Managing Across Cultures - Essay Example

?Managing Across Cultures Table of Contents Overview 3 Models of Cultural Dimension 3 Hofstede Model 3 Hall Model 7 Inglehart Model 8 European Values Study 8 Strength and Weaknesses of Hofstede and Trompenaars Model 9 Biasness of Hofstede’s and Trompenaars Model 10 Usefulness of the Models 10 Critical Discussion and Comparison of the Models 11 Realistic Possibilities for Expatriate Managers 13 Motivation across Culture 13 Leadership across Culture 14 Usefulness of Training for Expatriates 17 Criteria Requirements for Working in Multi-Cultural Teams and Developing Intercultural Relationships 18 Lessons Drawn From Tutorials and Discussion in Class 19 Raising of Multi Cultural Awareness 19 Reducing of Stereotyping 20 20 Conclusion 21 References 22 Bibliography 25 Overview The method and practice of management differ from region to region. The managerial behaviour which is productive in one culture may not be fruitful for different culture. Understanding cross cultural differences has become important for managers to manage the different cultures (Cambridge University Press, 2011). Models of Cultural Dimension Hofstede Model Geert Hofstede cultural dimension theory was introduced in 1993. While working in international business it becomes essential to understand the different cultures of the people and based on this various decision can be taken. In this theory different management concept and practices in different countries has been evaluated by analysing five dimensions of culture. Power Distance: It is the extent to which inequality between the powers of the people of a country is distributed. High power distance based cultures are generally hierarchical in nature in which everybody is placed. Low power distance culture implies equalisation of power and wants justification of power inequalities when it occurs. France and India are examples of countries that are high in power distance. The Netherlands is a country that is low in power distance. Individualism versus Collectivism: In individualism, person and his rights and duties are more important in an individual environment than a group. In a collective environment, the vital loyalties are that people are born in strong family or tribal communities. Masculinity versus Femininity: The masculinity dimensions calculated the different role played by men and women in a definite culture. It has been found that men are considered violent and competitive, whereas women are supposed to be gentle and are concerned with home and family. Uncertainty Avoidance: It defines the point at which a value of the culture is predictable in nature and whether the people assume new ideas as risky or challenge. Hofstede finds that people who prefer to avoid uncertainty believe in the rules that are made to be followed. They should be with the organisation for a lifetime and for this uncertainty level there is stressful life. Japan is an example of a country that is high in uncertainty avoidance. India and the US are examples of countries that are low in uncertainty avoidance. Long-Term Orientation versus Short-Term Orientation: It is the cultural attribute that focuses on whether people is focussed on long term benefit such as saving money for the future or on the short term basis that like abide by the various social responsibility and traditions (Changing Minds, 2011). Source: (Designed for Africa, 2010). While working overseas in different countries with different people, at first their national culture with these dimensions is to be evaluated. Hofstede’s theory demonstrates that with one or more of the dimension all the countries are different in certain way or the other from each other. Trompenaars Model Trompenaars is a Dutch culturalist who has introduced international culture. In this model major dimension of person versus task and centralised versus decentralised have been determined. The various cultural dimension of this model are: Universalism vs. Particularism: The high universalism culture stress on formal rules and contracts to their individual circumstances. Particularism emphasises on relationship and trust. Communitarism vs. Individualism: In strong communication cultures people belong to a group, whereas in strong individualism people considered themselves as individuals. Neutral vs. Emotional: In high neutral culture emotions are not expressed in interpersonal communication whereas in high emotional culture there is free expression of emotions in business situation. Specific vs. Diffuse: In specific culture there is distinction between work and private life and in diffuse culture work and private life are interlinked. Achievement versus Ascription: In achievement culture, status and position are provided to the people with good performance. In ascription oriented culture status is provided on the basis of certain characteristics such as age, gender, status and so on (Gooderham & Nordhaug, 2003). While working with different people from overseas culture, this dimension has to be determined for analysing the various cultures of the countries. Hall Model Edward T. Hall in 1976 introduced cross cultural analysis. He argue that people interpret and create message for sharing information which link members of the cultural groups with each other and their influences in maintaining relationships. This model is based on high context and low context cultures. High context culture: People of high context culture depend on their experience and analysis. Agreement is done verbally rather than written statement. In the organisation insiders and outsiders can be distinguished easily because insiders are the first members of the organisation and foreigners are considered as outsiders. Cultural model are fixed and do not change easily. Low Context Cultures: Low context members are less involved in relation making. The agreement is