The Concept of Motivation across Cultures - Essay Example

?Executive summary The concept of motivation across cultures varies and many people often view it as quite complex since it is closely related to howthe organisations often operate. During the current period, it can be seen that there is migration of labour and multinational organisations can establish business in different countries across the globe but of notable concern is that employees from these different regions have different cultural values. Motivating different people with different cultural values is often not an easy feat. Leaders who are effective are expected to know the relationship between motivation and culture in a bid to understand their employees’ needs as well as goals. Against this background, this case study seeks to establish the effectiveness of motivation across cultures using theories such as those of Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner; Hofstede or Hall or other suitable cultural theories to solve the problems likely to be faced by Google. The case study content will be highlighted first where the client is described in detail and key terms will be described in detail and these include motivation as well as culture. The overview of the situation will be discussed in detail and the last part will specifically focus on suggestions about recommendations as well as solutions about how a team leader might use these theories to motivate their employees. Terms of reference In my capacity as a human resources consultant, Google Inc has approached me to offer advice about how it can improve its operations with regards to motivation of its employees across cultures. Basically, Google Inc is a multinational public company that specialises computer services and internet search corporation based in California. According to its official website, Google operates one of the biggest internet search engines in the world and it develops a number of internet based services and products. The organisation operates more than one million severs in data centers around the world and it has more than 200 000 employees worldwide. Against this background, they have approached me to offer advice about how they can improve their operations across cultures given that they operate in different countries with diverse cultures in a bid to ensure that these employees are satisfied with their work. The organisation is primarily concerned with obtaining information about how the leaders can motivate their employees across cultures. The concept of motivation plays a very pivotal role in as far as viability of the organisation is concerned. Employees form the back bone of each organisation given that they are the ones who actually perform all the work. In this given case, the leaders of Google ought to know that there is every need to satisfy the needs of the employees for their own good with regards to growth of the organisation. Motivation in this case is not only limited to financial gains but it extends to include other psychological benefits. These will help create a sense of belonging to the organisation whereby retention of key staff can be possible. In this regard, this client has consulted me with the main aim of ensuring that the company continues to grow since it is their aim. The organisation is also concerned with establishing the impact of culture on its operations. Operating in diverse cultural backgrounds is not an easy feat given that people from different countries have different values that determine the way they behave. These values ought to be taken into consideration the reason why Google has sought advice from an expert in this area. Different people have different values and these ought to be taken into consideration so as to ensure that the organisation achieves its goal of remaining a leading internet service provider globally. Culture also plays a pivotal role in an organisation as it is mainly concerned with establishing the expected standards of operation within the organisation. The leaders of Google have also approached me to get information about leadership in the organisation as this plays a critical role in influencing the other employees to put maximum performance in their operations. The viability of every organisation is determined by the leadership style that is used. The leaders play a pivotal role in motivating the members of their team the reason why this client has approached me to seek advice on how best they can implement leadership styles that will be accommodative to the other employees in the organisation regardless of cultural background. Overview of the situation It is envisaged that there may be no universal agreement on deciding what constitutes organisational culture. By virtue of coming from different backgrounds, it is anticipated that there may be no common understanding especially when it comes to deciding the values that can be incorporated as organisational culture. In cases like this, different people will have different values which can make it a bit challenging to reach a decision about the values that can be incorporated as organisational culture. The level of understanding among people from different cultural backgrounds may not be uniform which is one of the problems likely to be encountered as far as the aspect of organisational culture is concerned. People operating from different countries may have different perceptions about how the organisation should operate which needs concerted efforts on part of the leadership. The other problem envisaged in this case is the aspect of choosing the leadership. Given that Google Inc operates in different countries, it may not be very easy to identify the people with requisite leadership styles. It is anticipated that there may be problems in as far as decentralisation of power is concerned. Some people may lack the leadership styles that are expected especially for a global company like Google Inc. The other problem envisaged is that of implementation of the values that will be promulgated to constitute organisational culture. People from different backgrounds may not share the same understanding of issues related to culture which may make it a bit difficult for the leaders to implement the goals that will be set for the organisation. Situation analysis The acronym SWOT stands for strengths and weaknesses of an organisation’s internal position and threats and opportunities that exist in the external environment. SWOT analysis is mainly regarded as a tool that is used to scan the internal and external environment in which the organisation operates (Strydom 2003). Basically, SWOT stands for strengths (S), weaknesses (W) which are internal factors while on the other hand the external environmental factors are regarded