National business culture significantly influences various aspects of an organization's life - approaches to management and attitudes towards power, negotiating style, perception and implementation of laws, planning, forms and methods of control, personal and group relationships of people, etc. The large number of national business cultures existing in different countries, the growing openness of markets, and globalization trends in the world economy necessitate multi-aspect research and taking into account the cross-cultural specifics of doing business in practice.
Knowledge of value systems, behavioral models and stereotypes, understanding of national and international characteristics of people’s behavior in different countries significantly increases management efficiency and makes it possible to achieve mutual understanding during business meetings and negotiations, resolve conflict situations and prevent the emergence of new ones. That is why the management of a company, which occurs on the border of two or more different cultures, arouses significant interest among both scientists and practitioners and today stands out as a separate branch of international management - cross cultural management.
Cross-cultural management is the management of relationships that arise on the border of national and organizational cultures, the study of the causes of intercultural conflicts and their neutralization, the identification and use of behavioral patterns inherent in the national business culture when managing an organization.
Effective cross-cultural management means doing business together with representatives of other cultures, based on recognition and respect for cross-cultural differences and the formation of a common corporate value system that would be perceived and recognized by each member of a multinational team. We are talking about the formation of a specific corporate culture, which arose on the basis of national business cultures, harmoniously combining individual aspects of the culture of each nation, but not completely repeating any of them.
By national culture we mean a stable set of values, beliefs, norms, traditions and stereotypes accepted in a given country and internalized by an individual.
Geert Hofstede, one of the most respected experts in the field of cross-cultural management, described culture as the process of collective programming of the mind that distinguishes members of one group of people from another. The main element in this process is the value system, which is a kind of “backbone” of culture. “The sources of programming of each person’s mind are created by the social environment in which he is raised and gains life experience. This programming begins in the family, continues on the street, at school, in the company of friends, at work,” says Hofstede.
Culture is a multidimensional phenomenon. It has several levels and determines human psychology, consciousness and behavior.
Cultural conditioning is achieved through the influence of culture on a person at different levels: family, social group, geographic region, professional and national environment. The result of the impact is the formation of national character and mentality, which determine the specificity of the systems of organization and management of business in a particular country.
Today, it is especially popular to manage business and project management using management systems in a single database, which allows you to create a comprehensive solution for project management throughout the organization.
Business culture is a system of formal and informal rules and norms of behavior, customs, traditions, individual and group interests, characteristics of employee behavior, leadership style, etc. in organizational structures different levels. National business culture includes norms and traditions of business ethics, standards and rules of business etiquette and protocol. It always reflects the norms, values and rules inherent in a given national culture.
National business and corporate cultures closely interact with each other. Cultural differences manifest themselves in all areas of organizational activity, so managers must develop tactics for doing business and their own behavior so that, through respect and consideration of the cultural characteristics of the local population, they can succeed in each country, and business communication is mutually beneficial. After all, people belonging to different cultures can work in the same organization, have a common ultimate goal, but different views on the ways, methods and interactions in achieving it. Therefore, the behavior of some seems incorrect and irrational to others. And the task of international managers is to facilitate successful communication: to determine priorities, rational approaches, manage the behavior of workers and direct it in accordance with the basic principles of international cooperation. Managers must ensure clear interaction between all structural divisions, branches, people in each work group and between them, and establish interaction with external organizations and infrastructure. In addition, they must contribute to the implementation of plans not only within individual markets, but also in the global economic space. In conditions of interaction, interpenetration of different markets, management must be sensitive to the collision, interaction and interpenetration of different cultures.
With the expansion of international activities and influence in foreign markets in various areas of the company’s activities, the number of new clients and partners is growing significantly. Two tasks become urgent:
1. Understand the cultural differences between “us” and “them” and how they manifest themselves.
2. Identify similarities between cultures and try to use them to achieve your own success.
So, it is clear that success in new markets largely depends on the cultural adaptability of the company and its employees: tolerance, flexibility, and the ability to appreciate the beliefs of others. If this is followed, then it is obvious that successful ideas are applicable to international practice and will be effective.
As is known, the first studies of the interaction of national business cultures were based on individual observations and experience of business practitioners and consultants on international issues and were often formulated in the form of rules of conduct international business:
1. There are no bad cultures! There are simply different cultures.
2. In international business, the seller (exporter) must adapt to the culture and traditions of the buyer (importer).
3. Newcomers and guests must adapt to local culture, traditions and customs.
4. You cannot contrast and compare local culture and the culture of your own country.
5. You cannot judge another culture or laugh at it.
6. You should never stop observing and learning.
7. It is necessary to be as patient as possible with your partner and tolerant of him.
S. Robinson identifies three main approaches to determining the role of the cultural factor in international business and, accordingly, conceptual directions for cross-cultural research:
1. Universalist approach - based on the fact that all people are more or less the same, the basic processes are common to everyone. All cultures are also basically the same and cannot significantly influence the efficiency of business. The universalist approach focuses on the common, similar features of management activities in different countries.
2. Economic-cluster approach - recognizes the differences in national cultures, but does not recognize the importance of taking them into account when conducting international business. Explains the presence of common features and differences in national management systems by the achieved level of economic development. It is believed that managers international companies should analyze primarily the economic, and not the cultural, features of doing business in different countries.
3. Cultural-cluster approach - is based on the recognition of the multifaceted influence of national culture on management and business, the need to take this influence into account and use the advantages of intercultural interaction to improve the efficiency of the company’s international activities.
All of these approaches enrich our understanding of management processes in a cross-cultural context.
The discovery of the multiculturalism of the world, the realization that no culture can be understood without comparing and contrasting with others, stimulated the search for a special approach to understanding culture, based on cross-cultural analysis. The result was the emergence in the mid-twentieth century of a scientific tradition of quantitative cross-cultural research and the emergence of a special direction in American cultural anthropology - holoculturalism, which is still little known in Russia.
First, it should be noted that comparisons of various management systems were preceded by those carried out in the 50s and 60s. last century, studies of cross-cultural differences in management practice, which began to pay attention, first of all, to American managers of transnational companies, who actually initiated the first studies of these problems. Then a categorical apparatus gradually began to form. The first works, including those whose title included the phrase “comparative management” (or otherwise “cross-cultural management”), were mainly of a popular nature and offered practical guidance and recommendations when communicating with representatives of other cultures.
The conceptual framework for identifying, identifying, and assessing commonalities and differences in management problems across countries and regions of the world began to emerge in academic research in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In assessing the level of theoretical substantiation of comparative management as an independent discipline and field of study of this period, metaphors such as “jungle”, “zoo”, etc. were often used, because a variety of approaches and methods were used, primarily socio-economic, environmental, behavioral approaches.
Thus, the socio-economic approach to cross-cultural management was based on the idea that economic progress and industrialization depend on managers. This approach was obviously proposed under the influence of the “managerial revolution”, when it was discovered that the power of the largest American transnational companies is comparable to entire states, and, therefore, the fate of millions of people, countries and regions of the world depends on the decisions of managers. However, the socioeconomic approach was macro-oriented because it ignored individual differences in managerial behavior or inter-firm differences within a single country. At the theoretical level, this approach was associated with theories of economic development, and for this reason, research could not go further than stating the role and significance of the managerial factor.
The ecological approach was based on the idea that similarities and differences in managerial performance can be explained by environmental variables. The organization is considered here as part of an ecological system (in the broad sense of the word), in which external factors have a decisive influence on the effectiveness of management, and the latter, in turn, determines the efficiency of the company and, ultimately, the overall economic (macroeconomic) efficiency.
R. Farmer's hypothesis ( Richard Farmer) and B. Richman ( Barry Richman) was as follows: 1) management efficiency is a function of various environmental factors, 2) enterprise efficiency is a function of managerial efficiency and 3) macroeconomic efficiency is a function of the efficiency of individual economic units. They divided the external environmental factors, which were given appropriate weight, into groups: a) education - the level of literacy, the state and quality of the educational system, the attitude of society towards education in a particular country; b) sociocultural characteristics - prevailing human norms, values and beliefs; c) political and legal system; d) many factors characterizing the level of economic activity of the country, the presence or absence of supporting infrastructure.
The validity of the hypothesis was demonstrated by Farmer and Richman using the example of a matrix of cross-cultural management, in which, based on a comparison of various environmental factors, as well as GNP per capita indicators and its growth rate, a conclusion was drawn about the effectiveness of management systems in different countries. At the same time, practical recommendations were of a very general nature. For example, due to the relatively low ranking of the education factor and the resulting shortage of highly qualified managers and engineers, it was suggested that organizations in the UK may experience some difficulties in their personnel policies.
The disadvantages of the environmental approach include an overestimation of the role of environmental factors and, accordingly, an underestimation of the role of management, considered as a passive agent of the external environment. In addition, the hypotheses put forward cannot be tested or verified.
Within the framework of the behavioral (behaviourist) approach in comparative management, the emphasis is on the typical behavioral characteristics of managers in different cultures, their motivation for performing individual management tasks. The main assumption is that behavioral stereotypes and value orientations are a function of a particular culture.
Model A. Negandha ( Anant Negandhi) and B. Estefan ( Bernard Estafen) can be represented in the form of three blocks:
Management functions, i.e. planning, organization, controlling, leadership, personnel policy;
Managerial efficiency, expressed through indicators such as profitability, dynamics of profit and sales volume, company image, employee ethics;
A managerial philosophy that characterizes the company’s relations with agents of the internal and external environment (consumers, local and central authorities, trade unions, company employees, suppliers and distributors).
