Business culture: knowledge and norms. Components of business culture

Business culture is a special code carried by representatives of the business environment. With the help of various regulatory, organizational and, of course, communication tools, communication is built between different people (colleagues, partners, competitors). The principles of business communication are based on the established rules of corporate culture and national traditions. For example, in Japan, bowing when meeting partners is as important as shaking hands in European countries. The same Japanese do not accept any physical contact during business meetings - wide hugs, pats on the shoulder, etc.

The European and Asian culture of business communication in some issues is sometimes diametrically opposed. And all this should be taken into account in advance if you want to make a favorable impression on a particular partner. Business communication of people begins with appearance. The costume must correspond both to the place and time, since at first it is he who acts as a visiting card, indicating belonging to a particular culture. The image of a business person is created from little things - clothes, accessories, conversation, manners.

All this, put together, forms the general appearance of a businessman. Some awkward detail can betray you as an amateur, non-professional and negatively affect the result of communication. The culture of business communication is not only a special form of behavior, but also a system of signs. The latter implies non-verbal, psychological, logical, speech rules of etiquette. However, there is only one basis here - this is mutual respect and goodwill, without which it is very problematic to build communication between ordinary, non-business people. Culture of business communication: forms All of the following forms of business communication are conducted according to completely different scenarios. What is still appropriate in a conversation with colleagues and superiors may be unacceptable when communicating with potential partners:

1. Business meeting, which is a discussion of problems and tasks by a group of specialists or colleagues;
2. Business negotiations, which are the main means of decision-making in the process of communication (communication) of several interested parties, each of which has its own specific tasks and goals;
3. Business correspondence, which must be carried out in accordance with certain rules;
4. Public speaking, during which one person conveys information to the audience. Here, oratory is important;
5. Dispute as a clash of different opinions, in which each side (opponent) must be able to defend their point of view.

Culture of business communication: indicators of the culture of speech.

The following are the indicators of speech that characterize the speech of a business person:

1. Vocabulary. The wider it is, the brighter the speech will be and the greater the impression the performance will make on others;
2. Vocabulary as a qualitative content of the vocabulary. Colloquial words and jargon are perceived very negatively by listeners;
3. Pronunciation. Today, in the Russian language, the Old Moscow dialect is recognized as the most acceptable form of pronunciation;
4. Speech style, which implies the correct word order, the absence of unnecessary words and standard expressions;
5. Grammar of speech, which implies the observance of general grammatical rules. So, for example, the greatest preference should be given to nouns. A culture of business communication helps people organize joint activities, get to know each other better, and develop and form interpersonal relationships. And knowledge of its foundations and norms, without a doubt, in the modern world is the key to the success of any business person.

Culture is inherent in all communities and each person in particular and is considered primarily as the spiritual meaning of the historical development of mankind in various manifestations. It recreates the history of mankind in its potentiality and free disclosure of human essential forces. The phenomenon of culture covers all spheres of public life, is present in all its manifestations.

Experts consider culture in two directions: one in the context of a person's personal development, the second - as a way of its activity. It is culture that creates the field and method of communication in which each individual society is formed, with its own internal structure, and thanks to which it differs from all others. Thus, the culture of communication is an integral part of the culture of a person as a whole. It, like any other culture, contains a certain amount of knowledge, in this context - about communication.

The word "culture" (translated from Latin - cultivation, upbringing, education, development, veneration), a historically defined level of development of society, the creative forces and abilities of a person. Each era of human development is characterized by a certain type of culture. Every sphere of human life and activity is also characterized. culture is a complex integrity that includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morality, laws, customs, abilities and habits that are acquired and achieved by a person as a member of society. This most successful definition of this term was given by the English ethnographer E. Taylor. "Great Explanatory Dictionary of the Modern Ukrainian Language" considers culture as a set of material and spiritual values created by mankind throughout its history. When culture indicates how and what we should do or not do, it is said to be normative, that is, one that provides patterns of required behavior. If some norms become uncomfortable, then people try to change them in accordance with the new conditions of life. Some norms, for example, norms of etiquette, everyday behavior can be easily changed, others - state laws, religious traditions - are very difficult to change. An example of this is the economic and political reforms in the country.

At the end of the last century, management researchers and managers began to actively use this concept, defining by it the general climate in the organization and the characteristic methods of working with people, as well as the proclaimed values and HER credo. However, only in recent years, organizational (later corporate) culture began to be recognized as one of the main indicators necessary for the correct understanding and management of the organizational process. The concept of culture becomes one of the basic concepts in management.

Culture as a means of value perception of reality is reflected in the practical activities of people - both internal and external. In the process of internal activity, motives, value orientations are formed, technologies for future actions are determined. All this then turns out to be in the external activity of man. Therefore, sometimes the term "culture" is used in the narrow sense of the word - as a definition of its spiritual meaning for a person, that is, ethical norms and rules, customs and traditions that are significant for her. When it comes to the culture of an organization, they understand the level of legal and economic culture of entrepreneurship, business relations between employees, partners, customers, competitors, etc.

The culture of business communication can be defined as a set of moral norms and ideas that regulate the behavior and relationships of people in the course of their production activities. Some experts in business culture distinguish two layers: value and mental. The value stratum acts as a cultural phenomenon that can be transmitted as a tradition and determines the ethical side of business relations, outwardly manifests itself as a stereotype, as habitual official behavior, as actual values and norms that regulate practical activities. The mental layer of business culture is associated with situations when the usual norms and values become ineffective and people begin to construct new ones. In countries with a high level of economic development, the business culture is well-formed, focused on creativity, independence and interaction. At the stage of formation of Ukrainian business culture, there are problems of its interaction with European and Eastern cultures, its dependence on the mentality of the Ukrainian nation.

The very term "culture of communication" appeared in Ukraine in the 80s of the last century. One of the first in Ukraine this term was introduced into science by psychologist T.K. Chmut. During a survey conducted by her in various educational institutions, students answered that this is: a set of human skills to analyze the actions of other people; component of speech; the ability to behave culturally; the ability to find the right and delicate approach; desire to be a cultured and pleasant conversationalist. It can be seen that the respondents did not differentiate the culture of speech, speech, behavior and communication. In the scientific literature, the culture of communication is interpreted in unity as a culture of behavior, speech and language.

