Fodor

• Culture definition :

   

  ·      No single universally accepted definition

  ·      UNESCO: the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, that encompasses, not only art and literature, but lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions, and beliefs.

  ·      Fodor: the characteristic practices, institutions, and norms.

   
• Intercultural differences:

   

  ·      How societies differ on the various dimensions of the definition of culture used

  ·      The study of intercultural differences has really only developed in the last 50 years

  ·      It was first studied by management scholars to help managers deal with new cultural situations.
• Strodtbeck and Kluckhohn identified six fundamental universal dilemmas:
• 1. Does a culture live in harmony with nature and environment or does it want to dominate it?
• 2. Is the culture focused on the past, present or future?
• 3. Is the culture task-oriented (doing) or relationship-oriented (being)?
• Task-oriented culture emphasizes efficiency and accomplishment
• Relationship-oriented culture prioritizes interpersonal connections and harmony
• 4. Is the culture more individual or collectivistic oriented?
• Individual-oriented culture focuses on individual goals, autonomy, and independence
• Collectivistic-oriented culture focuses on collective goals, interdependence, and group harmony
• 5. Is the culture more private or public with regard to space management?
• 6. Are people considered good or bad by definition?
• Hofstede 1980:

   

  ·      A Dutch researcher (1928-2020) working for the multinational IT corporation IBM: 1980, Culture’s consequences,

  ·      His model incorporates 6 dimensions:

  ·      1 Power distance,

  ·      2 Individualism,

  ·      3 Uncertainty avoidance,

  ·      4 Masculinity,

  ·      5 Long Term Orientation (think about the consequences in 5 years or in 3 months (short- or long-term orientation)),

  ·      6 Indulgence vs restraint.

   
• Hofstede’s dimensions:

   

  ·      Power: UK and USA are medium-low

  ·      Individualism: USA is high, UK medium high

  ·      Uncertainty avoidance: USA is low, UK medium low

  ·      Masculinity: UK and USA are medium-low

  ·      Long-term orientation: USA and UK are low

  ·      Restraint: USA and UK are low
• Richard Lewis 1996:

   

  ·      When Cultures Collide (1996)

  ·      Using 15 dimensions

  -      Talking vs. Listening

  -      Single vs. Multitasking

  -      Detail of planning

  -      Level of directness

  -      Display of feeling

  -      Mode of confrontation
• -      Loss of face

  -      Interruption

  -      Job vs. people oriented

  -      Facts vs. feelings

  -      Truth vs. Diplomacy

  -      Patience

  -      Body langage

  -      Who to go to

  -      Mixing of social and professional lives

  ·      Collating the answers, he gets 3 typologies: Linear-active, Multi-active and Reactive.

   
• Inglehart and Welzel 1997 world values survey:

   

  ·      Two dimensions

  ·      1 traditional vs secular-rational

  ·      2 survival vs self-expression

  ·      Gives a world cultural map with 8 different clusters.
• Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner 1998:

   

  ·      1998: Riding The Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business

  ·      1. Universalism versus particularism.

  ·      2. Individualism versus communitarianism.

  ·      3. Specific versus diffuse (professional/personal separation).

  ·      4. Neutral versus emotional.

  ·      5. Achievement (for what you do) versus ascription (people value for who you are, power, title, position).

  ·      6. Sequential time versus synchronous time.

  ·      7. Internal direction versus outer direction

   
• The globe project 2004 :

   

  ·      2004: Culture, Leadership, and Organizations; The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies

   
• Hofstede's 9 dimensions of cultural differences are:

  • Performance Orientation
  • Uncertainty Avoidance
  • In-Group Collectivism
  • Power Distance
  • Gender Egalitarianism
  • Humane Orientation (fair, friendly, kind to others)
  • Institutional Collectivism (collective distribution of resources and collective action)
  • Future Orientation
  • Assertiveness
• ·      How present should the state be in the economy?

  -      Not much = USA

  ·      In the USA the federal government is often viewed more as an economic problem than a solution

  ·      But: it finances fundamental research!