The choice of various factors included in this model, however, seems quite arbitrary, which, on the other hand, can be attributed to the positive aspects of the Negandha-Estephan model: firstly, the choice for empirical study of several important variables, if not measured, then according to at least observable; and secondly, microeconomic aspects, manifested in emphasizing managerial behavior within the firm.
One of the varieties of the behavioral approach can be considered the model of H. Perlmutter ( Howard Perlmutter), which identified differences in management philosophies applied by multinational companies (MNCs).
Thus, the ethnocentric philosophy in MNCs proceeds from the fact that corporate management is guided by the values and rules determined by the parent company (headquarters), foreign divisions have little autonomy. A polycentric management philosophy reflects corporate management's understanding of differences in environmental conditions and that decisions for foreign operations should be localized to the extent possible. Divisions and branches in different regions and countries of the world operate based on local conditions and regulations. Geocentric philosophy is cosmopolitan in spirit. The main behavioral characteristic of the relationship between the parent company and foreign divisions is cooperation.
In general, the advantages of the behavioral approach to comparative management are to highlight and emphasize the characteristics of organizational behavior in the face of cultural differences. In addition, the extensive body of publications within the behavioral school of management provides a solid foundation for comparative research.
Most of the publications on cross-cultural management were dominated by the empirical approach, the eclecticism of which consisted in the fact that researchers did not set themselves the task of developing the conceptual and categorical apparatus of comparative management. Almost all publications of this kind were based on empirical studies and descriptions of various aspects of management practice in different countries. Nevertheless, a number of positive aspects in the implementation of this approach can be named. The main one was that a significant amount of empirical material was accumulated relatively quickly, to which scientists could turn, making generalizations and conclusions for further research.
Availability different approaches did not allow any clear delineation of the boundaries of what does and does not apply to comparative management. The research was carried out by specialists from different fields and disciplines: sociologists, political scientists, psychologists, anthropologists, cultural scientists, each with their own methodology and terminology.
It can be assumed what reasons explain the differences in management models in the PRC and Taiwan (as well as Singapore and Hong Kong), the DPRK and South Korea, West and East Germany before their unification, i.e. in countries and regions with common historical roots, language, traditions, values and norms, the same cultural environment. Many features of the national management model cannot be explained from the point of view of cultural determinism. For example, lifetime employment and respectful treatment of older people were not common practices in Japanese companies before World War II. The militaristic and authoritarian orientation in the culture was clearly expressed in conditions when Japan was preparing for war and dominance in the region. Difficult working conditions in many enterprises, significant differences in status between white and blue collar workers, etc. are characteristic features of Japanese management of that time. In post-war history, the norms and values of militaristic Japan were eliminated and the management system underwent significant changes, although many other aspects of the traditional value system remained virtually unchanged.
A new stage in the evolution of cross-cultural management is associated with studies in which the influence of national culture on business management was proposed to be considered based on the analysis of measured cultural variables using mathematical and statistical methods.
In the 1970s G. Hofstede ( Geert Hofstede), then the founder and head of HR research at IBM Europe, carried out an ambitious cross-cultural project. Using a questionnaire he compiled, more than one hundred thousand workers from various IBM divisions located in 72 countries were tested. As a result, scientists had a huge amount of data in their hands, which G. Hofstede was able to process and deeply analyze after he left IBM Europe and began conducting scientific and pedagogical activities at the IMD business school (Lausanne, Switzerland). The result of the analysis was the famous book “The Influence of Culture: International Differences in Attitudes to Work” published in 1980, which substantiated four parameters for measuring and comparing national cultures - power distance, uncertainty avoidance, the ratio of masculinity and femininity, the ratio of individualism and collectivism . Later, a fifth parameter was added - short- and long-term orientation, or Confucian dynamism.
Research by C. Hampden-Turner ( Charles Hampden-Turner) and F. Trompenaars ( Fons Trompenaars) were also carried out on the basis of large empirical material obtained in 1986–1993. during surveys of almost 15 thousand managers from many countries of the world. The surveys were conducted during seminars at the Center for the Study of International Business and its branches in different countries of the world. C. Hampden-Turner and F. Trompenaars proposed seven parameters for comparative analysis and interpretations of national business cultures. In addition, they explored the problems of interaction and mutual influence of national and intra-company management culture in the context of economic globalization. Their conclusion was that the dominance of national business culture in its interaction with the organizational culture of the company determines the existence of different models of the latter.
French explorer A. Laurent ( Andrew Laurent) in the 1970s–1980s. conducted a study of national characteristics of management. The empirical basis was the results of a survey of 817 senior managers from the USA and Western Europe who underwent professional retraining at the famous INSEAD school (Fontainebleau, France). One of the most fundamental results of the study stated that, although the norms of corporate culture and rules of conduct of a transnational company regulate the behavior of managers, at the level of cultural attitudes they rely more on national traditions and their own ideas and preferences.
In the mid-1990s. a research program at the Wharton School of Business (USA) was implemented to study global leadership and the effectiveness of organizational behavior GLOBE ( The Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness Research Program). The goal of the project was to create an empirically based theory that explains the influence of national culture on the behavior of people in organizations. As part of this project, using a questionnaire of 379 questions, 17 thousand middle managers from over 800 organizations were surveyed, as well as 825 top managers who were offered 4 different questionnaires.
Research was conducted in nearly 60 countries, representing all major cultural regions of the world. About 170 specialists representing these countries were involved in the work of the research group. In addition to questioning and interviewing, economic, political, social and other indicators were measured, as well as the study of publications in the media. mass media. Based on the data obtained, it became possible to modify Hofstede's model and increase the number of factors or parameters that determine differences between national cultures.
However, despite the fact that, through the efforts of scientists and specialists, cross-cultural management is currently becoming an exact science, based on data from specific studies and using formalized (mathematical and statistical) methods, the process of its formation as an independent discipline is far from complete. G. Redding ( Gordon Redding) believes that contemporary cross-cultural management research can be classified by locating and positioning it on two continuums: 1) “descriptive - explanatory” (or “ethnocentric - positivistic”) and 2) “ideographic - universal”. On the first continuum there is an array of studies in which, on the one hand, facts of cultural and institutional differences in business and management practices are described and recorded, and on the other hand, explanations are given for the identified facts. On the second continuum, research in the field of comparative management ranges from ideographic, in which generalizations are made at the level of individual organizations and countries, to universal, claiming to develop methodological provisions and criteria for international comparisons of national management models.
Cross-cultural research methodologies also differ depending on positioning on one continuum or another.
Currently, cross-cultural management is a discipline that examines, compares or contrasts different national management models. Moreover, even in those studies that are devoted to the management model of one country, the cross-cultural approach is present in an implicit form, because taking into account the processes of globalization, any study of this kind requires consideration of the country management model in the global context.
The interest of researchers in national management models, and therefore in their comparisons, can be explained by various reasons. In some cases, it is determined by the processes of transnationalization of economic activity, in others - by the achievements of the economy of a particular country or the reforms carried out there. So, for example, in the 1950s–1960s. the concept of universal management arose, and American management began to be perceived as a standard, because it was the American economy in these years that demonstrated significantly better results than any other (European or Japanese).
Similarly, the economic and technological achievements of Japan in the 1960s–1980s. naturally linked with the Japanese management model, which, in turn, explains the significant number of publications devoted to this model in the USA and Western Europe. Researchers were interested in the transfer of Japanese organizational forms, their intra- and inter-firm organizational structures, as well as institutional mechanisms into the economies of Western countries.
Integration processes in the European Union have led to interest in the European management model and its country variations. The subject of extensive discussion was the Euromanagement paradigm and the relationship between convergent and divergent factors in the process of Europeanization of management styles in European organizational cultures.
Dynamic development of the PRC economy at the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st centuries. This is not least explained by the peculiarities of Chinese management. The media in Russia (and not only) often publish materials about the so-called Chinese threat. Alarmist sentiments are also reflected in the academic environment in the form of the thesis about the “Sinicization” of many social processes, including management ones, which, according to O. S. Vikhansky and A. I. Naumov, can happen very soon in the 21st century. , because we are talking about a country that has become open with a population of one and a half billion, a country with an ancient culture and enormous potential.
Market transformations in Russia arouse the interest of Western researchers in the Russian management model. At the same time, we note that the recommendations of some experts, for example R. Lewis ( Richard Lewis), based on the study of business culture in the USSR, turn out to be of little use for the rapidly changing business environment in modern Russia.
Issues of comparative management are currently considered not only in journals traditionally specializing in business and management research, such as the Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, etc., but also in specialized scientific journals: “Journal of International Business Studies”, “International Studies of Management & Organization”, “International Journal of Cross Cultural Management” (since 2001).
Leading universities in the USA and Western Europe are forming research teams engaged in cross-cultural analysis of national management models. In some cases, research teams are formed from scientists from different countries, different universities, and different specialties. The result of their activities is a series of collective monographs and collections, including those that continue to be published today. In university management and international business programs, cross-cultural management is becoming a mandatory course.
In the 1990s. In connection with radical socio-economic transformations, the question arose about the use of foreign management theories and management technologies in Russia. In fact, the following approaches began to be implemented:
– copying foreign management theory: translation of Western, mostly American, textbooks and monographs into Russian; building on their basis university training programs in management specialties and areas and, finally, using the basic principles of the theory in practice;
– adaptation Western management theory: adaptation of Western theory to modern Russian conditions; preparation of teaching aids based on Western analogues, but taking into account real Russian management practice.