as either opportunities (O) or threats (T). SWOT analysis is based on the assumption that effective leaders ought to capitalise on the strengths and opportunities available to the organisation while at the same time minimising the weaknesses and threats that may exist to the organisation (Thompson & Strickland 2001 as cited in Rossouw & Kruger 2003:17). The major strength for Google Inc is that of increasing market share as far as internet services are concerned. It can be noted that the organisation’s global operations are continuing to grow steadily. Its search engine has got some handsome features that make it one of the best search engines to use given that any information in different language can be easily accessed. This is a major strength given that it can be used by diverse people regardless of their language. Any information can be translated so as to meet the requirements of the users of the search engine. The other major strength is that it covers a lot of subjects and this makes it possible to search for any information. The website is very secure and it is practically impossible to access information that is secured by the owner. The other strength that comes with Google is that it has got its own email service and this is very fast and efficient compared to the other service providers. The other strength for Google is that its servers can carry a lot of information in different forms. Besides information in the form of text, audio as well as videos can be accessed from this search engine. Communication is made relatively easy through the use of the services offered by Google. Though to a lesser extent, one notable weakness of Google is that it mainly relies on revenue generated from the advertisements posted on its website. The source of income is not very strong which may be problematic in its operations. There is need for Google to establish the core source of reliable generation of revenue. The other weakness that can b e noted is that by virtue of operating in different geographical regions, the organisation may not be able to standardise its operations to be uniform. This can be problematic in providing services that satisfy the need of all the targeted consumers. The major opportunity for Google is that online services are getting very popular by each passing day hence the organisation is poised for continual growth. Through offering online services, it is easier for the organisation in question to facilitate all the transactions online regardless of the geographical location. It is also easy to reach a lot of people instantaneously regardless of geographical distance that may exist between people. The other opportunity is that workers can do their work wherever they may be as long as they are online and in some instances, they may not need to be physically in office. This is a great opportunity for enterprising workers who can be innovative in order to continually develop the website. The major threat noted here is that this organisation does not operate in isolation and does not enjoy the monopoly of being the sole search engine service provider. There are other players in the field such as Yahoo, MSN as well as others. These players also provide equally the same services which mean that there is competition. As noted, this organisation generates its revenue through advertisements which means that it has to compete for more customers in order for it to remain viable. Each and every organisation has to gain a competitive advantage so as to remain viable especially against the other rival competitors. If not carefully planned, competition can always pose a threat to the viability of the organisation. It is thus the duty of this organisation to continually scan the environment so as to be better positioned to know the needs of the consumers as a way of waivering the negative impacts of competition. Recommendations and solutions Need to create accommodative culture I strongly believe that the culture of the organisation plays a pivotal role in ensuring that the employees are satisfied with their job. “Corporate culture is the pattern of shared beliefs, attitudes, assumptions and values in an organisation which shape the way people act and interact and strongly influences the ways in which things get done,” (Armstrong 1994). The leadership style of Google should show that it is influenced by the culture of the organisation which spells the standard operations that are expected in an organisation. In essence, corporate culture reflects the beliefs shared by the members of the organisation, their attitude as well as values and these influence the way things are done in the organisation (Armstrong 1994). One of the most renowned researchers in the field of culture and cultural differences is Geert Hofstede who conducted a classical survey involving 160 000 IBM employees in 40 different countries (Scheider & Barsoux 1997 as cited in Schultz et al 2005). He identified four value dimensions in which the countries differed and these include the following: power distance which is concerned with how power is distributed, uncertainty avoidance which talks about how uncertainty is found to be uncomfortable, individualism/collectivism which is concerned with the extent to which people make their decisions as well as masculinity/femininity. Different countries use different values and it is the duty of the leaders to ensure that they know the cultural values used in particular countries they will be operating in. The leaders should also know that culture is dynamic and should ensure that they take into consideration these changes as they will have a bearing on the operations of the organisation. Fons Trompenaars also conducted a similar in 28 countries and 15 000 managers included in the survey. He included five dimensions: universalism vs. particularism, neutral vs. affective, specific vs. diffuse, individualism vs. collectivism as well as achievement vs. ascription (Robins, Odendaal & Roodt 2001). These values differ in different countries. It is imperative for the above mentioned organisation to take into consideration the value system of the local people since they are the ones who will be employed by this organisation. If an organisation fails to consider these, this can negatively impact on its operations since the policies may not be compatible with the values of the local people. As a result of the advent of new information and communication technology, it can be noted that we are now living into what is commonly referred to as a global village. Globalisation has also made it possible for different organisations to operate in different countries whereby knowledge transfer is promoted. Thus, it is recommended that the managers at Google should be capable of working