The Cultural Environment

Aim: To discuss the characteristics of culture and its constituent elements.

The Cultural Environment (cont.):

What is culture?

Definitions
Culture is a learned, shared, compelling, interrelated set of symbols whose meanings Provide a set of orientations for members of a society. These orientations, taken together, provide solutions to problems that all societies must solve if they are to remain viable. Terpstra/David

Definitions (cont.):

to talk of the culture of a society is misleading insofar as each section, group or class within a society has varying cultural forms and values. This larger view of culture suggests three features of the cultures of industrial societies: diversity, relativity, change Gulbenkian Report

Definitions (cont.):

Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.

(Hofstede)

Definitions (cont.): Culture: Primary socialisation:

Provides sufficient shared understanding among persons in a society to allow adequately predictable, co-ordinated activity.

Definitions (cont.):
Business Culture: Secondary socialisation: the learning of additional cultural knowledge relevant to a persons participation in the wider socio-economic world. the effective rules of the game, the boundaries between competitive and unethical behaviour,the codes for conduct in business dealings

Definitions (cont.):

Corporate Culture:
a further specification of codes within the business culture. the way things are done around here (based on Terpstra/David)

The nature of cultural differences Level Place of socialisation Family School Practices Organisation Workplace (Hofstede)

Nation
Occupation

Values

Definitions (cont.): Human Nature Culture Personality Specific to Inherited and individual PERSONALITY learned Specific to group or category CULTURE Universal HUMAN NATURE Learned

Inherited (Hofstede)

Elements of Culture
1. Material culture Technology Economics 2. Social institutions Social organisation Education Political structures

Elements of Culture (cont.): 3. Humans and the universe Belief systems 4. Aesthetics Graphic and plastic art Folklore Music, drama, dance

5. Language
(M.Mestevits)

Also note:
Stereotypes:
Assumptions about collective properties of a group are applied to a particular member of that group. Examples???

Also note:

Self-reference Criterion:
An unconscious reference to ones own cultural values, experiences and knowledge as a basis for decisions.

Also note: Cultural Change Strategies:

- Culturally congruent strategy - Strategy of unplanned change - Strategy of planned change

Acceptance - Resistance - Rejection

CONSIDER CONSEQUENCES OF CULTURAL CHANGE!!!

Summary:
Definition CultureBusiness -Corporate Culture Human Nature - Culture - Personality Elements of Culture Stereotypes Self-reference criterion Cultural change strategies