The concepts of “comparative management” and “cross-cultural management” appeared in Russian literature relatively recently, when in the mid-second half of the 1990s. Individual articles and monographs began to be published, and individual disciplines with such names began to be introduced into the curricula of management specialties and various professional retraining programs. A notable contribution to the formation and development of educational and methodological support for the comparative management course was made by S. R. Filonovich and M. V. Grachev (State University - Higher School of Economics), S. P. Myasoedov (Institute of Business and Business Administration at the Academy of Economics), and also the staff of the Department of International Management of the St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance.
The Presidential Management Training Program, implemented since 1998, played an important role. Several thousand young Russian managers underwent professional retraining on the basis of Russian educational institutions, and then an overseas internship in Western Europe, the USA, Canada and Japan. On the recommendation of the Federal Commission for the Organization of Training, a comparative management course was included in the curriculum, and a whole series of methodological seminars was organized for university teachers. The Russian Association of Business Education (RABO) held conferences on the problems of cross-cultural management and, together with National Fund Personnel Training (NFPC) organized a competition for the best development of the course program “Business Culture and Comparative Management”.
In the State Educational Standards of Higher Professional Education of the second generation, introduced in 2000, in the direction 521500 - Management, “Comparative Management” was included for the first time among the special disciplines recommended by the Educational and Methodological Association of Universities (UMO). In 2003, the first teaching aids appeared. Thus, comparative management is beginning to establish itself in Russian universities as an academic discipline and, in general, as a new branch of the theory and practice of management.
Issues of intercultural differences and their manifestations in various spheres of life are currently being studied within the framework of other specialties and areas of higher professional education. The study of the cultural and institutional foundations of management in Russia, its consideration in a global context, actually began to be carried out since the early 1990s, a time of radical transformations in all spheres of public life. The application of Hofstede's methodology made it possible to make the first comparisons of Russian management practice with Western management models (works by P. N. Shikhirev, M. V. Grachev, A. I. Naumov and a number of other authors).
Meanwhile, domestic managerial culture and management technologies require a systematic interpretation that allows us to identify the cultural and institutional specifics of Russian management, which, in turn, will make it possible to use some of its features as sources of certain competitive advantages at the global level.
Research on national management models, in addition to purely academic interest, can also have practical meaning, since it allows one to identify best practices in the development of management technologies and, as a result of comparison, discover the strengths (and weaknesses) of both “one’s own” and “alien” models. According to M.V. Grachev, “the study of Russian and foreign management in a global context also carries a certain semantic load. Is it possible to influence the adoption by a particular country of a specific model of managing a firm or enterprise? If so, then those countries and business communities that actively impose (if possible) on Russia their vision of organization and management (the ideology of management, so to speak) will as a result receive competitive advantages over other countries.” That the latter is possible is convincing negative experience Russian reforms of the 1990s, when, under the quite plausible pretext of using the experience of a number of countries as a development model for Russia, the results of research in the field of comparative management, as well as comparative sociology and political science, and modern institutional economic theory were ignored.
In conclusion, it should be noted that currently the subject of comparative management is national management models, the similarities and differences in which are determined by the cultural and institutional characteristics of countries and regions. Everything that comparative management does should be considered the methodological basis of international management, since absolute condition its success lies in a comprehensive study of the phenomenon of culture in a comparative context, analysis and assessment of the opportunities and limitations that cultural constants carry. With this approach, it should be considered legitimate to study comparative management in parallel (and even with a certain advance) with international management.
Cross-cultural management studies the behavior of people from different cultures working together in the same organizational environment. The relevance of cross-cultural management is determined by the fact that the interaction of people from different countries and cultures takes place against the background of a growing diversity of forms and methods of organizing and managing transnational companies, international projects, cross-country working groups (global teams), and strategic alliances. Cross-cultural management involves research into cultural differences both at the international and country (national) levels, both beyond and within national borders. It covers descriptions of the behavior of people from different cultures working in the same organization and comparisons of the behavior of people in organizations located in two or more different countries. Thus, cross-cultural management expands the field of organizational behavior to include a multicultural dimension. Likewise, it complements the field of international business and management research through its behavioral dimension. Finally, cross-cultural management complements comparative management, which focuses on identifying similarities and differences between national management models, by adding another dimension - cross-cultural interaction. Thus, cross-cultural management can be considered both as an independent course and as a section of comparative management, which studies the impact of cultural differences on business performance in companies, or, in other words, management relations in a multicultural environment.
Being the brainchild of the globalization of world economic life, cross-cultural management focuses on the study of behavioral characteristics inherent in various national business cultures, on the development of practical recommendations for improving the management efficiency of global organizations with a multinational field of activity.
The concept of culture and the subject of cross-cultural management. Building interpersonal relationships in a multinational team or, even more so, managing organizations located in different parts world is always a clash of different national business cultures. This is why misunderstandings and disagreements so often arise in business relations between representatives of certain countries.
As a research discipline, cross-cultural management began to take shape at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s. The first articles are written by professional management consultants, and they are the result of their personal observations, experience and expert assessments. Since the second half of the 1970s, scientific research in the field of cross-cultural management has become more regular. Substantial amounts of sociological information are being collected and systematized. Their mathematical processing is carried out. In this case, two main research methods are used
What is the subject of cross-cultural management
What was the reason for the emergence of the discipline of cross-cultural management
Cross-cultural management 29-39.49
Thus, in recent decades, the processes of globalization of world economic life, the transformation of multinational and transnational corporations into global companies have put on the agenda the need for a serious revision of the principles and methods of management, taking into account the characteristics of national business cultures of various countries and regions of the world. As a response to this challenge of the time, a new branch of management science is emerging - cross-cultural, or comparative, management. Numerous studies are being undertaken to identify the laws, patterns and behavioral characteristics of people in different business cultures. The largest corporations create special departments and departments of corporate
CROSS-CULTURAL ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT
There are hundreds of definitions of culture, each of which is correct and relates to one or another aspect of this complex concept1. In relation to the issues under consideration, i.e. the role of culture in the development of organizational management, let us dwell on the following definition. Culture is an established set of value guidelines, behavioral norms, traditions and stereotypes, accepted in a given country or group of countries and internalized by an individual. According to one of the leading researchers in cross-cultural management, Dutch scientist Geert Hofstede, culture is a kind of software of the mind. The sources of intellectual programming of an individual, writes Hofstede, are created by the social environment in which this individual is brought up and gains life experience. This programming begins in the family, continues on the street, at school, in the company of peers, at work and in the community 2.
In addition to the characteristics of Hofstede's four cultural parameters, let us present several more important dilemma parameters formulated by other scientists who study the problems of cross-cultural management.
In the 1970-90s of the XX century. The activities of the world's largest companies acquired an increasingly extraterritorial, global character. The expansion of business beyond national borders and the globalization of the activities of leading corporations have put on the agenda the question of studying the peculiarities
Gordeev R.V.
The internationalization of business and the economy, with all the ensuing advantages, has nevertheless become a global problem. Businesses are becoming increasingly international, and business schools are increasingly emphasizing the need for managers to internationalize their views. In relation to existing organizations, this means the need to take greater account of differences in national cultures.
Entrepreneurship goes far beyond national boundaries, drawing into its orbit an increasing number of people with different cultural backgrounds. As a result, cultural differences begin to play an increasing role in organizations and have a greater impact on the marginal performance of business activities. This is where cross-cultural problems arise in international business - contradictions when working in new social and cultural conditions, caused by differences in thinking stereotypes between individual groups of people. The formation of human thinking occurs under the influence of knowledge, faith, art, morality, laws, customs and any other abilities and habits acquired by society in the process of its development. You can feel these differences only by merging with a new society - the bearer of an excellent culture.
In international business, cultural factors pose the greatest challenges. That is why the correct assessment of differences in national cultures and their adequate consideration are becoming more and more important. The complex and multi-level structure of culture, which determines the diversity of its functions in the life of each society, also forces us to take into account the factors of the cultural environment. The informational, cognitive, normative, symbolic and value functions of culture are distinguished.
The information function of culture lies in the fact that culture, which is a complex sign system, is the only means of transmitting social experience from generation to generation, from era to era, from one country to another. Therefore, it is no coincidence that culture is considered the social memory of humanity.
The cognitive function is closely related to the first and, in a certain sense, follows from it. Culture, concentrating in itself the best social experience of many generations of people, acquires the ability to accumulate the richest knowledge about the world and thereby create favorable opportunities for its knowledge and development. It can be argued that a society is intellectual to the extent that it uses the richest knowledge contained in the cultural gene pool of humanity. All types of society differ significantly primarily on this basis. Some of them demonstrate an amazing ability, through culture, to take all the best that people have accumulated and put it into their service. It is they (Japan, for example) that demonstrate enormous dynamism in many areas of science, technology, and production. Others, unable to use the cognitive functions of culture, still invent the “bicycle,” and thereby condemn themselves to social anemia and backwardness.
The normative function is primarily related to the definition various sides, types of social and personal activities of people. In the sphere of work, everyday life, and interpersonal relationships, culture in one way or another influences the behavior of people and regulates their actions, actions, and even the choice of certain material and spiritual values. This function of culture is supported by such normative systems as morality and law.
