Chapter 05 – Culture, Management Style, and Business Systems
Comments and Suggestions
1. We begin the discussion of this chapter by stressing the importance of tolerance when dealing with
cultural differences and a need to gain insight into “where the other person is coming from.” The key
2. To those less experienced with cultural diversity, the number of differences can be overwhelming.
Which ones of the many cultural differences are important? To bring some order out of the chaos of
cultural diversity, we suggest that business customs can be classified into three groups: those that one
must accommodate (imperatives); those that only a person of the culture can participate in
3. We use the discussion on m-time and p-time to introduce the discussion on modes of doing business.
Again, we try to involve the students in the discussion by asking them to help with examples.
4. Gender bias is an important issue in business customs discussion. The main point we want to make is
that while there are cultural biases against women, there are also many myths that need to be exposed.
Nevertheless, there are some cultures where the decision to send a woman must be carefully
evaluated.
5. The other topic that needs special attention is the issue of ethical behavior. Because there is no easy
answer to the question of ethical and socially responsible behavior it is important to discuss all the
many and sometimes conflicting issues that arise. Case 2–3, Starnes-Brenner Machine Tool Company
6. Exploring the various issues of acting socially responsible when making decisions can be addressed
using Exhibits 5-5 and 5-6, Transparency International 2012 Corruption Perception Index as a guide. I
create a hypothetical situation and ask the students to go through each of the three ethical principles.
Case 4-6, Making Socially Responsible and Ethical Marketing Decisions: Selling Tobacco to Third-
World Countries is also helpful in exploring these issues. While a consensus is rarely reached, both of
these exercises provide an excellent opportunity for each student to examine his/her own values.
Lecture Outline
I. Business Customs and Practices in Global Marketing
II. Global Perspective: Do Blonds Have More Fun in Japan?
III. Required Adaptation
A. Degree of Adaptation
B. Imperatives, Electives, and Exclusives
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Chapter 05 – Culture, Management Style, and Business Systems
IV. The Impact of American Culture on Management Style
V. Management Styles around the World
A. Authority and Decision Making
B. Management Objectives and Aspirations
C. Communication Styles
D. Formality and Tempo
E. P-Time versus M-Time
F. Negotiations Emphasis
G. Marketing Orientation
VI. Gender Bias in International Business
VII. Business Ethics
A. Corruption Defined
B. The Western Focus on Bribery
C. Bribery: Variations on a Theme
D. Ethical and Socially Responsible Decisions
VIII. Culture’s Influence of Strategic Thinking
IX. A Synthesis, Relationship-Oriented vs. Information-Oriented Cultures
Discussion Questions
1. Define:
Cultural imperative Subornation
Cultural elective Principle of utilitarian ethics
Cultural exclusive
M-time Silent language
FCPA P-time
2. “More than a toleration of an alien culture is required . . . there is a need for affirmative acceptance as
different but equal.” Elaborate.
3. “We should also bear in mind that in today’s business-oriented world economy, the cultures
themselves are being significantly affected by business activities and business practices.” Comment.
4. “In dealing with foreign businesses, the marketer must be particularly aware of the varying objectives
and aspirations of management.” Explain.
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Chapter 05 – Culture, Management Style, and Business Systems
5. Suggest ways in which persons might prepare themselves to handle unique business customs that may
be encountered in a trip abroad.
The businessman should:
6. Business customs and national customs are closely interrelated. In what way would one expect the
two areas to coincide and in what ways would they show differences? How could such areas of
similarity and difference be identified?
COINCIDE
DIFFER
7. Identify both local and foreign examples of cultural imperatives, electives, and exclusives. Be
prepared to explain why each example fits into the category you have selected.
Domestic examples:
Foreign examples:
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Chapter 05 – Culture, Management Style, and Business Systems
8. Contrast the authority roles of top management in different societies. How will the differing views of
authority affect marketing activities?
9. Do the same for aspirational patterns.
10. What effects on business customs might be anticipated from the recent rapid increases in the level of
international business activity?
11. Interview some foreign students to determine the types of cultural shock they encountered when they
first came to your country.
