Cross Cultural Management 1

8/3/2019 Cross Cultural Management 1

1/24

Culture is more often a source of conflictthan of synergy. Cultural differences are a

nuisance at best and often a disaster

Session 1:

Part 1: Culture is it an elusive energy?Part II: Significance of Culture is

strategic decision making


2/24

Talking Points

Culture: definitions and concepts

Elements of Culture

Role of Culture in organizations Variables of Culture

Characteristics of Culture

Dimensions of Culture Culture & behavior


3/24

Culture: Some Definitional Snapshots

Tylor (1871) culture is the complex whole reinforced by

knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom and other

capabilities and habits of man as a member of society

Claude Lvi-Strauss: Culture is a force in its own right

Hofstede (1997): the collective programming of the mind

which distinguishes the members of one group of people from

another

Trompenaars (1994): culture is the way in which a group of

people solves problems

Edgar Schein (1992): a pattern of shared basic assumptions

that the group learned as it solved its problems of external

adaptation and internal integration


4/24

Elements of Culture

Communication Cultivated Behavior

Learned and accumulated experience

Explicit & Implicit patterns Values

Norms

Artefacts

Sum total of learned behavior

Collective programming of the mind


5/24

Is Culture Growing in Importance?


6/24

Role of culture in Organizations

What does it focus on?

What does it facilitate?

How does it happen?


7/24

Variables of Culture

Differentiators of Culture:


8/24

Variables of culture: The Differentiators

National

Economic system Legal system

Political system

Physical Situation

Technology know-how

Socio-cultural

Religion Education

Language

Organizational

Structure System

Policies,Norms

Staff

Leadership &ManagementStyle

Individual &Group

Personality Productivity

Motivation

Commitment

Ethics

Kinship & Family

Education

Religion

Health

Recreation


9/24

Characteristics of Culture

Learned behavior Shared behavior

Shared system of meanings

Based on tradition and custom

Adaptive Subject to change

Wide in scope

Related to many things and does not exist in isolation

Socially constructed realities

Best understood in relation to groups

Relative


10/24

Dimensions of Culture

Aspects of culture that are inherited and

preserved and also modified with passage of

time.

Rituals & customs

Reflection and practices

Identifies an organization or community

Renders stability

Ensures control


11/24

Organization Culture


12/24

Robbins (1989)

Viewed cultural dimensions from the followingperspectives:

Innovation & risk taking

Attention to detail

Outcome orientation

People orientation

Team orientation

Aggressiveness

Stability


13/24

Handy (1993)

Organizationculture

Organizationculture

PowerCulturePowerCulture

RoleCulture

RoleCulture

TaskCultureTask

Culture

PersonCulturePersonCulture


14/24

Rousseaus Ring (1990)

FundamentalAssumptions

Values

Behavioralnorms

Patterns ofBehavior

Artefacts


15/24

Porterian Strategy and theMatching Model of SHRM

According to Michael Porter, productivity of firms isfundamental to competitiveness

Reinforcing different employee role behaviors/ culture which

fit with a particular generic competitive strategy, whether

low cost, differentiation, or focus is critical. This has tohappen by matching the five Ps i.e.:

Philosophy

Policies

Programs Practices

Processes

Failing to match competitive strategy with

HRM dynamics results in role conflict andambiguity hampering organizational

effectivenessopetitivyit HRM dynamics


16/24

Setting up Strategic Value-behavior Fitness: (Michigan Model)

Value behavior

EnvironmentOrganizational

Strategies

Organizational

CapabilitiesOrganizational

Characteristics

Consistency

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Consistency

FitFit

FitFit


17/24

Mc-Kinsey 7-S Model: Harvard Model

Strategy

Structure

Systems Style

Staff

Skills Super-ordinate goals

Hard S: Factual and easy to

identify. They can be found in

strategy statements, corporate

plans, organization charts & otherdocumentation

The Soft Ss are difficult to describe,

they are continuously developing and

changing. They are highly determined bypeople at work in the organization


18/24

Cases for thought

Leadership from the bottom: employee and customer value

even in the face of all odds Taj Mumbai during and after

26/11

Jeff Dyers review of Benchmarking study conducted by Bain &

Company for Chrysler comparing cost, quality, and time to

market of a Chrysler small car versus Toyota wherein Toyota

had a 30% cost advantage, almost one half of the defects, and

33% faster product development cycle in four years versus six

for Chrysler (Dyer & Ouichi, 1993)


19/24

Business Mission, Goals and Strategy

HRM Goals and Strategy

Human Resource Management

Attract &

Select

Meaningful

CareerDevelopment

Re-

development

&

termination ofemployment

Performance& Growth

Appropriate

work structure& culture

Appraise &Develop

Induct, Train& Manage

Motivation& Reward

Managing the Employee Life Cycle


20/24

National Culture Influencing

Organization Culture

Assertiveness: confrontational & competitive

Future Orientation: planning & investing in

future Performance Orientation: importance

attached to performance & excellence

Humane Orientation: practice of rewardingpeople & nurturing values of fairness, concern

and care


21/24

Critical Operational Value Differences

Time: differences in temporal values

Change: to what extent one can exert control

over the future

Material factors: consumption of resources,

physical goods, status symbols

Individualism (I consciousness): Valuing

individual achievement, accomplishments,promotions & wealth


22/24

Cross-National Comparisons: Culture Surveys

Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions (1969-73, 1990):116,000 respondents from 70 different countries

individuals working in local subsidiaries of IBM

Ronen & Kraut: Work Value & Attitude Dimensions

(SSA analysis) among Country clusters

Trompenaarss Cultural dimensions (1994):

Universalism versus Particularism: 15,000 managers

from 28 countries


23/24

Key Questions1)What is meant by the term culture? What is meant by the

term value? Should international firms always go for value and

culture surveys before entering a new market if so why?

2) Describe the four dimensions of culture proposed by Hofstede.

What are the managerial implications of these dimensions?

3) Discuss Trompenaarss Value dimensions in what ways do they

correspond to/ are different from Hosfstedes dimensions?

4) Discuss the different operational conflicts that could occur in an

international context because of different attitudes toward

time, change, material factors and individualism. Give

examples relative to specific countries.

5) In what ways has technology enabled organisational cultures to

change? What challenges or issues do these changes present

to managers and leaders?

Nidhi & Shikha

Rajesh & Prabhakar

Pushpanjali & Vivek

Snehashish & Neha

Sushanta & Prabhat


24/24

Experiential Exercise: Tim Robbins, an international real estate developer from

Dallas, had made a 2:30 p.m. appointment with Mr.Abdullah, a high-ranking government official in Riyadh,Saudi Arabia.

From the beginning things did not go well for Tim. First,he was kept waiting until 4:00 p.m. before he was

ushered into Mr. Abdullahs office. When he finally did get in, he was reluctant to get too

specific because he considered much of what theyneeded to discuss was sensitive and private.

Mr. Abdullah seemed more interested in engaging inmeaningless banter than in dealing with the substantiveissues concerning their business.

How might you help Tim with his frustration?

Milan & Tapan

Documents

Cross Cultural Management 1