TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3 MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3 Importance of cross culture in international management...........................................................3 Models and theories for understanding and managing cross culture...........................................4 Similarities and differences between the theories.......................................................................9 Implications on successful management of global teams in international environment...........10 CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13 REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14
INTRODUCTION Managing across cross culturesis a very complicatedand detailedprocess for the international organisations because of the diversity that each culture brings with it (Delpechitre and Baker, 2017). There are different cultural belief of the employees belonging to different backgrounds and this affects their working style as well but in order to operate successfully, it is necessary to integrate the efforts of such diversifies workforce towards achievement of the organisational goals collectively. In the current report, the cross culture management will be the key aspect if discussion i.e. how this aspect can be managed and integrated. Firstly, the report will identify and analyse the importance of cross culture management in the present context and the reason it is necessary will be identified. Further, the report will use different theoretical models and concepts presented by different authors in order to identify the different techniques that can be used to manage cultural diversity in workplace and increase the productivity. After evaluating the differences and similarities in these techniques, lastly, the report will also identify the implications that such cultural diversity and practice have on the teams that are working collectively at the global level i.e. the factors affected will be identified. MAIN BODY Importance of cross culture in international management The term cross culture management can be described as the study of the cultural beliefs that people have and its impact on the management decisions taken by companies who are operating in various countries at the same time (Knight and et.al., 2018). The study of the different cultural values is extremely important in order to successfully manage the employees and take correct decisions that will help in the success of the company. The importance of cross culture management in global management of companiescan be further categorised into following points: Cross culture management helps in effectively resolving the issues that might arise when people from different backgrounds come together to work collectively. These also helps in increasing the motivational level of the employees so that their can remain committed to their work. When a company is operating globally, there is requirement of insight into whichever culture they are operating in so that customers can be targeted more efficiently (Rice, 2018). Here, employees’ belonging to different cultures help immensely because those who are 3
familiar or belong to that culture can help in the development of correct and profitable strategies for the company. Developing a cross cultural employee base can also stimulate creativity and innovation in the organisations. The brainstorming sessions in such organisations help in generating some really unique ideas and this ultimately contributes the better productivity and enhanced creativity of the organisation thus creating long term benefits for the company. The competition today is very intense between the companies and in such scenario it is necessary to prepare the company for every challenge that might arise (Varghese and Ireland, 2018). When the companydevelopsa culturallydiversified workforce, their competency increases because the employeescollectively are more perceptive of the changes that can arise and can also adapt to the changing situation more flexibly. Therefore, in the points above different aspects related to the importance of developing cross culture management in international companies was highlighted and it can be ascertained that this is a very beneficial aspect for companies that operate on international or global level in several economies. Models and theories for understanding and managing cross culture The cultural management in the international companies is an essential part for the better management and performance of the companies and organisations globally. There are different techniques that can be used in order to develop better cultural management practices in multinational organisations. Hofstede’s cultural model:This model is specifically developed for managing cross cultural communications between different countries (Ugrin, Pearson and Nickle, 2018). There is a specific Hofstede’s Index that has been developed for each country on the basis of different characteristics observed under the Hofstede’s model: Power Distance Index: Power Distance Index signifies the percentage up to which the power is perceived to be unequally distributed between the powerful; members and the less powerful ones. This index helps in ascertaining the inequality and power that is prevalent in the society or culture from the perspective of those who are deprived (Whalen, 2016). When the index is higher, it shows that there is clear establishment of the hierarchy and on the other hand when the index is lower, it indicates that the authority is regularly questioned and challenged. As per this index it is better or organisations to 4