  -      DARPA is behind many American entrepreneurial success stories.
• -      More = UK

  ·      And remember that health care is nationalized in the UK : NHS

  -      National Health Service
• ·      Taxation

  -      Should it be direct or indirect?

  ·      No VAT in the USA: Some states apply sales taxes.

  -      Sources are corporate and personal income tax.

  -      USA therefore has high corporate tax rate!!!!!

  ·      VAT in the UK and major source of financing

  ·      France is quite similar to the UK

  ·      VAT: value added tax

   
• Finance

   

  ·      Money that is used to fund projects for the future

  ·      Take money from savers and provide it to agents that have economic projects

  ·      Distinguish finance and speculation….

   

   

   
• -       Very important in the USA and UK

  -       New York and London are global financial centers

  -       Their stock market indices (S&P and FTSE) are the ones watched

  -       They have the two world financial newspapers

  -      Financial Times   UK

  -      Wall Street Journal  USA

  -       Portion of wealth in shares or stock market funds

  -      High in the USA

  -      Retirement by capitalization (invest in retirement funds)

  -       Major difference with France : par répartition= pay-as-yo-go

  -      Retirement funds are major American investors

  -       Have huge power
• ·      The USA has the greatest entrepreneurial spirit

  -      See Silicon Valley

  -      Financial infrastructure to escort startups

  ·      Venture capital

  -      The «create your own business » mindset

  -      But most startups fail...
• SAM WALTON

   

  l  Why ?

  -      Founder of Walmart

  -      world’s largest retailer

  and world’s largest corporation by sales !!!!

  -      Sales 2022 : $573b

  -      Profit 2022 : $14b (about 2 % profit margin)

  -      2.1 million employees (includes part-time)

  -      11K stores

   
• BEGINNINGS

   

  l  Born in 1919 in Oklahoma

  l  Tough childhood during the Depression

  l  BA in Economics from the University of Missouri : interest in retail

  l  18 months working for the big retailer JC Penney

  l  1945-1962 : grew to own 16 variety  stores in the southern Midwest
• WALMART

   

  l  First Walmart in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas

  l  Distinctive features

  -      Everything in one very big store

  l  Average 20K square meters

  l  =200*100

  -      Located outside of small cities

  -      Access by car : parking lots

  -      Low prices thanks to

  l  Low costs, thanks to

  -      Computerized inventory control

  -      Tough negotiation with suppliers
• ARKANSAS

   

  l  Headquarters of the world’s largest corporation are in Bentonville, Arkansas

  l  A far cry from Silicon Valley and California

   
• CARREFOUR

   

  l  Why ?

  l  France’s biggest retailer

  l  Sales 2022 : $91b

  l  Profit 2022 : $1.4b (margin=1.2%)

  l  Employees : 320K

  l  Stores: 12K
• l  Marcel Fournier (1926-1985)

  l  Takes over the family clothing store in Annecy

  l  1960 : opens the first Carrefour in Annecy ( 850m2)

  -      The name combines a financier named  Carret and Fournier

  l  1963 : first store outside Paris

  l  2009 : creation of Carrefour City inside cities

  l  2016 : 1500 hypermarkets in the world

  -      About 50 % of Carrefour’s sales are outside France !!!

  Unlike its French competitors 
• 1215: Magna Carta - limitation of royal authority in favor of the barons (not the people)
• 1295: Model Parliament - included non-aristocrats and later formalized into the House of Commons
• 1648: Levellers - anti-royalist party during civil wars that created a progressive agreement of the people
• Key principles of the UK's liberal government:

  • Freedom of religion
  • Frequent convening of new parliaments
  • Equality for all under the law
• 1649: Execution of King Charles I by the parliamentarians under Cromwell
• Non-monarchial government in the UK until 1660
• 1679: Habeas corpus introduced to:

  • Guarantee fair trials
  • Prevent unlawful detention
  • Prevent abuse of power like Louis XIV's lettre de cachet