MINI-CASE 5.2
Chapter 6 Chapter 6
Culture and styles of management
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dynamic nature see culture as ever changing and multilayered, subject to both internal and external forces. An increasing number of scholars argue that the interaction between diverse cultural groupings, particularly in the context of increasing globalisation of much human activity, has the potential to aff ect respective norms and values. As a result, intercultural theory has emerged which is focused on what happens at individual, group and international level when there is interaction between cultures.
Søderberg and Holden (2002), for example, refer to a recent dynamic approach to the way culture is conceptualised in terms of relations between people rather than in terms of stable sets of values. Th e cultural identity of people is determined by the context:
This relational approach to culture and to cultural complexity and the idea of cultural complex- ity suggest that every individual embodies a unique combination of personal, cultural and social experiences, and thus that ultimately any communication and negotiation is intercultural.
Søderberg and Holden, 2002: 112 Th e consequence of this standpoint is that making a standard cultural profi le is impos- sible because it ultimately refl ects only constructs based on ‘the practitioners’ and the researchers’ own cultural thought patterns, and the concepts and categories to which they are socialised.
Gullestrup (2003a) argues that culture is such a complex phenomenon that no single specifi c paradigm can be used to study it. He proposes instead the creation of theoretical and analytical models to act as frame models which enable diff erent paradigms to:
a) perceive and understand what the important elements of culture are, as well as the inter- relation between them. The factors involved are the culture in focus, the aim of the study and the research method used.
b) perceive and understand the complexity of cultural studies as well as the complexity of cross-cultural studies. The factors involved here are the relativity of each culture, the coin- cidence of cultures, a culture’s changeability and ethical problems related to cross-cultural studies.
Gullestrup, 2003a: 3 Th e model he proposes includes both static and dynamic elements. It consists of a horizontal cultural dimension, a vertical dimension and a dynamic cultural dimension.
At the core of the horizontal dimension are eight cultural segments which are vital when it comes to understanding a culture:
A. The way in which nature is processed – technology
B. The way in which the output is distributed – economic institutions C. The way in which individuals live together – social institutions D. The way in which someone controls others – political institutions
E. The way in which knowledge, ideas and values are disseminated among individuals and groups – language and communication
F. The way in which individuals and the unity are integrated, maintained, and developed – reproduction and socialization
G. The way in which a common identity is created and preserved – ideology
H. The way the view of the relationship between life and death is manifested – religious institutions.
Gullestrup, 2003b: 38
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Preface: the conceptualisation of culture – a static or dynamic approach
145 Th e vertical dimension focuses on the value system of a culture which defi nes its inner direction. At the base is the core culture containing the fundamental philosophy of life and the norms and values passed on from previous to future generations. Above these are the manifestations of the core culture. If carefully researched, the more visible (manifest) levels can off er what Gullestrup considers to be a sort of gateway to understanding what lies at the core of any culture, including our own. Figure 6.1 presents the model where the more accessible horizontal segments of culture (described above) are combined with the vertical culture dimension.
Gullestrup goes further, however. His model includes a third dimension, the dynamic cultural dimension . Th is accounts for the notion that the foundations of a culture can be infl uenced by mutual interaction both internally and externally. Th ose internal and exter- nal factors which subject it to change are outlined in the model below.
What Gullestrup calls change-initiating factors are those factors which may put pressure on the culture to change, but may not succeed in doing so. Th ese can be internal pressures which have come about through developments in research, technology, trade and industry or even through changes in the political/social arena. Th ey may also be exter- nal factors involving changes in nature infl uenced by humans or otherwise. Furthermore the internal changes in other cultures may also have the potential to bring about change in another culture.
Figure 6.1 The semi-static cultural model
Source: Gullestrup, 2003b: 41, adapted.
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As to whether actual change is realised depends on change - determining factors . Th ese are:
a) the degree of integration within a culture: the extent to which there is conformity of values within a given culture;
b) the degree of homogeneity within a culture: the width and depth of the total knowledge and insight shared; and
c) the power structure present within the culture.
Th is model is an attempt to combine the perspective of the participant of a culture with that of the observer of that culture. Th e core culture featured in it can only be considered as a reality for those belonging to the culture and as such not easily accessible to outsiders, i.e. observers. Combining the outsider and insider view enables a participant in a particu- lar culture to gain insight into the culture at a particular point in time, as well as into its relations to other cultures.
Figure 6.2 The general dynamics culture model
Source: Gullestrup, 2006: 153, adapted.
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