IB - Culture

8/8/2019 IB - Culture

1/35

What is Culture?

Complex whole which includes knowledge ,belief ,art ,morals , law, custom, and other capabilities acquired byman as a member of society.

This is defined by EDWARD TYLOR Anthropologist in1870s.

GREET HOFSTEDE defines culture as the collectiveprogramming of the mind which distinguishes themembers of one human group from another culture.

Culture is viewed as a system of values & norms that areshared among group of people.


2/35


3/35

VALUES & NORMS

Values form a bedrock of a culture.

They include a societys attitude as individual freedom,democracy, truth, justice, loyalty, collective responsibility, the

role of women, love, marriage etc.

They are invested with Emotional significance.

People argue, fight or even die over values such as freedom.

They also reflected in political and economical systems of a

society.


4/35

Norms are the social rules that governs peoples action

towards one another.

It is subdivided as FOLKWAYS & MORES.

Folkways Routine / social conventions of everyday life like

dress code in a particular situation, good social manners,

eating with correct utensils, neighborly behavior etc.

People who violate folkways may be thought of as eccentric/ ill

mannered.

In many countries foreigners are excused for violatingfolkways.


5/35

Example Attitude towards time in different countries.

People are keenly aware of the passage of time in

USA/European cultures such as Germany/UK.

Business people are conscious of their time management.

In Arab/Latin/Mediterranean cultures waste time to the

core and are called elastic character.

Folkways include rituals and symbolic behavior.


6/35

Rituals & symbols are most visible manifestations of a

culture and constitute the outward expression of deeper

values.

Eg: Meeting a foreign business executive, a japanese

executive will hold his business card in both hands andbow while presenting the card to the foreigner.

This ritual behavior is loaded with deep culturalsymbolism.


7/35


8/35

MORES

They are norms that are seen as central to thefunctioning of a society and its social life.

They have greater significance than folkways.

Violating mores will bring serious retribution.

The factors include indictments against theft, adultery,incest and cannibalism.

There are also many differences between cultures Example In USA Boozing is widely accepted but in Saudi

its not.


9/35

Culture, Society & Nation-State.

Society A group of people that share a common set of

values & norms.(ppl who bound towards a common

culture)

Nation State are political creations which contain a

single or several cultures.

Canada has 3 cultures Anglo/ French speaking

Quebecois culture/ Native American Culture. African nations also have many cultural differences b/w

tribal groups.


10/35

India is composed of many distinct cultural groups.

During the 1st Gulf war ppl thought that Iraq was a

homogeneous Arab nation, but over the past 15 yrs, we learn

that there are different societies within Iraq with its own

cultures.

There are 2 Arab societies, Shiites in south and Sunnis inmiddle of the country who ruled under the regime of Saddam

Hussein.

There are cultures that embrace several nations.

Here it says about different countries cultures.

Cultures also will have sub cultures in the Nation.


11/35

DETERMINANTS OF CULTURE Values & norms of a culture donot emerge fully formed.

They are the evolutionary product of the number of factors,

including the political and economic philosophies, social

structure, dominant religion, language, education etc. Political & economic clearly influence the value system of a

society.

Eg Values found in the Communist North Korea towards

freedom, justice, individual achievement are different fromU.S.A, because each society operates according to the

different political & economic philosophies.


12/35

DETERMINANTS OF

CULTURE

Culture Norms& Value

Systems

Religion

PoliticalPhilosophy

EconomicPhilosophy

Education

Language

SocialCulture


13/35


14/35

Some societies are characterized by relatively high degreeof social stratification and low mobility b/w strata (e.g..

Indian), while some are characterized by low stratificationand high strata (E.g.. American)

INDIVIDUALS & GROUPS

A GROUP is an association of two or more individuals. Human social life is a group life.

Individuals are involved in families, work groups, socialgroups etc.

In some societies individual attributes and achievements areviewed more important than group membership, while inothers its the reverse.


15/35

In Saudi, the family group one belongs to is arguably moreimportant than individual attributes and achievements in

explaining success.

INDIVIDUALS

Individualism is an abstract political philosophy.

In western societies, the individual is the basic building block of

social organization.

