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Replace with slice from book cover – height = 1cm

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In this session:

What is culture?

At level of society

At level of organisation

Beliefs, values and attitudes Where they come from and how they relate to behaviour

Intercultural competenceBeing able to work within and across cultures in professional life

Copyright ©2012 Pearson Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) – 9781442547742/McCulloch and Reid/Your Business Degree


What is culture ? - your thoughts on this?

In pairs or small groups, come up with a definition of culture.

Hint: you might like to think about examples of things, such as dress, language, food, customs.......



Can we come up with a shared definition of culture?

Key Points are . . .



Some elements of culture• Language (including non-verbal cues)

• Stories, myths and legends, jokes

• Norms e.g. rituals, taboos, social etiquette

• Values (what is considered of worth) and ethics

• Religion

• Beliefs e.g. individualism or collectivism

• Roles and power distance

• Customs, festivals and celebrations

• Food

• Art

• Clothing

• Artefacts: physical things that have symbolic meanings attached e.g. flowers at a wedding



Are there such things as ‘cultural universals’?

Do you think the following features are shared by people in all human societies?

Ability to communicate verbally

Use of age and gender for classification e.g. woman, senior citizen

Marriage and kinship e.g. cousin, husband

Family relationships and child rearing

Art and music

Division of labour

Ethics

Can you add any others to this list?



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A further complication: ‘Subcultures’

Complex societies consist of more than one culture – subcultures exist within dominant cultures

Examples:

Economic or social class

Ethnicity e.g. tribal connections, African Americans

Geographic region

Age-related cohort e.g. ‘youth culture’

Can you add to this list? Are there ‘subcultures’ with which you or people you know identify?




Kogalganguro

morianime


Lewis culture modelhttp://www.crossculture.com/services/cross-culture/

Follow link and click on multi media demonstration for six minute video presentation.

http://www.crossculture.com/rlcintro.html



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Activity

• Form yourselves into small groups

• Each group will be given a card on which one of the elements of culture will be written

• Discuss amongst the group examples of cultural behaviours or attitudes related to your cultural element. These can be from your own or other cultures.

• We will share this discussion as a class

• Alternative Activity slide 31

• Discuss examples of New Zealand cultural that you have noticed.



So why is culture significant?

Diversity

Identity

Points of difference

Development of attitudes

How we monitor standards and behaviour

Group membership

Strengthening and transmitting traditions through generations

Any others?



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Some things to consider

Can culture change?

Should culture change?

What kinds of things might cause culture to change?

‘Culture shock’ – how would this feel?

Are there difficulties with cultural adaptation?

Are there benefits of culture sharing?

Does any of this matter for business students?



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Culture= ‘the way we do things around here’

What is your view of that definition?

Does it fit with the ideas you have come up with?

Here are some of the characteristics of culture:

It’s based on what we have learned, i.e. it represents knowledge which is shared and accepted by members of the culture

It’s about ways we have been taught to think and feel, and to react to and interpret what we experience

It’s expressed through our understanding of the way things work, and how people behave in our culture (or subculture)

It’s about who we identify with, and who we feel ‘comfortable’ with



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The importance of intercultural awareness and competence for business students

Today’s world of business is increasingly globalised and connected, and business graduates need to:

• understand and value/respect cultural differences

• communicate easily across diverse cultures

• possess the range of skills and knowledge needed to operate globally

• recognise that these skills are also necessary in culturally-diverse NZ

..........A useful place to start is through gaining an understanding of our own cultural practices.............



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Intercultural competence

The acquired ability to understand, communicate and adapt behaviours in a manner that promotes effective intercultural communication and interaction

Intercultural competence involves:

• Sensitivity to cultural differences

• The ability to see things from multiple perspectives

• The ability to adapt behaviours and practices to function in other cultural frames



More on intercultural competence

A dynamic, ongoing, interactive and self-reflective learning process.

Related to culture, cross-cultural communication, meaning-making and language use, dealing with ‘otherness’ and difference.

Transformational – confronts and challenges biases and beliefs.

Involves self-reflexive communication and actions.

(More than the learning of isolated facts about specific cultures)



What makes it hard to understand one’s own culture?

Our own culture is ‘everything we know.’

Its . .

based on what we have learned and been taught;

how we understand the world,

identify ourselves and recognise others like us

How do we become aware that there are other ways of doing things?



Ways to increase your intercultural knowledge and competence during your degree program

• Learn as much as you can by socialising with students from other cultures during your degree studies

• Use every opportunity you get during your degree to engage in group work with students from other cultures – this is a ‘safe’ way to find out about other business cultures and ways of doing things

• Participate in the cultural exchange and internship opportunities that are offered as part of your degree

• Have some fun: watch movies, read magazines, access the internet. Find out everything you can about other cultures – sample their food too, if that is available in your area!



Culture on culture: clash or integrateWhat happens when cultures collide?

• Good Conflict such as fusion cuisine of the euro/pacific.

• Bad Conflict such as destruction and dehumanisation of Australian Aborigine people, recent USA military actions in Iraq.

• Neutral (?) Separatism in which the cultures exist in parallel in the same geo-societal location such as apartheid (extreme),

Auckland Chinese (don’t integrate much).

• Integration in which a new culture emerges from a combination of one or more inputting cultures, such as Maori and Pakeha (hopefully).



The New Zealand-Aotearoa Culture : Key Points

1. Don’t sit on desks, tables, etc

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

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All slides so far have been about culture and society.

In business we also use the word culture to describe

how organisations work.

Every organisation has a ’culture’ that

is the ‘unwritten rules’ of the organisation.


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What use is organisational culture?

A successful business has a successful culture.

(all businesses in same industry have same resources etc, - so why is one more successful?)

Culture can be a competitive advantage as it is hard to copy.

(culture as core competency)




Competitive advantage frontier

Threshold competencies

(all industry members do this)

Core competency

(unique feature)

Increasing

Differentiation


Organisation culture extremes : People vs task

People (people first)Develop staff to fill roles

Team culture common

Collective decision making

Soft HRM organisation

non specialist career

implicit control

slow promotion

long term employment

Task (work first)Hire staff to fill roles

Individual culture common

Individual decision making

Hard HRM organisation

specialist career

explicit control

fast promotion

short term contracts


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