done through written statement rather than verbally. Insiders and outsiders cannot be distinguished easily, thus it is easy to adjust to that surroundings. The patterns of culture are changed rapidly. Higher context cultures are found in Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Middle East and other Asian countries. Cultures with lower context are found in USA, Germany and Scandinavian countries (Mead & Andrews, 2009). Inglehart Model Inglehart in 1990 analyse the model of culture. This model reflects on the change mechanism in the value system. Cultural change towards modernisation helped Inglehart to predict the cultural shift from materialistic to post materialistic values. The determined work analyses the variation in religious belief, motivation for work and other political conflicts. He argues that economic development, political and cultural change of a society is consistent and predictable in nature (Fuchs & Zielonka, 2006). GLOBE Project The goal of the ‘GLOBE Project’ was to develop organisational and societal method of culture and power of leaders that are needed for all cultures. In this project, it has been found that cultural differences influence the thinking of the people about their leaders and various rules regarding the status, authority and rights approved for the leaders (Robert & Et. Al., n.d). European Values Study The European Values Study (EVS) is an extensive, cross-national and longitudinal survey that is based on human values and was started by European Value System Study Group in the late seventies. The survey was conducted to investigate that in changing time ‘how nature and inter-relationship of value systems and their degree of homogeneity changes (Schaik & Et. Al., 2002). The questionnaire for EVS has been developed to determine the fundamental value orientations in significant aspects of life such as socio-economic life, politics, religion, leisure time, work, and morality (Schaik & Et. Al., 2002). Strength and Weaknesses of Hofstede and Trompenaars Model Hofstede model is applicable for several countries. The four dimensions provide significant comparison between different national cultures. Other cultural study cannot provide much detail about the nation’s culture. This model is based on the large sample. This model is applicable only to those countries those have strong subculture based on ethnicity of origin or geography and the Cultures are vibrant. There may be technical problems in Hofstede research model. The meaning of the dimension may vary depending on the culture of various nations. The research study is confined to a single industry (Hollensen & Banerjee, 2009). Trompenaars model is challenging because there are different cultural dimension. Many countries appear to be individualistic (Hollensen & Banerjee, 2009). Biasness of Hofstede’s and Trompenaars Model Though Hofstede’s model is accepted uncritically, many successive research studies found that the model is not realistic. Many researchers have commented that the tools and techniques which are being used to make this outlines have limited scope and it is stereotyping to generalise about the different nation as individual differ from this model. It has also been found that the workers of different countries working in an identical organisation vary in their behavioural pattern. The British are bureaucratic and supportive to each other but the French are individualistic in their attitude. The survey related to Hofstede’s work is limited to IBM employees. The survey of Trompenaars is also related to this category. Changes occur in cultures with passage of time. Thus, their study cannot detect the cultural change of the nations (Johnson & Turner, 2009). Usefulness of the Models Hall model is useful to understand the communication of different cultures in different ways. It also explains the difference of environment between the family companies in high context Southeast Asian cultures from the identical family in low context Anglo cultures. Hofstede model made comparison between different national cultures. Therefore, this model is useful for analysing the cultures with a large number of populations. It is also helpful for managers while creating and implementing managers’ structures and methods. Inglehart model is useful for analysing the culture of the societies from materialistic to the post materialistic and modernisation to the post modernisation period. The GLOBE project Research Program is useful to describe, predict, and understand the impact of cultural variables on leadership as well as organisational processes and also the success of these processes (Steers & Et. Al., 2010). Critical Discussion and Comparison of the Models Hofstede model provides details description of different cultures of the nations. No other culture has shown details of nation’s culture. Many countries are individualistic according to Trompenaars, but Hofstede doesn’t feel that all the countries are high in terms of power distance. Trompenaars found that German corporate culture is hierarchical whereas for Hofstede German culture is low in terms of power and Distance. Hofstede, Trompenaars and GLOBE projects are considered as extensive projects than other researches of culture (Schaik & Et. Al., 2002). Analysing the Problems With Respect to Two Different Cultures The working cultures of India and China has been considered to discuss the environment of different working cultures and the problem faced by the people in working place. A significant number of Indian companies are small family run business and the managers in the organisation at times can be emotional and develop bonds with the subordinates, peers and also superiors and recruitment and promotion are done based on the connections and loyalty. In China, firms are large in size with thousands of workers to small family run business. Managers are