cultural variation essay

Cultural Variation: Definition and 15 Examples

Archebold T Marufu (MA, Philosophy)

Archie Marufu has an MA in Philosophy where he completed a thesis in Public health ethics. He has a strong research proficiency in sociology, philosophy, business ethics, and environmental ethics.

Learn about our Editorial Process

Chris Drew (PhD)

This article was peer-reviewed and edited by Chris Drew (PhD). The review process on Helpful Professor involves having a PhD level expert fact check, edit, and contribute to articles. Reviewers ensure all content reflects expert academic consensus and is backed up with reference to academic studies. Dr. Drew has published over 20 academic articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education and holds a PhD in Education from ACU.

Culture can be understood as the differences in social norms, values, beliefs, and customs of different societies. These change from one society to another and even within subcultural groups. It is these differences that result in ‘cultural variation.’

A good clear scholarly definition of cultural variation comes from Boyd & Richerson (2005, p. 53) who state:

“We define cultural variation as differences among individuals that exist because they have aquired different behavior as a result of some form of social learning .”

Cultural variation, therefore, is the diversity in social behavior, interaction, language, and social expectations from society to society.

It can also occur within one major society as certain social groups may have unique values and practices but all feeding off of the broader culture. This concept will be explored further in the next paragraphs.

Why There is Cultural Variation?

Cultural variation is a direct consequence of the different ways in which societies adapt, interact and develop in their respective environments. It is an apt caption of human diversity.

To understand cultural variation better, one needs to start by looking at the basic family unit and its interaction with the next family unit.

Each family comprises of two or more individuals with different characteristics and behaviors but despite the individual differences in traits and characteristics, families and societies share common values and social practices which can then be identified as “culture.”

These social practices and values vary from community to community as explained in the definition. This results in different cultural practices.

We might compare cultural variation to cultural universals – morals and values shared by all cultures – are defined as similarities between human traits and attributes across cultures (Norenzayan and Heine  2005 ).

Subcultural Variation

Subcultures can be found within major cultures. Thus, there can be cultural variations within one major culture and cultural variations among major subcultures within a culture.

There can be differences and similarities starting at the most basic level of a social group. Indeed, families who are neighbors and raised in the same town may have different cultural affiliations.

This explains why, for instance, one village in a Southern African country like Zimbabwe can have unique cultural characteristics but still belong to the broader group otherwise known as ‘Zimbabwean culture.’

Likewise, Zimbabwe as a country may have a unique cultural identity but will still fall under the umbrella of ‘African culture’ because of the common cultural identity that exists among Southern African countries. 

Cultural Variation Examples

• Language: Language is central to cultural identity and sense of self. Generally, but not always, cultures cohere around a common language.
• Customs: Cultural customs can include leaving a tip after buying a coffee or shaking hands when greeting someone.
• Taboos : While there are universal taboos, there are also different taboos in different cultures – for example, Europe tends to be more liberal about nudity than America.
• Gender Norms : While gender norms may seem natural, we notice some significant differences in expectations of women when we look at it from a cross-cultural perspective.
• Religion: Religion shapes cultures. For example, Christmas is central to American culture , which stems from Christianity.
• History: A culture’s history shapes their sense of self, their pride, and their sense of their culture’s role in the world.
• Race and Ethnicity: Many cultures cohere around ethnic identities; although increasingly, cultures are becoming multiethnic and multiracial.
• Tastes: Differences in tastes of different cultures can be seen by differing national dishes (Mexican spice vs Thai spice, for example) and musical preferences.
• Mannerisms: We can see that Italians have more expressive mannerisms than the stoic Russians.
• Family Structure: While Western families live in nuclear family units, we can see cultures like Aboriginal Australians who often live in multigenerational homes.
• Pastimes: While Europeans love soccer, the Americans love baseball and American football.
• Economic systems: While advanced Western nations embrace capitalism, we can see some indigenous cultures with economic systems that rely on barter and community social capital.
• Celebrations: As you travel the world, you may get the opportunity to participate in diverse celebrations such as Diwali, Christmas, Chinese New Year, and so on.
• Social Orientations: We can look at collectivism and individualism as key differences in social orientation. Whereas the USA is seen as having a culture of rugged individualism , many indigenous cultures cohere around collectivism (see also: individualism vs collectivism ).
• Age and Generation: Subcultural variations are often connected to age. Different generations have their own well-known subcultures, such as Hippies in the 60s and Emos in the early 2000s.

Five Key Variations in Cultural Identity

1. language.

Language is perhaps the most basic distinguishing feature of culture. Cultural norms and practices are often communicated and interpreted through language.

This means language, in its various forms, reflects and expresses cultural variation.

Tone, pronunciations and dialects are important aspects of language which all have cultural connotations. For instance, using a loud tone when speaking to an elderly person might be considered disrespectful and therefore culturally inappropriate in the African culture.

Language is also the mode through which cultural education is passed from one generation to the other. Language and its culture are essentially inseparable.

For example, it is almost inevitable that when one masters a certain foreign language, their behavior too starts to lean towards or copy some of the cultural nuances and etiquette from which that language emanates. This is because language is contained within culture.

2. Religion

Religious beliefs are an inextricable part of a society’s culture. Religion has been defined by renowned sociologist, Emile Durkheim as “…a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden…”

In short, religion gives meaning to culture by providing the answers to basic questions on how a society understands and experiences the world. In cultural terms, these sets of beliefs dictate how a society behaves and relates with the surrounding environment.

The differences in religious beliefs and, consequently, culture, explains why, for instance, a Muslim has a different worldview from a Hindu. Their cultures, informed by their religions, demand different behaviors and practices hence the cultural variations.

Religion can be such a powerful cultural variable that in most cases it is almost impossible to distinguish between religion and culture. Islam religion, for instance, is so intricately tied to the Arabic culture and language such that the difference between the two is faint.

3. Gender roles

Another aspect that distinguishes cultures is that of gender roles and responsibilities. Gender role can be defined as those certain behaviors considered appropriate per the dictates of the societal norms .

These roles are acquired through cultural convention and practice. Different cultures exhibit different characteristics in terms of gender expectations.

Eomen have traditionally had unique roles and behaviors that are in line with the expectations of their culture. Likewise, men have their own culturally entrenched roles, practices and expectations that influence their social behavior.

These different gender roles are taught to girls and boys from a very early age. As they grow, their personalities begin to reflect these gender roles, a concept known as “ gender socialization .”

This again explains why women and men in one culture may behave differently from the next culture.

However, these gender roles and expectations have often been criticized for inequality, especially against women. Feminist scholars and sociologists argue that some cultures perpetuate the existing occupational gender biases against women.

Go Deeper: Gender Roles Examples

4. History and geographical location

Just as the surrounding environment influences the social way of life in a community through adaptation, so do the historical experiences.

A group of people may carve their sociocultural framework as a direct result of their historical experiences and opportunities.

The physical environment also influences the culture of a society by determining how they adapt and adopt survival skills. These will eventually be reflected in their social life.