The sign function of culture is the most important in the cultural system. Representing a certain sign system, culture presupposes knowledge and mastery of it. Without studying the corresponding sign systems, it is not possible to master the achievements of culture. Thus, language (oral or written) is a means of communication between people. Literary language acts as the most important means of mastering national culture. Specific languages are needed to understand the special world of music, painting, and theater.
The value function reflects the most important qualitative state of culture. Culture as a certain value system forms very specific value needs and orientations in a person. By their level and quality, people most often judge the degree of culture of a person.
So, culture is a multifunctional phenomenon. But all its functions are one way or another aimed at one thing - the development of man.
Any business is connected with a system of relationships between people, and in order to succeed in the international market, which primarily consists of people, one must learn to understand the process of formation of the human personality, that is, the process of “entering” into culture, assimilation of knowledge, skills, norms of communication, social experience. Understanding this, you can understand many things in the market.
From a geographic and spatial point of view, the international market is the largest in the world, since it is possible to sell products and services in many countries. Territorial borders do not play any role in this case; cultural borders that divide the world are much more important. It is possible to sell the same goods and services across a wide area, but it is important to recognize the significant differences between consumers from different cultural backgrounds. That is why it is important, first of all, to understand the structure of cross-cultural problems, that is, to characterize the variables that shape the cultural environment of international business. This will provide a degree of visibility - a clear understanding of cross-cultural issues and ways to improve international management.
The word itself culture is perceived differently: at the level of ordinary consciousness - as a set of behavior patterns and customs, and among culturologists and sociologists in accordance with the definition of culture as “a specific way of organizing and developing human life, represented in the products of material and spiritual labor, in the system social norms and institutions, in spiritual values, in the totality of people’s relationships to nature, among themselves and to themselves.”
It is possible to understand the essence of culture only through the prism of human activity and the peoples inhabiting the planet. Culture does not exist outside of man. It is initially associated with man and is generated by the fact that he constantly strives to seek the meaning of his life and activities and, conversely, there is no society, no social group, no person without culture, outside culture. Culture reveals the spiritual world of a person, his “essential powers” (abilities, needs, worldview, knowledge, skills, social feelings, etc.). In this way, culture acts as a measure of the realization and development of a person’s essence in the process of his social activity, “as a measure of a person.” By creating a material or spiritual product, a person objectifies himself in it, and not only his social essence, but to one degree or another his individuality.
Any person, coming and living in this world, first of all masters the culture that was already created before him, and thereby masters the social experience accumulated by his predecessors. Culture and its values necessarily fall on the specific individuality of a person: his character, mental makeup, temperament and mentality. But at the same time, a person makes his contribution to the cultural layer and, therefore, enriches, fertilizes, and improves it.
Culture is a very complex, multi-level system. For specialists involved in its structuring, many difficult problems arise, many of which have not yet been overcome. Probably all this served as the basis for considering the structure of culture one of the most complex. On the one hand, these are material and spiritual values accumulated by society, a layering of eras, times and peoples fused together. On the other hand, this is “living” human activity, based on the legacy left by 1200 generations of our kind, fertilizing and transmitting this heritage to those who will replace those currently living.
And yet, the structuring of culture, justified and logically verified, is possible. To do this, it is important to correctly determine the basis of such division. Today it is customary to subdivide culture according to its bearer. Depending on this, it is quite legitimate, first of all, to distinguish between world and national culture. World culture is a synthesis of the best achievements of all national cultures of the various peoples inhabiting our planet.
National culture, in turn, is a synthesis of the cultures of various layers and groups of the corresponding society. The uniqueness of the national culture, its well-known uniqueness and originality are manifested both in the spiritual (language, literature, music, painting, religion) and material (features of the economic structure, farming, traditions of labor and production) spheres of life and activity.
In accordance with specific carriers, the cultures of social communities (class, urban, rural, professional, youth), families, and individuals are also distinguished.
Culture is divided into certain species and genera. The basis for such a division is to take into account the diversity of human activity. From here material culture and spiritual culture are distinguished. However, it must be borne in mind that their division is often conditional, since in real life they are closely interconnected and interpenetrate each other.
An important feature of material culture is that it is not identical to either the material life of society, or material production, or material-transforming activities. Material culture characterizes this activity from the point of view of its influence on human development, revealing to what extent it makes it possible to use his abilities, creative potential, and talents. Material culture includes: the culture of labor and material production; culture of life; topos culture, i.e. place of residence (home, house, village, city); culture of attitude towards one's own body; Physical Culture.
Spiritual culture is a multi-layered formation and includes: cognitive (intellectual) culture; moral; artistic; legal; religious; pedagogical.
There is another division - based on the relevance of culture. This is the culture that is in mass use. Each era creates its own current culture. This fact is clearly visible in the changes in fashion not only in clothing, but also in culture. The relevance of culture is a living, direct process in which something is born, gains strength, lives, dies...
The structure of actual culture includes: substantial elements that are objectified in its values and norms, functional elements that characterize the process of cultural activity itself, its various sides and aspects. “The essential characteristics of a culture are given by its two “blocks” 1:
A. A substantial block that makes up the “body” of culture, its substantial basis. It includes the values of a culture - its works, which objectify the culture of a given era, as well as the norms of culture, its requirements for each member of society. These include norms of law, religion and morality, norms of everyday behavior and communication of people (norms of etiquette).
B. A functional block that reveals the process of cultural movement. In this regard, the substantial block can be considered as a certain result of this process. The functional block includes: traditions, rites, customs, rituals, taboos (prohibitions) that ensure the functioning of culture.”
A better understanding of culture can be facilitated by classification schemes dividing into “high- and low-context cultures.” The basic structure of culture forms the context, the background, and “content and context are inextricably linked.”
“High context” means that intuition and situation, as well as tradition, play a large role in interpersonal relationships. In such a society, agreements reached in oral communication are strictly observed, and there is no particular need for a written contract. Typical “high context” cultures exist in some Arab and Asian countries.
“Low context” is exactly the opposite: interpersonal contacts are clearly formalized, strict formulations are used in communication, the semantic meaning of which does not depend on the situation and traditions. Business relationships require the execution of detailed contracts. “Low context” cultures are found in Western industrialized countries. As shown in Table 1, a high background culture is fundamentally different from a low background culture.
Between the extremes of “high and low context” cultures lies the rest of the majority of countries, exhibiting in various combinations features of both types of cultures.
Table 1
Characteristics of High and Low Context Cultures
|
Context matters a lot Communications General features of culture |
Little importance of context Communications General features of culture |
The culture of any society requires knowledge of some of its effective criteria. In this regard, culture can be characterized by four criteria:
- “the length of the hierarchical ladder” characterizes the perception of equality between people in society and in an organization. The greater the gap between the top and bottom, the longer the hierarchical ladder;
- “depicting a state of uncertainty” concerns people's attitudes towards their future and their attempts to take fate into their own hands. The greater the degree of uncertainty, the more attempts are made to plan and control one's life;
- “Individualism” expresses the desire of people to act independently or to favor group choices. The greater the preponderance towards personal freedom and personal responsibility, the higher the degree of individualism;
- “masculinism” characterizes behavior and preferences for male and female values accepted in society. The stronger the masculine principle, the higher the masculinism.
Using the above criteria, 40 countries of the world were studied and eight cultural regions were identified: northern, English-speaking, German-speaking, more developed Romance-language, less developed Romance-language, more developed Asian, less developed Asian, Middle Eastern. For example, the northern region is characterized by a short hierarchical ladder, high masculinism, a high degree of individualism and a medium degree of uncertainty. The German-speaking group is characterized by a longer hierarchical ladder, a high degree of masculinism and uncertainty, and a somewhat lower degree of individualism. Developing countries exhibit a long hierarchical ladder, a high degree of masculinism, and low values of individualism and uncertainty.
However, such structuring of culture is difficult to apply directly to international business, where differences in cultural cross-sections are of interest, on the one hand, for developing the correct behavior of the direct executors of a business program in a given market, and on the other, for constructing a behavioral model of the total consumer as the end point of the movement of any goods. To identify the interaction between culture and business, let us consider a detailed and specific list of variables of cross-cultural problems (Figure 1), which, being interconnected and sometimes intersecting, nevertheless allow us to structure extensive material describing the cultural sections of each local market. Such variables include language, religion, social organization, values and relationships, education and technology, law and politics, geography and the arts.
Language is, of course, the basis for the formation of human groups, being a means of expressing thoughts and feelings, a means of communication. It is estimated that there are about 100 official languages and at least 3000 independent dialects. Only a few countries are linguistically homogeneous. The so-called “mixed” language was chosen to overcome language barriers, which often caused “hostility” between different language groups. In international business, further concentration of language use is required. English is the dominant language; It is estimated that at least 2/3 of business correspondence in the world is carried out in this language. However, in many countries there is a tendency to use only their own language.
It is customary to distinguish between verbal and non-verbal languages. The first includes a certain system of graphic signs, organized, respectively, into speech or writing. Not only do Latin American varieties of Spanish differ from that adopted in Spain, but also the languages of the USA, Canada, and Australia differ from the language of the United Kingdom. Ignoring this fact can lead to misunderstanding at best.
Figure 1. Variables of cross-cultural issues in international business
Language differences can have an impact on product promotion. Thus, UNILEVER actively used television advertising in many countries for marketing, but was unable to do this in France. The ESSO advertising slogan “Put a tiger in your tank”3 did not, due to national perception, produce such an effect in the Romance-speaking countries of Europe and underwent some modification: “Put a tiger in your engine.” Here it is appropriate to mention the surprises of the linguistic section that transliteration sometimes presents trademark. For example, “Zhiguli” was exported under a different brand “Lada” due to the fact that in French it can be heard as “girl”, “gigolo” or “thigh”4. Likewise, General Motors was forced to change the name of its Nova model when exporting to Spanish-speaking countries, since in Spanish it is equivalent to “doesn't work, doesn't go”5.
