Czech Cultural Analysis
Cultural Analysis – Czech Republic
Missouri University of Science and Technology
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table of contents
table of contents ii 1.0 Czech vs u.s. Culture – hofstede’s model 3 2.0 Czech business culture – trompenaaris classificaion 7 3.0 U.S. Business culture change needed 7 4.0 bibliography 9
1.0 Czech vs u.s. Culture – hofstede’s model
The Czech Republic has its roots as a former communist state known as Czechoslovakia. The fall of communism and the transformation to a democratic government has seasoned this country’s history. From the “Velvet Revolution” in 1989 to the charismatic leadership of the poet Vaclav Havel, the Czech Republic has developed well in the European cultures (Katz 2008). The Czech Republic had an estimated GDP of $288.6 billion in 2011, which is ranked 45th against other world countries. Auto exports are the main economic driver with Germany being a large consumer of their export goods (The cia world, 2012).
Context
The classification of high-context or low-context gives us very useful cultural distinctions. A high-context culture relies heavily on unspoken cues in conversation. They tend to want to establish trust first in business negotiations, value a personal relations and goodwill, agree by general trust, and negotiate in a slow ritualistic manner. A low-context culture generally gets straight to the point and does not bother with ritualistic negotiations or getting to know one another personally before business deals. A low-context culture usually values expertise and performance, likes to make agreements with legalistic types of contracts, and negotiates as effective as possible (Kreitner, 2012).
People in the Czech Republic tend to use body language sparingly with little physical contact. However, when communicating with them, silence could mean a problem, especially if they lower their eyes. The Czech people value punctuality and are a schedule oriented people. They like to schedule
Missouri University of Science and Technology
`
table of contents
table of contents ii 1.0 Czech vs u.s. Culture – hofstede’s model 3 2.0 Czech business culture – trompenaaris classificaion 7 3.0 U.S. Business culture change needed 7 4.0 bibliography 9
1.0 Czech vs u.s. Culture – hofstede’s model
The Czech Republic has its roots as a former communist state known as Czechoslovakia. The fall of communism and the transformation to a democratic government has seasoned this country’s history. From the “Velvet Revolution” in 1989 to the charismatic leadership of the poet Vaclav Havel, the Czech Republic has developed well in the European cultures (Katz 2008). The Czech Republic had an estimated GDP of $288.6 billion in 2011, which is ranked 45th against other world countries. Auto exports are the main economic driver with Germany being a large consumer of their export goods (The cia world, 2012).
Context
The classification of high-context or low-context gives us very useful cultural distinctions. A high-context culture relies heavily on unspoken cues in conversation. They tend to want to establish trust first in business negotiations, value a personal relations and goodwill, agree by general trust, and negotiate in a slow ritualistic manner. A low-context culture generally gets straight to the point and does not bother with ritualistic negotiations or getting to know one another personally before business deals. A low-context culture usually values expertise and performance, likes to make agreements with legalistic types of contracts, and negotiates as effective as possible (Kreitner, 2012).
People in the Czech Republic tend to use body language sparingly with little physical contact. However, when communicating with them, silence could mean a problem, especially if they lower their eyes. The Czech people value punctuality and are a schedule oriented people. They like to schedule