9th Edition
The Cultural Dimension of Global Business
Now in its ninth edition, The Cultural Dimension of Global Business continues to provide an essential foundation for understanding the impact of culture on global business and global business on culture. The highly experienced authors demonstrate how the theory and insights of cultural anthropology can positively influence the conduct of global business, examining a range of issues that individuals, teams, and organizations face as they work globally and across cultures. The cross-cultural scenarios presented at the end of each chapter allow students of business, management, and anthropology alike to explore cultural differences while gaining valuable practice in thinking through a variety of complex and thorny cultural issues.
The fully updated ninth edition offers:
• An expanded focus on international perspectives, and greater insight into China and its emergence as a global economic power
• Consideration of team interactions in complex global environments, including virtually, while recognizing that individuals have critical influence on business processes and outcomes
• New methodological tools with reflections and exercises to inspire readers to begin thinking and acting globally, offering guidance on identifying salient features of an international business or partnership, adjusting to novel or unexpected circumstances, and capturing the perceptions and behaviors of global businesspeople
• New chapters on understanding one’s own organizational culture as a precursor to conducting business globally, additional material to enhance business partnership interactions, and strategies for integrating the global into local operations
• Discussion of the wide-ranging disruptions facing people and business around the world and the ways in which the global pandemic affected business processes and practices
• Further resources via the Instructor & Student Resource, www.routledge.com/cw/ferraro2, including links, blogs, and videos, an instructor’s resource manual, and a section on relevant cultural sources.
Preface
Acknowledgments
1 Cultural anthropology and global business
Global business: connections and disruptions
The perspective of cultural anthropology
Cultural anthropology and the business sector
Business anthropology
The value of taking culture into account
Anthropology’s major concept: culture
Culture as process
Culture is learned
Culture influences biological processes
Cultural universals exist
Economic systems
Kinship systems
Educational systems
Social control systems
Supernatural belief systems
Cultural change
People from all cultures are ethnocentric
Cultures are integrated wholes
Cultural differences in business: challenges and opportunities
Cross- cultural scenarios
2 Applying lenses to understand culture
Cultural themes
Characterization
Reach
Transformation
Relative stability
Metaphors
Value alignment
Organizational status
Drawings
A method
Roles
Change
Unforeseen change
Cyclical change
Context
National culture differences
Organizational culture differences
Contrasting values
The individual– collective dimension
How individualism– collectivism plays out in individual- oriented cultures
How individualism– collectivism plays out in collective- oriented cultures
Implications for business
The equality– hierarchy dimension
How equality– hierarchy plays out in egalitarian cultures
How equality– hierarchy plays out in hierarchical cultures
Implications for business
The change orientation dimension
How orientations to change play out in change- embracing cultures
How orientations to change play out in change- fearing cultures
Implications for business
The time orientation dimension
Precise versus loose reckoning of time
Sequential versus synchronized time
How time orientation plays out
In precise/ sequential- oriented cultures
In loose/ synchronized- oriented cultures
Past, present, and future orientations
How time orientation plays out
In past- oriented cultures
In present- oriented cultures
In future- oriented cultures
The busyness factor
How time orientation plays out in busy cultures
Implications for business
Conclusion
Cross- cultural scenarios
3 Communicating nonverbally across cultures
The nature of nonverbal communication
Types of nonverbal communication
Potential pitfalls in studying nonverbal communication
Business introductions
Business card exchange
Bowing
Gift giving
Interactions among businesspeople
Body posture
Gaze
Hand gestures
Facial expressions
Dress
Proxemics
Personal space
Public space and work
Visual media
Conclusion
Cross- cultural scenarios
4 Communicating across cultures using language
The ideal of linguistic proficiency in global business
Defining language
Communicate more, misunderstand less, partner better
Cultural competence is essential too!
Need a reason to learn a foreign language?
English language skills are not always, or routinely, sufficient
Language skills enable relationship and partnership building
Few possess both language and specific technical skills
While helpful, interpreters have limits
Knowing more than one language improves contextual understanding
Linguistic diversity
Spoken languages worldwide
“What do they speak there?”
When the assumptions turn out wrong
Learning from firsthand experience
Revisiting and revising our assumptions
Language and culture
The influence of culture on language
Culture and business
Culture and sports
Culture and language preservation
Language and social context
Take relationship specifics into account
Translation issues can lead to miscommunication
Additional complicating factors
Slang
Euphemisms
Conversational taboos
Accents
Humor
Information and communication technologies
Text messages
Conclusion
Cross- cultural scenarios
5 Negotiating across cultures
What is negotiation?
The negotiation process
The nature of cross-cultural negotiation
Where to negotiate
Effective strategies for international negotiators
Avoid cultural cluelessness
Prepare carefully
Concentrate on long- term relationships, not short- term contracts
Focus on the interests behind the positions
Avoid overreliance on cultural generalizations
Be sensitive to timing
Consider silence as a source of help
Remain flexible
Learn to listen, not just speak
Act ethically and with integrity
The use of interpreters
Prior to the negotiations
During the negotiations: communicating with your interpreter
During the negotiations: communicating with your counterpart
After the negotiations
Conclusion
Cross- cultural scenarios
6 Understanding organizational culture
What is organizational culture?