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maintain a medium power index that can be used to avoid too much power holding and it is not taken lightly as well. Individualism versus Collectivism: The score here shows the extent to which the different individuals in the society collectively associate themselves to a group or groups. When the index is high it shows that people are closely integrated with each other and are concerned beyond the immediate self about the extended family in the group on the other hand a lower index shows that people are more concerned with themselves and with the immediatefamilymembersonly(Martinez-Fiestasandet.al.,2017).Organisations should tend to maximise this score so that collectivising and motivation amongst the employees can be increased between them thus increasing the performance of the entire organisation as well. Uncertainty Avoidance: The score of this index shows the acceptance level of the people towards the uncertainty of the events that might take place. A higher index shows that people are less tolerant towards uncertainty and have strict rules and policies that are to be followed in all conditions (Minkov, 2018). On the other hand lower index shows that people are more comfortable for the new challenges that can arise and can accept such changes easily. In an organisation, it is necessary to keep such indexes lower so that the change can be easily implemented and accepted by the employees thus increasing the overall productivity. Masculinity versus Femininity: Here, the preference for heroism, achievements, material success and rewards as opposed to the society which is more modest and prefers quality over quantity. The societies which respect women ad treat them as equivalent with the men are termed to be feminine and in the masculine dominant societies, the female are perceived to be less qualified than men (Kristjánsdóttir and et.al., 2017). There is a gap in such societies between men and women. However, the organisations should aim to be moderate in such aspects where neither females are too much preferred not men, but the aim should be towards a balance where both males and females have equal say and opportunities. Long term versus short term orientations: this aspect evaluates the link between the present and the past. When the index is high the economy tends to move forward and perceive adaption is more important but a lower index shows that the economy prefers to 5
honour their traditions more and they deem it necessary to move forward only by taking along the past values (Afrasiabifar and Zarei, 2017). An organisation should be at a moderate in this aspect where they should value the traditions that are being followed but they should also continuously move forward in the industry. Indulgence versus Restraint: This aspect evaluates the freedom exercised by the citizens given by the society. A society is said to be indulgent when the individuals are allowed to freely enjoy the material things of world and have fun as opposed to the restraint aspect where the humans are taught to control their desires and the social norms are stricter (Litvin, 2019). Since organisations are operating in different societies it is necessary to acknowledgeandrespecttheirownvaluesanddeveloporganisationalpolicies accordingly. Therefore, the Hofstede’s model discusses different aspects that are covered in the cross cultural management. However, there are various other models as well that need to be discussed such as: Trompennar’s Model of National Cultural Differences:This model is more oriented with the cross cultural communication and management where the national cultural differences are highlighted through the measures that are in some manner similar but in some aspects, also different from the Hofstede’s Model of culture (McSweeney, 2016). These factors can be evaluated in following manner: Universalism v/s Particularism:Universalism states that there are certain ideas and practices that can be made applicable on al the organisations throughout the world where as the concept of Particularism states that the rules and theories applicable in the organisations depend on the different situations which they are facing and cannot be madesimilarforalli.e.thereisnotstandard(Pîrlog,2017).Themultinational organisations should always focus in enhancing the Particularism aspect because it alwaystakesrealityasasubjectivethingsandthefocusliesinimprovingthe relationships with people. Therefore, this is a beneficial approach in increasing the productivityoftheorganisationsascomparedtouniversalismwhichencourages redundancy in the organisations. Individualismv/s. Communitarianism: Individualism is that situation where the people treat themselves separate from each other as individuals and emphasis is more on the satisfaction of their own needs (Dulebohn and Hoch, 2017). Communitarianism in the 6
other hand states that here people emphasises that they belong to a particular group or culture rather than as an individuals. For organisations, it is much more preferable to be high on the Communitarianism aspect rather than on the individualism aspect because this will increase the integration amongst the employees and make them more loyal towards each other as well as towards the company. Neutralv/s. Emotional: This aspect states that neutral symbolises that state where the emotions are not expressed so easily and are kept in check whereas the emotional state is the one where whatever a person feels, they are able to express it openly and freely (Zukhi and Hussain, 2017). This factor highly signifies the cultural factor because in certain countries like Britishers and Japanese, emotions are never express fully and on the otherhandspeoplefromNetherlandsetc.areopenlyexpressingtheirviews. Organisations should maintain a mediocre level where they encourage employees to express their emotions but they are also taught restrain so that the work ethics and environment can be maintained and does not gets destroyed. Specificv/s. Diffuse: This aspect very precisely segregates the cultures on the basis of public and privates space of the people. A specific culture is said to be the one where the individuals share their public space with a large number of people freely and easily but their private space is guarded very closely by them to which only few friends and family have access. On the other hand, diffuse culture is said to be the one where the public and private space of the people is similar and therefore it is guarded very carefully due to easy entry into public and private space at the same time (Broeke, 2016). Organisations with separate public and private space are the best types of organisations in which an employee can work satisfactorily and with productivity. Achievementv/s. Ascription: This type of culture indicates the status of the people i.e. the manner in which it is perceived. The achievement culture states that the status of a person is determined ion the basis of their performance of the duties assigned to them and on the contrary, the ascription aspect states that status if people can be identified from the position that they are at or their identity that belongs to them (Trompenaars and Greene, 2016). In the organisations, focus should be more on achievement i.e. People should be recognised for what they have achieved rather than for what they ascribed and this will lead to higher performance of the employees. 7