Recent experience has made it possible to culture of communication(according to the definition of T.K. Chmut) to understand the forms of communication creation that are available in society and human life, the systematization and implementation of its norms, methods and means according to the hierarchy of values and attitudes. In this phenomenon, there are no norms and creative components are interconnected, interdependent. Communication and its culture is creativity that leads to self-improvement, and at the same time it is a value for each person and for society as a whole. Success in human interaction depends on this realization. The culture of communication becomes valuable when it serves to satisfy their actual needs in joint activities and spiritual development. At the same time, creativity in communication leads to the formation of the cumulative subject "We" and the development of the sole "I", and as a result - to self-actualization and self-realization of the individual, the achievement of a common goal and the embodiment of humanistic communicative attitudes. Such a concept of communication culture makes it possible to consider it as the possession of its perfect norms, which act in unity with the creative and personal component. In this case, the norms can be knowledge, in particular methodological, the ability and theoretically substantiated methods of action, as well as norms-goals, norms-ideals that affect the personality.

In everyday life, communication between people, as a rule, is pragmatic, it takes place rather on a ritual level. Business communication arises at this level, and then unfolds as manipulative or humanistic. At the manipulative level of communication, the subject treats others as objects, uses them, as a rule, for his own purposes. At the humanistic level, communication occurs as a subject-sub"act of interaction, in the process of which mutual interests are realized, spirituality, value and creativity are combined. We are talking about the culture of communication of subjects if they communicate at this level.

A high level of communication culture is provided by the following mechanisms:

Communicative attitudes (that is, the desire to communicate on a humanistic level) - I want to do this;

Knowledge about the principles, mechanisms, strategies, forms of communication (i.e. knowledge about the ethical norms of communication adopted in a certain society; knowledge about the psychology of communication - categories, patterns, mechanisms of perception and understanding of each other) - I know how to do it;

The ability to apply the acquired knowledge, taking into account a specific situation - I can do it.

The experience gained by specialists (T.K. Chmut and others) shows that consideration of the culture of communication in the context of creativity and in relation to norms is fruitful precisely for the practical preparation of managers for effective business and, above all, partnership communication. Under such conditions, the culture of communication contributes to the development of their personality and professional identification, which is the main goal of higher education at the present stage of the transformation of our society.

The term "organizational culture" covers most of the phenomena of the spiritual and material life of the team: the material values and moral norms that dominate in it, the adopted code of conduct and ingrained rituals, the manner of staff dressing and the established quality standards of the product. We encounter manifestations of organizational culture as soon as we cross the threshold of an enterprise: it determines the adaptation of newcomers and the behavior of veterans, is reflected in a certain philosophy of the managerial level, especially top managers, and is implemented in a specific strategy of the organization.

Acquaintance with the experience of such economic giants as the USA and Japan reveals that one of the signs of a developed organizational culture is the presence of a kind of business credo in the team - a concentrated expression of its philosophy and policy, primarily proclaimed and implemented by the administration, top management. The business credo of any company includes a declaration of the role that the company wants to play in society, basic goals and a code of conduct for employees. Moreover, a code of conduct that orients a person in an organization to a very definite attitude towards it, towards work and personnel, towards oneself - should be thought out most carefully. Attention to the "human factor" is the key to the success of any company. The management of one's own affairs and actions must demonstrate in practice the proclaimed principles, but the main thing is that all employees really see the results of the work that have been achieved due to this. The credo should work for the end result of the enterprise.

Employees of many large successful firms tell all sorts of stories related to the activities of outstanding managers in the history of the company. Here you can also observe the rituals of business behavior ("open doors", "general gathering", "management by the method of bypassing workplaces") and extra-work communication (anniversaries, parties, collective sports events) aimed at maintaining and strengthening the healthy traditions of the team.

It is hardly worth emphasizing how important the role of organizational culture is in the survival of the team, in the effectiveness of the functioning of its social organism, we emphasize something else: the key figure in the process of its formation is undoubtedly the leader. Since organizational culture, as a rule, embodies the values and management methods of the leader, this will be discussed below.

In this paper, first of all, the definition of organizational culture and its main characteristics is given, after which the concept of business culture is considered, conclusions are drawn about their relationship and specifics.

People are influenced by the cultural environment in which they live. For example, a person who grew up in a middle-class family learns its values, beliefs, and behavior patterns. The same is true for the members of the organization. Society has a social culture; the place where people work has an organizational culture.

In addition to the norms accepted in society, each group of people, including an organization, develops its own cultural patterns, which are called business or organizational culture. Organizational culture does not exist on its own. It is always included in the cultural context of a given geographical region and society as a whole and is influenced by the national culture. In turn, the organizational or corporate culture influences the formation of the culture of departments, work and management teams.

National Culture -> Organizational Culture -> Work Culture->Team Culture

The diagram shows the ratio of mutual influence of cultures of different levels. In doing so, we note that:

national culture is the culture of a country or a minority in a country;

organizational culture - the culture of a corporation, enterprise or association;

working culture - the culture of the dominant activity of the society;

team culture - the culture of the work or management team.

Modern management considers organizational culture as a powerful strategic tool that allows all departments and employees to be oriented towards common goals. There are several definitions of organizational (corporate) culture.

the values and norms learned and applied by members of the organization, which at the same time decisively determine their behavior;

atmosphere or social climate in the organization;

the dominant system of values and behaviors in the organization.

Based on these definitions, organizational (corporate) culture is understood mainly as values and norms shared by the majority of members of the organization, as well as their external manifestations (organizational behavior).

Organizational culture includes the following components:

1) Beliefs - the employee's idea of what is right in the organization;

2) The values that dominate the organization determine what should be considered important in the organization.

Areas in which values can be expressed include caring for and respecting people, caring for consumers, entrepreneurialism, fair treatment of employees, and others.

T. Peters and R. Waterman, exploring the relationship between culture and organizational success, formulated a series values and organizational culture beliefs that have made companies successful.

Commitment to your work;

Action orientation;

Facing the consumer;

Independence and entrepreneurial spirit;

Connection with life and value guidance;

human performance;

Freedom of action and rigidity at the same time

Simple form, modest management staff.

3) Norms are unwritten rules of behavior that tell people how to behave and what is expected of them.

They are never expressed in writing and are transmitted either orally or by the attitude of others to behavior.

Standards of conduct reflect such moments in the activities of the organization as:

Relationship manager - subordinate, honesty and compliance with the law, behavior in case of conflicts of interest, obtaining and using information about other organizations, political activities within the organization, use of organization resources, etc.;

4) Behavior - daily actions that people perform in the process of work and in connection with their work when interacting with others (rituals and ceremonies, as well as the language used in communication);

5) The psychological climate is a stable system of internal relations of the group, manifested in the emotional mood, public opinion and performance.

The climate in an organization is how people perceive the culture that exists in an organization or unit, what they think and feel about it. It can be assessed by studying relationships.

6. Organizational climate. This is the general feeling that is created by the physical organization of the space, the style of communication between employees and the behavior of employees in relation to customers and other outsiders.