Organization as a culture
Describing an organizational culture
Explaining “What’s going on?”
Meetings as opportunities for collaboration and problem solving
Meetings and national culture differences
Meetings and organizational culture differences
Lessons drawn from meetings
Decision- making models to advance the work
Decision making and cultural differences
Decision making and organizational culture differences
Majority preferred at Small Car Group
100 percent consensus at Saturn
Leadership driven at Opel
Single voice of authority at Isuzu
Individual empowerment at GM Truck Group
Collaboration at GM do Brasil
The impact of decision- making differences
Lessons drawn from decision- making models
Governing in a Chinese family business
A tea restaurant in Hong Kong
Lessons about kinship and business
“Silos” symbolizing the lack of integration
Perceptions by the acquired firms
Solutions for breaking down silos
Conclusion
Cross- cultural scenarios
7 Partnering across cultures
Partnership basics
Partnering relationships and problem solving
Partnering with on- site work colleagues
Lack of shared knowledge of “how we work around here”
Case 1: An inability to hear the issue and problem solve together
Case 2: A confidence turns into a betrayal
Building integration
Case 3: Making the decision to engage with other stakeholders
Case 4: Involving the entire team in applied research tasks
Case 5: Addressing issues of status and power among migrating healthcare workers
Lessons from the cases
The experience of global virtual partnerships
Distinctions between local and global partnerships
Global virtual partnerships
Partnership life cycle
Initiation stage
Start-up stage
Growth stage
Mature stage
Transition
Partnership process outcomes
Partnership product outcomes
Conclusion
Cross- cultural scenarios
8 Transforming business culture Definition of cultural transformation
Change unfolding
Developing and implementing a plan for change
Data gathering
Comparing the plan wit the stated cultural ideals
Analyzing the reactions to change
Moving forward
Critical attributes of planned cultural transformation
Core idea
Concept of culture
Time-based process
Business approach to change
Core theme
Culture understood
Three- stage process models
Multi- stage process models
Summary
Anthropological approach to change
Mechanisms of change
Invention
Cultural loss
Diffusion
Acculturation
Acculturation often underlies organizational- culture change
Where are all the anthropologists?
Similarities to an anthropological approach
Crises often force change: a manufacturing case study
Process and problem solving as core ideas
Summary
Applying the planned cultural transformation process to health care
Process
Assessment of process
Conclusion
Cross- cultural scenarios
9 Exploring consumers and users
Consumer or customer? Oh, and what’s a user?
An anthropological approach to understanding consumers and users
Methodology in consumer research
Methodology in design research
Interface between business organizations and consumers
The gold star question
Difficulty keeping pace with market complexity
Design district
Macy’s department store
At home with consumers
Product development challenges
Summary
Understanding products holistically
Coffee with an anthropological twist
Fine chocolate without the guilt
Collaborative approaches in understanding users
A day in the life … and a sportswear opportunity revealed
A breath of fresh air … brought inside
Brand meaning and advertising
Inspirational characters with compelling stories
Know thy consumers’ culture
When values are at odds
The story unfolds
Intervention options
Conclusion
Cross- cultural scenarios
10 Acting and managing globally Globally oriented firms
Recruiting and hiring
Supporting diverse work teams
Valuing international assignments
Business trip
“Frequent flyer” assignments
Commuter assignments
Rotational assignments
Short-term assignments
Long-term assignments
International transfers
Building global leadership competencies
Broad perspective
Appreciation of alternative viewpoints
Case 1: A reflection on a broad perspective and alternative viewpoints
Balancing contradictions
Emotional resilience
Case 2: A reflection on balancing contradictions and resilience
Case 3: A reflection on global leadership competencies
Reimagining global strategy
Conclusion
Cross- cultural scenarios
Appendix: Cross- cultural scenario discussions
Glossary
References
Index
Biography
Gary P. Ferraro is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, received his BA from Hamilton College and his MA and PhD from Syracuse University. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Swaziland (1979–1980) and at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic (2003) and twice served as a visiting professor for the University of Pittsburgh's Semester at Sea Program, a floating university that travels around the world. He has conducted long-term research in Kenya and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and has traveled widely throughout many other parts of the world. He has served as a consultant/trainer for such organizations as the Peace Corps, IBM, Bank of America, Georgia Pacific, Duke Energy, and J.M. Huber, among others.
Elizabeth K. Briody has been involved in cultural-change efforts for over 35 years, first at General Motors Research and later through her own consulting practice, Cultural Keys. She has worked with clients in manufacturing, health care, petrochemicals, consumer products, and service industries. She has written several books including Transforming Culture and Partnering for Organizational Performance. Briody is leading the Anthropology Career Readiness Network to improve student preparation for the job market and is Past President of the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology. Briody was the 2020 awardee of the Bronislaw Malinowski Award for lifetime achievement from the Society for Applied Anthropology. She earned her BA from Wheaton College, Norton, MA and her MA and PhD from The University of Texas at Austin.