Because histories and geographies of societies are not the same, their cultures also tend to be different. The contact with and exposure to other cultures and different geographical circumstances may have significant impacts on a society’s social strata.

For instance, nations that underwent colonization suffered a major cultural shift. In many cases, the colonies ended up adopting the colonial masters’ cultures.

This resulted in some hybrid or mixed cultures sprouting up.

5. Race and ethnicity

The race and ethnic group in which one is born play a major role in determining their cultural identity. Race is defined as the physical biological characteristics of a group of people, and these include color of skin or hair.

According to Williams (1997), ethnicity is used to categorize people based on cultural characteristics such as shared language, ancestry, religious traditions, dietary preferences, and history.

Therefore, the words ‘race, culture and ethnicity’ are often used in the same context as it is almost impossible to speak of one without the other.  As such, different races or ethnic groups are identified by their unique cultural practices.

The foregoing presentation has defined the concept of cultural variation by first attempting to define culture. An attempt was then made to explain how and why culture varies from one society to another.

The presentation also managed to distinguish between what is referred to as ‘intracultural’ variation and ‘intercultural’ variation where the former refers to cultural variations within  the same society while the latter describes cultural differences from one society to another.

Finally, examples of different aspects of culture including language, religion race and ethnicity were discussed in a bid to demonstrate how they influence the cultural diversity that is evident in different societies.

Boyd, R., & Richerson, P. J. (2005).  The origin and evolution of cultures . Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Chang, Y. P., & Algoe, S. B. (2020). On thanksgiving: Cultural variation in gratitude demonstrations and perceptions between the United States and Taiwan.  Emotion ,  20 (7), 1185.

Norenzayan, A., & Heine, S. J. (2005). Psychological Universals: What Are They and How Can We Know? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 763-781.

Youssef, H., & Christodoulou, I. (2018). Exploring cultural heterogeneity: the effect of intra-cultural variation on executives’ latitude of actions in 18 countries.  International Journal of Cross Cultural Management ,  18 (2).

• Archebold T Marufu (MA, Philosophy) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/archebold-t-marufu-ma-philosophy/ Rational Choice Theory in Sociology (Examples & Criticism)
• Archebold T Marufu (MA, Philosophy) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/archebold-t-marufu-ma-philosophy/ 15 Human Capital Examples

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 23 Achieved Status Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 15 Ableism Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 25 Defense Mechanisms Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 15 Theory of Planned Behavior Examples

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Ecological and Geographic Cultural Variation

Environmental variance refers to differences among groups because the environment is different. Stressors can be abiotic (e.g., climate, UV radiation or high altitude), biotic (e.g., disease), or social (e.g., war and psychological stress). Evidence is growing that environmental stressors (or pressures) can cause genetic variations (i.e., changes in genes). You are probably familiar with at least a couple of genetic adaptations brought about by environmental pressures.

Population migration to high altitude has altered red blood cells to accommodate the reduced oxygen levels at high altitude (Beall, 2004). Malaria is a biotic example of an environmental variant. Malaria is a disease carried by mosquitoes and affects thousands of people each year. A change in red blood cell shape (sickle or semicircle) is a genetic adaptation present in tropical climates to protect individuals from malaria but in other environments the adaptation can be quite harmful to a person. Sickle cell anemia is a disease that has emerged because the once advantageous adaptation causes joint inflammation and pain in people when expressed in other environments.

As mentioned earlier, groups living in new environments invented new tools and new ways of doing things to adapt to ecological conditions and pressures. Cultural variance refers to different behaviors among groups as a result of different learning, coping and living. Cultural adaptations can occur at any time and may be as simple as putting on a coat when it is cold or as complicated as engineering, building, and installing a heating system in a building. Consider contemporary hunter-gatherer societies in the Arctic and Kalahari. These groups inhabit hostile environments that are separated by thousands of miles but they have not developed massive distinct genetic adaptations to these environments. They are successful because of cultural adaptations to their unique habitations.

In addition to environmental variations and ecological pressures, cultural adaptations may be shaped by access to arable land, sustainable strategies (e.g., fishing, hunting, agriculture) and sources of food. In other words, resources available to the population. For example, the people of India revere cows and believe that eating a cow is a terrible act, which might seem strange to people in other countries. Cows in India are considered sacred. Cows are viewed as more than just an animal because they provide milk which is a precious resource. In order to ensure the milk is always available cows must be kept alive and well cared for. The cow is a food source, even if not in the way that, say, an American or European would view it. The sacredness of the cow was a cultural adaptive measure by the Indian people to keep an important, renewable resource protected.

Another example of a cultural adaptation, and the use of local resources, is building a shelter or a home. In the southwest United States, before air conditioning (and even with air conditioning) homes were built to survive the hot, dry climate. The bricks were made from abundant dirt and used few windows, which kept heat in during the winter and out during the summer. The flat roof construction catches the rainfall that is precious and scarce in the southwest. To those in other parts of the world it is just a structure, but to the people of the southwest it meant survival.

Adaptations may be environmental or cultural and are likely the result of differences in ecology, resources and people (Crezana, Kolodny, & Feldman, 2017). Van de Vliert (2011) examined these components and their impact on ingroup favoritism (preferences for people who are similar to us that results in disproportionate shares of resources). Using data from almost 180 countries, ingroup favoritism was highest in cultures with the lowest income and harshest, most demanding climates (e.g., extreme heat or cold) and lowest in cultures with high national income and demanding climates. Ecological stress and scarce resources created social norms that favor some people over others. By examining ecology, national wealth and behaviors collectively, we can see the relationship between these factors and cultural adaptations.

Cultural similarities can be explained by adaptations of different groups to similar environmental conditions and cultural variations can also be explained by changing environmental conditions. Since environmental changes were not predictable, cultures changed in many different directions. Cultures that were once similar could become dissimilar with selective pressures and ecological distress and the opposite could also happen, cultures that were once different could become similar. The continual development of culturally transmitted knowledge and skills enables people to thrive in new environments.

Culture and Psychology Copyright © 2020 by L D Worthy; T Lavigne; and F Romero is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

Cultural Variations in Attachment, including Van ljzendoorn ( AQA A Level Psychology )

Revision note.

Cultural Variations in Attachment, including Van ljzendoorn

• One of the biggest criticisms aimed at Ainsworth's original study was that it was ethnocentric, only using a US sample
• Over the next few decades, the Strange Situation was replicated across other countries and the data were examined to see just how much of Ainsworth's work could be applied to other countries and cultures
• The largest, and arguably most famous, was conducted by a Dutch psychologist: Van Ijzendoorn

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg: Cultural difference in attachment

• Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) conducted a meta-analysis of strange situation experiments that other researchers had conducted across the globe
• A meta-analysis is when you take the work of several other researchers and combine their data/findings to come to conclusions of your own
• The use of meta-analysis here was an advantage as it meant that Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg did not have the time and costs associated with travel as well as cultural and language barriers
• They took 32 studies from 8 countries to gain an idea of attachment types in other cultures

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg: The findings

What do the findings mean?