Individual project.
12. Differentiate between:
13. In which ways does the size of a customer’s business affect his business behavior?
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Chapter 05 – Culture, Management Style, and Business Systems
14. Compare three decision-making authority patterns in international business.
15. Explore the various ways in which business customs can affect the structure of competition.
16. Why is it important that the business executive be alert to the significance of business customs?
17. Suggest some cautions that an individual from a high-context culture should take when dealing with
someone from a low-context culture. Do the same for low- to high-context situations.
An individual from a high-context culture operating in a low-context culture should be careful about:
18. Political payoffs are a problem; how would you react if you faced the prospect of paying a bribe? If
you knew that by not paying you would not be able to complete a $10 million contract?
The response to this question is obviously, one deals with an individual’s own code of ethics. In
discussing the question, it should be stressed that paying the bribe or any other illegal act is not
permissible by most company rules. Further, to do so would violate U.S. law as well as a law in many
host countries.
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Chapter 05 – Culture, Management Style, and Business Systems
19. Differentiate among the following:
20. Distinguish between P-time and M-time.
Edward Hall defines two kinds of time systems in the world – monochronic and polychronic time.
M-time (monochronic) typifies most North Americans, Swiss, Germans, and Scandinavians. In these
Western cultures, they tend to concentrate on one thing at a time. They divide time into small units
and are concerned with promptness. M-time is used in a linear way and it is experienced as being
almost tangible in that we save time, waste time, bide time, spend time and lose time. Most low
context cultures operate on M-time.
21. Discuss how a P-time person reacts differently from an M-time person in keeping an appointment.
When business people from M-time and P-time meet, adjustments on both sides need to be made for a
harmonious relationship. P-time is characterized by a much “looser” notion of what is “on time” or
“late.” Interruptions are routine, delays to be expected. It is not so much putting things off until
“manana” but the concept that human activities are not expected to proceed like clockwork.
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Chapter 05 – Culture, Management Style, and Business Systems
One study comparing perceptions of punctuality in the U.S. and Brazil found that Brazilian
timepieces were less reliable and public clocks less available than it was in the United States.
Researchers also found that Brazilians more often described themselves as late arrivers, allowed
greater flexibility in defining early and late, were less concerned about being late, and were more
likely to blame external factors for their lateness than were Americans.
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Chapter 05 – Culture, Management Style, and Business Systems
22. What is meant by “laws are the markers of past behavior that society has deemed unethical or socially
irresponsible?”
23. What are the three ethical principles that provide a framework to help distinguish between right and
wrong?
Explain.
24. Visit Transparency International Web page and check to see how the CPI Index for countries listed in
Exhibit 5-5 has changed. Searching TI’s databank, explain why the changes have occurred. The site
is found at: http://www.transparency.de.
25. Discuss the pros and cons of “there is no controlling legal authority,” as a basis for ethical behavior.
In many countries, the law may help define the borders of minimum ethical or social responsibility,
but the law is only the floor above which one’s social and personal morality is tested. The statement
that “there is no controlling legal authority” may mean that the behavior is not illegal but it does not
1 Patricia Digh, “Shades of Gray in the Global Marketplace,” HRMagazine, April 1997, p. 90.
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Chapter 05 – Culture, Management Style, and Business Systems
26. “The company.com page is a company’s front door and that doorway should be global in scope.”
Discuss. Visit several Web pages of major multinational companies and evaluate their “front door” to
the global world.
The company.com page is a company’s front door and that doorway should be global in scope. Not
only can you select and purchase goods through a company’s Web page, but support services, training
programs, additional product literature, even career information, are all being moved to the home
page. Thus, the precept, “think globally, act locally, applies not only to global marketing strategies but
to the World Wide Web as well.”
27. Visit the Web sites of Shell and Nike and compare their statements on corporate values. What are the
major issues each address? Do you think their statements are useful as guides to ethical and socially
responsible decision-making?
28. Go to your favorite Web reference source and access some recent news articles on Nike and alleged
human rights violations. Access the Nike statement on corporate values and write a brief statement on
the alleged violations and Nike’s statement of corporate values.
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