Each of these characteristics is somewhat controversial and to varying degrees confirmed by the results of research. For example, in the academic literature discrepancies are found regarding the similarities and differences between the concepts of organizational culture and organizational climate. "However, some characteristics have empirical confirmation, for example, the important role of the physical organization of space.

None of these components alone represent the culture of an organization. Together, however, they can provide insight into organizational culture.

Thus, organizational culture is a set of values, beliefs, attitudes common to all employees of a given organization, predetermining the norms of their behavior.

They may not be clearly expressed, but in the absence of direct instructions, they determine the way people act and interact and significantly affect the course of work and the nature of the life of the organization.

Corporate culture is a major component in achieving organizational goals, improving organizational performance and managing innovation.

The main goal of corporate culture is to ensure external adaptation and internal integration of the organization by improving personnel management.

Corporate culture can either help the organization by creating an environment conducive to productivity and innovation, or work against the organization by creating barriers that prevent the development and implementation of corporate strategy. These barriers include resistance to innovation and ineffective communication.

Homogeneity of culture

Organizations can be divided into dominant cultures and subcultures. The dominant culture expresses the core (central) values that are accepted by the majority of the members of the organization. It is a macro approach to culture that expresses a distinctive characteristic of an organization.

Subcultures develop in large organizations and reflect common problems, situations faced by employees, or experience in resolving them. They develop geographically or by separate divisions, vertically or horizontally. When one production department of a conglomerate has a unique culture that differs from other departments of the organization, then there is a vertical subculture. When a specific department of functional specialists (such as accounting or sales) has a set of generally accepted concepts, then a horizontal subculture is formed. Any group in an organization can create a subculture, but most subcultures are defined by a departmental (individual) structural scheme or geographical division. It will include the core values of the dominant culture plus additional values unique to members of that department.

Successful organizations have their own culture that leads them to achieve positive results. Organizational culture allows you to distinguish one organization from another, creates an atmosphere of identification for members of the organization, generates commitment to the goals of the organization; strengthens social stability; serves as a controlling mechanism that directs and shapes the attitudes and behavior of workers.

Strong and weak cultures

Some organizational cultures can be called "strong" and others "weak". A strong organizational culture is often shaped by strong leaders. However, in addition to the leadership factor, there are at least two more important factors that determine the strength of an organizational culture: sharing and intensity.

Severability measures the extent to which the members of an organization recognize the core values of the company.

Intensity determines the degree of dedication of the members of the organization to core values.

The degree of separability depends on two main factors: awareness (orientation) and the reward system. In order for people to share the cultural values of the organization, it is necessary that they know about them (or be guided by them). Many organizations begin the learning process with orientation programs. New employees are told about the philosophy of the company and the methods of work adopted in it. The orientation process continues in the workplace as the manager and colleagues share these values with the newcomer both in conversation and through personal example in the daily work environment. Sharing also depends on the reward system. When an organization has adopted a system of promotion, pay raises, recognition of merit and other rewards for employees who share core values, this helps other employees to become more aware of them. Some companies have a reputation for being "most attractive to employees" because the reward system is exemplary and helps to reinforce commitment to core values.

The degree of intensity is the result of the impact of the reward system. When employees realize that rewards depend on whether they will perform as "organized", their desire to do just that increases. Conversely, when no one encourages them or they see that it is more profitable to behave in a way that is not accepted in the organization, their commitment to the core values of the organization weakens. Despite the importance of moral incentives, material incentives still play a very significant role.

Different organizations gravitate toward certain priorities in organizational culture. Organizational culture may have features depending on the type of activity, form of ownership, position in the market or in society. There is an entrepreneurial organizational culture, a state organizational culture, an organizational culture of a leader, an organizational culture when working with personnel, etc.

One of the most important problems that any organizational system faces is that at a certain point in time it is unable to cope with market changes and, accordingly, is forced to abandon outdated structural forms of organization. Every few years, the structure of the organization, the procedures for approving decisions, etc. change. At the same time, the possible negative consequences of reorganizations are weakened, as a rule, as a result of changes in individual functions not simultaneously, but at different times. The system allows you to reshuffle the structure of the organization, strengthening it or removing unnecessary from it, as well as providing an opportunity for many people to expand their professional experience. The most important thing is that it is possible to get rid of the “clumps” that inevitably accumulate in any organization, including solving the problem of identifying employees who have reached the level of their own incompetence and ensuring the emergence of new initiatives;

conducting public opinion polls (usually twice a year);

the formation of remuneration in two components - in the form of a fixed salary and a variable part.

implementation of a guaranteed employment policy. Skillful maneuvering of human resources (through early retirement of employees, constant retraining of personnel and redistribution of labor between different departments to avoid the need for dismissal);

stimulation of the personal initiative of employees in solving common problems and the constancy of the rules of conduct in the company;

trust in an individual employee of the company on the part of managers;

development of collective methods for solving problems, sharing success among employees, interesting from the point of view of creating an organizational environment that attracts the best people in their profession to the corporation,

providing freedom to specialists in determining ways to achieve the goals of the company, taking into account its potential and in making appropriate decisions;

selection of new managers from among the company's employees, rather than looking for them on the side.

formation of an entrepreneurial climate through the use of project teams as the main structural unit of the company. These groups, made up of scientists, doctors and business people, are led by leaders responsible for setting goals and achieving them;

subsidizing background service units - own and external (gyms, discos, etc.).

Organizations will always achieve stability and performance if the culture of the organization is adequate to the technology being applied. Regular formalized (routine) technological processes ensure the stability and efficiency of the organization, when the culture of the organization focuses on centralization in decision-making and restrains (limits) individual initiative. Irregular (non-routine) technologies are effective when filled with an organizational culture that encourages individual initiative and loosens control.

Some organizational cultures may be a direct or indirect result of the activities of the founders of companies. However, this is not always true. Sometimes the founders create a weak culture, and in order for the organization to survive, it is necessary to bring in a new senior leader who will lay the foundations of a strong culture.

How organizational cultures are created

Although organizational cultures can be formed in different ways, the process usually includes the following steps in one form or another.

1. A certain person (the founder) decides to create a new enterprise.

2. The founder brings in one more key person (or more) and creates a core group that shares the founder's ideas. Thus, all members of the group believe that these ideas are good, that they can be worked on, that they can take risks for them, and that they should spend time, money and energy on them.

3. The core group goes into action to create an organization by raising the necessary funds, obtaining patents and licenses, registering a company, locating a company, renting premises, and so on.

4. At this time, other people join the organization, and its history begins to take shape.

Maintaining culture through socialization

Once an organizational culture has been established and is beginning to develop, there are certain steps that can be taken to solidify core values and make the culture self-sustaining.