Nonverbal language covers facial expressions, gestures, postures and communication distance between people.
In nonverbal communication, there are several levels of information. First level of information communicated through posture and gestures is information about the character of the interlocutor. Gestures and postures can tell a lot about a person’s temperament, extroversion, introversion, and psychological type of person.
Visual perception of human behavior always presupposes an integrated approach, based at the same time on a detailed study of his individual body movements. However, only various gestures and facial movements combined into a single picture, included in the context of a specific behavioral situation, make it possible to give one or another assessment of a person’s mental and physical state.
Disparate body movements, accompanied by facial expressions, add up to so-called “body signals,” which, with a certain degree of convention, make it possible to form a general judgment about a person. By reading gestures, feedback can be provided, which plays a major role in the overall interaction process.
The second level of information that can be learned from gestures and posture is the emotional state of a person. After all, each emotional state, each feeling corresponds to their characteristic motor reactions, which, despite the nuances that each person has, are characterized by a certain commonality. These qualitative types of movement, especially clearly manifested on the surface of the body, are, as a rule, “reflections” of certain dynamic regulatory processes in the central regulatory sections of the body (central nervous system, autonomic nervous system, endocrine glands). At the same time they are “ outside” of these regulatory processes. There are even certain groups of expressive (expressing emotions) movements that, to varying degrees, bear the “stamp” of the corresponding culture and which, in addition, are differentiated into subgroups depending on the degree of influence of the so-called subcultures on them.
The third level of information received from posture and gestures is the attitude towards the interlocutor. The styles of behavior that develop in a person, along with traits common to all, are characterized by characteristics that appear in a person when communicating with one category of people and do not appear when communicating with another category. Most people behave in different ways, for example, towards people representing different gender groups, significantly different in age, belonging to citizens of another country, etc.
Speaking about gestures, one cannot fail to note the national, age, and cultural characteristics of their functioning. Each nation is the bearer of specific forms of gestural expression, as well as other means of external expressiveness. The gestures of the speaking person have a fairly pronounced national character.
Various postures and their variations, whether “standing” or “sitting”, as well as gestures, largely depend on the cultural context. Generally accepted manners of walking, sitting, standing, etc. “They were not invented arbitrarily, but were learned from what had been polished and selected over centuries. Thus they turned into an important element of human culture.”
Social norms of gesture, its stylization and ritualization stem from certain requirements of the lifestyle of a given society, which, in turn, is determined by the method of production. In some cases, this dependence can be difficult to prove, since traditions and borrowings from other cultures play a significant role here.
Gestures are directed to the social environment, which responds to these manifestations and, by the nature of its responses to them, indicates to what norms the gesture is subject, which manifestations are desirable and which are rejected.
An indication of the roots of social norming and stylization of a gesture can be, for example, the demand widespread in Europe, mainly among the middle class: “Smile!” This requirement in the sphere of behavior is significantly related to the fact important, which is given to “success” (in the economic and social sense). In this case, the smile becomes a symbol of “success”. It’s easy to imagine what consequences and resonance such a “position” might have. “Always smiling” demonstrates his success in business, which can contribute to further success, and in reverse order.
Various studies in this subject area have made it possible to classify the different types of nonverbal signs and describe the degree to which each of these signs is pancultural (universal), as well as to show the nature of cultural differences where they occur. Those signs that have a pancultural basis are primarily an expression of affect. For example, expressive movements such as smiling and crying are similar in all human cultures and do not depend on cultural differences between people.
Other categories of sign movements, such as “symbols” that replace words and signs that illustrate and regulate verbal communication, are usually culture-specific and require individual study.
The same gesture in different national cultures can carry completely different content. So, for example, a hand gesture that means “go away” among Americans, in Buenos Aires restaurants will be a call to the waiter, because there it means “come here.”
However, the American "come hither" gesture is the "goodbye" gesture in many parts of Southern Europe. Stroking the cheek in Italy means that the conversation has gone on so long that a beard is starting to grow and it’s time to stop the discussion. Sometimes used when playing with children in Russia, a “goat” made from fingers in Italy will be read unambiguously as “cuckold.” Failures in such sign systems can reduce the effectiveness of advertising, lead to awkward situations in negotiations, etc.
It rarely happens that during a conversation, words are not accompanied by some kind of action, in which the hands invariably play the main role. And this or that gesture has different meanings in different countries. Italians and French are known for relying on their hands when it comes to emphatically confirming words or making conversations more casual. The pitfall is that hand gestures are perceived differently depending on where we are at the moment.
In the United States, and many other countries, the “zero” formed by the thumb and forefinger says: “Everything is fine,” “Excellent,” or simply “Okay.” In Japan, its traditional meaning is “money.” In Portugal and some other countries it will be perceived as indecent.
Germans often raise their eyebrows as a sign of admiration for someone's idea. The same in Britain would be seen as an expression of skepticism.
Moving your finger from side to side has many different meanings. In the USA, Italy, France, Finland, this can mean mild condemnation, a threat, or simply a call to listen to what is said. In the Netherlands and France, such a gesture simply means refusal. If you need to accompany a reprimand with a gesture, move your index finger from side to side near the head.
In most Western civilizations, when the question arises about the role of the left or right hand, neither is preferred (unless, of course, you take into account the traditional handshake with the right hand). But be careful in the Middle East, there left hand enjoys a bad reputation.
This short list of the meanings of fairly standard gestures shows how easy it is to unintentionally offend business partners from a different national culture. If you consciously predict the reaction of your interlocutors by observing their non-verbal language, this will help avoid many misunderstandings.
Ignorance of culturally determined differences in the spatial zones of different people can also easily lead to misunderstandings and misjudgments about the behavior and culture of others. Thus, the distance at which people talk varies among different nations. Moreover, these differences are usually not noticed. During business conversations, for example, Russians move closer to each other than Americans. Reducing the accepted distance can be interpreted by Americans as a kind of violation of “sovereignty”, excessive familiarity, while for Russians, increasing the distance means coldness in relations, too much formality. Of course, after a few meetings, such misinterpretations of each other's behavior disappear. However, at first it may cause some psychological discomfort in communication.
For example, during business negotiations, Americans and Japanese look at each other with some suspicion. Americans believe that Asians are “familiar” and overly “pressive,” while Asians believe that Americans are “cold and too official.” In a conversation, each of them tries to adapt to a familiar and comfortable communication space. The Japanese constantly takes a step forward to narrow the space. At the same time, he invades the intimate zone of the American, forcing him to take a step back in order to expand his zonal space. The video of this episode, played back at high speed, will likely give the impression that both are dancing around the conference room, with the Japanese man leading his partner.
The next and important variable that requires close attention is religion. It reflects people's search for an ideal life and includes a view of the world, true values, and the practice of religious rites. All existing religions are primitivist or nature-oriented: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity. Every religion has several variants or varieties, for example in Christianity it is Catholicism and Protestantism. Religion as an element of culture influences the economic activities of people and society: fatalism can reduce the desire for change, material wealth can be seen as an obstacle to spiritual enrichment, etc. Of course, not only religion influences the level of economic development of a country, but to understand the culture of a nation, it is important to take into account religious aspects and their influence on the formation of national character.
A study conducted by the World Bank provided a clear example of the fact that there is a relationship between religiosity and the value of gross national product (GNP) per capita. The highest GNP is found in Christian Protestant societies. In second place are societies preaching Buddhism. The poorest are the southern Buddhist and southern Hindu societies.
Another example of great religiosity is Latin America. Here, starting from the date of the religious holidays “Samana Santa”, all business activity is reduced to zero for 10 days. The system of religious taboos in advertising has a significant impact on business activities in the countries of this region. The difficulties of orientation in this area become greater the further one has to move away from European standardized markets.
Speaking about the influence of religion, we distinguish between cultures that are focused primarily on objective activity and objective knowledge, and cultures that value contemplation, introspection, and auto-communication more. The first type of culture is more mobile, more dynamic, but may be subject to the danger of spiritual consumerism. Cultures oriented towards auto-communication “are capable of developing greater spiritual activity, but often turn out to be much less dynamic than the needs of human society require.”
Despite all the conventions, this cannot be ignored when identifying psychological characteristics representatives of two regions “West and East”. The New European model of man is activist-objective, arguing that personality is formed, manifests itself and knows itself primarily through its actions, during which it transforms the material world and itself. Eastern religion, on the contrary, does not attach importance to objective activity, arguing that creative activity, which constitutes the essence of the “I,” unfolds only in the internal spiritual space and is not known analytically, but in an act of instant insight, which is simultaneously awakening from sleep, self-realization and immersion into yourself.
The origins of European culture lie in two religious principles: ancient and Christian. If antiquity left Europe a legacy of faith in the conquest of the human mind, then Christianity introduced into Western consciousness an equally dynamic element - the idea of the moral ascent of man. It is these two principles that determine the uniqueness of European culture: its dynamism, a specific flexible system of intellectual and spiritual values and concepts, its ability to design and regulate social processes.
