UNIVERSITY OF LATVIA

INTERCULTURAL BUSINESS RELATIONS

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE VS NATION CULTURE

Šárka Mrázková

Maja Mioljevič

Armin Eberle

Anthony Boutan

Andrea Airoldi

Riga

2012

CONTENT

1. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..3

2. WHAT IS CULTURE – IN GENERAL...................................................................................................4

3. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE...........................................................................................................7

4. NATIONAL CULTURE.....................................................................................................................10

5. MAINLY DIFFERENCES IN NATIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE - COMPARISON OF

NATIONAL AND ORGANZATIONAL CULTURE........................................................................................13

6. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE INTERNATIONAL COMPANY............................................................16

7. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….19

8. RESOURCES……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….21

INTRODUCTION

In our essay we describe the relationship and the main differences organizational and national

culture. In the first part of the thesis is about culture in general - what kinds of cultures can

know and which definitions of cultures exist. The second part is devoted to organizational

culture - what is the definition of culture and what types of organizational culture exist. The

third part is devoted to national culture, for example definition of national culture and how

and by whom was national culture divided. Another part is devoted to the main differences

between organizational and national culture. And in this part we explain importance to change

deep-rooted traditional values, especially with regard naglobalizace, which is now completely

evidentní.Poslední section is devoted to the organizational culture of foreign companies and in

particular a description of strategies that can be used to create the desired culture.

1. WHAT IS CULTURE – IN GENERAL

Now we are living in a globalized word and so different people are meeting each other on

different places on earth. It is a kind of mix up that people have to learn to live in peace

together with the background of different values, believes and thinking. Culture is and was the

reason for the biggest wars on earth. Various cultures met themselves on the most famous

battlefields on our planet to represent their culture and fight for it. The famous roman wars

where Cesar occupied Germania, the Persian Wars and not so long time ago the Second

World Ware with the scare domination of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime. The Second

World War is a good example to demonstrate for what people are able to do to represent their-

own culture. They believed that only one attitude is the right one and so people who lived

with different values and believes should not have the right to exist on earth. Especially the

Jews with their different religion and the different way of life they live are without any values

for the Nazis. Brutal and cruel fights were the result out of the differences.

But why people have to fight because of different cultures?

At first we have to understand out of which parts culture consists. Culture is the way we live.

It is the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the language we speak, the way we celebrate and

the stories we tell. It is a way we show our imaginations through art, music and writing. And

the different attitudes, believes and values are also about our roots. So we have to think to our

ancestors and where are they come from?

What did they believe and what makes our life different to others?

There are seven continents on earth and most continents are made up of several countries. The

people in each country speak different languages and have different cultures. Long ago,

people did not know about one another´s culture but now people travel around all over the

world. They also emigrate, or leave their countries, to live in new counties. Now it is possible

to use this advantage to travel in a big part of our world. (S.4-7; Bobbie Kalman; What is

culture?; Crabtree publishing company; 2009)

It is really hard to understand one of the fundamental bases for social behaviour and diversity

of human beings and also the diversity in understanding related to culture. This point is not so

easy to handle as someone could believe. It is probably the case that most people grasp it

through experience of differences in the way people look, act, talk and carry out their daily

lives.

And so the result will be a formation of groups with the same characteristics called

stereotypes. For example:

“English people are dour-they just never seem to laugh”

“People from Latin American countries talk with their hands”

“People from the island are never in a hurry, they just take their time”

Whatever this is true or not it is a very deep and wideness complexity to explain and to

describe the own stereotypes on our planet. Each stereotype act different to a special situation

and everyone thinks different about his act. For example it is not the same for one to be in a

hurry like for another. Or what is funny, or how should I act when having a conversation. Yet

for many people they can represent something significant about the way some groups of

people are. And however may one group of people not realize it when they have in mind a

stereotype about another social or cultural group, the possibility is that groups also have

reciprocal stereotypes. This process or this way to define groups of people as others is a

common feature of the way human beings thinks, and it forms a part of the whole

phenomenon we thing about culture. (S.10; Mark Edberg; Essentials of Health, Culture and

Diversity; Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2012)

But also there are other terms of use the word culture that confuse the situation. One good

example is if someone said he/she is “cultured” it does not have anything to do with the case

if he/she is English, Guatemalan or Tongan. Often one group say that they are more

“cultured” as another group. There are only value judgements. Usually by that term we are

referring to some concept of high or elite culture, expressed through personal manner,

education and knowledge, involvement in our familiarity with artistic activities such as opera

or modern art.

