Running Head: Culture, Values, and Ethics Between the U.S. and Brazil 1
Culture, Values, and Ethics Between the U.S. and Brazil
Cezar de Paula
Lori Lee
Shelby McCoy
ABSTRACT
This research paper examines the informal institutions between two countries, the United States and Brazil. These informal institutions consist of the culture, values, and ethics of a country, and the combination of these principles are unique to each individual country. This paper investigates the differences in the informal institutions between the United States, a highly developed country, and Brazil, one of the leading countries among the emerging economies. By primarily using Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory, we were able to examine that although there are some great cultural differences, Brazil is starting to resemble the United States on a few of these aspects. In addition, the cultural dimensions of the two countries influence their ethics and values, so the Hofstede model is extremely valuable to this paper.
INTRODUCTION
The Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Theory has been a dominant measure of culture between countries for the past couple decades (Donthu, N., Lenartowicz, T., Yoo, B., 2011). The model covers major conceptualizations of culture, and it provides useful information for cross-culture studies. It utilizes six dimensions to differentiate among cultures, and these dimensions include individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, indulgence, and pragmatism.
When examining the differences between the unique cultures of the United States and Brazil, we will focus on how these differences impact the values and ethics of these countries as well. Although the United States and Brazil are two very culturally diverse countries, they share many similarities. We will determine whether these similarities are a factor of the increasing globalization of Brazil.
CULTURE
Dimension / U.S. / Brazil / DifferencePower Distance / 40 / 69 / (29)
Uncertainty Avoidance / 46 / 76 / (30)
Individualism / 91 / 38 / 53
Masculinity / 62 / 49 / 13
Pragmatism / 26 / 44 / (18)
Indulgence / 68 / 59 / 9
Individualism
Individualism refers to whether a society will value the individual or the whole. Brazil has a low score of 38, meaning that people will be very dependent on each other. People living in Brazil tend to view themselves as a collectivist community, where people put the demands and goals of the group before those of the individual members (Beekum, R., Stedham, Y., Yamamura, H., 2003). In contrast, the United States scores at the other end of the spectrum at 91. The United States tends to have an individualistic view in their culture, which promotes uniqueness, entrepreneurship, and independence (Forsyth, D., McDaniel, M., O’Boyle, E., 2008).
Pearson and Stephan suggest that individualistic cultures are rather confrontational while handling conflict situations. On the other hand, individuals in collectivistic cultures commonly choose more passive strategies. Thus, collectivistic cultures tend to avoid conflicts (1998, p. 68). When comparing Brazilians and the Americans, the latter tend to be more aggressive when handling interpersonal conflicts than the former. Communicating directly is the norm in both American society and corporate culture (Pearson, 1998, p. 79). Assertive competitiveness between friends is commonly accepted in the United States; oppositely, in higher collective cultures, like Brazil, this type of competitiveness is embraced among peers (Pearson, 1998, p. 67). These cultural norms do not suggest that Brazilians avoid confrontations all together or that they lack the capacity to be competitive, but Brazilians are more selective about with whom they compete with and enter into conflicts with. Brazilians are more likely to be engaging in conflicts when confronting strangers, rather than members of the same group (Pearson, Stephan, 1998, p79). That means, in a corporate environment, Brazilians might avoid confrontation with members of the same company even if they are expatriates living in Brazil, as far as they are accepted as part of their group. In contrast with the informal culture of jeitinho that can be settled with strangers, personal loyalty relationships are important for Brazilians and influence their business culture (S. Biggeman, K.-S. Fam, 2011, p6). The reason why Brazilians avoid those conflicts in between peers is because they put friendship above the conflict. So, the conflict avoidance should not be perceived as lack of aggressiveness, but only as a demonstration of respect for relationships. Due to collectivism, Brazilians see aggressive competitiveness in a friendship as demining loyalty for both parts. Americans tend to use a more aggressive business strategy. While “Brazilians try to avoid direct confrontation and emphasize relationships” (Virginia Person, Walter G. Stephan, 1998, p69).
