WESTERN CULTURE

Western Culture

Western Culture: The Sony Ericsson alliance

Introduction

Culture is most simply defined as "the way we do things around here". It can be defined at a point in time, and is the mix of many components. The most important of these is the values and beliefs that are promulgated by the most senior people in the organization; to this we can add history, processes and procedures, mission and objectives, educational programmes and so on. The local culture that exists is, in addition to the nature of these factors applied to itself, influenced also by the:

"Parent" or corporate culture

Industry sector

Respective national culture

Analysis

In Sweden, a certain competitive nature remains within individuals, however, since it is permissible to be better, provided that this is not displayed, but all actualities is banned, as are sanctions and punishments. The spirit of social solidarity is very developed and it is one essential component of this morality, in conjunction with ideological options, social democracy and elements of the national culture. The welfare state has substituted itself for families and individuals and has promoted the social uniformity that today is known in Sweden. Swedish managers are very professional and do not admit to amateurism; respecting delays, punctuality, rigor, the work ethic and good citizenship are thus the norm. Swedish rationalism and pragmatism are founded on fundamental Protestant values. It follows that there is much rigor and structure in daily life. Swedes are efficient; they keep to their deadlines and contracts. They are organized and disciplined, sometimes to the point of rigidity. In business, they have integrity and are loyal. Swedes like rules and respect them. Swedes are solid, realistic and oriented towards results. The Swedes are proud of the quality of their products. Concerning technical aspects, they know how to innovate. It is said that they are more interested ...