“Human cannot eat, breath, defecate, mate, reproduce, sit, move about, sleep or lie down

without following or expressing some aspect of their society´s culture. Our cultures grow,

expand, evolve. It is their nature.” (S.24; Marvis Harris; Reel Diversity; Peter Lang

Publishing Inc; 1999)

There are different definitions out of different point of views to describe culture and to

separate it.

The classic definition: This definition is an old but comprehensive one from the

anthropologist E.B. Taylor in 1871. He mentioned culture is that complex whole which

includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired

by individuals as a member of society.” (E.B. Taylor; 1871) This is a very broad definition

and includes all parts which make people able to live together.

The symbolic definition of culture: Culture is a kind of symbolic text in which behaviour,

object and belief interact together in a kind of on-going dramatic production that represents

issues and concepts of thinking for a special type of group. Members of a culture act as

characters in this group and only that makes sense what is in their own interpretive

framework. “Man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun. I take

culture to be those webs and the analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in

search of law but an interpretive one in search of meaning.” (S. 64; Geertz; Culture

Anthropology; Thomson Higher Education; 2008)

Cultural Material definition: Another meaning explain culture as a system of believes,

practice and technology directly tied economic activity or to the adaptation of a people to a

particular physical environment. For example the veneration of cattle among Hindu peoples

grew out of the sense that Hindus get their food from them. (Harris, 1966)

And many other different definitions for culture but if all definitions are mentioned here it

would break the horizon of this work.

2. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

First of all everyone should know what is culture and in which way should be associated with

organization.

Culture is one of those terms that's difficult to express distinctly, but everyone knows it when

they sense it because is comprised of the assumptions, values, norms and tangible signs of

organization members and their behaviours.

So Basically, organizational culture is the personality of the organization, the values and

behaviours that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an

organization.

It is based on shared attitudes, beliefs, customs, express or implied contracts, and written and

unwritten rules that the organization develops over time and that have worked well enough to

be considered valid.

While there are many common elements in the large organizations of any country,

organizational culture is unique for every organization and one of the hardest things to

change.

One way of exploring cultures is to classify them into types:

Role Cultures – are highly formalized, bound with regulations and paperwork and

authority and hierarchy dominate relations. A role culture has a typical pyramid

structure.

Task Cultures – are the opposite, the preserve a strong sense of the basic mission of

the organization and teamwork is the basis on which jobs are designed. A task culture

has flexible matrix structures.

Power Cultures – have a single power source, which may be an individual or a

corporate group. Control of rewards is a major source of power. This kind of culture

has web structure.

(“Organizational culture: mapping the terrain”-Joanne Martin 2002/ “Understanding

organizational culture- Mats Alvesson 2002).

In order to analyse in detail the meaning of culture and the applications of it, it’s necessary to

know that there are different kinds of culture just like there are different kinds of personality.

Different people in the same organization can have different perceptions of the culture of the

organization. This is especially true regarding the different perceptions between the top and

bottom levels of the organization.

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a researcher, based his studies identifying four types of cultures:

1) Academy Culture: Employees are highly skilled and tend to stay in the organization,

while working their way up the ranks. The organization provides a stable environment

in which employees can development and exercises their skills. Examples are

universities, hospitals, large corporations, etc.

2) Baseball Team Culture: Employees are "free agents" who have highly prized skills.

They are in high demand and can rather easily get jobs elsewhere. This type of culture

exists in fast-paced, high-risk organizations, such as investment banking, advertising,

etc.

3) Club Culture: The most important requirement for employees in this culture is to fit

into the group. Usually employees start at the bottom and stay with the organization.

The organization promotes from within and highly values seniority. Examples are the

military, some law firms, etc.

4) Fortress Culture: Employees don't know if they'll be laid off or not. These

organizations often undergo massive reorganization. There are many opportunities for

those with timely, specialized skills. Examples are savings and loans, large car

companies, etc.

(Research of Jeffrey Sonnenfeld)

All these kinds of cultures are influenced by factors commonly used in different ways from

people that are setting up an organization.

Fours are considered the most important factors:

1) Emphasize what’s important. This includes widely communicating goals of the

organization, posting the mission statement on the wall, talking about

accomplishments and repeating what you want to see in the workplace.

2) Reward employees whose behaviours reflect what’s important

3) Discourage behaviours that don’t reflect what’s important.

