EDWARD T

Culture & values

What 3 symbols do you associate with France? With the USA?
Though the study of national characteristics or types can be dangerous, these can point to underlying shared values: find stereotypes for The French/France --Another country ---The Americans/The US. What cultural values do they each convey?
Culture? Come up with a general definition of Culture.

Video clip (Cultural diversity at the heart of Bull/Honeywell)
(video on reserve in Room 403 ). View the video and pick out 3 comments made by the French and 3 made by the Americans. Classify them in the categories listed below . With the structural framework given by Edward T.Hall , elaborate on these comments and try to explain the reasons for the French-American cultural differences.

1> Language problems
2> Feelings of superiority-inferiority
3>Education systems
4>Cartesian approach/pragmatic
5>Role of hierarchy
6>Status of women in the work place
7>Formalism in relationships
8>Attitudes at meetings
9>Leisure time and work
10>Schedules
11>Comments and criticism

CULTURE CONTEXTS Ed T &M. Hall, Understanding Cultural Differences, The Intercultural Press, Yarmouth 1987)
General tendencies exhibited by different cultures

HIGH CONTEXT CULTURE	LOW CONTEXT CULTURE
polychronic	monochronic
Mediterranean, Slavic, Central European, Latin American, African, Arab, Asian, American Indian cultures	Germanic, English speaking cultures
	Northern and Protestant cultures
affiliation cultures - relationships with people more important than schedules & projects LIKE SOCCER: spontaneous, momentary factors, moving around, strategy, theoretical- from principle to real world illustration, play offense AND defense, abstract to concrete, deductive	direct, clear, linear, verbal - clear channels of communication LIKE FOOTBALL: game plan, down the field w/pre-determined plays, specialists (offense OR defense), from concrete to abstract, inductive, "get the facts and then we’ll talk"
individuals staying in touch with a large circle of connections	working teams share information, cooperate, support
get to know people before dealing with them - relationships are for long term	who & why is not important, just GET IT DONE
soak up details indirectly (private information networks); can find detailed explanations insulting	like directly communicated detail
sense of time based on personal issues; resists scheduled time blocks	scheduled; dominated by the clock (talk of "wasting," "saving," "killing" time

from Platt, Polly "Working On French Time" France Magazine Fall 1993, p. 24.