Selection of new employees. The first step is to carefully select candidates for employment. Using standardized procedures and paying attention to specific personality traits associated with high performance, specially trained interviewers interview all candidates and try to weed out those whose personality traits and belief systems do not fit the organization's culture. There is ample evidence that employees who had a realistic understanding of the company's culture before they were hired (this is called a realistic vision of work, or RJP) perform better.

Entry into office. The second step is done after being hired, when the candidate takes the appropriate position. Newly hired employees are exposed to various influences that are carefully planned and designed to make newcomers think about the company's system of norms and values and whether they can accept them. In particular, in many companies with a strong culture, there is an unspoken rule to give newcomers more work than they can handle. Sometimes these tasks are below the capabilities of the employee. The goal is also to teach the beginner to obey. Such an experience can make him feel insecure and cause some emotional dependence on his colleagues, which will contribute to closer group cohesion.

Mastering the skills necessary for the job. After a new employee has survived the first culture shock, the next step is to master the skills necessary for the job. This is usually achieved through the acquisition of intensive and purposeful experience in the workplace. For example, in Japanese firms, hired co-workers usually go through training programs for several years. As they move up the career ladder, their production activities are properly evaluated, and depending on the progress made, they are assigned additional responsibilities.

Measuring and rewarding production activities. The next stage of socialization consists in a rigorous analysis, evaluation of the results of the work of employees and the corresponding remuneration of each. Performance review and reward systems should be comprehensive and consistent; in addition, attention should be focused on those aspects of the business that are most critical to competitive success and are closely related to corporate values.

The most important performance indicators are linked to these main factors and the evaluation of the work of employees is carried out in accordance with them. Promotion and bonus system depend primarily on the success achieved in these three areas. Typically, in companies with a strong organizational culture, people who violate accepted norms, for example, those who go beyond the rules of competition or treat their subordinates rudely, are punished. Usually, this punishment is in a hidden form - moving to a new, less attractive place of work.

Commitment to the core values of the company. The next step is to carefully nurture commitment to the most important values of the company. Identification with these values helps employees come to terms with the sacrifices they make to become members of the organization. They get used to these values and the belief that the company will not do anything to harm them. The organization, however, tries to justify these costs by associating them with the highest human values, for example, service to society - with improving the quality of products and / or services.

Spread of different stories and folklore. The next step is to spread organizational folklore. This means retelling stories that justify the organizational culture and explain why the company does what it does and not otherwise. One of the most popular forms of folklore is morality stories, which the company wants to reinforce. For example, at Procter & Gamble, a story about an outstanding brand manager who was fired for exaggerating the qualities of a certain product is very popular. . The moral of the story is that professional ethics should be more important than money.

Recognition and promotion. The final step is the recognition and promotion of employees who do a good job and can be role models for those accepted into the organization. By singling out these people as winners, the company encourages other employees to follow suit. Such role models in companies with a strong organizational culture are considered the most effective and ongoing form of staff training.

Sometimes an organization decides that its culture needs to change. For example, external

the environment has undergone such serious changes that the organization either must adapt to new conditions, or it will not be able to survive. However, changing an old culture can be extremely difficult; there is even an opinion that it is impossible to do so. Easily predictable complexities are associated with the skills acquired by employees, with personnel, with relationships, with division of roles and organizational structures, which together support and ensure the functioning of traditional organizational culture.

Despite the existence of serious obstacles and resistance to change, culture can be managed and even changed over time. Attempts to change a culture can take many forms. Some simple advice can be of some help, such as developing a sense of history, creating a sense of unity, developing a sense of belonging to the organization, and establishing a constructive exchange of views among its members.

In addition, organizations that wish to change their culture should not abandon their origins and blindly copy so-called "successful" or "outstanding" companies.

Organizational culture is a set of core beliefs that are passed on to all new hires as the right way to perceive what is happening, the way of thinking and daily actions. Important characteristics of organizational culture include accepted behaviors, norms, dominant values, philosophy, rules and organizational climate.

While all members of an organization support organizational culture, not everyone does so equally. An organization may have a dominant culture and subcultures. The dominant culture is represented by the core values shared by the majority of the members of the organization. A subculture is a set of values shared by a small percentage of an organization's employees.

Some organizations have a strong culture and some have a weak culture. The strength of culture depends on separability and intensity. Sharing refers to the extent to which the members of an organization share its core values. Intensity is determined by the degree of dedication of the organization's employees to these values.

Culture is usually created by the founder or top executive of the company, forming a key group united by a common vision of the future. This group works together to create the cultural values, norms and climate necessary to fulfill their vision of the future. To maintain this culture, companies usually take a number of steps, which include: careful selection of candidates for employment; experience gained in the workplace and introducing newcomers to the culture of the organization; mastering the skills necessary for work; close attention to the evaluation of the results of work and the remuneration of the activities of each employee; fostering commitment to the core values of the organization; reinforcing corporate history and folklore and, finally, recognizing and promoting employees who do a good job and can serve as an example for the new staff of the organization.

In some cases, organizations find that they must change their culture in order to successfully compete or even simply survive in their environment.

Let's list the principles of business culture and relationships

1. Punctuality (do everything on time). Only the behavior of a person who does everything on time is normative. Being late interferes with work and is a sign that a person cannot be relied upon. The principle of doing everything on time extends to all service tasks. Specialists who study the organization and distribution of working time recommend adding an extra 25 percent to the period that, in your opinion, is required to complete the assigned work.

2. Confidentiality (don't talk too much). The secrets of an institution, corporation, or particular transaction must be kept as carefully as personal secrets. There is also no need to retell to anyone what you heard from a colleague, manager or subordinate about their official activities or personal life.

3. Courtesy, goodwill and friendliness. In any situation, it is necessary to behave with clients, customers, buyers and colleagues politely, affably and kindly. This, however, does not mean the need to be friends with everyone with whom you have to communicate on duty.

4. Attention to others (think of others, not just yourself). Attention to others should extend to colleagues, superiors and subordinates. Respect the opinions of others, try to understand why they have this or that point of view. Always listen to criticism and advice from colleagues, superiors and subordinates. When someone questions the quality of your work, show that you value other people's thoughts and experiences. Self-confidence should not prevent you from being humble.

5. Appearance (dress properly). The main approach is to fit into your work environment, and within this environment - into a contingent of workers at your level. It is necessary to look the best way, that is, dress with taste, choosing a color scheme to match your face. Carefully selected accessories are essential.

6. Literacy (speak and write well). Internal documents or letters sent outside the institution must be written in good language, and all proper names transmitted without errors. You can't use swear words. Even if you just quote the words of another person, they will be perceived by others as part of your own vocabulary.

