Intercultural Communication for Managers

CHAPTER 2

Social Organization

Institutions and structures tend to reinforce social values.

Different cultures exhibit different social behaviors—for instance, the way people dress, their facial expressions, and how they greet each other. These behaviors are reflections of the different ways in which societies are organized.

The behavioral differences are easy to see, but the social forces that shape them are hard to overcome. Institutions and structures like governments, schools, families, and businesses tend to reinforce social values, as well as the consensus of a group of people that certain behaviors carry certain values. Because these institutions are different the world over, they are by nature artificial. But the imposed and artificial ...