In the East, the main religious attitude is aimed at the contemplative fusion of man with the world, his self-dissolution in religious and philosophical teachings and the subordination of his “I” to social, group discipline. A person must know exactly his place in society and act in accordance with his position. For example, in Buddhism, there is a principle of “non-action” (“wu-wei”), which does not mean idle inaction, but the desire not to violate the natural order of things (“Tao”). Refusal from external, objective activities frees a person from subjective biases, allowing him to achieve absolute harmony. All his activity turns inward and becomes purely spiritual. This contemplative philosophy of the East, emphasizing the insignificance and inauthenticity of everything that happens, sees the meaning of life and consolation in inner concentration.
Due to the fact that Japan has a unique culture that has reached a high degree of development, Japanese society cannot be called “underdeveloped” or “insufficiently dynamic.” Let's compare the European canon of man with the Japanese model of man. The New European model of man affirms his self-worth, unity and integrity; fragmentation, multiplicity of “I” is perceived here as something painful and abnormal. Traditional Japanese culture, which emphasizes the dependence of the individual and his belonging to a particular social group, perceives the individual rather as a plurality, a set of several different “circles of responsibilities”: duty towards the emperor; responsibilities towards parents; towards people who have done something for you; responsibilities towards oneself.
There is no more cruel punishment for a Japanese than to be thrown out of the community into a foreign world that extends beyond its borders, into a terrible world where trash, dirt and illnesses are thrown out. The death penalty—expulsion from the community—has been and is now imposed only for the most serious crime in the eyes of community members. This is not hooliganism, not theft, or even arson, but an act that community leaders can pass off as treason, for trampling on its interests.
At the Matsushita Denki concern, a worker was fired for distributing the communist newspaper Akahata on the shop floor. The worker went to court. If the case of the unconstitutional arbitrariness of the concern's management had not attracted the attention of the wider democratic public, the court most likely would have been satisfied with the defendant's argument that the worker acted to the detriment of the community, opposed himself to it, and would have rejected the claim. But the Communist Party and trade unions came out in defense of the worker. By court decision, the concern reinstated the worker at work, but subjected him to typical communal punishment. It turned out to be more terrible than any other.
At the entrance to the plant, near the entrance, they built a house - a one-room booth. The obstinate worker was told that from now on his production task was to spend the entire working day in a booth and... do nothing. There was only a chair in the room, on which the worker was required to sit. He received his salary regularly, on an equal basis with the members of his team. (In a similar situation, an employee of the Kansai Kisen shipping company who violated the order was forced to glue envelopes from old paper and his place of work was fenced off with screens.) A month later, the Matsushita Denki worker was sent to the hospital with a nervous breakdown.
Japanese management experts believe that the concern subjected the worker to double torture. First of all, he condemned the worker to the torment of idleness. But the most difficult thing for him was the forced alienation from the group of which he considered himself a part. In European languages, the word “I” contains the meaning: “individual”, “personality”. In Japanese, the word “jibun” - the equivalent of the European “I” - means “my share”, “my part”. The Japanese consider themselves part of some community. The concern deprived the worker of the opportunity to consider himself a part of it, essentially took away his “I”, and did it publicly, causing mental shock in the worker6.
The European religious tradition evaluates the personality as a whole, considering its actions in different situations to be a manifestation of the same essence. In Japan, a person’s assessment necessarily correlates with the “circle” of the action being assessed. European thought tries to explain a person’s action “from the inside”: whether he acts out of a feeling of gratitude, out of patriotism, out of self-interest, etc., that is, in moral terms, the decisive importance is attached to the motive of the action. In Japan, behavior is derived from a general rule, a norm. What is important is not why a person acts this way, but whether he acts in accordance with the hierarchy of responsibilities accepted by society.
These differences are related to a whole range of social and cultural conditions. Traditional Japanese culture, formed under the strong influence of Buddhism, is non-individualistic. If a European realizes himself through his differences from others, then a Japanese realizes himself only in the inextricable system “I – others.” For a European (“solid personality”), the inner world and one’s own “I” are something real and tangible, and life is a battlefield where he realizes his principles. The Japanese are much more concerned with maintaining their “soft” identity, which is ensured by belonging to a group. Hence a different value system.
As you can see, the path “from individual to individual” is ambiguous. Humanity has different canons of personality, which cannot be arranged into a single genetic series - “from simple to complex and from lower to higher.” Therefore, the culture of any nation must necessarily be considered through the prism of religion.
Values and attitudes in society are closely related to religious feelings. Often they are unconscious, but they predetermine the choice in a given situation. The formation of a system of values and relationships occurs individually for each person. However there are three important element systems directly related to international business: attitude to time, achievements and wealth.
There are traditional and modern attitudes to time. In ancient times, humanity lived in a natural rhythm, when time was measured in large segments. The rhythm was cyclical, all phenomena were repeated sooner or later. This perception of time was often called “circular” (traditional).
The modern perception of time is called linear, when the time that has passed does not return. With this perception of time, it must be protected; time is money; it is necessary to plan the use of time. This attitude towards time was formed as the number of people employed in agriculture decreased and the urban population grew. In modern society there are countries in which both attitudes toward time exist. This is how accuracy and precision are considered in Western societies. careful attitude by the time the only indicators of rational behavior. This means that meetings must be held on time, projects must proceed as planned, and agreements must have clear start and end dates. Work time began to be distinguished from other types of time (free, family, religious) and it plays a dominant role.
At the same time, in a number of countries, for example, eastern ones, they believe that increased attention to time can lead to a limited, narrowed understanding of the issue under consideration, to a decrease creative possibilities. In business interactions, inconsistencies with different perceptions of time often cause shock. Thus, the construction of a government-subsidized dam on an Indian reservation turned into chaos because there were large differences between the Indians' concept of time and the white man's concept of time. “White” time is objectified, Indian time is living history. For whites, time is a noun, for Indians it is a verb. White time intervals are shorter than Indian time intervals. The idea of time is a mechanism for organizing social action, so ignoring this fact led to the failure of the construction of the dam. In this regard, it can be concluded that studies of international relations, intercultural contacts and cross-national comparisons that do not take into account fundamental differences in the perception of time will always lead to false benefits.
In a society, there is a relationship between its social structure and differences in the use of time. A sign of identifying groups is profession. The following social groups are distinguished: the upper classes—entrepreneurs and managers who have the right to make decisions; representatives of the intellectual elite and the world of liberal professions who have achieved great success; dependent middle class - administrative and technical employees who carry out other people's orders or train personnel with secondary education; an autonomous middle class of traders, artisans and other independent professions, characterized by a level of education ranging from secondary to lower; lower class - manual labor professions and lower employees in industry, trade and services.
In the upper classes the compulsory time is shorter, and free time more than in other classes, which indicates greater opportunities for organizing one’s time and a high quality of life. The greatest difference in the distribution of daytime time is associated with the use of free time. These differences are greatest between the upper class and the autonomous middle class, i.e. between the class with the highest level of responsibility and the class at lowest level hierarchical ladder. The average working day for the upper class is 6 hours. 37 minutes, and for the autonomous middle class - 8 hours. 17 min.
The upper class has the greatest amount of free time: for this class it is sometimes difficult to distinguish free time from work time, due to the fact that individual cultural interests are closely related to the content of work. Because of this, for this class there is no significant difference between working and free days, as well as between different parts of the day. The upper class differs from other classes in the content of free time. More time is devoted to various types of games and reading and less time to watching TV. A higher social status, combined with a higher level of education, leads to a less passive use of free time and contributes to the cultural and creative development of the individual. The higher a person's social status, the greater the master of his time he is. Such differences in the use of time leave an imprint on the orientation of individual behavior, which naturally affects market segmentation in the process of international activity.
In relation to organizations, a distinction is made between monochronic time (events are distributed as separate units and organized sequentially) and polychronic time (events occur simultaneously). Bureaucratic organizations in these temporary systems function differently. Monochronic cultures emphasize management strategies and are based on counting and routine. Polychronic cultures are less dependent on routines, involve more activity, and are more leadership-based. As a result, they have different administrative structures, different production principles and different models bureaucratic organization. In general, the time of organization has strict, compulsory boundaries. For example, industrial production organized according to a fixed sequence of phases or stages. If duration and order are violated, then manufacturing process stops.
Attitudes towards achievement and wealth were formed over a long historical period under the influence of religion. In ancient times, work was considered a less worthy activity than thinking, and was incompatible with the rules of good manners. In many religious circles, it was believed that praying was more important than being hardworking or businesslike. Material gain and spiritual development were considered incompatible. Later, as researchers note, some religions begin to encourage hard work and entrepreneurship. Thus, noticeable differences in attitudes toward achievement emerged between Catholics and Protestants in Canada.
Countries differ in their approach to income generation methods. Since in many societies, such as India, land and production of goods are under the control of the ruling classes, foreign entrepreneurs are forced to limit themselves to long-term leases or intermediary functions. But income received in this way is often considered suspicious.
In many countries there is a negative attitude towards moneylenders (Islamic societies). Lending money at interest is often prohibited, and exporters have difficulty adapting to this economic regime. However, royalties can be seen as exploiting the weakness of the payer even after he has acquired the appropriate skills and made a profit for himself. An acceptable alternative in such a situation is a lump sum payment or payment over the first few years.
The social organization of society, as a cross-cultural variable, considers the role of kinship in everyday decision-making, the degree of gradation of the population and the differences between the upper, middle and lower classes, the predominance of individualism or collectivism in society.