3. Business contacts with foreign partners, cultural problems

Business contacts with foreign partners must take into account the national and psychological characteristics of a particular business communication environment. If, according to philosophers, communication is one of the most important prerequisites for the formation of a person, then, according to modern management theorists, a high level of business communication is a decisive condition for the success of business contacts with foreign partners.

Currently, there is a trend of intensive development and expansion of international cooperation of a cultural nature.

Various International information centers for interethnic, intercultural interactions are being opened, setting new tasks in the field of strengthening and expanding business, cultural ties with international partners.

Friendly and business contacts with various international public organizations, foundations, embassies make it possible to organize and conduct joint cultural, educational and information events on the basis of International Information Centers.

International activity at the present stage contributes to the formation of an effective intercultural dialogue in situations of interethnic and interfaith interaction.

Problems of a cultural nature cannot be investigated apart from the philosophical problem of values. The moral position deserves attention, according to which a business that ignores the principles of humanism and patriotism is immoral and ineffective. All the more urgent is the task of humanizing business communication for our society, torn apart by all sorts of social conflicts.

The problem of communication as a social phenomenon of interpersonal interaction was considered by scientists as a category of ethics and psychology.

Business culture includes everything that society thinks and does, which means that the language reflects both the mentality and the behavior of the society speaking it. Culture is transmitted and developed through communication, through which the formation of society and the provision of mutual understanding between its members is carried out. Business culture is the ability to communicate, including in business situations, developed by generations of people. It includes a system of codified patterns and norms of behavior, activity, communication and interaction of people who have a regulatory and control function in society. One of the main communication tools is language, social in its essence, it is part of human behavior, which includes both verbal and non-verbal forms, language to a certain extent obeys the same laws as human behavior in general. It is known that most of human behavior is socially regulated, conditioned by ethical norms, traditions, values of society, i.e. is based on conventions that may not be the same in different cultures. These social conventions are inevitably reflected in language.

Business culture offers norms and values of labor exchange, exchange of activities, and also includes "specific forms and methods of interaction between people in solving business issues", which include strategies and tactics for achieving production goals, ways of persuading and exerting influence.

Each person involuntarily projects his speech stereotypes and speech behavior onto those with whom he has to communicate, regardless of their cultural, social, ethnic, religious or any other difference. Often this happens due to the fact that universal human norms and values seem to be exaggerated, while national, social and unique ones are downplayed. This is especially evident in linguistic communication, in which the linguocultural barrier can be not only an obstacle in the communication process, but also lead to so-called "communicative failures"

Morality and ethics form the basis of business culture, which is understood as the spiritual values accepted by the management of the organization and supported by the staff. And although many believe that business culture concerns only the internal life of the team, in fact it also forms the external life of the organization (external relations). The business culture of the organization is manifested in the behavior of employees, in their perception of themselves, the organization as a whole and the environment. Basic values occupy a central place in organizational culture, i.e. a set of the most significant and unchanging principles officially adopted in the organization, on which the behavior of employees is based.

Morality (morality) (from Lat. moralis - relating to morals) - a set of norms, attitudes and prescriptions that guide people in their real behavior in various areas of life, including work. The specificity of morality as a regulator of social relations lies in the fact that it acts from within. Moral regulation is, as psychologists say, evaluative-imperative in nature, i.e. evaluation of people's actions contains their approval or censure. General norms of morality are expressed in fixed ideas about how to do and what not to do. When people talk about morality, they mean judgments about right and wrong, about good and bad, about good and evil, about justice and injustice. The strength of moral demands, always unconditional in form and strict in content, lies in the fact that a person must turn them to himself and only through the experience of his own life present them to others. It is probably not for nothing that one of the oldest commandments, called the "golden rule of morality," says: treat others the way you want to be treated. In the face of global dangers that threaten the very existence of mankind, a responsible attitude to morality, recognition of the priority of human values is a choice that has no reasonable alternative.

Ethics - a set of universal and specific moral requirements and rules of behavior of the individual, implemented in public life. The traditional interpretation of ethics has an individual character. Our ideas about morality and moral values, about what is worthy of praise and what deserves condemnation, have developed mainly on the basis of the perception of man as a moral being. We know what it means to call a person moral.

The success of business communication depends on the knowledge and ability to use communication techniques. Business communication is, first of all, communication, i.e. exchange of information that is significant for the participants in the communication. Communicative activity is a complex multi-channel system of human interaction.

There are four functions of communication; combined, they give the processes of communication a specific specificity in specific forms.

Sign (semantic) function - is a means of human communication, for example, the language of the people and literary are the most important means of mastering the national culture.

Value (axiological) function - reflects the qualitative state of culture, forms a person's needs and orientations, by which one can judge the level of culture of a person and society.

Normative function, organizing and meaningful function of cultural norms, their varieties and symbolism. Norms-taboos, norms-principles, norms of value.

The translational function is the transfer of human experience, historical continuity, the transfer of social experience and cultural traditions.

Communication style is an individual-typological features of interaction between people. The foundation of a personality's communication style is its moral and ethical attitudes and assessments of the social and ethical attitudes of society.

All means of communication are divided into two large groups: verbal and non-verbal.

Thus, the technology of the culture of business communication can be interpreted as a set of moral principles and norms that regulate the process of interconnection and interaction of people in the areas of labor activity. The need for moral regulation of communication in the sphere of labor activity determines the need to streamline business life. Satisfying this need, culture plays an important communication role in the communication of people.

The main requirement of business communication in the process of official business relations as an element of business culture is a clear, concise and clear presentation of information not only on paper, but also in oral conversation. To fulfill this requirement, the following conditions must be met.

1. In business communication, you need to be able to speak and write correctly. This does not mean being a philologist, it is quite enough to organize the words in a sentence in a coordinated manner and to have an idea of the subject content of the words used.

2. Business language should be as impersonal as possible, i.e. The text should be written in the third person. At the same time, one should avoid using personal demonstrative pronouns, including the 3rd person (he, she, they), since their use when talking about several nouns of the same gender may contradict the accuracy and clarity of presentation.

3. Ambiguity, terminological variability and linguistic ambiguity are unacceptable for business speech. So, if we are talking about the supply of history textbooks for the 6th grade, then both in the process of oral negotiations and in the documents they should be named the same, for example: "History. Textbook for the 6th grade. Publishing house:" Enlightenment "; this will avoid getting history textbooks, but for the institute, or not at all on history.It is necessary to avoid fuzzy names, definitions and any figurative expressions in business communication, then the possibility of error and misunderstanding as a reason for conflict will be practically excluded.