This reflect not only in political and economic organization butalso in the way ppl perceive themselves and relate to each otherin social and business setting.

The emphasize on individual performance in many westernsocieties have both beneficial and harmful aspects.


16/35

Individualism finds expression in a high degree ofmanagerial mobility b/w companies and this is not

always a good thing. Moving from company to company may be good for

individual managers, who are trying to build impressiveresumes, but its not a good thing for American

Companies. Lack of loyalty and commitment to an individual co. and

tendency to move on for a better offer, can result inmanagers who have god general skills but lack the

knowledge, experience & network of inter personalcontacts that comes from yrs of working within thesame company.


17/35

An effective manager draws on company specific

experience, knowledge and network of contacts to find

solutions to current problems and American co. maysuffer if their managers lack these attributes.

The ability to compare business practices helps U.S

executives identify how good practices and techniquesdeveloped in one firm might be profitably applied to

other firm.

Emphasize on individualism make it difficult to build

teams within an Organization to perform collective tasks.


18/35

If individuals always compete with each other on the

basis of individual performance, it may be difficult for

them to co operate.

A study on U.S competitiveness by the Massachusetts

Institute Of Technology concluded that U.S. firms are

being hurt in the global economy by a failure to achievecooperation within and between companies.

The emphasize on individualism in U.S, while helping to

create a dynamic entrepreneurial economy, may raise

the cost of doing business due to its adverse impact onmanagerial stability and cooperation.


19/35

THE GROUP

It is the primary unit of social organization in many othersocieties.

E.g. In Japan, the social status of an individual isdetermined as much by the standing of the group to

which he / she belongs as by his/ her individualperformance.

In Japanese society groups was the family or village towhich an individual belonged.

Today group has come to be associated with the workteam or business organization to which an individualbelongs.


20/35

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION -

All societies are stratified on a hierarchical basis intosocial categories into SOCIAL STRATA.

This strata is defined on the basis of characteristicssuch as family back ground, occupation and income.

Individuals are born into a particular stratum

They become a member of social category to which theirparents belong.

Individuals born into a stratum towards the top of socialhierarchy tend to be better life chances than individualswith bottom of hierarchy.


21/35

They are likely to have better education, health, standard

of living and work opportunities.

Although all societies are stratified to same degree, theydiffer in 2 related ways.

1st they differ from each other with regard to the degree

of mobility b/w social strata 2nd is the differ with regard to the significance attached

to social strata in business contexts.


22/35

SOCIAL MOBILITY

It refers to the extent to which individuals can move out ofthe strata into which they are born. It varies significantly from society to society. The most rigid system is caste system.

CASTE SYSTEM is a closed system of stratification in whichsocial position is determined by the family into which aperson is born, and change in that position is not possibleduring an individuals life time.

Members of one caste might be shoe makers and other

might be butchers India has 4 main caste and thousands of sub castes.


23/35


24/35

Class system in U.S is less extreme than in Britain and

mobility is greater.

China has a long standing difference between the life

chances of rural peasantry and urban dwellers.

The historic division was strengthened during the high

point of communist rule because of a rigid system ofhouse hold registration that restricted most Chinese to

the place of their birth for their lifetime.


25/35


26/35

CHRISTIANITY-

Its the most widely practiced religion in the world

20 % of the worlds ppl identify themselves as Christians.

Vast Christians lives in Europe and America, Christianity grew

out of Judaism which is a monotheistic religion( belief in onegod) In the 11th century Christianity is divided into Roman

Catholic church and Orthodox church.

In 16th century the reformation further split with Rome, the

result was Protestantism which led to Baptist, Methodist,

Calvinist.


27/35

Economicimplicationsof Christianity-

The protestant work ethic - In 1904, a Germansociologist , Max Weber made a connection b/wProtestant and spirit of capitalism .

Protestants worked hard and accumulated wealth. Thecombination of hard work and capital could be used tofinance investment and expansion paved the way for thedevelopment of capitalism in western Europe and in U.S.

Weber argued that the catholic promise of salvation inthe next world, rather than this world did not foster thesame kind of work ethic.


28/35

ISLAM

It is the 2nd largest of the worlds major religions. It dates

back to 610ad when, prophet Muhammad began spreadingthe word, although the muslim calender began with 622ad .