4) Model the behaviours that you want to see in the workplace. This is perhaps the

most powerful way to influence behaviours in the workplace.

Different kinds of personality in the same organization are the mains responsible of the

changes in an organizational culture.

If a powerful person on the top of organization decides that the old way is not working he

figured out a new way and he start acting differently in order to reach his objectives.

However changing an organization’s culture is one of the most difficult challenges. That’s

because an organization’s culture is composed by a set of goals, roles, processes, values,

communications practices, attitudes and assumptions. The elements fit together that’s why

single change may only appear to make progress for a while.

For this reason frequent mistakes in trying to change culture include can be made, here

are some common examples :

-Overuse of the power tools of coercion and underuse of leadership tools.

-Beginning with a vision or story, but failing to put in place the management tools that

will cement the behavioural changes in place.

-Beginning with power tools even before a clear vision or story of the future is in

place.

(“Understanding organizational culture- Mats Alvesson 2002/ “changing organizational

culture”- the change agent’s guidebook 2007).

3. NATIONAL CULTURE

National culture has specific characteristics such as language, religion, ethnic and racial

identity, and cultural history & traditions. National culture influences family life, education,

economic and political structures, and, of course, business practices.

The set of norms, behaviors, beliefs and customs that exist within the population of a

sovereign nation. International companies develop management and other practices in

accordance with the national culture they are operating in.

National culture is the value system and pride associated with a nation. Many people deny

their national culture when they move to a new location, and embrace the national culture of

their new home.

HOFSTEDE defined national culture to be “the collective programming of the mind that

distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from each other” (S. 29,

Sebastian-Dominik JAIS, The successful use of information in multinational companies,

Gabler edition Wissenchaft, 2007)

Dimensions of National Culture :

The dimensions of national culture depend on the national culture itself, so it’s change with

the country and with the habits of the civilization. If there is some mix of civilization, the

culture of this country is changing with all the mix. Also new dimensions are bring with the

history of the country.

According to GEERT HOFSTEDE, there are four dimensions in national culture, it is aspects

that can be compared with those of other cultures. The values that distinguished countries

from each other could be grouped statistically into four clusters. The four fundamental

dimensions of culture with a high level impact on human behavior that HOFSTEDE

discovered and reported in this study still serve today as basic criteria in most

interdisciplinary, cross-cultural comparative research. These four groups became the

HOFSTEDE dimensions of national culture (The explanantion of each dimensions are extract

of S. 244, Sylvio De Bono, Stephanie Jones, Beatrice Van Der Heijden, Managing cultural

diversity, Meyer & Meyer Media, 2008)

• Power Distance (PDI) :

This dimension expresses the degree to which the less powerful members of a society accept

and expect that power is distributed unequally. The fundamental issue here is how a society

handles inequalities among people. People in societies exhibiting a large degree of power

distance accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no

further justification. In societies with low power distance, people strive to equalise the

distribution of power and demand justification for inequalities of power. Essential differences

between companies at low and high power distance: General norm, family, school, workplace,

politics and ideas.

• Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV)

The high side of this dimension, called Individualism, can be defined as a preference for a

loosely-knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of themselves

and their immediate families only. Its opposite, Collectivism, represents a preference for a

tightly-knit framework in society in which individuals can expect their relatives or members

of a particular in-group to look after them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. A society's

position on this dimension is reflected in whether people’s self-image is defined in terms of

“I” or “we.” Essential differences between individualist and collectivist societies: General

norm, family, school, workplace, politics and ideas.

• Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS)

The masculinity side of this dimension represents a preference in society for achievement,

heroism, assertiveness and material reward for success. Society at large is more competitive.

Its opposite, femininity, stands for a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak

and quality of life. Society at large is more consensus-oriented. Key differences between male

and female societies: General standards, family, school, workplace and politics and ideas.

• Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI)

The uncertainty avoidance dimension expresses the degree to which the members of a society

feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. The fundamental issue here is how a

society deals with the fact that the future can never be known: should we try to control the

future or just let it happen? Countries exhibiting strong UAI maintain rigid codes of belief and

behaviour and are intolerant of unorthodox behaviour and ideas. Weak UAI societies maintain

a more relaxed attitude in which practice counts more than principles. Key differences

between companies with high and low control uncertainty: General norm, family, school,

workplace, politics and ideas.