4. In business communication, it is necessary to avoid colloquial vernacular expressions, one should adhere to stylistically neutral elements (special terminology, nomenclature names, clericalisms, etc.). This, in turn, excludes the use of expressive, emotionally colored statements, figurative expressions and allegorical comparisons that may be misunderstood by the interlocutor. Statements that are evaluative in relation to the personality of the interlocutor are unacceptable in an official business situation.

5. Business speech should be extremely informative, strict and restrained, which is possible only if the previous conditions are met.

Also, to ensure informativeness, it is necessary to clearly define the main subject and topic of verbal communication: a statement on the provision of services, a requirement for the quality of their implementation, a complaint about this quality, and so on.

Compliance with the above conditions allows avoiding misunderstandings between participants in business relations, contributes to the immediate detection of incompetence, minimizes the causes of ambiguous situations, and suppresses the possibility of rudeness. Thus, within the boundaries of the official business style, reasons for conflicts are practically excluded - except, of course, those that are caused directly by production problems. But even in this case, by limiting verbal communication to the "dry language of a document," it will be very difficult to blow up a scandal out of an already arisen substantive production conflict and in this way get away from its true cause.

Therefore, if we want to avoid unpleasant conflict situations, then in relations with colleagues, with officials, with employees and representatives of various organizations, we should not be afraid of the severity of business etiquette and the dryness of the official business language. The requirements of an official business style do not at all exclude friendly, friendly and affable relations between people from the practice of communication. On the contrary, the rules of formal business style only contribute to the establishment of a healthy, moral atmosphere of mutual respect in the workplace.

Each organization, overcoming the difficulties of external adaptation and internal integration, gains experience that becomes the basis of organizational culture (a unique general psychology that characterizes a given community of people);

organizational culture is formed in the process of joint overcoming of difficulties;

the core of organizational culture is formed by the founders of the organization and is directly related to their life experience and worldview;

organizational culture is a natural, familiar environment for people working in an organization; its influence and manifestations are more visible to new employees entering the organization or outsiders;

The characteristics of organizational culture can be better understood by referring to the history of the organization, in particular to critical moments.

Understanding the characteristics of organizational culture can facilitate the implementation of top management decisions and help develop realistic plans.

To understand the specifics of organizational culture, it is necessary to analyze the following key points:

values and norms, principles and rules of organizational life of the company; type of organizational culture; physical manifestations of culture, such as the interior of the office, the observed "patterns" of the behavior of the employees of the enterprise, the "language" of the organization, its traditions and rituals, rituals practiced on special occasions.

It is obvious that not only visual manifestations, but also the typology of the company's culture and values are image carriers. Thus, organizational culture is the most important indicator and lever for managing the internal corporate image, which has a direct and indirect impact on the external image of the company.

The business culture of a leader has its own specifics: tension, innovative nature, meta-activity; contributes to the performance of managerial functions that are distinguished by the uniformity of the content of the work (operations) performed and their target orientation. The structure of business culture includes a basic and ideological level, a level of practical activity, a level of regulation of managerial behavior, and an emotional level.

The integrity and integrative essence of the formed level of business culture is known and understood only on the basis of a clear idea of the structure and hierarchy of its development, successively connected stages of formation. The concepts of business culture of the leader integrate the achievements of various national schools and models, are constantly enriched with new socio-psychological and socio-technological approaches. The conceptual foundations for the formation of business culture, laid down in the management theories of foreign and domestic scientists, are the results of a study of a complex multifactorial manifestation of a general management culture, revealed through the prism of the personality traits of a modern leader that can significantly affect all aspects of an enterprise's activities. In this regard, the relevance of the purposeful formation of a business culture, taking into account the peculiarities and traditions of Russian production and world management experience, is obvious.

Business ethics determines the culture of work, makes it goal-oriented towards a harmonious combination of socially significant and individual goals that reveal the high moral potential of the entrepreneur's personality as a form of self-expression and self-realization in a modern competitive economy. It is meaningful leadership using innovative ideas filled with a high moral culture of the personality of a leader who cares about the public good and about his subordinates, who understands the social role of modern entrepreneurship in society, can benefit its customers and the local community, society as a whole, because at the heart of such a model behavior lies creation, both material and spiritual.

1. Organizational behavior A.M. Sergeev Moscow Publishing Center "Academy" 2008

2. Resources of the Internet site http://www.imagemirror.ru/

3.Gennady Latfullin, Olga Gromova

Organizational behavior. Textbook for universities publishing house Peter (electronic version)

4. Shalamova G. M. Business culture and psychology of communication

Textbook M Publishing Center Year of publication 2005

- 104.00 Kb

Introduction …………………………………………………… 3

The concept of "business culture"………………………. four
Structure of “business culture”…………………….. 6
Functions of "business culture"………………………. 16

Conclusion ……………………………………………. 19

References…………………………………….. 20

Introduction

The development of economic liberalism is associated with a change not only in economic relations, but also in the entire system of social relations. The whole way of life of people is changing, and this, of course, cannot but lead to a change in value orientations, motivations for behavior and the entire process of socialization of the individual. And, of course, all segments of the population, including the younger generation, cannot but be involved in this process.

With the emergence of market relations in Russia, such concepts as<конкуренция>and<конкурентоспособность>. They are faced by firms, government organizations, individuals. The process of competition or selection of the best as a result of competition is characteristic of the labor market. Today, the competitiveness of a specialist is associated with success, both in professional and personal spheres. The main psychological condition for successful activity in any field is self-confidence. The main directions in which self-confidence is developed are the creation of a favorable appearance, the development and improvement of professional skills, adequate behavior in various situations of human communication. The business culture of the future specialist plays an important role here.

The concept of "business culture"

Business culture is part of the universal culture. The basic concept of "business culture" includes:

The set of the most important values accepted by the members of the organization;

Dominant moral standards, accepted code of conduct;

The system of formal and informal norms of activity, rituals, customs and traditions, individual and group interests of the organization;

A certain level of creation, opening and management of the company, organizational and administrative actions of the head, constituent, service and production and economic documents;

Features and nature of communication and behavior in the organization. one

The concept of "business culture" is partially reflected in the most important values, moral norms, system of relations, features of communication and behavior. From these positions, business culture can be considered as a set of the most important values, a system of formal and informal norms of activity, moral norms, customs and traditions, individual and group interests, features of communication and behavior.

Despite the huge role of business culture in the life of society, the individual, the problem of educating business culture in pedagogical literature has not been sufficiently considered. Therefore, at present, the problem of business culture in general and the business culture of the future specialist in particular is so acute. That is why the solution of this problem should begin already at school and continue with further education.