pragmatic, entrepreneurial and are fluent in their own culture as well as the foreign investor. Managers are young, have good qualification and working experience. In India employee’s position is determined by their attributed status which is derived from their caste, creed, gender, family background and achieved status originated from educational and professional field. Employees are motivated by the achievement of both group and individual performance. In China employees are hired by the personal contacts but here education has much importance. Person with higher education and working experience will be hired in spite of fewer contacts. Employees are motivated with their individual achievement rather than the group. Employees are paid less in China but are provided extra facilities such as housing, transportation, meals and others. Here decision making is hierarchical in nature and are taken by the past experiences. The tasks and duties are clearly assigned to the employees. For performing effectively in the competitive market the employees have moved away from the teamwork. Indian employees earn enough to sustain their standard of living even if they become unemployed. The decisions are taken by the senior officials in India and delegate duties to selected employees. Indians efficiently work within teams and are cooperative in nature. Thus, while working in different organisational culture in overseas market employees face various problems regarding work culture, managerial decision, and structure of the organisation planning and various other task of the organisation (Reed Elsevier, 2011). Realistic Possibilities for Expatriate Managers Global expansion has led the companies to hire staffs with strong cultural knowledge. Expatriate managers are sent abroad for overseas assignments, they meet with conflicts which may arise due to inter cultural differences between the host national and the expatriates. The companies in the global environment are facing challenges and strategies are implemented to educate the managers to help them succeed. Motivation across Culture Motivation is the way of engaging the individual to fulfil the activities and provides rewards in satisfying the need, but the performance of the individual and in which course of action he is receiving the rewards is based on different cultures of the nation. In case of behaviour of individual at work place various countries differ in their perception. For Indian workers, work is worship and is not just a means of living but in case of US workers it is just the opposite. The styles of management are useful motivator in the work culture. Americans are professional and friendly; Arabian manager are parental in nature, they provide personal attention and provide coaching; Japanese managers motivate the employees through counselling and advice. Individuals are motivated by the control of their workplace and their own performance. Americans prefer to be independent and be in control of their own; Japanese are motivated through group harmony and compromise; and Arabs want to be in control of others. Americans are motivated by the individual success rather than the materials possession. They are also motivated by the monetary rewards. Japanese are motivated by the rewards shared among groups such as bonuses, fringe benefits and so on. Arabs are motivated by the gifts they receive for them and their families. The tools of motivation reflect in the culture of different nation. American cultures are competitive, risk taking, self reliance and freedom. For Japanese culture group harmony, belonging and achievement are motivational tools. The Arab workers wants authority, reputation and social status and these are the tools for their motivation (Steers & Et. Al., 2010). Leadership across Culture Leadership is the ability to influence others in the work place to achieve goals. It can determine the success and failure of the organisation. The leader of an overseas nation must develop specialised skills and abilities. Managers are often advised to make foreign assignment. Successful global managers develop flexible ways of thinking about the world and guide to develop overseas behaviour and national boundaries. Learning foreign languages or foreign culture has become helpful to exist in the global organisation (Aswathappa, 2010). Assessment of the Value and Relevance of Training and Orientation Activities The cross cultural training is a valuable tool for the employees and the managers who are working in different countries. It is the challenge of the organisation to prepare the people to be expatriate employees for working in the nation other than the home countries. The main goal of this training is to develop competent managers who can deal in overseas assignments such as language training, cultural and business courses, mentoring, and expatriation for career approach. Cross cultural training helps to understand different cultural values, styles and customs of other country has a positive impact on the performance of the employees, their skills and adjustment in various situations of overseas culture. Few examples are highlighted to know the value of cross cultural training. Americans need more training before they have been placed in different nations. Training brings the employees up-to-date on new and enhanced skills of different working culture. Therefore, organisation must take every precaution to provide requisite training to the employees to be sent abroad (Silverthorne, 2005). Procedure of Preparing the Expatriates and Their Relatives Training is a critical factor for the success of the expatriates. Computer based programs are conducted which describe the various cross cultural incidents related to foreign country’s history, culture, economics, geography and institutions. The training is provided based on the process of negotiating with different