Cultural difference between Germany and Brazil in a business background

Table of content

1. Introduction

2. The historical profile of Germany and Brazil

3. Cultural comparison between Germany and Brazil
3.1. Cultural dimensions according to Edward T. Hall
3.1.1. Cultural comparison between Germany and Brazil on Hall’s model
3.1.2. Fictive Example in a business background (Hall)
3.2. Cultural dimensions according to Geert Hofstede
3.2.1. Cultural comparison between Germany and Brazil on Hofstede’s model
3.2.2. Fictive example in a business background (Hofstede)
3.3. Cultural dimensions according to Julian B. Rotter
3.3.1. Cultural comparison between Germany and Brazil based on Rotter’s model
3.3.2. Fictive example in a business background (Rotter)

4. Conclusion

References

List of figures

Figure 1: Distribution of 26 countries in relation to high-context and low-context communication. Adapted from [15]

Figure 2: Bar chart to visualize cultural differences between Germany and Brazil according to Hofstede’s 6D framework. Brazil represented in Blue and Germany represented in purple. Adopted from [17]

Figure 3: Details of the country samples adopted from [20]

List of Abbreviations

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1. Introduction

Globalization is used to describe the interdependence of the world’s economies and cultures. These global interactions did reach its peak in the 19th century through technical breakthroughs such as steamships, railroads leading to an increase in human interactions throughout borders. Globalization did encourage the aspect of comparative advantage, meaning that each country can specify on products which require the least amount of resources. Trading these resources makes the production more efficiently, lowers the prize of goods and is daily practiced. Modern global economy makes intercultural cooperation indispensable for companies. International businesses face difficulties coming from a lack of intercultural understanding [1]. Without the briefing on the cultural differences, misunderstandings and conflicts can occur easily. To keep up with the rising demand of intercultural interactions, it is mandatory to understand different cultures, values and their impact on the organizational operations within them [2]. One of the most important tasks of a manager is to do the same task all over the world, but change how they do it [3]. The strategy, structure, and actions suitable for the cultural background must change regarding the different cultural environment the manager is working at. In order to achieve organizational goals it is inevitable to adapt these aspects based on the socio-cultural environment [2]. This goal can be achieved by cross-cultural management[4]. Many studies have been obtained to answer conflicts arising from cross-cultural interactions. One aspect of addressing the roots of the cross-cultural conflicts is described by the dimensional approach by introducing multiple dimensions [5]. Rotter defines national culture according to their locus of control (LoC) and uses a one dimensional model [6]. Another approach to address cultural differences defined by Edward T. Hall does include the aspect of communication. The main focus here is on the verbal, as well as non-verbal communication and build on a three dimensional model [7]. Hofstede explained the national culture according to a six dimensional model[8]. The aim of this case study is to build a cultural guideline for the managers in a medium-sized mechanical engineering business in south Germany working in Brazil. The guideline is based on Hofstede’s, Hall’s, and Rotter’s concept to evaluate cultural differences between Germany and Brazil.

2. The historical profile ofGermany and Brazil

Germany has been historically shaped by the two world wars and the division of the country. This country has been forced to start anew several times. After WWII, Germany reached its lowest point, unable to feed its own population and dependent on the Allies. This country had to reinvent itself over time. Marked by all the hardships of the post-war period, as well as the division of Germany, this country nevertheless managed to develop strongly economically within a few decades and is now one of the world’s leading industrial nations. However, Germany's national pride has not been able to recover from the historical events of the past. Culturally, this topic is still treated very sensitively.

Brazilians’ history is embossed with the occupation from foreign countries. The first occupation of the indigenous people started by the Portuguese claiming Brazil as their land in 1500. In 1630 the Portuguese occupation was taken over by the Dutch in 1630. This Ownership of the Dutch lasted only 24 years, before the Portuguese reclaimed Brazil as their country. The occupation lasted several centuries. Brazil reached its independence from Portugal in 1822. Different dominations changed within the years, from military presidents (1889), military dictatorship (1964) to civilian rule (1985). Nevertheless, the strong Portuguese influence in the past led to many cultural overlaps between the two nations which can still be seen today.

3. Cultural comparison between Germany and Brazil

To discuss the cultural differences between Germany and Brazil, it is very important to understand how the national culture is defined. The national culture was defined by Hofstede [9] as “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another” (Hofstede 2001, p. 10). Comparing the national cultures of two countries, differences can be spotted in communication processes, language usage, verbal style, nonverbal communication, conflict resolution and organizational change [10]. Besides all these different cultural aspects, the influence of national culture can also be seen in the business background, such as in negotiations, business etiquette and decision-making process [11], as well as the take of hierarchy, age and professional status [12]. The nature of basic inter-cultural problems of societies is researched in dimensions of culture. Below, the main concepts of Geert Hofstede, Edward T. Hall and Julian B. Rotter will be described and used for the inter-cultural comparison between Germany and Brazil in the business background.

3.1. Cultural dimensions according to Edward T. Hall

In case of the co-existence between human being, there must be some basic concepts identified, all humans must follow to build a culture. Cultural aspects defined by Edward T. Hall does focus mainly on the communication problems especially the verbal and non-verbal communication [7]. Most problems in intercultural communication occurs by de- and encoding of messages. If two different cultures do collide with their cultural background this could lead to misunderstandings and misconceptions. Hall constructed a model consisting of the three dimensions context, space, and time, which will be further explained in the following text.

3.1.1. Cultural comparison between Germany and Brazil on Hall’s model

The space dimension means the space between people when interacting. If it is personal, social or public space, the range in which people are comfortable to be around another person is dependent on the culture these people are living in [13]. The preferred distance does vary across cultures. This dimension can be divided between a high territorial and low territorial culture. People living in low territorial culture tend to be comfortable even in low distance to another person and like to share their space such as their office and workplaces. While people in high territorial cultures seek to 4

mark their territories and need more space to people when interacting. Germany as a high territorial nation is quiet sensitive about their personal space, they feel most comfortable, when their interaction partner is about an arm-length from their body. Brazilian people build a low territorial culture and therefor are not shy to tough a person when talking, the space they need in personal interactions is lower than of those from a high territorial culture.

Time is another aspect of Halls model, in particular the relationship of time. Two different relations of time are explained. The monochronic and polychronic relation. A monochronic culture puts high emphasis on punctuality. A polychronic culture on the other hand emphasized the interpersonal relationship rather than the punctuality. Time is seen as non-linear, since events are occurring simultaneously, the focus is not mainly on scheduling and deadlines [14]. Germany can be seen as a monochronic culture. Punctuality is very important for Germans; in a business background it is expected to be on time for a meeting. In Brazil on the other hand, time is weighted less than for example personal relations, they see time as non-linear. Germany has a linear relation to time, tasks a done one after the other.

Context as the third dimension described by Hall. He divides this dimension between low-context and high-context cultures. A high-context culture adds to the direct message a lot of non-verbal communication aspects such as mimic and gesture to decode messages. Some characteristics of Brazil as the lowest high-context culture (Figure 1) [7] are that they decode messages with the help of contextual information. Their way of thinking is more comprehensive. Their communication does occur more indirect and informal. Low-context cultures on the other hand focus on the information itself and less in the non-verbal communication [7]. Some cultures that can be defined as low- context cultures are North America and Western Europe. Germany as one of the low-context cultures (Figure 1) is characteristic for its direct communication and logical thinking. In business situation, Germany values content level higher than relationships between partners. The personal relationship between business partner is less important than the negotiation or topic to be discussed.

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Figure 1: Distribution of 26 countries in relation to high-context and low-context communication. Adapted from [15]

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