TOPIC 2 CULTURAL SPHERES OF INFLUENCES

TOPIC 2 CULTURAL SPHERES OF INFLUENCES

CULTURAL SPHERES OF INFLUENCE
Means the influence of culture on business. According to
Scheneider and Barsoux there are 5 cultural spheres.

REGIONAL

PROFESSIONAL
CULTURAL
SPHERES
OF
INFLUENCE

CORPORATE

INDUSTRY

FUNCTIONAL

HISTOR
Y
GEOGR
APHY

RELIGIO
N

REGIONAL
CULTURE
1. Means
your society’s
culture that
differs from
other
societies.
2.Certain
factors cause
it to evolve.
LANGU
AGE

POLITIC
S

ECONO
MY

REGIONAL CULTURE IS DIVIDED
INTO TWO CATEGORIES

WITHIN NATIONAL BORDERS
1.means doing business with
different cultural regions in the
same country.
2. these cultural differences can
result in doing business in
different ways.

BEYOND NATIONAL BORDERS
1. Ronan & Shankar state that the world
is divided into clusters of
countries/independents based on
cultural similarities.
2. Clustering assists in understanding
similarities and differences (geography,
language, wealth and religion).
3. This provides the basis for expatriate
placement, regional units, predict
results of policies and practices (Ronan
& Kraut)

INDUSTRY CULTURE

It evolves from various factors:
a. industry environment
b. customer requirement
c. competitive environment
d. societal expectation
e. ‘right thing to do
f. outcome of a demand for
performance
g. survival in the industry

Different industries have different
cultures due to different task
environments:
a. nature of decision making;
b. nature of products/ services;
c. rate of technology change;
d. state intervention;
e. market characteristics

PROFESSIONAL CULTURE

1. Is related to the
principles of workers
2. Is a combination of
values, attitudes,
symbols, rules,
practices
3. it also includes
proper behaviour
and distinctive image

a. A professional is an
expert with certain
skills
b. workers must follow
professional
principles

How do professionals
acquire judgment? 3
ways:
i. Intensive training
ii. Supervision; and
iii. Socialisation

FUNCTIONAL CULTURE
Ie. How different departments in a company
function

Different divisions have
different cultures as a
result of their different
tasks.
Compare finance vs
production

The importance of the
functions depends on
the nature of the
industry.

Different countries
value the business
division at different
levels and this is
reflected in the salary
scale

CORPORATE CULTURE: Is the blend of values, beliefs, taboos, symbols, rituals, myths in companies

Came about in 1980s.
Copying the secret
weapon of success, ie.
Japanese corporate
culture

Corporate culture is derived from :a. Founding figures and Turnaround Leaders –
the founder of company influences and
shapes the companys culture thru their
personal values and beliefs

b. Unique Company History and stage of
developmentAdministrative heritage also influences
the culture.

INTERACTING SPHERES

The cultural spheres of
business cannot help
but interact with one or
more spheres. The
nature of business is
such that functions of
divisions will overlap
with each other. For eg.
Professional with
corporate

Combination of spheres
can be good and bad.
Doing business with
different regional
cultures can result in a
competitive edge. But it
takes recognition and
acceptance of different
cultures to create a
success story.

Failure to recognise and
address the differences
can lead to failures of
joint ventures as each
sphere plays a role in
either strengthening or
weakening a company’s
competitive advantage.