There are four main findings that come from the meta-analysis of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg:

• Secure attachment (B) is the most commonly found attachment type in all countries studied
• Insecure Avoidant (A) is the second most common attachment type in Western/industrialised/individualistic societies
• Insecure Resistant (C) is the second most common attachment type in non-Western/non-industrialised/collectivist societies
• There is more difference within a culture than between cultures

The last finding means that the countries are all so relatively similar it is hard to tell them apart just by looking at a snapshot of findings

Think about it this way

If the sound were turned down on the strange situation tapes and there were no clues as to the culture/country they were filmed in, would you be able to tell what the country was just by looking at the videos of the infants?

However, if you watched a day of strange situation films from say, Sweden, you would see all three attachment types and so there would be variety

There is more diversity inside the cultures than between them

Evaluating Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg

• The method is quicker and cheaper than alternatives
• Meta-analysis allows the researchers to obtain data from countries where language and cultural barriers may have been an issue i.e. China and Japan
• The study is reliable as it can easily be replicated
• As the research has a large sample from a variety of places,  it can be said to be representative and, therefore, generalisable

Limitations 

• It is hard to check the validity of some of the studies as the researchers have no way of knowing if the data was collected in a scientific manner
• There are a lot of countries, as well as continents, missing including Africa and a lot of Asia
• So can we really generalise to all cultures?
• There is an imbalance of studies used: There are so many for the US that those results are also the mean for the whole study
• The Chinese study only had 25 infants, so we are using a tiny sample to represent around 20% of the global population
• Takahashi found that Japanese infants were often seen as Type C as they were rarely left by their PCG and so the strange situation was terrifying for them
• This raises the question: If the strange situation is not valid in Japan due to child-rearing differences, is it valid elsewhere?

If the examiner asks you for findings, it is very rare they will ask you for the results of individual countries. What they are referring to is the 4 findings listed above: The second most common attachment type in different cultures. You need to know the trends: i.e. Germany has the highest number of type A and Japan/Israel has the highest amount of Type C. But if the examiner asks for findings, place this in context by using Germany and Japan as examples of Individualist/Collectivist cultures. Remember not all collectivist cultures are the same, as is true for individualists, so give examples to qualify your statement.

You've read 0 of your 0 free revision notes

Get unlimited access.

to absolutely everything:

• Downloadable PDFs
• Unlimited Revision Notes
• Topic Questions
• Past Papers
• Model Answers
• Videos (Maths and Science)

Join the 100,000 + Students that ❤️ Save My Exams

the (exam) results speak for themselves:

Did this page help you?

Author: Emma rees

Cultural variation is part of human nature

Literary universals, context-sensitivity, and "shakespeare in the bush"

• Published: December 2003
• Volume 14 , pages 383–396, ( 2003 )

Cite this article

• Michelle Scalise Sugiyama 1  

657 Accesses

Explore all metrics

In 1966, Laura Bohannan wrote her classic essay challenging the supposition that great literary works speak to universal human concerns and conditions and, by extension, that human nature is the same everywhere. Her evidence: the Tiv of West Africa interpret Hamlet differently from Westerners. While Bohannan’s essay implies that cognitive universality and cultural variation are mutually exclusive phenomena, adaptationist theory suggests otherwise. Adaptive problems ("the human condition") and cognitive adaptations ("human nature") are constant across cultures. What differs between cultures is habitat: owing to environmental variation, the means and information relevant to solving adaptive problems differ from place to place. Thus, we find differences between cultures not because human minds differ in design but largely because human habitats differ in resources and history. On this view, we would expect world literature to express both human universals and cultural particularities. Specifically, we should expect to find literary universality at the macro level (e.g., adaptive problems, cognitive adaptations) and literary variation at the micro level (e.g., local solutions to adaptive problems).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save.

• Get 10 units per month
• Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
• 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
• Cancel anytime

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

From neurodiversity to neurodivergence: the role of epistemic and cognitive marginalization

Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Theory: Its Development, Core Concepts, and Critical Issues

Cultural Globalization: A Critical Analysis of Identity Crises in the Developing Economies

Aarne, Antti, and Stith Thompson 1961 The Types of the Folktale , second rev. ed. Helsinki: Suomalainch Tiedeakatemia, Academia Scientiarum Fennica.

Google Scholar  

Anderson, J. L., C. B. Crawford, J. Nadeau, T. Lindberg 1992 Was the Duchess of Windsor Right? A Cross-cultural Review of the Socioecology of Ideals of Female Body Shape. Ethology and Sociobiology 13:197–277.

Article   Google Scholar  

Angeloni, Elvio 2000 Annual Editions: Anthropology 01 / 02 , 24 th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Bazerman, Charles, ed. 1989 The Informed Reader: Contemporary Issues in the Disciplines . Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Biesele, Megan 1993 Women Like Meat: The Folklore and Foraging Ideology of the Kalahari Ju/’hoan . Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Birket-Smith, Kaj 1929 The Caribou Eskimos: Report of the Fifth Thule Expedition 1921–1924 , Vol. V. Copenhagen: Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag.

Bohannan, Laura 1966 Shakespeare in the Bush. Natural History 75:28–33. Reprinted in 1989 in The Informed Reader: Contemporary Issues in the Disciplines , Charles Bazerman, ed. Pp. 43–53. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Bohannan, Laura, and Paul Bohannan 1953 The Tiv of Central Nigeria . London: International African Institute.

Brown, P. J., and M. Konner 1987 An Anthropological Perspective on Obesity. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 499:29–46.

Buss, D. M. 1994 The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating . New York: Basic Books.

Choi, In-Hak 1979 A Type Index of Korean Folktales . Seoul.

Cross, Tom Peete 1952 Motif-Index of Early Irish Literature . Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Delarue, Paul 1956 The Story of Grandmother. In The Borzoi Book of French Folk Tales , P. Delaure, ed., Austin Fife, trans. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Preprinted in 1989 in Little Red Riding Hood: A Casebook , A. Dundes ed. Pp. 13–20. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Dundes, Alan, ed. 1989 Little Red Riding Hood: A Casebook . Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Eberhard, Wolfram 1970 The Story of Grandaunt Tiger. In Studies in Taiwanese Folktales , Asian Folklore and Social Life Monographs, Vol. I. Taipei: The Orient Cultural Service. Reprinted in 1989 in Little Red Riding Hood: A Casebook , A. Dundes ed. Pp. 21–63. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Ellison, Peter 1990 Human Ovarian Function and Reproductive Ecology: New Hypothesis. American Anthropologist 92:933–952.

El-Shamy, Hasan M. 1995 Folk Traditions of the Arab World: A Guide to Motif Classification , vol. I. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Fock, Niels 1982 Introduction. In Folk Literature of the Mataco Indians , Johannes Wilbert and Karin Simoneau, eds. Pp. 1–33. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center Publications.

Ford, C. S., and F. A. Beach 1951 Patterns of Sexual Behavior . New York: Harper

Frisch, R. E., and J. W. McArthur 1974 Menstrual Cycles: Fatness as a Determinant of Minimum Weight Necessary for Their Maintenance and Onset. Science 185:554–556.