Masculinity
Brazil’s historical legacy is one of male driven paternalism due to its colonization by the Portuguese. While progress has witnessed more roles for women in society, including a female president, Brazil’s masculine, paternal legacy still permeates throughout society, including its managerial culture. During the early colonization period, the Portuguese kingdom was concerned with protecting Brazil from neighboring Spanish conquistadors that claiming bordering territories throughout South America. To ensure sovereign control and protection of its colony, the Portuguese Crown assigned large swaths of land to male, Portuguese elites to manage and control. This meant that a handful of males held the most power in the Brazil and ultimately influenced the culture in many intrinsic ways which are still present throughout society. The colonial fazendas structure shaped the Brazilian family hierarchy. The fazendeiro (land owner) had had power over his family, workers, and slaves. Due to the size of their property, that meant power over an entire city or state. So, the paternalistic families structures persisted until today and directly influenced Brazilian managerial culture (Alexandre Ardichvili, Douglas Jondle, Brenda Kowske, Edgar Cornachione, Jessica Li, Thomas Thakadipuram, 2011, p417).
The Portuguese Crown’s portioning of Brazil is noteworthy because it suggests that masculine influence, in particular, did not spread directly from Portuguese culture but was instead the advent of circumstances necessary to secure land under the mercantilist system. Despite changing political and economic systems throughout Brazil during the 19th and 20th century, this legacy still persists. According to the Hofstede Center, masculinity in Portuguese culture is lower than it was in Brazil currently. Comparatively, the United States has a higher level of masculinity despite of the changes that occurred on the labor force after WWII.
Uncertainty Avoidance
Uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which the people in a country will handle dealing with the unknown. Brazil’s score of a 76 shows that they will put in place strong and elaborate regulations to ensure safety. Creating this safety will in return ensure their ability to relax and enjoy life. The United States has a much lower score at 46, implying that many people living in the country have more of a short term orientation. An example of this in the United States would be the lack of saving money for retirement. Many Americans tend to spend all of their paychecks on luxury items without a concern for the future, and this attitude reflects the low uncertainty avoidance score of the United States.
Power Distance
Power distance is the extent to which a country’s elite differs in power compared to those in poverty. The past history of Brazil has impacted the current power distance dimension. After the colonial characterized by patriarchal landowners, the period and the odd institution of the Temporary Brazilian monarchy that preceded the French Revolution, Brazil had a short lived Republic created by the Prince of Portugal as its president (not elected). Later the institution of a Military dictatorship carried on a legacy of hierarchical power that only served to feed the power distance in between the poor and the reminiscent descendants of the royal family and the landowners. Another important fact is the massive numbers of slaves that Portugal traded to Brazil. The African American slave population was the largest in the world during colonial times. That slave population and the interactions with the indigenous Brazilian tribes created the basis of a rich ethnic and cultural diversity we see in the modern Brazil. However, as those populations were extremely poor and not engaged by the government until very late in history, a sudden late industrial revolution created massive social disparities. Therefore, those historic facts influenced the high power distances in Brazil.
Comparing the US society to Brazil, American power distance is half of the Brazilian reality. This will create inequality amongst the two groups. Brazil’s score of a 69 entails that there is a high level of distinction between the two levels of wealth. Due to the high level of power distance, respect has become a very important value in a society like Brazil. Those seen as inferior will feel the need to address the elite in specific manners to respect their roles in society. The high power distance and great variety of formal titles in Brazil make it complex to just address somebody in a business letter, especially within government and the legal industry. Given the example of Brazilians’ strong value of family, the children are expected to care for the parents and elderly of their family. However in the US it is common for the elderly to live in independent communities following retirement. The United States scored a 40 in the power distance dimension, entailing high levels of social mobility and low power distance in American culture. In corporate America, contrary to Brazil, an employee can commonly call his or her boss by their first name, resulting in the individualistic and equality values of America today.
Pragmatism
In this dimension it is normative for a country to be satisfied with the fact that not all in life can be explained. This judges how well a country correlates to the fact that not all can or will be explained. It is a philosophical idea that stresses determining meaning, truth, and values in everyday life. A country with a high score has a desire to explain everything that happens, whereas a low score indicates that it is impossible to fully explain the complexities of life. Brazil has a score of 44, while the United States scored much lower at 26. This is whether a culture needs to find explanations for the unknown. Similar to uncertainty avoidance, it is easy to understand that a country with a higher score will try to find reason for the unfamiliar and try to create ways to understand these events.
