Emad Hamdy

What is culture?

Culture means the values, customs, traditions, and ways of living which distinguish one group of people from another.

Culture is patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting underpinning the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.

Culture gives people a sense of:

who they are…

belonging

how they should behave

what they should be doing

10 categories to understand culture

•Sense of self and space •Communication and language

10 categories to understand culture

•Dress and appearance Food and feeding habits

10 categories to understand culture

•Time and Time Consciousness.

Relationships.

10 categories to understand culture

•Values and Norms. Beliefs and Attitudes

10 categories to understand culture

Mental Process and Learning

•mind is internalized culture, and the mental process involves how people organize and process information

•each culture has a reasoning process, but then each manifests the process in its own distinctive way

Work habits and practices

Hofstede’s research

To create opportunities for collaboration, global leaders must learn

not only the customs, courtesies, and business protocols of their counterparts from other countries, but they must also understand the national character, management philosophies, and mind-sets of the people.

Dr. Geert Hofstede, a European research consultant, has helped identify important dimensions of national character. He firmly believes that “culture counts” and has identified four dimensions of national culture

Global leaders should:

be sensitive to cultural differences

appreciate people’s distinctiveness and effectively communicates with individuals from different cultures

not impose his/her own cultural attitudes and approaches

not be ethnocentric – belief in the inherent superiority of one’s own group and culture

As a result of cultural understanding, one becomes

Broad minded

Tolerant of cultural uniqueness

Gain new insights for improving human relations

Aware of the impact of our native culture

Minimize the impact of culture shock

Maximize intercultural experiences