Fung, Christopher 2001 Review of A. Podolefsky and P. J. Brown (eds.), Applying Cultural Anthropology: An Introductory Reader . http://www.amazon.com.

Ikeda, Hiroko 1971 A Type and Motif Index of Japanese Folk-Literature . Folklore Fellows Communications No. 209. Helsinki.

Kirtley, Bacil Flemming 1980 A Motif-Index of Polynesian, Melanesian and Micronesian Narratives . New York: Arno.

Langlois, J. H., and L. A. Roggman 1990 Attractive Faces Are Only Average. Psychological Science 1:115–121.

Luthi, Max 1982 The European Folktale: Form and Nature , John D. Niles, trans. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues (ISHI).

Marbot, General M. de 1891 Memoires du General Baron de Marbot . Paris.

Marlowe, F., and A. Westman 2001 Preferred Waist-to-hip Ratio and Ecology. Personality and Individual Differences 30:481–489.

O’Connell, Robert 1989 Of Arms and Men: A History of War, Weapons, and Aggression . New York: Oxford University Press.

Podolefsky, Aaron, and Peter J. Brown, eds. 2000 Applying Cultural Anthropology: An Introductory Reader , fifth ed. New York: WCB/McGraw-Hill.

Rasmussen, Knud 1932 Intellectual Culture of the Copper Eskimos: Report of the Fifth Thule Expedition 1921–1924 , vol. IX. Copenhagen: Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag.

Scalise Sugiyama, Michelle 1996 On the Origins of Narrative: Storyteller Bias as a Fitness-Enhancing Strategy. Human Nature 7:403–425.

1997 The Cognitive Foundations of Narrative: The Oral Tradition as an Information Storage and Transmission System. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, University of Arizona, Tucson.

1999 Narrative as Virtual Reality. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

2000 Food for Thought: Narrative as a Repository for Subsistence Information. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Amherst, Massachusetts.

2001 Food, Foragers, and Folklore: The Role of Narrative in Human Subsistence. Evolution and Human Behavior 22:221–240.

Schaller, George B. 1967 The Deer and the Tiger: A Study of Wildlife in India . Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Sobal, J., and A. J. Stunkard 1989 Socioeconomic Status and Obesity: A Review of the Literature. Psychological Bulletin 105:260–275.

Summers, Montague 1933 The Werewolf . London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner.

Sugiyama, L. 1996 In Search of the Adapted Mind: A Study of Human Psychological Adaptations among the Shiwiar of Ecuador and the Yora of Peru . Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara.

n.d. Female Waist-to-Hip Ratio as a Cue to Mate Value: Cross-Cultural Evidence from the Shiwiar of Amazonia for a Context-Sensitive Mate-Preference Adaptation. Evolution and Human Behavior , forthcoming.

Symons, D. 1979 The Evolution of Human Sexuality . New York: Oxford University Press.

1995 Beauty Is in the Adaptations of the Beholder. In Sexual Nature, Sexual Culture , P. R. Abramson and S. D. Pinkerson, eds. Pp. 80–118. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Thompson, Stith 1932 Motif-Index of Folk Literature . Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Ting, Nai-Tung 1978 A Type Index of Chinese Folktales . Folklore Fellows Communications No. 223. Helsinki.

Tooby, John, and Leda Cosmides 1992 The Psychological Foundations of Culture. In The Adapted Mind , Jerome Barkow, Leda Cosmides, and John Tooby, eds. Pp. 19–136. New York: Oxford University Press.

Turnbull, Colin 1965 Wayward Servants: The Two Worlds of the African Pygmies . Garden City: Natural History Press.

Waterman, Patricia Panyity 1987 A Tale-Type Index of Australian Aboriginal Oral Narratives . Folklore Fellows Communications No. 238. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia Academia Scientiarum Fennica.

Westman, A., and F. Marlowe 1999 How Universal Are Preferences for Female Waist-to-hip Ratios? Evidence from the Hadza of Tanzania. Evolution and Human Behavior 20:219–228.

Wilbert, Johannes, ed. 1975 Folk Literature of the Selknam Indians: Martin Gusinde’s Collection of Selknam Narratives . Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center Publications.

Wilbert, Johannes, and Karin Simoneau, eds. 1982 Folk Literature of the Mataco Indians . Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center Publications.

1984 Folk Literature of the Tehuelche Indians . Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center Publications.

1988 Folk Literature of the Mocovi Indians . Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center Publications.

1990 Folk Literature of the Yanomami Indians . Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center Publications.

Yu, D., and G. H. Shepard 1998 Is Beauty in the Eyes of the Beholder? Nature 396:321–322.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

English Department and Institute for Cognitive and Decision Sciences, University of Oregon, 97403, Eugene, OR

Michelle Scalise Sugiyama

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michelle Scalise Sugiyama .

Additional information

Michelle Scalise Sugiyama is an affiliate of the English Department and the Institute for Cognitive and Decision Sciences at the University of Oregon, Eugene. She studied at the Center for Evolutionary Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she received her Ph.D. in literature in 1997. Conceptualizing all forms of storytelling—mythology and folklore, literature and film, rumor and gossip—as narrative behavior, her work attempts to understand narrative in terms of the cognitive architecture that underlies it and the adaptive problems to which it is a response.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Sugiyama, M.S. Cultural variation is part of human nature. Hum Nat 14 , 383–396 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-003-1012-2

Download citation

Received : 28 January 2002

Revised : 16 September 2002

Issue Date : December 2003

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-003-1012-2

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Context-sensitivity
• Cultural relativism
• Folklore universals
• Human nature
• Human universals
• Literary universals
• Narrative theory
• Storytelling
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

Cultural Variation Across International Organizations

Executive summary.

The present report is devoted to the issues of cross-cultural management in the international business environment and the situations of mergers and acquisitions, in particular. It is argued that cultural adjustment is essential for effective organizational operation in the context of global business. To understand why it is the case, the definitions of culture are provided, and the cultural dimension frameworks by Hofstede and Schwartz are explained.

Consequently, the obtained findings are utilized to support the investigation of the three major integration approaches used during the process of international mergers and acquisitions: collaboration, extension, and redesign. The rationale for the selection of one of the approaches is provided based on the recent research evidence and theoretical propositions.

Introduction

International business implies that organizations operate on a global scale and engage in cross-cultural communication on a regular basis. It is thus essential for every international enterprise to apply the principles of cross-cultural management and communication, especially during the process of integration with companies from distant cultures. To succeed in this, managers need to be capable of perceiving the cultural differences of the host country and adjust to them effectively by finding a balance between the merging firms. Based on this, the given report will summarize and discuss the research evidence and theoretical frameworks linked to the explanations of cultural dimensions and effective business integration approaches, which managers can use in distinct cross-cultural situations.

Definitions of Culture

National culture can be regarded as an essential environmental factor in international business. One of the most frequently used definitions of culture proposed by Geert Hofstede is as follows: “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group from another” (Pinto et al. 343). It means that culture comprises a unique set of values, beliefs, expectations, and behavioral norms, which its representatives share and incorporate into decision making and daily actions.

