luck are also needed Motivation, rewards

Employment can be Employment is for a Promotions, ended lifetime recruitment

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Cultures Effects on Management

Convergence: the phenomenon of the shifting of individual management styles to become similar to one another Self-Reference Criterion: the subconscious reference point of ones own cultural values. People often relate to others only in terms of their own cultures Parochialism: occurs, for example, when a Frenchman expects those from or in another country to automatically fall into patterns of behavior common in France Ethnocentrism: describes the attitude of those who operate from the assumption that their ways of doing things are bestno matter where or under what conditions they are applied
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Influences on National Culture

Subcultures Stereotyping

Many countries comprise diverse subcultures whose constituents conform only in varying degrees to the national character

A cultural profile that tends to develop some tentative expectationssome cultural contextas a backdrop to managing in a specific international setting

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Cultural Subsystems that Influence People and Their Behavior

Kinship Religion Education System

Cultural Value Dimensions

Values
Are a societys ideas about what is good or bad, right or wrong Can vary across subcultures

Allow for contingency management

Recreation

Economic System

Health System

Political System
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Determine how individuals will probably respond in any given circumstances

Help managers anticipate likely cultural effects

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GLOBE Research Project Dimensions

GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) dimensions: based on data gathered by 170 researchers over seven years on 18,000 managers in 62 countries Assertiveness: people are expected to be tough, confrontational, and competitive vs. modest and tender Low: Sweden, New Zealand, Switzerland High: Greece, Austria, Germany Humane Orientation: extent to which one is encouraged/rewarded for being fair, altruistic, generous, caring, and kind to others Low: Germany, Spain, France High: Malaysia, Ireland, Philippines Chapter 3 - 13

GLOBE Research Project Dimensions

(contd.)

Performance orientation: importance of performance improvement and excellence and refers to whether people are encouraged to strive for continued improvement Low: Russia, Argentina, Greece High: New Zealand, Honk Kong, Singapore Future Orientation: engage in future-oriented behaviors such as delaying gratification, planning, and investing in the future Low: Russia, Argentina, Poland High: Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore
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Cultural Cluster
The GLOBE research suggests companies may find it easier to expand into more similar cultures than into those that are dramatically different

Check Your Knowledge

Managers from Taiwan, New Zealand, and Hong Kong tend to take initiative and have a sense of urgency and the confidence to get things done. According to the GLOBE project, such managers score high on the dimension of ________. A. humane orientation B. future orientation C. performance orientation D. assertiveness E. all of the above are possible

What do you think?

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Recall Hofstedes Value Dimensions

Power Distance: The level of acceptance by a society of the unequal distribution of power in institutions Uncertainty Avoidance: The extent to which people in a society feel threatened by ambiguous situations Individualism: The tendency of people to look after themselves and their immediate families only and to neglect the needs of society Collectivism: The desire for tight social frameworks, emotional dependence on belonging to the organization, and a strong belief in group decisions
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Hofstedes Value Dimensions (contd.)

Power Distance
High Orientation Toward Authority Low

MAL ARA MEX IND FRA ITA JPN SPA ARG US GER UK DEN ISR AUT

Uncertainty Avoidance
High Desire for Stability Low

GRE JPN FRA KOR ARA GER AUL CAN US UK IND DEN SIN

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Hofstedes Value Dimensions (contd.)

Individualism
Individualism Collectivism

Hofstedes Value Dimensions (contd.)

Long-term/Short-term Orientation
AUL US UK CAN FRA GER SPA JPN MEX ITA KOR SIN

High

Low

Masculinity
Assertive/Materialistic Relational
CHI HK JPN TAI VIE BRA IND US CAN UK E/W AFR

JPN MEX GER UK US ARA FRA KOR POR CHC DEN SWE
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Trompenaars Dimensions
Data from 15,000 managers from 28 countries, representing 47 national cultures
Universalistic cultures apply rules and systems objectively, without consideration of individual circumstances. Particularistic cultures emphasize relationships and apply rules more subjectively. Affective cultures tend to express emotions openly, whereas neutral cultures do not.

Specific cultures compartmentalize work and private lives, more open and direct. In diffuse cultures work spills over into personal relationships and vice versa. In achievement-oriented cultures individual achievement is the source of status and influence. In ascription-oriented cultures status and influence come from class, age, gender, etc.

