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Unit 2: Cultural Aspect of International Assignments

National culture influences the extent to which leadership; teams and employee activities are Notes
socially valued and supported. The impact of national culture on organisation cultures by
distinguishing corporate culture along two axes: equality, hierarchy and orientation to the
person – the task, which gives broadly four types of cultures depending on how they think and
learn, how they change and how they motivate, reward and resolve conflicts. The four types can
be described as follows: (1) the family; (2) the Eiffel Tower; (3) the guided missile; and (4) the
incubator. Each of these types of corporate culture is the ‘ideal’ type. In practice, the types are
mixed or overlaid with on culture dominating.

2.1.1 Determinants of Culture

National cultures are constantly evolving. Factors that influence the evolving pattern are
prevailing political and economic systems, the social structure of society, dominant religion,
language, aesthetics and education.

1. Social Structure: A society’s social structure refers to its basic social organisation. Social
structure (for study of cultural differences) consists of:
(a) The degree to which the basic unit of social organisation is the individual, as opposed
to the group. An individual is the basic unit in western societies and therefore
individual achievement gets primacy. In most other societies the group is the basic
unit of social structure.
(b) It is the degree of relative importance to individualism or group that differentiates
different cultures.
2. Language: This is an essential element which distinguishes one culture from another.

Example: In countries such as Canada and Switzerland, two or more languages are
spoken. In China, India and Nigeria with a diversity of populations, several languages are
spoken. English is the official language of many countries, such as Australia and Singapore, but
the two countries are culturally diverse. English tends to be the business language, while French
is seen as the language of diplomacy.
In business communication, the translation from one language to another can result in
inaccuracies. The same language may have different terms for the same word.

Example: In American English, petrol (British English) is called gasoline and biscuits as
cookies. An Indian generally would not understand the word ‘downtown’ frequently used by
Americans for city centre.
In the UK, a person with a large office is important in the hierarchy. But in Japan, many
high executives share offices. Much business communication also depends on non-verbal
messages. Body language differs from culture to culture.

Example: Nodding of the head one way may mean ‘yes’ in one culture and ‘no’ in
another.
3. Education: Learning and sharing cultural values happens through the education system.
4. Aesthetics: The aesthetics of a culture refers to designs, forms, colours, shapes, sounds –
things conveying the concept of beauty and good taste. These are reflected in the music,
art, and architecture of a society. The aesthetics of a culture can affect a firm’s marketing
strategy, diplomacy and management of human resources.

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