Business culture is based on such pedagogical categories as "economic education" and "economic culture". "Economic education" is a purposeful influence of educational institutions on specialists in order to enter them into a common industrial and economic culture. Economic education allows young professionals to form a culture of economic thinking, economic knowledge, skills, needs and interests. It forms such an economic quality as frugality, thrift, prudence and efficiency.

The concept of "business culture" is a collective, generalized one, it is much broader than the concept of "economic culture".

If we proceed from the fact that "business" is a commercial organization, enterprise, profession, then "business culture" is the culture of a commercial organization.

Business culture is a combination of economic, entrepreneurial, administrative and organizational culture of a commercial enterprise. Business culture is based on work culture, professional, economic, entrepreneurial culture.

Business culture in a narrow sense is the culture of business negotiations. Many people equate business culture with business negotiations. Business culture in the broad sense of this phenomenon is the totality of the entrepreneurial, administrative and organizational structure of the company and each of its employees.

The basis of business culture is its three parts: entrepreneurial, administrative, organizational structure. Business culture is a culture of creating one's own business, combined with a culture of management; as well as a culture of decision-making; optimal combination of moral and psychological culture, culture of business communication and law, culture of behavior and etiquette.

The structure of "business culture"

In the literature that explores the phenomenon of business culture, there are quite a few related concepts: business culture, organizational culture, company culture.

These concepts have a common keyword - culture. Human culture as a whole is currently considered by specialists as a complex of systems of values, norms, knowledge and symbols that regulate the life of a particular social community. This complex consists of separate subsystems. Organizational culture, the culture of the company fit into the broader general concept of "culture".

According to the level of commonality within culture, there are different forms of life, including economic. Thus, we can single out economic culture - a complex of systems that regulate what a person does in the economy. We also have a concept that is a translation of the word "economic" into Russian. This is an economic or national economic culture. Thus, these are norms, methods achieved at the moment in a given country or by humanity as a whole, which set standards. Even more simply, one can say that culture in the practical sphere is defined as the rules of the game achieved by its participants at a given point in time. Private types of culture fit into the economic culture.

Next in terms of commonality is business culture. What is business culture? Why do people do business? And what is the matter? In Russian, the word "business" does not have the connotation that, say, the words "business" in English, or "gesheft" in German have. There, these terms are defined as activities for obtaining commercial profit. This is not the case in Russian. Here you can immediately feel our specific shade of negative attitude towards profit, towards profit.

Business culture can be defined as the culture of making and sharing profits. And this is extremely important, because an enterprise cannot exist without profit: there will be no resource for development and even for reproduction. But you can make a profit in a variety of forms, on a different scale. Therefore, there are public, private and mixed enterprises, huge transnational corporations and small family businesses, in which 3-5 people who know each other well take part.

We can decompose business culture into organizational culture, or the culture of a given specific company, a given specific community of people who are organized or, as they say, institutionalized, i.e. brought together in some institution, a social institution.

And this is where the subtleties begin. The question arises: where does business culture come from? The largest division by type of business culture occurs between enterprises of different types of ownership. Why is it so?

I would like to talk about what business culture generally consists of. To illustrate this position, I use the image of the Russian "matryoshka". The smallest “matryoshka”, but the most important, the core is the “matryoshka”, which is represented by universal human norms, values, dogmas, etc. It is contained inside the next largest * civilizational “nesting doll”, which is represented in the brightest form by the civilizations of the East and West . Within each civilization there are certain socio-cultural regions. This is the next matryoshka. When we talk about Russian business culture, we mean the socio-cultural level, which at the same time contains our specifics; Eurasian civilizational culture; and universal values, because all over the world people strive to be healthy, rich, respected, so that children continue their work, etc.

If we take our specific region, there we find the next matryoshka - professional. Just because it's the biggest doesn't mean it's the most important. Because the business culture in its strict form, with all the abundance of organizations, is divided according to the forms of capital movement. These are production, trade and finance. And the people who work in these areas differ in their systems of values, norms and rules.

But there is another “matryoshka” that is almost elusive. This is the so-called situational profile of all these norms, values and knowledge. Man, as the Scripture says, is weak. Therefore, we are not always guided by even those rules that we recognize as important and defining. There is a situation of temptation. The situational “matryoshka” encourages me, for example, to make a short-term deal for the sake of great profit with possible damage to my long-term business reputation.
Here we come to a very important problem, which concerns business culture, economic culture as a whole.

In recent years, issues of morality and ethics have come to the fore. The core is ethical values, norms that are approximately the same all over the world. In 1994, the captains of the global industry, as they are called, drew up a declaration of international business principles, in which they nevertheless managed to combine the foundations of Eastern and Western business culture. They found common ground, tried to combine the individualistic moral values of Western civilization and the collectivist ones of the Eastern one.

Developing this idea using the same metaphor, it can be shown that this is precisely the key to solving problems that arise due to the differences between these “matryoshkas”. The farther from the central "matryoshka", the less coincidence. This idea was very well expressed in his time by one of the fathers of the church - Father Dorotheus. He presented a vivid image: in the center of the circle we are all close to each other, but, moving along the radii to the periphery, we are moving further and further away.

There are amazingly colorful studies that compare the business cultures of different countries. It turns out that the core that ensures successful interaction and long-term partnership is just the internal “matryoshka”, which is largely the same for people all over the world. In the process of globalization, internationalization, we understand that we have no other platform for common actions.

I return to the topic of the role of ethics. Since the 1980s, attention to this aspect of human activity has grown very rapidly.

Such previously intangible phenomena as reputation and prestige materialized in numbers. If in the early 1980s the reputation of a trading company was 17-20%, now in some cases it reaches 85%.

The question arises: on whom does reputation depend?

I return to the difference between private and public enterprise. In a private enterprise, as well as in a state enterprise, business culture depends on the personality of the leader. It is no coincidence that there is a wonderful Russian proverb that reflects the troubles of any Russian organization, state and society: "The fish rots from the head." What is the leader, such is the business and organizational culture of this organization. This is an indisputable fact. What is the leader, these are to a greater extent the norms, values and knowledge that become dominant in the organization. The biggest problem for organizational culture is when a leader hypocritically claims one thing and acts differently. There is a beautiful English proverb: "Don't do as I say, but do as I do."

Introduction

Chapter 1. Cultural features of international business contacts

1.1 Hofstede measurements

1.2 High-context and low-context cultures

1.3 Other indicators that play a significant role in different business cultures

Chapter 2. Business culture in Russia

2.1 Russian business culture: current state

2.2 Comparison of Russian and Korean business cultures

Conclusion

Bibliographic list

Introduction

The concept of "business culture" can be defined as the attitude of the company to the legality, personality, product quality, finances and production obligations, openness and reliability of business information. This should be embodied in a set of rules, traditions, rituals and symbols that are constantly supplemented and improved. The success of an enterprise in market conditions largely depends on its reputation as a business partner.

