OB Accross Cultures

7/31/2019 OB Accross Cultures

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Managing

Organizations ina Global Economy


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The people of the world are organized into nations with its own

way, according to its recourses and heritages. There are some

similarities and differences among the nations. Understanding

these differences and how they influence organizational

behavior is aided by examination of following keys:

Social conditions

Legal and ethical conditions

Political conditions

Economic conditions


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In many countries the social condition is poorly developed , there are major

shortages of managerial personnel, scientists and technicians and these

deficiencies limit the ability to employ local labor . Needed skills must be

imported from other countries while the local workers will be prepared.

exp American nation welcomed an electronic assembly plant to its capital city .the

plant was labor- intensive, so the many jobs it provided reduce the nations high

unemployment rate. wages were above standards, working conditions were good

and the plant was environmentally clean. Additionally companys agreement with

the host nation stated that the company would supply a cadre of managers and

technicians to train local employees. local would gradually become supervisors,

technician and purchasing specialist and so on.


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As this example shows, the lending of skilled people to a nation fortraining their local may provide a more lasting benefit to its development

rather than lending of capital.

Training multiplier effect: is in action by which the loaned skilled people

developed others, and those trained locals become the nucleus for

developing more people.

Loanedskilledpeople

Localtrainers

Localtrainees


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In judicial systems, some countries practice rapid disposition of cases, in

other countries cases may drag on for years. Some countries condone the

practice of bribery as way of obtaining and retaining businesses others

strictly prohibit it.

Managers need to be aware of the possible differences in both laws and

ethical values that define acceptable and unacceptable behaviors in foreign

countries .

The managers in foreign countries need to become familiar with local

customers and practice .Applying their own personal and organizational

value system, their must then decide which behaviors are compatible with

both parties expectations and which are not. Finally ,they need to

recognize that the resolution of ethical issues is not always clear-cut.


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Political condition that have a significant effect on organizational behavior

include instability of government ,nationalistic drives, and subordination of

employers .

On the other hand ,a strong nationalistic drive may enforce local to desire to

run their country by themselves without interference by foreign nationals.


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Inflation makes the economic life of workers insecure. It encourages them tospend quickly before their money loses its value and this spending pattern

o the countrys inflationary problem.

Social unrest is compounded by enormous disagreement in the distribution of

wealth in these nations. The consequences are often varied; some workers

passively accept their situation, while others aggressively protest.

In conclusion ,by looking at the social, legal and ethical, political and

economic conditions we will find out that these conditions can restrain the

advanced technology and sophisticated organizational systems. They

constrain stability, security and trained human resources that developing

countries require to be more productive.


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There are five dimensions that accounted for the sharpest differences amongemployees including:

Individualism/collectivism

Power distance

Uncertainty avoidance

Masculinity/femininity

Time orientation


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Individualism/Collectivism: cultures that emphasize individualism tend toaccent individual rights and freedoms and place considerable attention on

self-respect whereas collectivism heavily accent the group and values

harmony among members. For example in US there is individualistic

culture(every person for him/her self) but Japan is collectivistic, with the

culture that can be characterized by the proverb:The nail sticks up getspounded down.

Power distance: refers to the belief which are strong and legitimate

decision-making rights separating managers and employees.


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Uncertainty avoidance: These employees prefer to avoid ambiguity at workand those who with high degree often prefer stability, security and clarity.

Masculinity/ Femininity: define gender roles in more traditional ways. In

addition, masculine societies evaluate assertive behavior and acquisition

wealth ;whereas feminine cultures contribute to the relationships among

people, caring for others and greater balance between family and work life.


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Time orientation: some cultures emphasize values such as the necessity ofpreparing for the future, the value of thrift and savings and the qualification

of persistence which have long-term orientation such as Hong Kong,

China and Japan.

Other cultures value the past and accent the present with the respect for

tradition and need to fulfill historical social obligations, they have short-

term orientation such as France, Russia, and West Africa.


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Multiculturism: occurs when the employees in two or more culturesinteract with each one on regular basis.

In some instances the new employees are parent-country nationals from the

nations in which the home office is located or they may be third-country

nationals from some other nations. In either case they are called expatriate

because they come from another nation. Their role is to provide a

combination of cultures in which both parties adjust to the new situation of

seeking greater productivity for the benefit of both the organization and the

citizens of the country.


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An expatriate manager may find several barriers to adjust to the newculture. For overcoming such problems is to acquire cultural awareness of

the multiple ways in which cultures differ(language , religion , food ,social

behavior and etc).

Highcontext cultures: these cultures tend to emphasize personal relations,

place high value on trust, focus on nonverbal cues(guidelines) and accept

the need to attend to social needs before business matters like China, Korea

and Japan.

Low-context cultures: tend to rely on written rules and legal documents,

conduct business first and value expertise and performance like Germany,US and Scandinavian countries.


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Parochialism: it means that the people see the situation around them fromtheir own perspective. They may fail to recognize key differences between

their own and others cultures.

Ethnocentrism: occurs when people are predisposed (talented) to believe

that their homeland conditions are the best. This predisposition is known as

the self-reference criterion or ethnocentrism.

Cultural empathy: is the awareness of the differences across the cultures

and understanding of the ways in which those differences can affect

business relationships. When culture empathy continues, it will result in

geocentric organization which ignore person's nationality while

emphasizing employee ability in selection, assignment, and decisions.


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Cultural distance: is the amount of difference between any two socialsystems and may range from minimal to substantial and it can affect the

responses of all people to business issues. For instance ,expatriates

managers tend to be a little ethnocentric and to judge conditions according

to their country standards and consequently ,these problems will be

magnified .

Culture shock: the employees who move to new job often experience

various degrees of cultural shock which is a feeling of confuion, insecurity

and anxiety. These are related to not knowing how to act and about losing

their self-confidence when wrong things are made.


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Cultural contingency: means that the most productive practices for aparticular nation will depend heavily on its culture. This lesson for both

expatriate and local managers to accept is neither home nations nor host

nations practices are used exclusively.

Cultural contingencies are illustrated by theory Z ,an integrative model of

organizational behavior proposed by William Ouch. It provides a usefulway in which behavioral instructions must be adapted to fit the

organizations cultural environment: Long-term employment

Non-specialized careers

Individual responsibility

Concern for the total person

Less formal control systems

Consensus decision making

Slower rates of promotion

The featuresoftheory Z


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In addition to the desirability to speak and understand thelanguage of the host country the expatriates also need togain an appreciation for important differences in non-verbalcommunication (i.e. Body language). If they do not, they riskmaking serious errors that might damage their relationshipswith their employees, partners and suppliers.

Areas in which orientations to Cross-culture communicationmay differ and are important contingency factors that mustme considered carefully by managers include:

Value placed on time efficiency,

Value placed on seeing the future

Thought patterns

Need for personal space, Eye contacts, Physical Appearance,Posture, Gesture

Meaning of Silence

Legitimacy of touch


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Transcultural Managers are those who have learned to manage employeesin several cultures effectively.

Transcultural Employees are those who have learned to operate effectivelyin several cultures. These employees are low in ethnocentrism and adapt readilyto different cultures without major cultural shock. They usually communicate inmore than one language.

Tran cultural employees are especially needed in large, multinational firms that operatein a variety of national cultures.

Multinational Firm: For a firm to be fully Multinational in character, it shouldhave the following items truly diversified without primary dominance of any onenation :

- Ownership,- Operations,

- Markets,- Managers.

Multinational Companies management look to the world as an economic andsocial unit; but reorganize each local culture, respect its integrity,acknowledge its benefits, and use its differences effectively in theirorganization.

OB Accross Cultures

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