Kawar notes that culture may work at distinct levels: national, organizational, occupational, and gender (105-106). The national culture values are considered the underlying ones because they are acquired by every individual early in life and affect one’s behaviors mostly on the unconscious level. At the same time, the three other types may be regarded as sub-categories. For instance, organizational cultures are described by Kawar as superficial because it is much easier to manage them, and, moreover, they may drastically differ from each other even within the same country (106).

It is also worth noting that although the organization may adopt a series of values associated with national culture, its corporate culture will still be generally applicable only to certain job-related situations. Additionally, occupational and gender cultures refer to particular professional and individual values and norms, respectively. All of these types of cultures significantly affect employees’ manner of interaction and overall behaviors at the workplace. For this reason, international businesses should consider both cultural differences and similarities represented in employees to manage them more efficiently.

Explanation of National Culture Frameworks

Hofstede’s cultural dimensions.

Yüksel and Durna observe that Hofstede’s theoretical framework is often criticized for providing a simplistic picture of a culture that is not applicable to particular regions (such as Africa) and does not consider possible changes in some cultural aspects over time (299). Nevertheless, it remains one of the most popular frameworks due to its clarity and usefulness for managers. Hofstede discerns five basic cultural dimensions in which every nation is classified based on masculinity vs. femininity, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, long-term orientation (Bergiel et al. 70).

For example, “in high power distance countries, employees accept inequality between superiors and subordinates as a natural part of the organizations and the structure is organized accordingly,” while in countries that have a low score in the given dimension, employees value collaboration and equality (Yüksel and Durna 300). Additionally, in a country with high uncertainty avoidance score, employees will prefer adhering to strict behavioral regulations and codes, while in low uncertainty avoidance nations, people will handle uncertainty easier and, as a result, will show innovative behaviors more frequently. The differences in these and other dimensions identified by Hofstede are considered to complicate cross-cultural communication and mutual understanding.

Schwartz’s Cultural Dimensions

Schwartz took a more psychological approach when designing his national culture framework. According to Nardon and Steers, Schwartz’s model suggests that differences in national/social values are mainly defined by motivational objectives they express (5). The basic values distinguished in the given framework are “power, achievement, hedonism, stimulation, self-direction, universalism, benevolence, tradition, conformity, and security” (Nardon and Steers 6).

In different forms and to a varying degree, all these human values are present in distinct national cultures and take different places across three major cultural dimensions, including conservatism-autonomy (extent of integration of individuals into groups), hierarchy-egalitarianism (degree of equality valuation), mastery-harmony (extent of individuals’ motivation to change social and natural environment) (Nardon and Steers 7). Overall, the dimensions distinguished by Schwartz help reveal the solutions developed within the culture to regulate individuals’ behaviors.

International Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)

Effective cross-cultural management and understanding of possible differences between national cultures are particularly important when the organization intends to engage in the international merge or acquire a foreign enterprise. M&A are popular business expansion strategies, but they have some inherent risks related to challenges in the integration of two companies, as well as their cultures. As Majidi states, in M&A, a lower cultural distance between the merging organizations is a substantial competitive advantage, while higher cultural distance creates liabilities and is associated with greater coordination costs (9-10).

Thus, it is possible to say that the overall success of the M&A largely depends on managers’ ability to integrate culturally different enterprises, especially if the differences between them are significant. The three of the most frequently used integration approaches will be discussed in the following section.

Explanation of Integration Mechanisms

The three integration approaches identified in the study by Chmielecki and Sułkowski are collaboration, extension, and redesign (48). Collaborative merges are simply blending of the two national/corporate cultures and the creation of a new culture that takes something from both of them. Since the given mechanism is not meant to suppress one of the cultures, it increases the chance to create a win-win scenario and facilitate the process of integration/change (Chmielecki and Sułkowski 48). The second type − extension merges − is the process “in which dissimilarities in culture between merger partners are received and viewed as insignificant” (Chmielecki and Sułkowski 48).

It means that the given mechanism can be effectively applied merely if the merging enterprises are culturally proximate. Lastly, redesign merges, which are the most widely used during international M&A, refer to the process when the dominant culture (the acquirer) entirely replaces the culture of the smaller/less successful enterprise. As a result of such an approach, one of the partners inevitably loses as their perceptions and interests are not recognized by another party.

Justification of the Integration Mechanisms

The choice of the integration mechanisms should be based on the identified national and organizational cultural values represented in both of the merging enterprises. For example, along with extension merges, the redesign is usually not appropriate in situations when two cultures are distant: “the more the differences, the tougher the integration process will be, and the more time the integration process will take” (Chmielecki and Sułkowski 49).

For example, if the acquirer is low in Hofstede’s uncertainty avoidance and power distance dimensions, as well as Schwartz’s hierarchy dimension, the imposition of freer and more informal work design and reduced control, will be less welcome by the employees of the acquired organization, which has high scores in these cultural dimensions. Therefore, when two distant cultures merge, it is better to use the collaborative approach as it helps to consider and respect their differences more efficiently.

Moreover, collaborative merges provide more opportunities for managers to consider and manage the perceptions of the home country by the host country, which Majidi regards as one of the major factors/activities defining managerial success during the integration process (10). The consideration and understanding of cultural differences allow identifying negative perceptions, as well as weaknesses and strengths of each culture, and create a blend of them in a way that would be conducive to positive organizational behaviors, greater employee motivation, and productivity.

In the context of international business, it is critical to consider the fact that social and cultural structures vary from one country to another. The understanding of characteristics associated with particular societies may significantly facilitate the process of communication and lead to productive outcomes during M&A.

The management should analyze cultural differences based on theoretical frameworks provided by such scholars and theorists as Hofstede and Schwartz to facilitate foreign employees’ integration in the work process and find a compromise between the interests and values of both host and home companies. It is possible to say that by blending the features and values of the distant cultures, the management can contribute to easier acceptance of unfamiliar cultural practices by employees in the merged company.

Works Cited

Bergiel, Erich, et al. “Revisiting Hofstede’s Dimensions: Examining the Cultural Convergence of the United States and Japan.” American Journal of Management , vol. 12, no. 1, 2012, pp. 69-79.

Chmielecki, Michał, and Łukasz Sułkowski. “Organizational Culture in Mergers and Acquisitions” Journal of Intercultural Management , vol. 8, no. 4, 2017, pp. 47-58.

Kawar, Tagreed Issa. “Cross-Cultural Differences in Management.” International Journal of Business and Social Science , vol. 3, no. 6, 2012, pp. 105-111.

Majidi, Mehdi. “Cultural Factors in International Mergers and Acquisitions.” International Journal of Knowledge , Culture and Change Management, vol. 6, no. 7, 2007, pp. 1-21.

Nardon, Luciara, and Richard M. Steers. The Culture Theory Jungle: Divergence and Convergence in Models of National Culture . 2014. Web.

Pinto, Claudia Frias, et al. “A Bibliometric Study on Culture Research in International Business.” Brazilian Administration Review , vol. 11, no. 3, 2014, pp. 340–363.

Yüksel, Yusuf, and Tuncay Durna. “The Adaptability of Management Models Across Cultures.” Uluslararası İktisadi Ve İdari İncelemeler Dergisi , no, 14, 2015, pp. 295-316.