with people from different cultures since their values differ. In this case, the culture must be that every employee must be given the opportunity to say something important to as a way of promoting the success of the company. Accommodative culture is very effective in as far as leadership is concerned because it creates a sense of belongingness to the organisation among the members. If they have the autonomy to contribute to the decisions that affect their daily operations, then they will be in a position to identify with the organisation since they will be part of it. Motivation The areas of HR practice that should be standardised at Google mainly include the key issues related to pay, training as well as working conditions as these complement each other and determine the effectiveness of the organisation’s performance towards achieving its goals while at the same time satisfying the needs of the workers. The human resources approach posits that organisational goals and human needs are mutual and compatible: one set need not be gained at the expense of the other (Carell et al 1995). In most cases, these elements are interrelated and they often affect the function of human resources management. Google should ensure that the aspect of remuneration is standardised so as to ensure that the organisation operates as a homogenous entity. Employees are mainly motivated by the financial gains they will get for working hence there is need to have a standard global policy which clearly spells the structure of the salary schemes for workers who occupy the same position regardless of being based in different geographical locations. It defies logic to have employees doing the same job getting different salaries as these work for the same organisation though in different regions. Basically, motivation is loosely defined as the incentive that is given to the employee as a way of trying to positively improve his performance so as to encourage productivity and growth of the company (Robins, Odendaal & Roodt 2001). Some motivators often reflect the needs of the employees where it is the duty of a superior person in the management to understand the needs of individuals. Content theories of motivation in this case, posit to the effect that the needs of the individuals must be given priority since they are related with satisfaction from doing a particular job. On the other hand, process theories are concerned with the satisfaction derived after accomplishing especially a challenging job (Carrell et al 1995). So it is recommended that the leaders at Google should seriously consider motivation as an option in order to ensure viability of the organisation. Every employee is motivated by the amount of money he gets as pay hence there should be no need for workers occupying similar positions to have different salaries. On the other hand, this would also not strain the fiscus of the organisation since the payments will be determined by a scale that would not disadvantage other workers. Issues of payment should be determined by the head office so as to ensure that the organisation remains profitable. It can thus be noted that it is a noble idea to have a standard salary scale that is determined by the global operations of Google. Motivation is concerned with goal-directed behaviour (Armstrong 1994). People are motivated to do something if they think it is worth their while to do it and in this case of Google, people can motivate themselves by seeking, finding and carrying out work which satisfies their needs or at least leads them to expect their goals to be achieved. It is also recommended that the employees should be involved in decision making process as a way of motivating them and some of them must be given the autonomy to make decisions. This will give them a sense of responsibility. Leadership Through the supporting style of leadership, the employees are motivated by various factors hence it is recommended that the leaders must be supportive to their employees (Wener 2007). They should be given the opportunity to be part of the decision making process whereby a leader will mainly be concerned with maintaining effective relationships among the members of the group. Achieving the organisational task requires concerted efforts of all the members in the organisation so that the chances of having conflicts will be minimal. If they have the autonomy to contribute to the decisions that affect their daily operations, then they will be in a position to identify with the organisation since they will be part of it. At Google Inc, it can be noted that the organisation has offices around the world and it should strive to create a positive working environment by hiring talented, local people who share the organisation’s vision and goals. Armstrong (1994) posits to the effect that the type of leadership and success as a leader depends to a large extent on the situation and the leader’s ability to understand it and act accordingly. The situation comprises the nature of the task, the impact of the organisation such as its policies, culture and environment, the degree to which the situation is structured, sort of the people working in the organisation as well as the authority the leader has. The performance of a group, as Fiedler pointed out, is related to both the leadership style and the degree to which the situation provides the leader with the opportunity to exert influence (Armstrong 1994). It is recommended that the supporting style is best for Google whereby the employees are given the opportunity to be part of the decision making process. This encourages the maintenance of relationships among the employees. Achieving an organisational task is not an overnight event but it is a process that requires concerted efforts of all the members in the organisation so that the chances of having conflicts will be minimal. If there is peace and harmony in the organisation, there will be likely chances of coordination among the members of that particular organisation which makes the task of leading relatively easy. Conclusion Over and above, it can be noted that the concept of motivation across cultures varies from place to place. People from different cultures have different perceptions that motivate themselves at their work. It has been recommended that leaders at Google should be accommodative to different cultural values as well as try to motivate their employees as much as possible. Bibliography Amos T.L. et al (2008). Human Resources Management. 3rd Edition. JUTA Armstrong M. (1994). Improving organisational effectiveness. London. Kogan Page. Becker, B. & Gerhart, B. (1996). The impact of human resources management on organisational performance: Progress and Prospects. 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