Trompenaars Dimensions (contd.)

Privacy in Relationship
High Low
Diffuse
ITA JPN SWE SPA CHI

Obligation
High
Universalistic
US GER SWE UK ITA

Low
Particularistic
FRA JPN SPA SIN

Specific
UK US FRA GER

Emotional Orientation in Relationship

High
Neutral
JPN UK GER SWE USA FRA SPA ITA

Source of Power and Status

High
Personal
US UK SWE GER FRA
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Low
Affective
CHI

Low
Society
ITA SPA JPN CHI
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Critical Operational Value Differences

Timedifferences in temporal values To Americans, time is money and schedules are strictly kept; in Latin America the word for tomorrow is used to mean sometime in the future Changecontrol and pace of change Many non-Western societies believe in Gods will, thus, tend to be passive and hostile toward change (e.g., to a Chinese worker, the change to power machinery might suggest dissatisfaction with his fathers way of life
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Check Your Knowledge

Many people in traditional, non-Western societies believe that change is caused by ________. A. destiny B. technology C. international firms D. the actions of individuals E. none of the above are correct

What do you think?

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Critical Operational Value Differences

(contd.)

The Internet and Culture

> 70% of Korean homes have high-speed Internet vs. 23% of US households 75% of the worlds Internet market is outside the USA Because much of the Internet market is outside the US there is a need for e-commerce to take local approaches to markets, customs, languages, and currencies to be successful Technology is changing culture in many societies especially in terms of associations, education, and the economy (e.g., Korean teens who used to hang out at the mall now hang out at computer parlors)
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Material Factorsphysical goods and status symbols versus aesthetics and the spiritual realism Americans tend to value physical goods and status symbols but many non-Westerners value the aesthetic and spiritual realm instead Individualismme/I versus we In the US, individual achievement takes precedent. There is a focus on I. In countries like China, there is more emphasis on conformity and cooperation.
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The Internet and Culture

Culture also is changing how technology is used The US collects a great deal of information from consumers In Sweden and many other European countries, the use and sharing of consumer data is closely monitored by the government Sweden has refused to allow airline passenger information (e.g., meal preferences) to be transmitted to the USA, illustrating the extent to which privacy is protected and suggests some degree of uncertainty avoidance
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Comparative Management in Focus

Japan
Wapeace and harmony A mix of authoritarian and humanism in the workplace Emphasis on participative management, consensus, and duty Open expression and conflict discouraged

Germany
Preference for rules and order, privacy Dislike of inefficiency and tardiness Assertive, but not aggressive Organizations are centralized but still favor consensus decision making
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Comparative Management in Focus

(contd.)

Developing Cultural Profiles

Managers can gather considerable information on cultural variables from current research, personal observation, and discussion with people. Managers can develop cultural profiles of various countries.

South Korea
Respect for family, authority, formality, class Are demonstrative, friendly, aggressive, hardworking Connections vital for business; most contracts are oral Honest criticism is rare

Not homogenous, but common similarities Being-oriented compared with doing-oriented Work and private lives are more closely integrated Very important to maintain harmony and save face
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Latin America

Managers can use these profiles to anticipate drastic differences that may be encountered in a given country.

It is difficult to pull together descriptive cultural profiles in other countries unless one has lived there and been intricately involved with those people.

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Ways of Doing Business: Chinese Family Business

Small, family businesses predominate; means that they are likely to be part of the value chain for most foreign firms Guanxi connections, the network of relationships that the Chinese cultivate, entails the exchange of favors/gifts to provide an obligation to reciprocate favors Organizations do not include middle management (either family or you are employee); thus leadership tends to be centralized and autocratic, but leaders feel a responsibility for their employees Thus, caring for people is put ahead of business concerns/efficiency Today, younger Chinese managers are integrating both Western and Chinese management styles to some extent
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Conclusions
Culture affects all aspects of international management and it is important for managers to understand the major dimensions which define cultural differences among societies or groups Recognize the critical value differences which frequently affect job behaviors Develop a working cultural profile typical of many people within a certain society, as an aid to expected attitudes toward work, negotiations, and so on To understand the interaction between culture and the use of Internet
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