When entering a new cultural and social environment, it is always necessary to take into account relationships in small social groups and, first of all, in the family. Family is an important associated consumer in the market. It is important here to study the so-called “standard family” (defining consumer baskets), as well as establishing leadership, which is ambiguous in different cultures. The dominant masculine or feminine principle in a culture leads, respectively, to radicalism or conservatism. Masculine cultures give priority to decisiveness in action and the desire for material wealth, while feminine cultures give priority to life comfort, caring for the weak (Denmark and the USA).
In international business, social aspects are very important. Exactly from social organization society depends on whether the business partners will be family firms, in which nepotism determines the nature of day-to-day decisions and succession, or will it be necessary to deal with deeply professional partners in the Western sense?
In addition, the predominance of individualism or collectivism has a great influence on the behavioral responses of consumers. Likewise, the social stratification of society to a certain extent corresponds to the segmentation of markets, and social mobility corresponds to changes in this segmentation. In urban structures, such stratification has a clearly defined “geographical superposition”. Thus, the public and the selection of goods along Avenue Clichy in Paris or along Boulevard Rechoir (the famous cheap Tati stores) differ sharply from those on the Champs Elysees.
Individualism presupposes a person’s actions determined primarily by his interests, which increases the degree of risk. Collectivism, on the contrary, leads to the standardization of interests in the market of needs and presupposes a person’s desire to adhere to a certain mode of behavior in a group, which limits his freedom but reduces risk.
A priori, two types of individualism (1 and 2) and collectivism (1 and 2) are distinguished.
Individualism of the first type is “pure individualism”, which is based on the personal will of the individual. It can also be called “atomistic individualism”, since in this case the person feels lonely, behaves in an original and independent way, sometimes becomes parasitic, i.e. a person with behavior deviating from general norms and standards. With this type of individualism, strong anarchist principles and opposition to the system of power and control are manifested.
Individualism of the second type is a derivative version of individualism; it contains elements of collectivism, since the individual easily accepts the restrictions imposed by others. This is a type of “mutually determined individualism”, since in its conditions a person feels his solidarity with others and behaves adequately to them, based on the principles of interdependence.
Collectivism of the first type is a derivative type of collectivism; it contains elements of individualism. It can be called “flexible or open collectivism” because it allows for a certain degree of voluntary participation by individuals. It can be considered an open or free system because it allows for active thinking and behavior of individuals. This type of collectivism is distinguished by progressivism and democracy, since decisions are usually made here on the basis of personal agreements or the opinion of the majority and the free expression of the individual is recognized. This collectivism requires the voluntary participation of individuals and is closely related to their democratic ideas.
Collectivism of the second type is “pure collectivism.” It can also be called “strict or rigid collectivism”, since in this version of collectivism active individual expression of will and participation is severely limited. This type of collectivism has strong conservative and sometimes totalitarian tendencies, since decisions are usually made on the basis of common law and unanimity in order to maintain existing structures. Collectivism is dominated by control from above and coercion.
Let's try to schematically give a sober and scientifically based differentiation of cultures and the degree of expression of collectivist and individual principles in them.
If we judge Japanese culture (see Figure 2), then it should be classified as a combination of Type 2 individualism and “flexible collectivism.” This type of culture, such as Scandinavian, can be considered as favorable for the implementation of the ideas of democracy, industrialism, and mass society. The “concern for reciprocity” characteristic of individualism of the second type is very effective in creating the idea of social equality in society, and “flexible collectivism,” which recognizes the active participation of individuals, creates the basis for the pursuit of social equality.
Moreover, in Japanese culture and other similarly structured cultures, tensions and disagreements between the group and its members are minimal due to the structural features that characterize them. Since individualism of the second type recognizes collectivist attitudes, and “flexible collectivism” recognizes the interests of individuals, the social distance between the individual and the group is reduced.
It is precisely because “flexible collectivism” and “mutually dependent individualism” coexist in Japanese culture that it has succeeded in organizing a highly developed mass society and maintaining a high level of internal cultural stability. And at the same time, since Japanese culture is based on a combination of derivatives, rather than pure types of individualism and collectivism, its internal stability is not effective enough to withstand external pressure.
Japan is characterized by a combination of bureaucratic and democratic attitudes; Cooperation and equality are of particular value.
A typical example of a culture shaped by “atomistic individualism” and “flexible collectivism” is the United States. This culture is characterized by a mixture of anarchy and democracy; to these should be added a pronounced tendency towards competition and freedom.
Russia is a typical example of a culture that is still aligned with individualism of the second type and “strict collectivism”; it is characterized by the presence of bureaucratic attitudes, as well as an orientation towards coercion and uniformity.
A typical example of a combination of “atomistic individualism” and “strict collectivism” can be found in Western European culture. We are talking about a culture that, due to its characteristic extreme forms of anarchy and autocracy, reveals a state of constant tension. In fact, it contains the origin of skeptical attitudes and the tendency to understand.
We can say that collectivism stimulates a tendency towards adaptive (Russia) and integrative (Japan) behavior, while individualism encourages the desire to create and achieve new goals and maintain latent social values (USA, Europe). As an example, let us give a comparative situation of two types of management.
It is interesting to note that the works of American and Western European authors always note the advantageous position in which the Japanese manager finds himself in contrast to his Western European and American counterparts. First of all, it is noted that the Japanese manager simply does not have to deal with such “sore” issues as absenteeism, poor discipline, staff turnover, etc. This is due to the existence of a special moral and psychological climate, which helps Japanese companies achieve great practical success.
In Japan, it is difficult to reconcile the demands for improving overall organizational performance with individualism. Each employee is initially included in one group or another. The requirement to improve the efficiency of the entire organization is associated with traditional collectivism and aims to improve the performance of the group to which a given employee belongs. In general, the group adopts an internal structure that links all its members into a strictly ranked hierarchy.
When people in Japan talk about “individualism,” they mean selfishness, the immoral behavior of a person pursuing his own selfish interests. Any manifestations of individualism are always considered in the country as an encroachment on the interests of one or another social group. Individualism appears as a serious vice that deserves the most serious condemnation.
In Western societies, on the contrary, the desire for cohesion in the organization is weakly expressed. Management is focused on the individual and this management is assessed based on individual results. A business career is driven by personal results and accelerated career advancement. The main qualities of leadership in this management model are professionalism and initiative, individual control of the manager and a clearly formalized control procedure. There are also formal relationships with subordinates, compensation based on individual achievements and individual responsibility.
When studying cross-cultural issues, society is usually viewed from an economic and cultural perspective. But in international business a number of political and legal aspects are of equal importance.
The fact of the widest intervention of the state both in the economy as a whole and in international activities is well known. Moreover, this is especially felt in countries that are currently “on the path to the market,” when there is still no clear alignment and, most importantly, a balance of political forces, or a strong legal framework regulating international activities.
Thus, in China there is active action by government authorities at all levels, from the national level to the provincial (regional), township and village. A strong and active government has taken a leading role in guiding the transition to a market by creating market-oriented institutions at both the industrial and regional levels. Export activity in the country is under state control, and its intensity is often determined by decisions of provincial authorities. The government is pursuing an expansionary policy, a program of restructuring privatized and state-owned enterprises, and pursuing trade and regulatory policies in order to attract reputable foreign investors who can bring the necessary experience and financial resources.
In international business, any transaction is influenced by three political and legal environments: the country of origin, the country of destination and the international one. In this regard, the study of political and legal aspects of the cultural environment acquires special importance.
In addition, it should be noted that in each of these three sections, the subjects of activity are not limited to government organizations. Given the objective limitations of the effective demand of the local market, on the one hand, and the goods/services produced, on the other hand, any transaction in international business, which also takes place against the backdrop of competition, changes the supply/demand relationship in the local market and affects the interests of various political strength Among the latter are all kinds of unions and associations of consumers and producers, corporately associated officials of various departments, representatives of the army and the military-industrial complex, the leadership of political parties, the church, TNCs and, finally, representatives of the shadow economy. The size of the latter, even for countries with developed economies and democracies, ranges from 4.1% to 13.2% of the gross national product
Due to such a complex picture of the distribution of political forces and interests, it is necessary to coordinate the use of economic, psychological and political techniques in order to achieve the cooperation of a number of influential parties in order to ensure penetration and/or functioning in a specific local market. In other words, one or both counterparties to a simple transaction must, in addition to negotiating its terms and taking into account national and international legislation in parts of this transaction, also take into account the interests of third parties not formally involved in the transaction.
For example, a seemingly simple transaction for the purchase of sugar passing through the seaport of St. Petersburg must be worked out with the port authorities and dockers (otherwise, for example, demurrage fees will catastrophically reduce the effectiveness of the transaction). At the next stage, it is possible to counter the mafia during transportation from the port, during storage, etc. If we move on to real estate transactions, to compensation transactions, to trade in raw materials (all natural in the context of international business), then the composition of third parties expands unpredictably.
Complex power relations and the struggle of interests exist not only in local markets defined by state borders, but also in various closed market systems such as the EU and customs unions. It's no secret that attempts to become a full partner in the international market, which the countries of the former Soviet Union are now making, lead to market destabilization and a fall in prices in those markets (metals, weapons) where they act as exporters, and to increased prices for products (food products, alcohol, cigarettes), where they act as importers. Europe's defense arsenal includes anti-dumping legislation, such as the Treaty of Rome, and coordinated action to protect the market. In particular, recently European buyers of non-ferrous metals have taken the price of the London Non-Ferrous Metals Exchange minus 12–20% as their target price.