Mohammad left to Mecca for the oasis settlement for Yathriblater known as Madina

Muslims constitute more than 35 countries. Islam has rootsin both Judaism and Christianity. Islam is the monotheisticreligion.

The central principle of Islam is that there is but the one

true omnipotent God. According to them worldly gain andtemporal power are an illusion.


29/35

The major principles of Islam include

1. Honoring & respecting parents .

2. Respecting the rights of others

3. Being generous but not a squanderer

4. Avoiding killing except for justifiable causes

5. Not committing adultery

6. Dealing justly & equitably with others

7. Being of pure heart and mind

8. Safe guarding the possessions of orphans

9. Being humble and unpretentious


30/35

Muslims lives in a social structure that is shaped by Islamicvalues and norms of moral area of life.

Orthodox muslim rituals requires prayers 5 times a day,requires the women should be dressed in a certain mannerand forbids the consumption of pork and alcohol.

ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM- It refers to the social growth of the past 3 decades.

In the west, Islamic fundamentalism is associated in themedia with militants, terrorists and violent upheavals like

bloody conflict occurring in Algeria, killing of foreign touristin Egypt & september 11, 2001 , attack on World trade centreetc.


31/35

In many muslim countries, modernization has been

accompanied by a growing gap between a rich urban

minority and an impoverished urban and rural majority. Fundamentalist demand a rigid commitment to traditional

religious beliefs and rituals. In areas where fundamentalism

is strong, women have resumed wearing floor length, long

sleeved dresses and covering their hair, religious studieshave increased in universities, the publications of religious

tracts has increased and public religious orations have

risen.

In several Muslim countries fundamentalists have gained

political power and have used this to try to make islamic law

which has become successful in Iran,Afganiztan,Pakistan etc


32/35

HINDUSIAM

It has 750million adherents, most of them on the Indian sub

continent. Hinduism began in Indus valley more than 4000 yrsago, making it the worlds oldest religion.

Hindus believe that the moral force in society requires the

acceptance of certain responsibilities called DHARMA. Hindus believe in re-birth into a different body after birth, they

also believe in Karma, the spiritual progression of each persons

soul. A persons karma is affected by the way he/ she lives. It

determines the challenges he / she will face in the next life. Hindus believe that an individual can eventually achieve nirvana,

a state of complete spiritual perfection that renders re-birth.


33/35

One of the interesting aspect of Hindu culture is thereverence for the cow, which Hindus see as a gift of the

gods to the human race.

ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF HINDUISM-

Max Weber argued that the ascetic principles embedded in

Hinduism do not encourage the kind of entrepreneurialactivity in pursuit of wealth creation that we find inprotestantism

Mahatma Gandhi, the famous Indian nationalist and spiritual

leader was certainly embodiment of Hindu asceticism. It hasbeen argued that the values of Hindu and self reliance thatGandhi advocated had a negative impact on the economicdevelopment on post independence India.


34/35

BUDDHISM-

It was founded in India in the 16

th

century BC by SiddharthaGautama, an Indian Prince who renounces his wealth topursue an ascetic life style and spiritual perfection. Heachieved nirvana but decided to remain on earth to teach hisfollowers how they too could achieve this stage of spiritual

enlightenment. Siddhartha became known as Buddha (awakened one) Today

Buddhism has 350 million followers. According to Buddhism, suffering originates in ppl desires

for pleasure, Cessation of suffering can be achieved by

following a path for transformation. Siddhartha offered the Noble 8 fold path as a route for

transformation.


35/35

This emphasizes right seeing, thinking, speech, action, living,effort, mind fullness and meditation.

CONFUCIANISM

It was founded in 5th century BC by Kung-fu-tzu, For morethan 2000 yrs until 1949 communist revolution, confusianism

was the officail ethical system of China. But it got weakenedin China since 1949 but still more than 200 million ppl followthis religion.

It teaches the importance of attaining personal salvationthrough right action. It is built around an ethical code thatsets down guidelines for relationships with others.

High moral, ethical conduct, loyalty to others are the centralto Confucianism.

IB - Culture

Documents

Transcript of IB - Culture