Communication between representatives of different countries, different political views, religious beliefs and rituals, national traditions and psychology, ways of life and culture requires not only knowledge of foreign languages, but also the ability to behave naturally, tactfully and with dignity, which is extremely necessary and important when meeting people from other countries.

It should be remembered that the activities of the PR on an international scale take place against the backdrop of the internationalization of many aspects of national cultures. Successful PR in a multinational environment requires knowledge of the main characteristics and specifics of interacting cultures. Knowledge of cultural characteristics makes it possible to evaluate, predict and manage the behavior of various groups of the public - partners, employees, investors, consumers, government officials, and the local community in relation to a company in a multicultural environment.

Today, two poles can be distinguished in the spectrum of business cultures - Western business culture and Eastern business culture. Typical Western cultures include Euro-American and Western European business cultures. The most typical Eastern ones are the business cultures of the countries of Asia and the East (Japan, China, as well as the countries of Islam). Features of these types of business cultures have historical, religious and general cultural background.

Russia is located geographically - between the West and the East. The business culture of Russia occupies an intermediate position between Western and Eastern cultures in a number of parameters. The growth of employment of Russians in foreign and joint ventures actualizes the issues of interaction between different cultures at all levels of doing business - from jobs to top management. Knowledge of the polar features of cultures allows one to navigate in situations of cross-cultural communications, to optimize relations with a foreign cultural community.

Despite globalization, differences in business cultures remain significant to this day, while modern internal and external economic relations place increased demands on the observance of generally accepted forms of business communication, etiquette, and ethical standards.

Problem: The discrepancy between the standards of modern Russian business culture and global standards causes significant damage to the reputation of Russian companies.

At present, the media still cover the issues of business culture in a fragmentary way; in the field of business education, there are almost no comprehensive courses on business culture; there are not enough teaching aids, especially domestic ones, taking into account Russian specifics: there is little professional scientific research, the results of which could be used for reliable and effective practical recommendations.

Thus, by now, a very urgent need has formed to change the current situation. Business culture cannot develop further without purposeful and systemic assistance.

The purpose of the course work is to identify the features and characteristics of the business cultures of the West, East and Russia.

1. The study of theoretical materials on this issue.

2. Consider the business cultures of Russia, the West and the East from the point of view of different approaches to measurement.

3. To identify the regular features of the Russian business culture and compare them with the features of the business culture of another particular country.

The subject is business culture and its features, the object is a PR specialist, for whom it is extremely important to know the specifics of the business culture of different countries.

Thus, business culture is one of the most complex and multifaceted phenomena with its own characteristics and specifics. Knowledge of business culture is as important for a PR specialist as knowledge in any other area, and goes on a par with such personal qualities as creativity, communication skills, initiative, etc. And knowing how to behave when communicating in a multinational team will undoubtedly help a PR specialist in his professional activities.

Chapter 1. Cultural features of international business contacts

1.1 Hofstede measurements

Features of doing business and international communications are directly related to the culture of the country. Despite the huge variety of business cultures, there are methods that allow predicting the elements of behavior of a representative of a particular culture. When forecasting, it is useful to take into account behavioral stereotypes, the source and level of power, business ethics, motivation, type of thinking, and peculiarities of time perception.

The globalization of the economy has affected even small and medium-sized businesses in Russia. He (wittingly or unwittingly) is faced with the problems of international business relations: whether it is the acquisition of equipment, raw materials, the search for partners or investors. Not to mention direct competition in their own domestic market from transnational companies. Globalization makes the study of the culture of business relationships and international communications increasingly important for Russian managers. Awareness about the peculiarities of a particular culture, the ability to take into account and apply these features in practice help some companies to establish relations with partners faster and at lower cost, while others to deal more effectively with competitors. Knowledge of the peculiarities of interethnic communications is also very useful for managers working in foreign companies, as they allow them to better adapt in a foreign environment, understand the essence of management requirements, acceptable behavioral frameworks and, accordingly, move faster in the service.

Features of doing business are fundamentally dependent on the culture of the country and are reflected in all aspects of business relationships - from everyday contacts to the negotiation process and the forms of contracts concluded. The cultural differences that exist between countries are based on fundamental differences in value orientations.

Back in the 70s of the twentieth century. J. Hofstede conducted research in 66 countries of the world. They allowed him to identify several fundamental aspects that determine the style and characteristics of doing business by representatives of different cultures. The result of the research was a model for comparative analysis of business cultures based on four variable characteristics. These "magic" characteristics are: 1) an index of individualism/collectivism based on the self-orientation of the individual, 2) the degree of hierarchical distance, reflecting the orientation towards power and authority, 3) the degree of uncertainty avoidance, characterizing the level of readiness for risk, and, finally, 4) male or feminine style of business relationships.

Individualism/collectivism (I/K index). The individualism/collectivism index expresses the relationship between the individual and society. This indicator describes the degree of integration of the individual in the team, group. A high index of individualism means a concentration on one's own "ego" and personal achievements; a low index value indicates integration, the subordination of the individual to the collective, the predominance of "we" in the mentality. This does not mean at all that in countries with a high index of individualism, an individual does not integrate himself well in a group. In countries with a pronounced individualistic mentality, of which the United States is a prime example, personal life and initiative are most important. Individualism prevails in societies where ties between individuals are weak and everyone is responsible only for himself or for the closest family members. In societies with a predominance of the collectivist mentality, relationships are based on family morality, a sense of duty, the predominance of the interests of the team over personal ones, and loyalty. In such cultures, the individual is integrated almost from birth into stable groups that continue to protect him throughout his life in exchange for loyalty to this group.

Hierarchical distance (I/D index) is the distance between members of society at different levels of the hierarchy. The hierarchical distance index measures a society's tolerance for social inequality, that is, the unequal distribution of power between higher and lower members of the social system. The degree of distance shows the attitude of subordinates to the authorities of the leaders. Cultures with a high index are hierarchical, power in some cultures may be hereditary. In such cultures, for example in Latin America, the organization is built on the principle of a pyramid and the centralization of power is necessary. Here there is a significant difference between members of society, standing at different social levels, and a difference in privileges, which are taken by members of society for granted. In countries with a low index, the picture is reversed.

Degree of uncertainty avoidance (I/R index) is the degree to which risk is avoided or pursued. Uncertainty control is a highly culturally determined trait and indicates to what extent the members of a given cultural community are programmed to be free to act in unstructured non-routine situations.