Cite this paper

• Chicago (N-B)
• Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2021, May 7). Cultural Variation Across International Organizations. https://studycorgi.com/cultural-variation-across-international-organizations/

"Cultural Variation Across International Organizations." StudyCorgi , 7 May 2021, studycorgi.com/cultural-variation-across-international-organizations/.

StudyCorgi . (2021) 'Cultural Variation Across International Organizations'. 7 May.

1. StudyCorgi . "Cultural Variation Across International Organizations." May 7, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/cultural-variation-across-international-organizations/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "Cultural Variation Across International Organizations." May 7, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/cultural-variation-across-international-organizations/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "Cultural Variation Across International Organizations." May 7, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/cultural-variation-across-international-organizations/.

This paper, “Cultural Variation Across International Organizations”, was written and voluntary submitted to our free essay database by a straight-A student. Please ensure you properly reference the paper if you're using it to write your assignment.

Before publication, the StudyCorgi editorial team proofread and checked the paper to make sure it meets the highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, fact accuracy, copyright issues, and inclusive language. Last updated: May 7, 2021 .

If you are the author of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal . Please use the “ Donate your paper ” form to submit an essay.

Cultural Variations Essays

Assessing the possibility of luxury brands’ expansion into africa using hofstede’s cultural model, cultural challenges of globalization, popular essay topics.

• American Dream
• Artificial Intelligence
• Black Lives Matter
• Bullying Essay
• Career Goals Essay
• Causes of the Civil War
• Child Abusing
• Civil Rights Movement
• Community Service
• Cultural Identity
• Cyber Bullying
• Death Penalty
• Depression Essay
• Domestic Violence
• Freedom of Speech
• Global Warming
• Gun Control
• Human Trafficking
• I Believe Essay
• Immigration
• Importance of Education
• Israel and Palestine Conflict
• Leadership Essay
• Legalizing Marijuanas
• Mental Health
• National Honor Society
• Police Brutality
• Pollution Essay
• Racism Essay
• Romeo and Juliet
• Same Sex Marriages
• Social Media
• The Great Gatsby
• The Yellow Wallpaper
• Time Management
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Violent Video Games
• What Makes You Unique
• Why I Want to Be a Nurse
• Send us an e-mail

Reference Library

Collections

• See what's new
• All Resources
• Student Resources
• Assessment Resources
• Teaching Resources
• CPD Courses
• Livestreams

Study notes, videos, interactive activities and more!

Psychology news, insights and enrichment

Currated collections of free resources

Browse resources by topic

• All Psychology Resources

Resource Selections

Currated lists of resources

Study Notes

Cultural Variations in Attachment

Last updated 21 Apr 2023

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share by Email

The Strange Situation procedure has had a profound impact within developmental psychology and has become a recognised and validated method to assess individual differences in attachment types. The procedure has been used in a variety of cultural settings to identify whether patterns of attachments appear to be universal or are subject to cultural influences. One of the most commonly cited cross-cultural studies which uses the Strange Situation procedure was conducted by Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg’s in 1988.

Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg’s (1988) meta-analysis summarized findings from 8 countries, which included the UK, US, Sweden, Japan, China, Holland, Germany & Israel. The meta- analysis examined 32 studies and consulted nearly 2000 Strange Situation classifications in total. The meta-analysis yielded a number of findings and conclusions:

• Average findings were consistent with Ainsworth’s original research - Secure 65% - Avoidant 21% - Resistant 14%
• Intra-cultural variation was nearly 1.5 times greater than the cross-cultural variations. Van Ijzendoorn speculated that this was linked to differences in socio-economic factors and levels of stress that varied between samples used within each country.
• 6/8 countries produced findings that were proportionally consistent with Ainsworth & Bell (70).
• Japan & Israel revealed a higher incidence of resistant than avoidant children.
• Chinese findings revealed the lowest rate of secure attachments (50%) with the remaining children falling into the other categories equally.
• It was concluded that the modest cross-cultural differences reflect the effects of mass media, which portrays similar notions of parenting.

Evaluation of Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg

Comparison is aided by the standardised methodology. The use of the strange situation as a procedure means that a comparison can be made across cultures, and the reliability is therefore high

The study was not globally representative -Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg recognised that data from less Western-oriented cultures were required to establish a more global perspective attachment classifications, pointing out that Africa, South America, and Eastern European socialist countries were not represented.

Overall findings are misleading - As a disproportionately high number of the studies reviewed were conducted in the USA (18/32), the overall findings would have been distorted by these. This means that the apparent consistency between cultures might not genuinely reflect how much attachment types vary between cultures.

Applying Strange Situation procedures and behavioural categories is ethnocentric – Cross-cultural research using the Strange Situation judges and categorises infant behaviour according to behavioural categories that were developed following observations of middle-class American infants. This means that when researchers interpret non-American infant behaviour, it is being judged against an American standard. Eg. an infant exploring the playroom by themselves would be classed as avoidant based on American standards but is valued as reflecting independence in Germany

Takahashi (1990)

Takahashi (1990) replicated the Strange Situation with 60 middle class Japanese infants & mothers using the same standardised procedure and behavioural categories. Takahashi’s observation revealed distinct cultural differences in how the infants responded to the 8 stages of the procedure. The findings were as follows:

0% insecure-avoidant. Infants became severely distressed in the “infant alone step”; this situation was quite unnatural and broke cultural norms for the infants

32% insecure-resistant

90% of infant-alone steps had to be stopped due to excessive infant anxiety.

Evaluation of Takahashi

A weakness of the research is that it could be seen as unethical – It could be argued that Takahashi’s research was unethical as the harm that the procedure caused exceeded what infants would be exposed to in their day-to-day lives meaning that it exceeded undue risk. As Japanese infants are rarely separated from their primary caregivers, the infant-alone step induced stress that they would not normally encounter and so the level of harm can be considered unjustifiable. Despite this being the case, the researchers did stop infant-alone steps prematurely in an attempt to protect infants from further harm.

• Types of attachment
• Disruption of attachment
• Cultural Variations in Attachment
• Explanations of Attachment: Learning Theory
• Failure to form attachment

You might also like

Caregiver-infant interactions in humans: reciprocity and interactional synchrony, bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation.

Quizzes & Activities

An Eggcellent Lesson by Shania Nurein

6th April 2017

Example Answer for Question 12 Paper 1: AS Psychology, June 2017 (AQA)

Exam Support

Example Answer for Question 18 Paper 1: AS Psychology, June 2017 (AQA)

Ethical guidelines in psychology - classroom posters or student handout set.

Poster / Student Handout

Attachment: Animal Studies of Attachment | AQA A-Level Psychology

Attachment: explanations for attachment (aqa psychology), our subjects.

• › Criminology
• › Economics
• › Geography
• › Health & Social Care
• › Psychology
• › Sociology
• › Teaching & learning resources
• › Student revision workshops
• › Online student courses
• › CPD for teachers
• › Livestreams
• › Teaching jobs

Boston House, 214 High Street, Boston Spa, West Yorkshire, LS23 6AD Tel: 01937 848885

• › Contact us
• › Terms of use
• › Privacy & cookies

© 2002-2024 Tutor2u Limited. Company Reg no: 04489574. VAT reg no 816865400.