At the national level, government actions that influence international activities can be grouped into two groups: hard-expropriation, confiscation, socialization and flexible-price control, licensing and export/import quotas, regulation of monetary and financial transactions, fiscal policy, regulation of the repatriation of profits of foreign investors. One typology of government intervention is shown in Table 2.
table 2
Types of government intervention (increasing order of influence forces)
|
Non-discriminatory interventions |
Discriminatory interventions |
Discriminatory sanctions |
Dispossession |
|
Requirement to appoint nationals to leadership positions |
Only joint ventures (in which the non-resident firm owns a minority share) are permitted. |
Hidden expropriation (for example, mandatory and clearly defined reinvestment of profits) |
Expropriation |
|
Negotiate transfer prices to promote tax revenues in your country |
Collection of special taxes or significant utility charges |
Imposing taxes or fees intended to prevent the repatriation of profits |
Nationalization |
|
Requirements for export industries to sell domestically at break-even prices in order to: subsidize local consumption or promote local investment |
Use of significant legal obstacles |
Demands for substantial compensation for past violations of the law |
Socialization (general nationalization) |
Here, in the political and legal section, one should consider such a political force, which must be taken into account in international business, as nationalism. The manifestation of this force becomes stronger the worse the economic situation in the country. Sometimes this is an unconscious reaction of various segments of the population, sometimes it is actions planned by political forces. In conditions of heated nationalism, a foreign company finds itself surrounded by an atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust; labor disputes arise at its enterprises more often, and it becomes more difficult to resolve issues with the authorities. It cannot be said that nationalism is characteristic only of underdeveloped countries. On the contrary, for Europe, as well as for Latin America, anti-American sentiments are traditional (just recall the pogroms of McDonald's and COCA-COLA kiosks in France), and in the USA they are anti-Japanese, caused by the extensive expansion of Japanese goods.
An assessment of political and legal aspects allows us to talk about political and, ultimately, economic risks. In practice, it is quite difficult to collect all the data on the political and legal elements of the attractive market. If a company has to enter a new market for the first time, or the company intends to move from purchase/sale transactions to, for example, direct investment, then in these cases, of course, it is necessary to use the institution of independent consultants. Otherwise, disruptions and conflicts with current legislation and, no less important, with local business customs are inevitable.
In international business, the focus, subjects studied, level and profile of education in a particular state are rarely taken into account. However, the educational system requires careful consideration of its impact on technical training and market linkages.
The tasks facing the education system imply the orientation of general education towards transmitting to the younger generation the fundamentals of all social experience, including knowledge about nature, society, technology, man, methods of activity, as well as the experience of creative activity, the experience of an emotional and value-based attitude to reality. The content of general education reflects the current level of technical, natural science and humanitarian knowledge. This ensures the orientation of the individual in the surrounding reality and in the system of social values.
Such an important impact that the education system has as an investment in human capital, leads to the need to consider this element in the surrounding cultural environment of international business. Comparative data with foreign markets can help to understand, for example, literacy rates and their impact on technical training and market linkages. The importance of formal education is imperative when hiring staff and when conducting discussions with clients and partners. It is also important to know how local firms carry out industrial training of your staff.
The level of education in the country has a huge impact on the formation of the technical potential of the state. Research has proven this fact and found that only Japan and Germany (countries with the highest level of technical education) have the technical capabilities to manufacture one device. This device consists of a half-meter steel cylinder with a ball inside. This ball fits so tightly that if you pour water on it, not a single drop will leak to the bottom of the cylinder. Moreover, the ball, under the influence of its weight, must sink to the bottom of the cylinder in exactly 24 hours.
Studying the technical level of another state in a broad sense can provide information about the level of development and potential of the market, the degree of development of its infrastructure (transport, energy, water supply, telecommunications, etc.), as well as the degree of urbanization and development of “industrial values” among the population. In addition, this kind of research will allow us to assess the stability of the labor market, its ability to learn and the degree of its productivity, attitude towards science, innovation and cooperation with the business world.
Geographical conditions are often perceived as an optional element in a broad and rather vague concept of culture. However, it should be recognized that geographical position countries largely influence the formation of national character, values, positions and norms of society. The most typical example is Japan, whose geographical location allows us to clearly illustrate the importance of this element in the structure of the cultural environment.
Japan is one of the most densely populated countries, and some areas, for example, the Tokyo-Yokohama agglomeration, are not inferior to New York in this area. The problem is not only that so many people live on the four main islands, but also that most of the country is made up of mountains, volcanoes and other unsuitable land.
The high population density in Japan affects many factors, including the area of government. The acute shortage of land makes housing expensive, and therefore, despite all the measures taken, the journey from home to work takes on average up to two hours.
The high cost of housing explains the low average supply of housing and encourages the multi-purpose use of rooms and the cohabitation of several generations. High price houses, and surveys show that owning a home is a key goal for young people, influencing how much they save, as well as the percentage of income spent on housing (in Japan, for example, it is twice as high as in the UK). Naturally, this reduces the percentage of expenses on other goods. It is therefore not surprising that the average Japanese is very concerned about the price-quality ratio of consumer goods.
The natural and geographical conditions of Japan strengthen such historically formed qualities of its inhabitants as collectivism, mutual assistance, a sense of “he” and “giri” - duty and responsibility. The fact remains that for centuries the Japanese have been forced to live next to each other in conditions where one person is dependent on another. As a result, the preconditions were created for the transfer of communal attitudes to life in cities. This makes a sharp difference from Western European societies, where the rural or communal way of life, the sense of belonging to a community, social community, interdependence were transformed in the process of industrial development and urbanization into the isolation of individuals, a sense of personal alienation.
Japanese natural and geographical conditions shaped the national character through literature, theater, myths, and traditions. (Western children listen to stories about a man on the moon, which is made of a piece of cheese. Japanese ones about a moon on which two rabbits bake rice cakes.) The basis of traditional Japanese food is tea, rice and fish are traditionally produced by small peasant or fishing farms, which explains the close proximity of life settings in town and country throughout Japan, and big cities are no exception.
Even the art of Japan, imported a thousand years ago from China, is closely connected with nature. Flower arranging, landscape gardening, single-color landscape painting and the graceful tea ceremony express simplicity, natural beauty and discipline - qualities that the Japanese of any age consider inherent in themselves. Japanese cultural sensitivity reflects man's perception of the natural world. There is an almost religious worship of the beauty of nature (for example, Mount Fuji). The Japanese try to dissolve in nature, to endow it with human emotions - this is expressed in art, sculpture, and architecture. For example, a traditional Japanese house is built in accordance with the requirements of nature to reflect the four seasons of the year (the house is oriented to the south). The classic Japanese garden also reflects the interdependence of everything in nature - here trees, stones and water are symbols of nature as a whole. Water, of course, is at the center of nature's order, and given that the main food product, rice, grows in fields flooded with water, then it is understandable that much attention is paid to water regulation. Already in ancient times, irrigation, drainage, filling fields with water, control of its expenditure and use created strong trends in resource management in Japan, which also influence the activities of modern organizations.
Today in Russia, the intersection, interaction and clash of different cultures occurs more often than many leaders realize. The cross-cultural approach applies to many areas of human activity, especially business. The regional, sociocultural and national aspect in business and territorial features of management are gradually gaining importance in the Russian business society. The reason for this is the cross-cultural conditions for the functioning of business: new mixed partnership mechanisms are emerging in the domestic and world economy, based on the interpenetration and reunification of values, attitudes and norms of behavior of various civilizations, cultures, subcultures, countercultures. Every year various representative offices of international companies appear in Russia, and Russian business increases its activity abroad. It is important to note that operating in cross-cultural settings creates both specific opportunities and risks for actors. I highlight areas in which cross-culture manifests itself, is formed, and is created.
Thus, the most characteristic areas of socio-economic activity of business organizations, where there is intersection, interaction, and clash of different cultures, are: - management of international and interregional business; - interaction of professional subcultures in business; - management of company values; - communication with the external environment of the company; - marketing; - human resource management; - relocation, employment and career in another region, country; - interaction between city and village in Russia. Increasing competence in the field of cross-cultural management by modern managers is necessary, because Doing business in Russia has many regional, local-territorial features. A Russian manager operates in a variety of domestic (within the country) and external cultures. Knowledge of your own cultural specifics, as well as the specifics of the business culture of other ethnic groups, nationalities, peoples, civilizations, becomes extremely important, because the more diverse the cultural field of doing business, the higher the reputational risks, the more acute the cross-cultural differences, the higher the communication barriers, more critical are the requirements for cross-cultural competence of a manager. Cross-cultural management is a relatively new field of knowledge for Russia; it is management carried out at the junction of cultures: macro level - management at the junction of national and regional cultures, micro level - at the junction of territorial, age, professional, organizational, and other cultures. Cross-cultural management is aimed at solving the following tasks of Clients: 1) assistance in management business relations, arising in a multicultural environment, including, incl. creating tolerant interaction, successful communications, conditions for fruitful work and profitable business at the intersection of different business cultures; 2) regulation of intercultural conflicts in the business environment; 3) development of cross-cultural competence of business owners, managers, and personnel. The multiethnic nature of Russian society makes it advisable to take into account cross-cultural aspects in business. Therefore, the leaders of both international and regional business It is advisable to develop in matters of cross-cultural management and communications, and for organizations to train staff in this direction. Studying cross-cultural topics helps managers get to know themselves better, identify their cultural profile, develop cross-cultural competence, and therefore avoid risks, undesirable consequences for business, career and personal life, and become more successful.