Introduction

Our group has chosen Chapter 3 which is Differences of Culture in the text book of

international business to relate with the Shanghai Knights movie. In this chapter, we will explore

how differences in culture across within countries can affect international business.

The simplest way to think about culture is to think about the distinction

between nature (our biology and genetics) and nurture (our environment and surroundings that

also shape our identities). Because of our biology and genetics, we have a particular form and we

have certain abilities. But our biological nature does not exclusively determine who we are. For

that, we need culture. Culture is the non-biological or social aspects of human life, basically

anything that is learned by humans is part of culture.

Several themes run through this chapter. The first theme is that business success in a

variety of countries requires cross-cultural literacy. By cross-cultural literacy, we mean an

understanding of how cultural differences across and within nations can affect the way business

is practiced. In these days of global communications, rapid transportation, and worldwide

markets, when the era of the global village seems just around the corner, it is easy to forget just

how different various cultures really are.

For example, in China, guanxi, or personal business relationship, are central to getting

business done. More generally, in this chapter, we shall argue that it is important for foreign

businesses to gain an understanding of the culture that prevails in those countries where they do

business, and that success requires a foreign enterprise to adapt to the culture of its host country.

Another theme developed in this chapter is that a relationship may exist between culture

and the cost of doing business in a country or region. Different cultures are more or less

supportive of the capitalist mode of production and may increase or lower the costs of doing

business.

For example, some observers have argued that cultural factors lowered the costs of doing

business in Japan and helped to explain Japan’s rapid economic ascent during the 1960s, 70s,

and 80s.

What is Culture?

Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values,

attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the

universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of

generations through individual and group striving.

Besides that, some viewing culture as a system of values and norms that are shared

among a group of people and that when taken together constitute a design for living. By values

we mean abstract ideas about what a group believes to be good, right, and desirable. By norms

we mean the social rules and guidelines that prescribe appropriate behavior in particular

situations. We shall use the term society to refer to a group of people who share a common set of

values and norms. While a society may be equivalent to a country, some countries harbor several

societies. For example, they support multiple cultures, and some societies embrace more than

one country.

For the Shanghai Knights movies, we can find some situation which can relate with the

differences in culture. The Chinese culture and Americans culture are involving in the story of

the movie. Although this movies is in full English story, that is not impossible for director to use

two differences in culture for their story.

Social Structure

A society’s social structure refers to its basic social organization. Although social

structure consists of many different aspects, two dimensions are particularly important when

explaining differences between cultures. The first is degree to which the basic unit of social

organization is the individual, as opposed to the group. In general, Western societies tend to

emphasize the primacy of the individual, whereas groups tend to figure much larger in many

other societies.

The second dimension is the degree to which a society is stratified into classes or castes.

Some societies are characterized by a relatively high degree of social stratification and relatively

low mobility between strata. Beside that, other societies are characterized by a low degree of

social stratification and high mobility between strata.

Social structure in Chinese culture

The social structure in Chinese culture that can relate with the situation in the Shanghai

Knights movie is about marriage and family. The situation in minute 3:15 is when Chon Lin

(Fann Wong) is drinking tea with her father, the Keeper of the Imperial Seal of China. She

tells him her brother, Chon Wang (Jackie Chan), is doing well as a sheriff in Carson City,

Nevada, United States, but her father replies that her brother is dead to him. 

This is because the Chinese put a tremendous emphasis on lineage and family ties. Some

families can trace their descent back over centuries. For men, carrying on the family name by

having sons is a major goal. Many men, especially firstborn sons, remain at home with their

parents in order to care for them in old age. Even married couples often live with parents.

Many young couples consult matchmakers in order to find a mate. Once a woman is married,

she is expected to join her husband's family and often moves under the same roof as her in-

laws.

Social structure in American culture

The social structure in American culture that can relate with the situation in the Shanghai

Knights movie is about social responsibility. The situation in minutes 22:20 is when Wang

tells Roy about his father, and Roy swears to help Wang reclaim the seal. Roy wants to go

ahead and find Wang’s dad murderer and to get his seal back. Roy also talking about his

friendship, loyalty and honor towards his best friend, Wang. This is because when

individuals and organizations say they are motivated by social responsibility, they are

referring to a feeling of ethical obligation to act in ways that benefit society. 

Furthermore, in minutes 01:27:50, it also shown about social responsibility, is when

Wang finds Wu Chow and Lin as well who is gagged with her hands tied behind her and her

feet tied up tightly with rope on the fireworks barge, he kills Liu with a pulley, unties Lin,

and dismantles Wu's plan. Wang comes on the time and Lin safely from killed by Wu people.

However, Wu Chow proves himself to be an accomplished martial artist, surpassing

Wang in skill, but Lin arrives in time to kill him with a fireworks rocket and save Wang.

Artie and Roy, who have found their way into the Houses of Parliament, confront Rathbone,

who shoots Artie with a Derringer. Roy and Wang pursue Rathbone up into Big Ben, where

they engage him in a sword fight. Although Lin is only a female, she has high level

responsibility to save Wang, his brother in the sword fight.

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/social-culture-china-16258.html

http://kaleidoscope.cultural-china.com/en/188Kaleidoscope7347.html

http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/american_culture.html