Cultural Variation Across International Organizations Report

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Executive Summary

Introduction, definition of culture, national culture frameworks, international mergers and acquisitions, integration approaches/ mechanisms, justification of the integration mechanisms, conclusion and recommendations, works cited.

Culture refers to the expectations, experiences, values, beliefs, and norms that guide the actions of members of an organization or a nation. Culture determines organizational performance by influencing employees’ behavior. International mergers and acquisitions often fail because of cultural differences.

Specifically, cultural differences hinder effective communication, control of employees, and developing shared objectives after a merger or acquisition. Thus, companies usually focus on cultural integration through cross-cultural communication and conducting cultural due diligence.

Culture is an important element of every organization because it determines the way employees think, communicate, work, and make decisions. International companies face difficulties in establishing a unified organizational culture since their employees are from different cultural backgrounds.

This report will discuss the significance of culture in the context of international mergers and acquisitions. It will discuss various national culture frameworks and the approaches used by companies to integrate their employees after a merger or acquisition. The methodology of the report will be based on a critical analysis of existing literature on organizational and national culture.

Culture refers to the “collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another” (Cameron and Quinn 13). In this context, the category may refer to organizations, nations, or ethnicities. This definition implies that members of a particular culture have a uniform and predictable pattern of behavior.

Culture also refers to the complex whole that encompasses knowledge, beliefs, law, and capabilities that people acquire through their membership in the society. This definition implies that culture is not innate (Cameron and Quinn, 15). Thus, it can be acquired through learning.

In the context of an organization, culture can be defined as the system of values, beliefs, art, and behaviors that sustain order, continuity, and commitment. According to this definition, culture can be perceived as the glue that holds the members of the organization together (Schein 23).

Hofstede’s Cultural Framework

According to Hofstede’s framework, national cultures have four main dimensions. These include power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism versus collectivism, and masculinity versus femininity.

Power distance indicates the “extent to which members of a society can accept the unequal distribution of power” (Cameron and Quinn 71). The level of power distance in a country or an organization depends on the members’ power values (Schein 53).

In most Asian countries such as China and Singapore, where power distance is high, employees and citizens accept and expect unequal sharing of power. By contrast, most western countries, such as the US and the UK, have low power distance. Thus, employees expect the equitable distribution of power in their organizations.

Uncertainty avoidance refers to the degree to which people from a given culture can put up with vague or unclear circumstances. A society with a high uncertainty avoidance index often uses laws, rules, and regulations to minimize ambiguity (Cameron and Quinn 72). By contrast, a country with low uncertainty avoidance index such as Jamaica is less concerned about ambiguity.

Masculinity indicates the extent to which masculine values such as wealth acquisition are preferred to feminine values such as building relationships. People from masculine societies value assertive and aggressive traits, whereas those from feminine cultures value characteristics such as caring and building relationships.

Individualism versus collectivism illustrates the strength of social ties within a country. In countries such as the US where individualism is high, individual rights and needs are considered to be more important than those of the society (Schein 66). By contrast, in Indonesia, where collectivism is high group cohesion is very strong since people focus on collective rather than individual success.

Trompenaars’ and Turner’s Cultural Framework

According to Trompenaars’ and Turner’s framework, culture has seven dimensions. These include universalism versus particularism, individualism versus collectivism, achievement versus ascription, neutral versus affective, specific versus diffuse, internal versus external, and time orientation.

People from universalistic societies such as Germany believe that rules, laws, and regulations apply to everyone and must be used to distinguish between right and wrong (Cameron and Quinn 86). By contrast, members of pluralistic societies such as Russia value personal relationships and friendships rather than formal rules and laws.

In individualistic cultures, the interest of the individual is more important than that of the group. However, collectivist societies give preference to group objectives rather than individual interests. In achievement-oriented cultures, people earn their status based on their accomplishments (Schein 78). By contrast, in ascription-oriented cultures, status is derived from social factors such as age, gender, position, and wealth.

A neutral society, such as Japan, values controls over one’s feelings and emotions. However, people from affective societies such as Mexico prefer the verbal display of their thoughts to release tensions. In a highly specific society such as the US, people clearly separate their personal and work life. By contrast, members of diffuse-oriented societies such as China integrate their work with personal activities.

Members of an internal-oriented culture believe that they can always control their environments, whereas members of outer-oriented cultures prefer to live in harmony with nature rather than trying to control it (Schein 91). People from sequential societies believe in doing one thing at a time. By contrast, people from synchronic societies believe that time is flexible. Thus, several activities can be undertaken simultaneously without following schedules.

Hall’s Framework

According to Hall’s framework, national culture is closely related to communication style (Cameron and Quinn 109). National cultures can be classified as either high context or low context.

A high context culture uses an implicit communication style. This involves searching for implied meaning rather than the literal meaning of what is said (Cameron and Quinn 110). Moreover, members of high context societies tend to prefer non-verbal to verbal communication. They value collective initiative and making group decisions.

In low context cultures such as the US, people prefer explicit messages to avoid confusion. People prefer verbal to non-verbal communication. Moreover, they tend to separate their work from personal relationships. Low context cultures value individual rather than group initiatives and decisions.

The Rationale

An international merger is a market entry strategy in which businesses from different countries or regions collaborate by consolidating their assets and operations (Garbade 48). An international acquisition, on the other hand, is a market entry strategy where a business purchases a company that operates in a foreign country.

Companies expand through international mergers and acquisitions due to the following reasons. First, international mergers and acquisitions enable companies to access growth opportunities. They enable companies to grow through access to established production facilities, brands, technology, and employees.

Second, international mergers and acquisitions enable companies to achieve financial synergies. These include cost reduction, growth in revenue, and improved corporate governance (Garbade 54). Third, companies use international mergers and acquisitions as a mechanism for achieving diversification. Companies can achieve horizontal integration by merging with or acquiring their rivals to expand their market shares.

Cultural Aspects

Although international mergers and acquisitions provide great growth opportunities, the cultural risks that are associated with them are immense. First, international mergers and acquisitions often face serious communication challenges (Garbade, 62).

This problem arises from the fact that companies from different countries are likely to have employees that use different communication styles. For instance, a company from the US, where people use a direct communication style is likely to face communication challenges in China, where indirect and non-verbal communication is commonplace.

Second, management and control of employees are usually difficult in international mergers and acquisitions. Companies from high power distance countries are likely to use hierarchical organizational structures and a top-down decision-making process.

By contrast, companies from low power distance countries are likely to use flat organizational structures that promote seamless interactions between employees and the management (Garbade 67). Thus, an acquisition or a merger that combines companies with different perspectives on power is likely to face difficulties in identifying the right organizational structure to use.

Finally, maintaining consistent organizational values and objectives is often difficult after an international merger or acquisition. People from different cultures usually have different value systems that influence their choice of business objectives.

