132 Part 2 The Cultural Environment of Global Markets Culture, including all its elements, profoundly affects man-agement style and overall business systems. This is not a new idea. German sociologist Max Weber made the first strong case back in 1930.1 Culture not only establishes the criteria for day-to-day business behavior but also forms general pat-terns of values and motivations. Executives are largely cap-tives of their heritages and cannot totally escape the elements of culture they learned growing up. In the United States, for example, the historical perspec-tive of individualism and “winning the West” seems to be manifest in individual wealth or corporate profit being dominant measures of success. Japan’s lack of frontiers and natural resources and its dependence on trade have focused individual and corporate success criteria on uniformity, sub-ordination to the group, and society’s ability to maintain high levels of employment. The feudal background of southern Europe tends to emphasize maintenance of both individual and corporate power and authority while blending those feudal traits with paternalistic concern for minimal welfare for workers and other members of society. Various studies identify North Americans as individualists, Japanese as consensus oriented and committed to the group, and central and southern Europeans as elitists and rank conscious. Although these descriptions are stereotypical, they illustrate cultural differences that are often man-ifest in business behavior and practices. Such differences also coincide quite well with Hofstede’s scores listed in Exhibit 4.7 in the last chapter.2 A lack of empathy for and knowledge of foreign business practices can create insurmountable barriers to successful business relations.3 Some businesses plot their strategies with the idea that their counterparts from other business cultures are similar to themselves and are moved by simi-lar interests, motivations, and goals—that they are “just like us.” Even though that may be true in some respects, enough differences exist to cause frustration, miscommunication, and, ultimately, failed business opportunities if these differences are not understood and responded to properly. Knowledge of the management style—that is, the business culture, management values, and business methods and behaviors—existing in a country and a willingness to accom-modate the differences are important to success in an international market. Unless market-ers remain flexible by accepting differences in basic patterns of thinking, local business tempo, religious practices, political structure, and family loyalty, they are hampered, if not prevented, from reaching satisfactory conclusions to business transactions. In such situa-tions, obstacles take many forms, but it is not unusual to have one negotiator’s business proposition accepted over another’s simply because “that one understands us.” This chapter focuses on matters specifically related to management style. Besides an analysis of the need for adaptation, it reviews differences in management styles and ethics and concludes with a discussion of culture’s influence on strategic thinking. 1Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1930, 1976). 2Geert Hofstede, Culture’s Consequences, 2nd ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2001). 3An important book on this topic is by Soon Ang and Linn Van Dyne, eds., Handbook of Cultural Intelligence (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2008). Perhaps nothing causes more problems for Americans negotiating in other countries than their impatience. Everyone around the world knows that delaying tactics work well against time-conscious U.S. bargainers. Required Adaptation Adaptation is a key concept in international marketing, and willingness to adapt is a crucial attitude. Adaptation, or at least accommodation, is required on small matters as well as large ones. In fact, small, seemingly insignificant situations are often the most crucial. More than tolerance of an alien culture is required. Affirmative acceptance, that is, open tolerance, may be needed as well. Through such affirmative acceptance, adaptation becomes easier because empathy for another’s point of view naturally leads to ideas for meeting cultural differences. As a guide to adaptation, all who wish to deal with individuals, firms, or authorities in foreign countries should be able to meet 10 basic criteria: (1) open tolerance, (2) flexibility, (3) humility, (4) justice/fairness, (5) ability to adjust to varying tempos, (6) curiosity/interest, (7) knowledge LO1 The necessity for adapting to cultural differences
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