What then, is the concept of culture? George Peter Murdock in the article, The science of Human Learning, Society, Culture and Personality' makes some profound observations. He emphasizes that except in the case of man, what the individual' of a species learns dies with it. There is no consolidation and transmission of behaviour excepting in the broad context of genetic biological evolution. But in man, however, he says, most of the behaviour acquired by any individual, in whatever part of the world or period of history he may live, has been previously learned and found adaptive by other and older members of his own society, and he in turn transmits this behaviour, together with any adaptive by other and older members of his own society, and he in turn transmits this behaviour, together with any adaptive modifications acquired through his life experience, to other younger members of his social group.
The interaction of learning within a society, thus produces in every human group a body of socially transmitted behaviour, which appears super-individual, because it is shared, because it is perpetrated beyond the individual lifespan, and because in quantity and quality it so vastly exceeds the capacity of any single person to achieve by his own efforts. The term culture' is applied to such systems of acquired and transmitted behaviour. Since cultures change with the varying and cumulative experience of individuals in social groups, it is possible to say of man, as of no other species, with the hereditary capacity to learn, that societies as well as individuals learn. Social learning is synonymous with cultural evolution.
To the question, why do men organisse themselves into societies? Plato answers, To give the members of society (all the members)', the best chance of realizing their best selves.' Thus, culture is the process of social lerning and a society's adaptation to its changing environment- because human society is an open system. Human society becomes more social in order that individuals may become more individual. We looked at assumption of managers in different countries, which guide their thinking and actions in management. Assumptions arise from values that organization members carry. Values are basic convictions that people have regarding what is right and wrong. Good and bad, important and unimportant.
These values are learned from the culture in which the individual is reared and they direct the person's behaviour. Values represent the deepest level of a culture. They are broad feelings, often unconscious and not discussable, about what is beautiful or ugly, rational or irrational, natural or paradoxical, decent or indecent. These feelings are present in a majority of the members of a culture. National cultures are constantly evolving. Factors that influence the evolving pattern are prevailing political and economic systems, the social structure of society, dominant religion, language, aesthetics and education. Religion may be defined as a system of shared beliefs and rituals that are concerned with the realm of the sacred. Most ethical systems which guide and shape human behaviour are the product of religion.
The relation between religion, ethics and society is subtle, complex and profound. While religion have different values (which are the bedrock of culture), yet countries with the same religion have different cultures, for example, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Hence, religion is a weak determinant of culture. What is important for management is how religion shapes the attitude of a society towards work and entrepreneurship. In this regard, the Bhagavad Gita, a holy book of the Hindus propounds a unique philosophy towards selfless work, which suggests a way of life. Different religions send different messages, which create values and moral standards in a given society.
Personal values have been the focus of numerous intercultural studies. The findings, in general, show that there are both differences and similarities in the work values and managerial values of different cultural groups. George W. England (1978) gave a personal value, questionnaire to over 2,000 managers in five countries: Australia, India, Japan, South Korea and the US. The questionnaire consisted of 66 concepts regarding business goals, personal goals, ideas associated with people and groups and ideas on general topics. The results showed some significant differences between the managers in each group. The US managers placed high value on tactful acquisition of influence and regard for others. Japanese managers placed high value on difference to superiors, on company commitment and on the cautious use of aggressiveness and control. Korean managers gave importance to recognition of others. Indian managers placed high value on the non-assertive pursuit of objectives. Australian managers placed importance on values reflecting low-keyed approach to management and a high concern for others. In short value system across national boundaries are often different.
Value difference and similarities across cultures Personal Values have been the focus of numerous intercultural studies. The findings in general, show that there are both differences and similarities between the work values and managerial values of the different cultural groups.
Different in work values have also been found to be reflection of culture of Industrialization. England and Lee (1974) found the following:
There is a reasonably strong relationship between the level of success achieved by managers and their personal values.
It is evident that patterns are predictive of managerial success and could be used in selection and placement decisions.
Although there are country differences in the relationships between values and success, the findings brought out that personal values across five countries mentioned above are quite similar.
The pattern indicates successful managers appear to favour pragmatic, dynamic, achievement-oriented values. They regard an active role in interaction with other individuals as instrumental to the achievement of manager's organizational goals. Less successful managers have values associated with static and protected environment in which they take a relatively passive role.
