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Chapter 14
Cultural
Influences
Cultural Influences
• Every organization exists in an external
culture and perpetuates its own internal
culture
Organizational Culture
• The shared values and norms that exist in
an organization that are taught to
incoming employees
• Involves common beliefs and feelings,
regularities in behavior, historical process
for transmitting values and norms
– “The way we do things around here”
Organizational Culture (cont.)
• Rituals and stories play key roles in
maintaining organizational cultures
• Stories or myths may convey beliefs of
company’s founder, or other major values
Measurement and Change
of Organizational Culture
• Discuss it with a motivated insider
• Observe it as an employee
• Survey employees
Creation and Maintenance of
Organizational Culture
• There are at least four influences
• Beliefs and values of the organization’s
founder
• Societal norms of firm’s native/host
country
Creation and Maintenance of
Org. Culture (cont.)
• Problems of external adaptation and
survival
• Problems of internal integration
Creation and Maintenance of
Org. Culture (cont.)
• Reinforcement of culture can be best
understood by knowing:
– What managers consider important; what
they measure and control
– The manner in which top management
reacts to crises and critical events
– Deliberate role modeling provided by
managers
Creation and Maintenance of
Org. Culture (cont.)
– Criteria for distributing rewards and status
– Criteria for hiring, firing, promotion
A Framework for
Understanding Organizational
Culture
• According to Smith and Vecchio, origin,
maintenance, and modification of culture
can be understood in terms of the six
central concepts:
– Critical decisions of the entrepreneur or
founding members
– Guiding ideas and mission
– Social structure
A Framework for
Understanding Organizational
Culture (cont.)
– Norms and values
– Remembered history and symbolism
– Institutionalized arrangements
Studies of Organizational
Culture
• Indicate that applicants with greater “fit”
to the organization’s value system may
experience greater commitment and job
satisfaction and less turnover
• Dominant culture
• Subcultures
• Strong culture
Cross-Cultural Research
• Explores the differences and similarities
among members of different societal
cultures
• Cultural Differences
• Dimensions of cultural differences
• Japanese management
Cultural Differences
• Research on pace of life in various
countries suggest that Westerners have
fairly precise measures of time and a
stronger concern for punctuality than
most other people
– Monochronic style individuals focus on one
thing at a time; characteristic of USA
Cultural Differences
(cont.)
– Polychronic style individuals focus on
several things at one time; characteristics of
Latin American countries
• Research has shown that countries differ
significantly in terms of interpersonal
trust
Cultural Differences
(cont.)
• Managers often have many common
views on business-related activities
regardless of national affiliation
• Clusters of similarities are found in some
groupings of countries, e.g., United
States, Canada, Australia, Britain hold
fairly similar attitudes
Cultural Differences
(cont.)
• Clusters of countries often differ on
attitudes toward sharing information and
belief that individuals have capacity for
leadership and initiative
• Americans object to elitist conduct and
class distinction, while in many other
countries social rank is readily invoked
Dimensions of Cultural
Differences
•
•
•
•
Power-distance
Avoidance of uncertainty
Individualism v. Collectivism
Masculinity v. Femininity
Japanese Management
• Characterized by consensus in decision
making, commitment of workers to the
organizations that employs them, and
rewards based on seniority, rather than
on merit
• Focus on productivity and quality
– Reliance on informal approach to controlling
behavior of employees
Japanese Management
(cont.)
– Japan’s industrial strength lies in only a few
areas, e.g, machine tools, steel, and
automobiles
– Many students of Japanese management feel
it’s not reasonable to think in terms of
transplanting many features of Japanese
management into the US
Components of Japanese
Management
•
•
•
•
•
•
Informal control of employees
Consensus seeking
Emphasis on quality and production
Commitment to the worker
Intensive socialization
Slow evaluation and promotion
Doing Business Overseas
• Integration of the world economy is
increasing and has produced a large
demand for internationally skilled
managers
• First step in learning to relate with
people from other cultures, it is useful to
consider how we are seen by others
Doing Business Overseas
(cont.)
• Functioning as a manger in another
country requires an understanding of the
traditions, customs, and business
practices of the host country
Tips on doing business in:
•
•
•
•
Latin America
East Asia (Japan, Korea, China)
Russia
Middle East
Latin America
• Few people rush into business
• Men and women still congregate into
separate groups at social functions
• Latin Americans stand more closely to
each other than North Americans when
in conversation
• Men may embrace
Latin America (cont.)
• Guests are expected to arrive late, with
exception of American guests
• Little concern about deadlines
• Machismo - expectation that businessmen
will display forcefulness, self-confidence,
leadership with flourish
• Fatalism
East Asia
• Japan, Korea, China
• Meetings devoted to pleasantries; serving
tea, engaging in chitchat
• Seniors and elders command respect
• Consciously use slow down techniques as
bargaining ploys
• Business cards should be bilingual
Russia
• Protocol-conscious
• Do business only with highest ranking
executives
• Appear stiff and dull
• More expressive in private than in public
• Hard to draw up contracts due to
language barriers
Russia (cont.)
• Have no advertising experience
Middle East
• Prefer to act through trusted third
parties
• Personal honor given high premium
• Avoid shame
• Fatalism
• Emotionally expressive
• Intense eye contact
Middle East (cont.)
• Guests should avoid discussing politics,
religion, host’s family and personal
professions
Methods of Cross-Cultural
Training
• Created to teach members of one culture
ways of interacting effectively with
another
• Programs vary from lectures and
readings to role-playing exercises,
simulations, and practice in functioning
within the host country itself
Methods of Cross-Cultural
Training (cont.)
• Two techniques of cross-cultural training
– Culture Assimilator
– Simulation
Culture Assimilator
• Designed by social scientists at the
University of Illinois under the direction
of Harry Triandis
• Culture-specific
• Provides the learner with immediate
feedback on his/her response to a
hypothetical situation
Culture Assimilator (cont.)
• Not only tells whether response is correct or
not, but also gives an explanation regarding
why it is correct or is not correct
• Has been studied extensively, possibly more
than any other cross-cultural training
method
• Data suggests that it reduces interpersonal
and adjustment problems between trainees
and members of the host country
Simulation
• A situation is created through which
individuals experience certain elements
of behavior they may encounter in
another country
• Learning is primarily inductive
• Role-play to learn (example is the game
Bafa, Bafa)
Simulation (cont.)
• Post-role-playing debriefing helps
learners understand their own and
others’ behavior
• Participants are led to realize that fully
understanding the subtleties of another
culture requires experience
Simulation (cont.)
• Participants learn that:
– what is accepted as sensible and reasonable
in one country may seem irrational or
unimportant to an outsider
– Differences among people are often seen as
potentially threatening
– Stereotyping is a fairly natural process