Gannon and Pillai, Understanding Global Cultures, Sixth Edition Instructor Resource
CHAPTER 1: UNDERSTANDING CROSS-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
EXERCISE 1.1: CULTURE AND GROUP EFFECTIVENESS
Many individuals do not consider that cultural differences or culture are important. They
believe that individuals tend to be similar across cultures. This opening exercise and other ones
in the early chapters address the importance of culture.
Using think-pair-share, the instructor should ask students why there is a disparity
between the group effectiveness of cross-cultural and single culture groups within organizations,
and what are the major strengths and weaknesses of these two different types of groups. The
think-pair-share method involves three stages: (1) students think silently for one minute;
(2) each student then discusses his or her thoughts with the student sitting next to him or her; and
(3) there is a class discussion.
Comments: Just as there are cultural paradoxes, so too there is the paradox of multi-cultural
team effectiveness. That is, while multi-cultural teams have the potential to be the most effective
and productive teams in organizations, they also can be the least productive. But teams
comprised of all members from a single culture tend to be of average effectiveness.
Figure 1.1 shows the relative productivity of a series of 800 four to six member teams as
observed by Dr. Carol Kovach at UCLA (see Adler, 1997). This figure provides some important
insights. First, it is clear that there is a wide disparity in the effectiveness of multi-cultural
teams, which suggests that certain factors in cross-cultural interactions and communication must
exist which can either facilitate or hinder the effectiveness of such teams. The figure also leads
us to believe that diversity among team members is one quality that at least has the potential to
increase effectiveness, as single-culture teams are limited in their ability to achieve high
effectiveness.
The instructor may also want to point out that any minority-group members in a team or
group primarily composed of one type – e.g., a male in an all-female group – are treated as a
“token” and not assumed to be any different in terms of values and behaviors until minority
representation reaches 20% (see Cox, 1993). At or above that point the group members realize
that they no longer constitute a single culture group. The group then tends to follow the
traditional model of group dynamics, that is:
Gannon and Pillai, Understanding Global Cultures, Sixth Edition Instructor Resource
Figure 1.1
Single-culture groups, cross-cultural groups, and group effectiveness*
*See Nancy Adler, International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, 3rd ed.
Also Taylor Cox, Cultural Diversity In Organizations (San Francisco: Berrett-Kochler, 1993)
*FORM or REFORM. The group members reevaluate each other and reorient
themselves to the situation.
*STORM. In this stage group members begin to engage in conflict with one another.
Gannon and Pillai, Understanding Global Cultures, Sixth Edition Instructor Resource
*NORM. During this stage the group agrees on certain norms or rules governing
behavior in the group.
*PERFORM. The group finally settles down to complete the assigned task during this
stage.
The instructor can emphasize that it is critical to address conflicting values and attitudes
directly and openly. Otherwise, effective norms or rules cannot be implemented, thus leading to
low performance.
The instructor may also want to compare the well-known “trained incapacity” of
functional specialists and single-culture groups. Marketing specialists tend to see the world
primarily from the perspective of Marketing, etc. In a classic study that has been repeated
several times, Simon and Dearborn (1958) asked managers from different functional
backgrounds to identify the major issue in a business case study. The Finance Managers
identified finance as the major issue, the Human Resource Specialists focused on difficulties
between individuals and groups, etc.
Finally, the instructor may want to point out that creativity and effectiveness tend to be
enhanced when diversity of all types is present. For example, Smith, Grimm and Gannon (1992)
showed that diversity in the composition of top management teams as measured by different
types of functional backgrounds and education is related to organizational performance.
EXERCISE 1.2: CULTURE AND THE MANAGER’S ROLE
Trainees or students should look at Figure 1.2. Using a think-pair-share approach, ask
students to discuss their thoughts as to why culture may influence the percentage of managers in
each nation who agreed with the statement: “It is important for managers to have at hand precise
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Percentage in Agreement
Gannon and Pillai, Understanding Global Cultures, Sixth Edition Instructor Resource
Hofstede’s analysis (1980) of uncertainty avoidance or the acceptance of risk. One way to avoid
uncertainty is to try to be an expert in all aspects of the work of subordinates. According to
Hofstede’s study, Japan ranks #1 of 53 national cultures on uncertainty avoidance. Thus it is not
surprising that managers from Japan were more likely than American managers to agree with the
organizational structure vary across culture as well in a similar manner. That is, individuals from
some nations tend to see an organization as much more hierarchical than do individuals from
other nations (see Trompenaars, 1998). The instructor can even draw two or three organizational
structures on the board with different numbers of levels (e.g., 3, 5 and 9) and ask the students or
trainees to identify the organizational structure that is most appropriate in their home nations,
which culture preconditions us, even to the extent that we are not conscious of this fact.