Employees from individualistic societies are likely to focus on pursuing their personal interests rather than those of the company. By contrast, employees from collectivist cultures are likely to sacrifice their personal interests for the sake of the company. These differences reduce managers’ ability to set shared corporate objectives after a merger of acquisition.

Cultural integration is a “process characterized by structural assimilation of two cultures that preserves the cultures and identifies of the acquired and acquirer or the two companies that have merged” (Cameron and Quinn 113). Integration can be achieved through the following mechanisms.

First, integration can be achieved by conducting adequate cultural due diligence before the merger or acquisition. This involves determining the extent to which the cultures of the companies are compatible. This enables companies to determine whether they will be able to establish a unified organizational culture after their merger.

Second, companies use cross-cultural communication to integrate their employees after the merger or acquisition. One of the factors that often cause the failure of mergers and acquisitions is that employees from different companies often develop negative stereotypes, prejudices, and attitudes towards each other (Messner 76-100). Thus, companies normally use cross-cultural communication to enhance harmony among their employees.

This involves promoting two-way communication between the employees and the management of the companies that are involved in the merger or acquisition. The two-way communication enables the management and employees to articulate their concerns, thereby improving the success of the merger.

Third, integration can be achieved through effective connection structures. In this context, connection refers to “the structural and relational social ties and networks between the organizations involved in international acquisition or merger” (Garbade 117). An effective connection structure is characterized by official communication and reporting systems that enable members of the merged companies to interact in harmony.

First, conducting cultural due diligence is justified by the fact that some cultural values, beliefs, and norms are difficult to change. This means that cultural integration cannot be achieved if the organizations that intend to merge their operations are not willing to change their values and norms (Messner 76-100). In this regard, cultural due diligence will enable the companies to identify the aspects of their cultures that are likely to cause failure in order to take timely remedial actions.

Second, the use of cross-cultural communication is based on the fact that language barriers and the use of different communication styles can lead to misunderstandings after the acquisition or merger (Messner 76-100). Misunderstandings can lead to hostilities among employees, which eventually cause failure. Thus, engaging employees from the two companies in conversations using the right language and communication style is required to enhance harmony.

Third, an effective connection structure has to be established because employees from different countries are likely to have different perceptions concerning power. An effective connection structure helps in distributing power appropriately, thereby averting the tensions or power struggles that might arise after the acquisition.

Culture is an important determinant of the success of international acquisitions and mergers because it influences the relationships among employees and their ability to work effectively. Cultural differences usually lead to failure of international mergers and acquisitions by limiting managers’ abilities to communicate and to control employees effectively. Companies can consider the following recommendations to improve the success of their mergers or acquisitions.

First, companies should only merge with or acquire foreign firms that can adapt their cultures. This will facilitate seamless cultural integration after the merger or acquisition. Second, companies should acknowledge and appreciate the cultures of their foreign partners through joint development of shared values, objectives, and vision after the acquisition or merger. Finally, staff development and training programs should be used to sensitize employees on the importance of tolerating foreign cultures.

Cameron, Samwel, and R. Quinn. Diganosing and Changing Organizational Culture, London: Palgrave, 2011. Print.

Garbade, Michael. International Mergers and Acquisitions, New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Print.

Messner, Wolfgang. “Effect of Organizational Culture on Employee Commitment in the Indian IT Services Sourcing Industry.” Journal of Indian Business Research 5.2 (2013): 76-100. Print.

Schein, Edgar. Organizational Culture and Leadership, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.

• Enterprise Resource Planning Efficiency
• Evaluation of Workplace Coaching Readiness
• Merger & Acquisition: Critical Success Factors
• Mergers and Acquisitions: Cultural Concerns
• Mergers, Acquisitions, and Downsizing
• Formalized Career Development System
• Management in the Book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
• Employee Training Activities and Methods
• Management: Employee Turnover and Retention
• Motivation Management Tools and Tactics
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2020, March 31). Cultural Variation Across International Organizations. https://ivypanda.com/essays/cultural-variation-across-international-organizations/

"Cultural Variation Across International Organizations." IvyPanda , 31 Mar. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/cultural-variation-across-international-organizations/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Cultural Variation Across International Organizations'. 31 March.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Cultural Variation Across International Organizations." March 31, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/cultural-variation-across-international-organizations/.

1. IvyPanda . "Cultural Variation Across International Organizations." March 31, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/cultural-variation-across-international-organizations/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Cultural Variation Across International Organizations." March 31, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/cultural-variation-across-international-organizations/.

• How to post
• About the assignment
• Recommendations

Weekly Essay 2

Halfway through the program and I am feeling better than ever. Kyoto has become comfortable to me and feels like home base after a nonstop weekend visiting Tokyo. It feels slower here now, like a place that’s meant for us to relax and slow down. There was a sense of relief to go back to a city that I am more familiar with. That being said, I still wish I had more time in Tokyo. I feel like I thrive in places like that because there’s a never-ending list of things to do and see and three days just didn’t feel like enough. I got a small taste of different parts of the city but didn’t really get the time I wanted with them. The week prior our focus in class was script choice which transformed the way I looked at the endless advertisements, products, and other script around me while in Tokyo. There was lots of eating, shopping, and navigating public transportation so there was a lot to take in. Being here for two weeks already, I had started to become quite comfortable with the fact that I couldn’t really read anything without a translator, but script choice made me more curious and willing to make an effort to look. First, we read about the basics on Japanese syllabary, the simplification of Kanji into Kana, and what contexts hiragana and katakana should be used in. That helped me be able to identify loan words since they’re usually written in Katakana, even though I don’t know what they mean. This formed the base to understand the larger theme of how artists, advertisers, and authors may strategically use a certain script to convey an idea or sentiment. There isn’t a set pattern of what script conveys what feeling or emotion but as a class we all seem to agree on similar vibes each one gives. Kanji shows characteristics like old and traditional sophistication, katakana conveys a more modern vibe, and hiragana evokes Japanese image. Studying examples of different uses in class prepared me to see just how often people play with script to add to their message or grab your attention, seeing the variation in billboards in places like Akihabara and Shibuya was so cool. An advertisement for burgers with “Burger is American Beef” in English accompanied by what the Japanese would think are American names for burgers was kind of hilarious. Seeing when they choose to use English to advertise “American” to either make something seem fancy or classically American is interesting. The people in Tokyo seemed to be different than here in Kyoto. The people’s style ranges from goth to Harajuku street style to high end fashion. The Japanese in Tokyo were some of the coolest people I’ve ever seen, I even saw some older individuals with excentric style. The shopping there was endless, I grabbed a pair of Onitsuka tigers, took a trip to G Six, and of course hit up two different Don Quijotes. Walking around the different areas also gave me a taste of the incredible architecture there. The building is giant and diverse and one of the coolest components was the incorporation of nature and plants into the buildings. I also got to go up to the Sky Tree and see just how massive and expansive Tokyo is from above. Overall, this past week was long but in the best way possible. Continuing to take in the information in class and see it in the world around me has been fun.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Entries RSS
• Comments RSS
• University of Oregon WordPress Hosting