A fifth Dimension was added in 1991 based on research by Michael Bond who conducted an

additional international study among students with a survey instrument that was developed

together with Chinese employees and managers. That Dimension, based on Confucian

dynamism, is Long-term orientation and was applied to 23 countries. In 2010, research by

Michael Minkov allowed to extend the number of country scores for this dimension to 93,

using recent World Values Survey data from representative samples of national populations.

The long-term orientation dimension can be interpreted as dealing with society’s search for

virtue. Societies with a short-term orientation generally have a strong concern with

establishing the absolute Truth. They are normative in their thinking. They exhibit great

respect for traditions, a relatively small propensity to save for the future, and a focus on

achieving quick results. In societies with a long-term orientation, people believe that truth

depends very much on situation, context and time. They show an ability to adapt traditions to

changed conditions, a strong propensity to save and invest, thriftiness, and perseverance in

achieving results.

4. MAINLY DIFFERENCES IN NATIONAL AND

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE - COMPARISON OF NATIONAL

AND ORGANZATIONAL CULTURE

When talking about culture, one quickly notices that many different understandings and

definitions derived from different methodological assumptions exist. Culture is hard to grasp

in concepts, let alone to define in precise terms. This study focuses on national cultures, more

specifically on cross-national cultural differences. National culture functions as a proxy for

societal culture. National culture comprises values, beliefs, norms, and behavioral patterns of

national group. The dominant forces that shape national cultures comprise, amongst others,

ecological factors, history, language, wars, and religions. (Chapter 3 – Cross-national

Cultural Differences). These dominant forces are reflected in a country’s culture, which in

turn is intertwined with many phenomena within that country: law, educational systems,

political structures, communication traits, emotional expressions, technological development,

etc.

Organizational culture can not be precisely defined, because it is something that we perceive,

feel and anticipate. We will quote few concepts of organizational culture:

Organizational culture is a program of the human mind;

Organizational culture is the collective mind companies;

Organizational cultures are shared ideas and feelings of employees;

 Coherent organizational culture means that employees have a common way of looking at

things, the principles governing their behavior and defines acceptable and unacceptable social

norms.

Organizational culture is composed of:

Culture wider environment (national culture, cultural clusters)

Culture of micro environment

Features of economic sector to which the company belongs

The culture within the company

Culture of the company founder and top managers

Individual cultures

Culture environment

Geert Hofstede, from an anthropologist perspective describes a national culture by offering

insights into four dimensions that influence cultural humanity:

Power Distance – Coping with discrimination/inequity

Uncertainty avoidance – Coping with ambiguity

Individualism – Association of the individual with the principal group

Masculinity – The emotional repercussions of being born either as a male or female.

Prof.Geert Hofstede said that: “Culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy.

Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and often a disaster.”

Level of culture:

National Culture

Business Culture

Organizational and Occupational Culture

When one looks at the sociologist and the anthropologists varying degrees of the way they

look at culture it appears that they only have one common thread which runs through both

models – Individualism/Collectivism. Both agree to the degree to which individuals are

assimilated to their groups both at a national level and organizational level. Hofstede study

conveyed this by illustrating that Anglo-european/American countries are dominated by

individualistic values, versus Asian and Latin-European countries are governed by

collectivism. Hoefstede continues to say, “My research has shown that organizational cultures

differ mainly at the levels of symbols, heroes and rituals, together labelled 'practices'; national

cultures differ mostly at the deeper level, the level of values.” (HOFSTEDE)

The important question to ask is, is there a difference in national culture and organizational

culture? Hofstede’s assessment is that the national culture is associated with our traditional

values, for example, ethical versus unethical, moral versus immorality. As a result, national

cultural traditional values are taught through the individual’s surrounding environment at an

early stage. Therefore, become deeply ingrained and change gradually over the period. It is

important to understand these differences in today’s world because of increasing trend in

globalization. This means companies such as Barclays, JP Morgan, GoldmanSachs to name a

few who have branch/satellite firms in each continent can no longer underestimate the impact

of an employee’s personal values in the foreign country and its impact on how they perceive

the organizational culture of that entity versus that organization’s national culture – its origin.

For example national culture of ITAP International relates to deeply held values regarding, for

example, good vs. evil, normal vs. abnormal, safe vs. dangerous, and rational vs. irrational. 

National cultural values are learned early, held deeply and change slowly over the course of

generations.  