The instructor should split the classroom into two halves. He should ask those on one
side of the room to close their eyes and then show those on the other side a sketched drawing of
an obviously young woman (see Figure 1.3). The drawing of the woman is from the side and all
of the features are drawn in a quick and non-detailed manner.
Gannon and Pillai, Understanding Global Cultures, Sixth Edition Instructor Resource
Figure 1.4
Gannon and Pillai, Understanding Global Cultures, Sixth Edition Instructor Resource
Figure 1.5
What do you see?
Comments: It is at this moment that the exercise becomes interesting. Half of the class believes
that they are looking at a drawing of a young woman and half feels that they are seeing an old
woman. Even though the students are all in one room and looking at the same image, they are
seeing two different pictures. Sometimes the students in one half of the class will attempt to
convince the others that the picture is not what they believe. Eventually each side of the class
It give clear evidence that two people can be looking at the same thing and see something quite
different. And they can both be correct! Just as with the picture, very few people interpret
things without relying on their cultural preconditioning. It is rare that a person from the first
group would have thought that the drawing was of an older woman at first glance. That is
because they believed that they were supposed to be seeing a young woman, and so they did.
Like cultural influences, when there is ambiguity in a situation we rely upon automatic
responses. Brislin (1993) indicates that culture allows us to “fill in the blanks.” Hopefully, as
cross-cultural experiences and sophistication increase, we can “fill in these blanks” in a more
encompassing and mature fashion.
The instructor may want to follow up this discussion by asking the students to count,
in both languages tends to read the signs using only one language and frequently does not even
notice the use of the second language. He might ask if anyone in the group has had this
experience, and how it felt.
EXERCISE 1.4: METAPHORS FOR CULTURE
Begin the exercise by talking about metaphors of organization. For example, the
their metaphors of culture itself. The machine is excluded as a choice. Write metaphors on the
blackboard or overhead and lead a discussion. Some metaphors that frequently come up are:
• Computer
• A Tree
• The Brain
• A Skyscraper
• A Body or Organism
• A Filter
You may want to point out that both Geert Hofstede (1991) and Edward Hall (1987) use
the computer as a metaphor for culture. In Hofstede’s intriguing phase, culture represents the
Gannon and Pillai, Understanding Global Cultures, Sixth Edition Instructor Resource
Figure 1.6: Please count the number of Fs (20-second limit)
FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS
Comments: The variations in solutions to creating a metaphor for culture are related to the
complexity of the concept. There are in fact many ways of looking at culture. Schein (1985)
indicates that culture has multiple levels. The first level in Schein’s model includes the visible
things that a culture produces. These are the artifacts and products of a culture that we can see,
hear or feel. The next level is only partially observable and includes values and ideals which
EXERCISE 1.5: CULTURAL IDENTITY
This is an exercise that is to be completed individually, and then it can be shared with the
class. Have each student draw a circle on a piece of paper. Then in the circle have them
construct a pie chart that describes their identity as they see it in terms of the groups with which
they are associated and that they consider to be important. The degree of importance is
e.g., there may be only three categories, and being Christian may take up 60% of the chart.
Comments: There are no correct or incorrect answers in this exercise. What is important is to
get an idea of how differently people categorize themselves with regards to the groups with
which they identify. It is also interesting to see how much emphasis an individual gives to a
specific group. For example, a highly individualistic person may identify with groups in which
work. The more collectivistic Japanese reverse this order. The instructor may even ask the
students or trainees to answer this question before describing the standard American and
Japanese responses.
EXERCISE 1.6: NATIONALISM, ETHNICITY, AND GLOBALIZATION
Create an overhead with the eight questions in Figure 1.8. You should use this
1970 less than 5% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product was generated by international trade, but
that by 1996 the percent was almost 25 or $1.6 trillion. After students have thought about their
1. When you hear the work nationalism, how do you feel?
(negative, neutral, positive)
2. When you hear the word globalization, how do you feel?
(negative, neutral, positive)
3. Are the two concepts in opposition to one another, parallel to one another, or
supplementary/complementary?
4. Name a country or event that comes to mind when you hear the word nationalism.
5. Name a country or event that comes to mind when you hear the word globalization.
6. Is nation an imagined political community?
7. Is nation an obsolete concept?
8. When you hear the name of the ethnic group to which you belong – e.g., Irish-American