Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
The Culture Challenge in International Business - Coggle Diagram
The Culture Challenge in International Business
What Is Culture?
In everyday usage, the term “culture” refers to the finer things in life, such as the fine arts, literature, and philosophy.
Also, Herskovits (1955) spoke of culture as being “the man-made part of the environment,” while Downs (1971) defined culture as being “a mental map which guides us in our relations to our surroundings and to other people.”
Culture is everything that people have, think, and do as members of their society. The three verbs in this definition have, think, and do can help us identify the three major structural components of culture.
This means that in order for a person to have something, some material object must be present.
Economic Systems
No society in the world has access to an infinite supply of such basic resources as food, water, clothing, and housing materials.
Since these commodities are always in finite supply, each society must develop systematic ways of producing, distributing, and consuming these essential resources.
In the United States most goods and services are distributed according to the capitalistic mode, based on the principle of “each according to his/her capacity to pay.”
On the other hand, in socialist countries like China and Cuba, goods and services are distributed according to a very different principle—“each according to his/her need”— even though in China this principle is changing.
Marriage & Family Systems
In addition to ensuring that the basic physical needs of its children are met, a society must see to it that these children learn the way of life of this particular society.
Rather than expecting each new child to rediscover for himself/herself all the accumulated knowledge of the past, a society must have an organized way of passing on its cultural heritage from one generation to another.
This universal societal need for cultural transmission gives rise to some form of educational system in each society.
Culture & it's Elements
Dress and Appearance. This includes the outward garments and adornments, or lack thereof, as well as body decorations that tend to be distinctive by culture.
Communication and Language. The communication system, verbal and non- verbal, distinguishes one group from another.
Food and Feeding Habits. The manner in which food is selected, prepared, presented, and eaten often differs by culture. For example, one man’s pet could be another person’s delicacy.
Similarly, Americans love beef, yet it is forbidden to Hindus, while pork, which is widely consumed by the Chinese, is forbidden in Muslim and Jewish cultures.