Organizational culture, on the other hand, is comprised of broad guidelines which are rooted

in organizational practices learned on the job. Experts, including Dr.Hofstede, agree that

changing organizational culture is difficult and takes time. What is often overlooked or at

least underestimated when two or more companies merge/integrate is how the underlying

personal values of employees impact how they perceive the corporate culture change

efforts. A person can learn to adapt to processes and priorities, and a person can be persuaded

to follow the exemplar behaviors of leaders in an organization. But if these priorities and

leadership traits go against the deeply held national cultural values of employees, corporate

values (processes and practices) will be undermined. What is appropriate in one national

setting is wholly offensive in another.  What is rational in one national setting is wholly

irrational in another.  And, corporate culture never trumps national culture. 

The answer, then, lies not in abandoning efforts to unify organizations after a merger or

cancelling efforts to build high performance culture, but in overlaying and harmonizing local

interpretations of corporate practices to cultural norms.  As people conduct business across

the world, it is important to understand some of the cultural differences between people. For

example, there is a great difference between the cultures of Europe and Asia. The East stands

for spiritualism, the West for materialism, people of the East care more for the development

of the soul and for life after death than for the life in this world and for physical comforts. The

Westerners, one the other hand, are worldly minded. They do not care for any future life, but

want to enjoy their present life. Hence, we find in the West a mad race for wealth, luxury and

comfort. The East has been the birthplace of the great religious teachers- Christ, Buddha,

Gandhi, etc were born, and it was here that they lived and preached. The west, on the other

hand, is the home of modern science and technology. Wonderful inventions have been made.

Man has acquired power over nature and he is now capable of performing miracles worthy of

the gods.

The Eastern and the Western Temperaments too, are poles apart. The Easterners are tolerant

and self-sacrificing. They are peace-loving. They do not like to cause the least harm to others.

They can bear the greatest hardship for others, and can sacrifice their own good for the

common cause. Their social life is peaceful. As far as possible they like to settle their

differences through mutual agreement and compromise. The Westerners, one the other hand,

are quarrelsome and aggressive. They cannot tolerate the views of others. They care more for

their own good than for the good of others. They are selfish and uncompromising. No doubt,

the Westerners have greater means of comfort and luxury, but all their worldly wealth does

not bring them any greater happiness. The Easterners believed in the limitation of wants and

so they are happy in spite of their poverty. They may not have the power over nature that the

Westerners have but they have the power of soul.

In the East, people say that human beings were created by Nu Wa. In the West, people say

that human beings were created by God. Because they came from different origins, they have

developed different cultures and different customs. How to fully demonstrate the good things

from each culture, balance each other and create beautiful and pure things together, maybe

that is the reason why the two cultures were created in the first place.

5. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE INTERNATIONAL COMPANY

The problem of the relationship of national and corporate culture stands out as completely

practical matter in shaping corporate strategy for international companies operating in many

countries of different regions.

The key problem is understood real possibility of application and effective use of

management tools, techniques and methods in the cultural and social environment, which is

often very different from their original creation and use.

International company comes into contact with a variety of national cultures. It especially for

their own co-workers (employees) and external partners (customers, suppliers), local

companies and organizations, therefore members of foreign cultures, their value preferences

and patterns of behavior are different. International companies thus become an arena of action

of national cultures and many specific management problems can then be formulated as

managing multicultural context and the formation of corporate culture within it.

(ŚRONĚK, I.)

Strategy formation of corporate culture:

We can give some model approaches:

polycentric corporate culture

global corporate culture

geocentric corporate culture

1. First Polycentric corporate culture

This alternative consists of open space for the work of national cultures that successively

leads to the formation of specific subcultures in each country in which the company operates.

International business is becoming a multicultural entity in the sense of the existence of

different corporate cultures under one roof.

Advantages polycentric corporate culture:

Local corporate culture allows a sensible use of communication tools, the

better understanding, as well as a better understanding of the context in which

they are deployed.

Corporate culture is usually subdivided into a number of regional subcultures

that allow better capture changes in the local environment and rapid response.

Combining various subcultures growth possibilities and options to other

perspectives and stimulating creativity

Heterogeneous teams and the existence of different patterns of conduct extend and enhance

the experience base overall capacity to solve problems. (INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC

DAYS 2006 the Faculty of Economic and Management SAU in Nitra)

2. Global corporate culture

It is a great way uniformity of all subsidiaries companies around the world in order to create

a one consistent system of corporate culture as a common framework for decision-making and

other management processes.