culture, style of work with various types of clients and presentation techniques. Expatriates are provided special training programs based on stress management skills, cultural information, conflict resolution skills and emotional stability. Certain personal characteristics like extraversion and kindness need to be developed through training. Language skills, dress and appearance, relationship, food, eating habits, perceptual problems, work habits and practice, beliefs and attitudes are also taught through different methods to expatriates and their families. In America training is conducted for a short period of time for the employees only and not for the family members. In Japan training program is conducted in an elaborate way and special programs are planned for the spouses and other members belonging to the family (Silverthorne, 2005). Usefulness of Training for Expatriates It has become necessary to be familiar with the people and cultures of different countries while working in overseas organisation. The employees are faced with challenges to communicate and deal various problems of the organisation with other employees from different culture. The training program helps the employees to develop in various fields of cultural awareness, resolving ethical dilemmas, making managerial decisions, communication and negotiations and conflict resolution. It has been found that people learn by doing and various managerial skills can be adopted only through practice. The main purpose of ethical training is to make employee conscious of the issues and to solve those issues in a manner that is ethical. It helps the employees to recognise those decisions which are involved with ethics. Ethics training is valuable to apply code of ethics for setting business. The multicultural workers are asked to work collectively by cooperating and showing respect for the good of the organisation and the public they serve (Lankard, 1991). Negotiation is a vital communication skill. It focuses on the individual’s experience, position and ability while negotiating. Eye contact is a good way of communication as it describes ones confidence and capability. Training teaches the individuals the way of communication and the various criteria that need to be avoided during training. Training helps the managers to resolve any dispute or conflicts that may arise in the organisation through conflict resolution training (Rao, 2005). Criteria Requirements for Working in Multi-Cultural Teams and Developing Intercultural Relationships The success of working in various cultural teams depends on the skills and abilities of the multi task employees. The employees must be well conversant with at least one foreign language and can interact with people from different cultures. He must have experience in different cultures so that smooth relationship can be developed with people from diverse culture. He should be acquainted with how nations culture and social institution affecting the management process. The employees need to comprehend the cultural difference in the work place in order to train the subordinates for acquiring overseas knowledge. By taking benefit of cultural differences he can find the strength of the cultural groups (Aswathappa, 2010). Lessons Drawn From Tutorials and Discussion in Class It has been studied that how the manager of the organisation guide and train the employees who are to be sent overseas for different roles. The methods are followed by the organisation for training program of the employees in order that they can enhance their skill and ability while working abroad. It has also been studied that how the expatriates develop the skill to adopt themselves in cross cultural activities. Raising of Multi Cultural Awareness Organisations uphold a pluralistic culture by encouraging mutual respect, teamwork, acceptance and productivity among different people. It reflects contributions and interests among members belonging to diverse groups in operations, mission and product or service. Diversity in relation to human differences plays a significant part in the operation and culture of organisations. The culture of an organisation embraces customs, assumptions, values, norms, practices, beliefs, rules, arts and skills that describe and guide members (Smith & Et. Al., n.d.). Reducing of Stereotyping Stereotypes are related to a group of people with a distinct set of characteristics. It may be positive or negative, when different nationalities are at times stereotyped as friendly or unfriendly. It is comparatively easier to create stereotypes with constant attribute so that it can easily be recognised. That is why people of color, police and women are so easily stereotyped. Stereotyping can be reduced by using dissimilar languages to describe the activities or tasks. Risk for stereotypes arise in situations where descriptions of task highlight social identities stereotypically engaged with poor performance. Stereotype threat is primarily based on gender. It can be minimised by addressing the image related to gender-based performance differences within the context of diagnostic examination. The fairness of the test maintaining its diagnostic nature can lessen stereotype threat in several testing situation. The testing procedures include the short statement of the test; the diagnostic of fundamental mathematics ability is sex-fair or race-fair. Another mode for reducing the stereotype threat is to modify procedures that enhance the salience of stereotyped group memberships (Reducing Stereotype Threat, n.d.). Conclusion Globalization has led to increase in need for the organisations to adopt various countries’ culture. Therefore, the management across culture is a vital challenge for organisation and managers to prepare people to work in different organisation outside their own nation. 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