Page 37 - Cultures and Organizations

22 THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE

questionnaires related to their culture) are also mostly collected through
national networks. Where it is possible to separate results by regional,
ethnic, or linguistic group, this is useful.
A strong reason for collecting data at the level of nations is that one of
the purposes of cross-cultural research is to promote cooperation among
nations. As argued at the beginning of this chapter, the (more than two
hundred) nations that exist today populate one single world, and we either
survive or perish together. So, it makes practical sense to focus on cultural
factors separating or uniting nations.

National Identities, Values, and Institutions

Countries and regions differ in more than their cultures. Figure 1.4 distin-
guishes three kinds of differences between countries: identity, values, and
institutions, all three rooted in history. Identity answers the question “To
which group do I belong?” It is often rooted in language and/or religious

affiliation, and it is visible and felt both by the holders of the identity and
by the environment that does not share it. Identity, however, is not a core
part of national cultures; in the terminology of Figure 1.2, identity dif-
ferences are rooted in practices (shared symbols, heroes, and rituals), not
necessarily in values.
Identities can shift over a person’s lifetime, as happens among many
successful migrants. A common experience for second-generation immi-
grants is to identify with their country of origin while they live in the

FIGURE 1.4 Sources of Differences Between Countries and Groups

History

Identity Values Institutions
language software of rules, laws,
religion the minds organizations
visible invisible visible