It is therefore expected full respect and implementation of all elements of common culture,

common philosophy and strategy based on the main corporate headquarters and country of

operation. Polycentric and global cultural policy stands against each other as two equal

alternatives. Can not be determined unambiguously and unconditionally prioritize some of

them, because each has its advantages and limits. Selecting one of them must be in

accordance with the business strategy of the company.

3. Geocentric corporate culture

The world, especially the Western European tendency to convergence states and nations

allows seek about transnational corporate culture, which is also known as geocentric.

Its contents are not different values of different national cultures or advocated violence

patterns of dealing of the country, where have management of company the residence, but

such value systems, which are common to all / most of their members.

This cultural strategy objectively improvement of means of mutual communication and in

some cases leads to a situation where it is difficult to identify the location and territory

"National character" of the company.

As examples of the formation of a European corporate culture are often cited especially

companies like Nestlé, Shell and some others.

In terms of personnel management, this is very difficult strategy. Directional personnel,

executive and support staff are international teams who must complete complex and relatively

long-term professional training.

Despite these facts can already notice the increasing choice of this particular generation

strategy corporate culture. (NOVY,I.)

CONCLUSION

Organizational culture is the personality of the organization, the values and behaviours that

contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization.

It is based on shared attitudes, beliefs, customs, express or implied contracts, and written and

unwritten rules that the organization develops over time and that have worked well enough to

be considered valid.

While there are many common elements in the large organizations of any country,

organizational culture is unique for every organization and one of the hardest things to

change.

National culture functions as a proxy for societal culture. National culture comprises values,

beliefs, norms, and behavioral patterns of national group. The dominant forces that shape

national cultures comprise, amongst others, ecological factors, history, language, wars, and

religions.

Geert Hofstede, from an anthropologist perspective describes a national culture by offering

insights into four dimensions that influence cultural humanity: Power Distance – Coping with

discrimination/inequity, Uncertainty avoidance – Coping with ambiguity, Individualism –

Association of the individual with the principal group, Masculinity – The emotional

repercussions of being born either as a male or female.

The important question to ask is, is there a difference in national culture and organizational

culture? Hofstede’s assessment is that the national culture is associated with our traditional

values, for example, ethical versus unethical, moral versus immorality. As a result, national

cultural traditional values are taught through the individual’s surrounding environment at an

early stage. Therefore, become deeply ingrained and change gradually over the period. It is

important to understand these differences in today’s world because of increasing trend in

globalization.

The problem of the relationship of national and corporate culture stands out as completely

practical matter in shaping corporate strategy for international companies operating in many

countries of different regions.

The key problem is understood real possibility of application and effective use of

management tools, techniques and methods in the cultural and social environment, which is

often very different from their original creation and use.

International company comes into contact with a variety of national cultures. It especially for

their own co-workers (employees) and external partners (customers, suppliers), local

companies and organizations, therefore members of foreign cultures, their value preferences

and patterns of behavior are different. International companies thus become an arena of action

of national cultures and many specific management problems can then be formulated as

managing multicultural context and the formation of corporate culture within it. And it is one

of most important aspects why we have to choose the best strategy of organizational culture.

RESOURCES

Bobbie Kalman; What is culture?; Crabtree publishing company; 2009 Mark Edberg; Essentials of Health, Culture and Diversity; Jones & Bartlett Learning;

2012 Marvis Harris; Reel Diversity; Peter Lang Publishing Inc; 1999 Geertz; Culture Anthropology; Thomson Higher Education; 2008 NOVÝ, I.: Interkulturální management, Praha: Grada Publishing 1996

Organizational culture: mapping the terrain”-Joanne Martin 2002/ “Understanding organizational culture- Mats Alvesson 2002)

Understanding organizational culture- Mats Alvesson 2002/ “changing organizational culture”- the change agent’s guidebook 2007

Sebastian-Dominik JAIS, The successful use of information in multinational companies, Gabler edition Wissenchaft, 2007

The explanantion of each dimensions are extract of S. 244, Sylvio De Bono, Stephanie Jones, Beatrice Van Der Heijden, Managing cultural diversity, Meyer & Meyer Media, 2008

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC DAYS 2006 the Faculty of Economic and Management SAU in Nitra - "Competitivness in the EU - Challenge for the V4 countries" Nitra, May 17-18, 2006

For example, an important reason why Japan is a collectivist country is that its environment has been harsh and unsupportive for the survival of its population. Chapter 3 – Cross-national Cultural Differences

http://www.geerthofstede.nl/culture/dimensions-of-national-cultures.aspx