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CHAPT E R 3
Culture, values, and worldviews
* Culture, socialization, and normative behavior 49
* Core cultural dimensions: a starting point 55
* Regional trends and cultural differences 64
* Digging deeper: cultural complexities and contradictions 66
* MANAGER’S NOTEBOOK: Culture, values, and worldviews 76
Grasshoppers are pests in North America, pets in China, and appetizers in Thailand. What does this suggest about the influence of cultural differences on perceptions of even the lowly insect? Indeed, what does this suggest about how and why tastes in general can differ so starkly across nations and regions? If cultures can have such differing views about grasshoppers, imagine what they can do with people. Indeed, philosophers and social scientists have long noted that if you want to understand why people – including managers – behave as they do, a good place to begin is with a serious look at the cultural environment in which they work.
Consider the following three observations. First, Talmudic wisdom dates from over 2,000 years ago, yet is as true today as it was when it was initially written. As noted in the above quotation, culture influences our perceptions of world events and thereby influences our values, attitudes, and behaviors. It tells us what is acceptable and what is not. But if cultures differ, so do our perceptions, values, and judgments. What may be pleasant, attractive, agreeable, or acceptable in one culture may not be in another. Second, more than 700 years ago, Chinese scholar Wang Ying-lin compiled a volume of ancient wisdom thought to be from Confucius and called the Trimetric Classic (or Three Character Classic), in which he observed that all people are basically the same; it is only their habits and environments that differ. And third, Wharton professor Robert J.House has recently observed that cultures around the world are getting increasingly interconnected and that the business world is becoming increasingly global. When these cultures come in contact, they may converge in some aspects, but their idiosyncrasies will likely amplify.
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The Talmud, a Confucian scholar, and a modern-day business professor, each coming from a very different time and place in history, all understood what has too frequently eluded many contemporary managers: Culture can make a difference in determining how we think and how we behave. This is equally true in our personal lives and our work lives. Unfortunately, too many managers have ignored even the most rudimentary cross-national differences while working overseas and, as a result, have missed significant opportunities for themselves and their companies. Culture is both simple and difficult to understand. It is simple because definitions abound that are easily understood by any reader. At the same time, however, culture can be difficult to comprehend because of its subtleties and complexities. The ancient Chinese Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu once observed that “water is the last thing a fish notices,” using water as a metaphor for culture. That is, most people are so strongly immersed in their own culture that they often fail to see how it affects their patterns of thinking or their behavior; they are too close to it. It is only when we are “out of the water” that we become aware of our own cultural biases and assumptions. (If you don’t believe this, try writing down ten adjectives that best describe your own culture. Then ask some friends from other cultures to write down ten adjectives that describe your culture. Compare the lists.) In view of this dilemma, consider the challenge faced by Anna Håkansson, a Swedish
investment banker from Stockholm, who was informed that she was being sent to the Kingdom of Bahrain to negotiate a contract with Gulf One Investment Bank. How would she prepare herself for the journey? Having never been to the Middle East, she first talked to colleagues who had some experience there. Next, she ran a Google search and discovered that there were over 400,000 hits on Arab culture alone. During this search, she uncovered a number of recent articles in various respected sources that helped her to understand what to expect. For example, an article in the Washington Post pointed out that the extended family was the single most important entity of Arab society, playing a pivotal role not only in social life but also in economic and political life as well. Even an individual’s self-identity is based on a collective self. Each family member shares a collective ancestry, a collective respect for elders, and a collective obligation and responsibility for the welfare of the other family members. It is to the extended family, not to the government, that a person first turns to for help.
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Despite some modernization trends and the adoption of many superficial aspects of Western pop culture, the extended family in the Arab world has been remarkably resilient in the face of Westernization. With the move to the cities, members of Saudi extended families still tend to live in close proximity to one another whenever possible, and when not, they do a great deal of socializing with other members. In addition, many families retain homes in their hometowns as well as their place of work. A major reason for the resilience of the traditional extended family structure, however, is the extraordinary strength of traditional Islamic social, economic, and political values. Although some behavioral patterns have changed over time, Arab society’s core values are deeply held and are likely to endure over time.
As Håkansson learned, three characteristics of Arab extended families stand out: gender roles, the role of elders, and the decision-making process. First, Arab societies are typically patriarchal societies, maintaining a respect for age and seniority that has largely disappeared in Western societies. The wisdom and authority of elders is seldom challenged, and younger men and women must wait their turn, often until their sixties or older, before they are accorded the role of family patriarchs and matriarchs.
Second, traditional gender roles in Arab societies share a number of common characteristics with other traditional societies, the most notable of which is that men’s roles are outside the home as family providers, protectors, and managers, and women’s roles are in the home. Men are predominant outside the home – in business and public affairs – and women are to a large degree predominant within the home, particularly in parental decisions.
And third, Håkansson learned that the traditional method for reaching and legitimizing decisions in Arab society is through consultation (shura) among those within the group whose opinions are considered important. From consultation emerges consensus (ijma`), which is binding on all members of the group. Within the extended family, the principal consensus makers are senior male members or elders. This ancient process of consultation and consensus was given religious sanction in Islam. From texts in the Qur’an and the Sunna comes the belief that God would never permit a consensus of the Islamic community to be in error. Consensual decision-making is still the norm in family, government, or business decisions.