Indulgence
Indulgence, according to Hoftede’s website, is the “extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses”. Brazil and the United States are both considered relatively indulgent cultures, with respective scores of 59 and 68. This may be seen as contradictory when compared to the masculinity scores of the Hofstede model, where the United States scored high. However, the culture of the United States has a strong tie to the idea of working hard to “play hard”, creating a “binge” relationship between work and leisure. The Brazilian culture has a belief in daily leisure or relaxation, where everything is done in moderation. The similar scores in indulgence have opposite origins as well. The United States historically has been a more work-driven culture that , in more recent times, the US has started to work less and enjoy “leisure time” more often. Where Brazil has more recently in their history gone from a more leisurely ocused society into a business and urban driven society. Suggesting that both countries are now “meeting in the middle”. (Tansey,Hyman,Zinkhan,1990, pg. 33)
Religion
Both Brazil and the United States citizens enjoy the rights of freedom of faith. For that matter, nobody is also forced to follow a certain religion belief if any at all. Even knowing that many citizens in both countries do not recognize religion as part of their culture, officially the United States and Brazil are mainly populated by followers of Christianity. Brazil is considered the biggest catholic country in the world. However, its protestant population that is growing faster pace if compared to the Catholic Church. Majority of the American population is Protestant. However, America has a relative heterogeneous Christian population (Giles Hilary, Kai Wai Hui, 2009, p459). The authors of the mentioned study argue about the influence of religion on American corporate culture. The argument supports that Protestants generally avoid risk. Although, it is also true that Brazilians are more likely to avoid uncertainty if compared to Americans. That fact is supported by the lower levels of uncertainty avoidance in the American culture if compared with Brazil.
Insular Versus Global Orientation
America is known as a leader on global trading a major force behind the most current globalization of markets. The United States has not only broad experience trading with markets all over the world, but also has great presence in other markets with its Multinational Enterprises. Brazilian companies suffer from a lack of international orientation and global vision due to its continental insulation from its neighbors by extreme natural obstacles, what also isolated Brazil from global competition for decades (Angela da Rocha, Renato Cotta de Mello, Henrique Pacheco and Isabel de Abreu Farias, 2012,p246).
VALUES
Values are any idea or feelings that contain high worth to a specific person or people. Many factors go into the make of a person’s core values. These values will have an indirect but strong connection to an individual’s behavior and actions in a trickledown effect. Two of the Schwartz Value Survey’s ten motivational types for individuals show the over-all values types when comparing the United States and Brazil. Conformity is all about the survival and efficiency of the group, describing the Brazilian value structure. Schwartz’s self direction describes American value sets, focusing on the becoming masters of a trade and independence. ( Doran, Littrell,2013, pg265-266) Homer and Kahle’s cognitive hierarchy model, states that values will influence behaviors through attitudes.(Milfont, Duckitt, Wagner, 2010 pg2791) Three core values that influence employee attitudes and behaviors are altruism, empathy, self-effacement.(Florea,Cheung,Herndon, 2013, pg 394)
Altruism is when a person is selfless and shows more concern for someone or something else. In the workplace this can be defined as acting solely for the company and not one’s own personal gain. This is very important when measuring loyalty of an employee.The Brazilian focus on the group infers that as long as an employee feels close to their “group” in the workplace, the immediate reactions and decisions of an individual will focus on the betterment of that group. In one study, teamwork along with professionalism, were considered the most important values for Brazilian employees. (Wakamatsu, Arellano, de Castro Ribas Junior, 2013) However, the United States’ emphasis on the individual and equality could mean the opposite, where the individual will be in a constant state of needing to feel equal to others and constantly working to better oneself instead of having complete focus on furthering their company.
Empathy is the ability to recognize and understand the feelings of others. This s important in the business world because of the need for intrapersonal and interpersonal skills in all employees. In order to communicate properly, an individual must be able to read signs and verbal expressions to respond correctly. Empathy is a very important trait in all business but global business especially. Cultural differences and language barriers could create the absolute necessity for an individual to understand emotional, verbal, and nonverbal cues. Between Brazil and the United States, the need for an individual from the US to understand the importance of the relationship between an employee and a manager is critical in a successful working environment.
Self-effacement or humility is for one to be humble and to know and understand one’s worth. The American culture of being equal and unique tends to create more individuals in the workplace who feel the need to voice their opinion. However, if there is a visiting employee form the United States to Brazil, said employee will need to understand the importance of knowing when and when not to speak. Consequently, the adverse effect would happen to someone from Brazil working in the United States. The American value on being number one along with the values of individualism could create a seemingly hostile environment for the Brazilian, whose culture creates a value on bettering the group and respecting those in positions above yours. Therefore, the American employees would over-shadow the Brazilian employees.
ETHICS
Ethics can be defined as the principles, standards, and norms of conduct that govern individual and firm behavior. The ethics of a society can vary greatly depending upon geographic location. What may be considered ethical in one country may be unethical in another. The United States and Brazil both have differing views on the ethical standards of business, but their cultures play a large part into what they view as ethical.