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Sequentialv/s. Synchronic: Under sequential, order and chronology are more preferred where things are likely to be completed in a systematic manner addressing one thing at a time. Developing deadlines, meeting them, planning schedules are the key activities that constitute sequential culture. Synchronic on the other hand is more concerned with the completion of various things together. Under this, the various activities are connected together and they are completed together at the same time (Guhl and Cordeiro, 2017). This increases the flexibility of the employees in the completion of activities. Today, the environment has become dynamic that demands multi- tasking and flexibility and therefore, organisations should encourages synchronic culture where different activities can be addressed at the same time. Internalv/s. External control: Internal control signifies the extent to which a business can control their performance by controlling their management and employees. These are the internal factors and external control signifies those factors on which the organisation itself has zero control. They can only accept the effect it has had on the business and risks, if any can only be mitigated or avoided (McSweeney, 2016). An organisation has to maintain both internal and external environment control in the business so that better decisions can be taken and strategies can be developed accordingly. Hall’s theory is yet another cultural model that can further elaborate the necessity of maintaining cross culture environments accordingly. Edward Hall developed aproxemics theory under which the personal space of the people were categorised into three I.e. intimate space, social and consultative space and public space (Favaretto and et.al., 2017). The theory stated that people will behave according to these spaces i.e. on the basis of the social setting and also depending on the cultural backgrounds; the interaction of people in these spaces will be different from each other. As per this theory, the behaviour of people is largely governed by the type of cultural background that they belong to and therefore the organisation working in different cultural backgrounds should always respect the personal space of the public (Schriver and Australia, 2017). Collectively, the study of all these models and theories helped in the identification of the different aspects associated with cultural behaviour of people and the manner in which it is differentiated by people belonging to different countries. 8
Similarities and differences between the theories Although, all the three models that were discussed were based on the concept of cross culture management in international organisations, there are certain similarities and differences that can be highlighted in following manner: Hofstede’sTrompennar’sHall’s The model developed by Hofstede’saimsto evaluatethevaluesthat peoplecanexerciseat workplace based on their culturalbackground. Rather than analysing the behaviour of people that affectsculture,Hofstede has analysed that how due toculture,peopletake certainactionsand decisions.Themodel delves very deep into the cultural values that have beenenrootedinan individualwhichaffects thebehaviourand decisionsthattheytake. However, it can be argued that the conclusions drawn byHofstede’shave become outdated now. For instance,cultureisno longer a standing point but itisregularlyevolving Trompennar’smodelis moreorientedwiththe behaviour of employees in work and leisure situations. Itisfocusorientedand highlights the organisation andtheirrelationships moreevidentlythrough theirframework (McSweeney,2016). Additionally, it can also be said that the Trompennar’s modelismoreinclined towardsthechoicesthat people make towards their culture rather than taking the aspect of the influence ofculturepeople’s decision.Thisisa particulardifference between the three theories. Lastly, it can also be said thattheTrompennar’s classificationsaremore relevant and realistic than theonesdoneby TheHalltheoryis comparativelymuch shorter and brief from the aspectsdiscussedin Hofstede’sand Trompennar’stheories where only the proxemics i.e. the study of space has beenpresentedbythe theoristswherehehas described how the cultural notions and beliefsaffect thepersonalandpublic space that they share with other people. However, it can be said that amongst all the three theories, this is themostrelevant, applicableandrealistic theorythatareusedby almost all the organisations that are operating globally (Beydilli and Kurt, 2020). Therefore,hereonly communicationactivities ofpeoplearetakeninto 9
and growing.Hofstede’s.consideration as compared to the societal norms that theothertwomodels consider in a greater detail. Similarities: However, there are certain similarities between all the three models which have been discussed above in context of cross cultural communication at global level. All the three models take into consideration different aspects that can be used in order to maintain better work place strategies through the cultural aspects or dimensions. Additionally, all the three models impose change as a necessary thing where there is not just a single and fixed culture but regularly changing and evolving practices (Carolina, 2019). All the three models integrate the different cultural values together and guides the organisations in context of the behaviour that they should adopt while dealing with employees or any other similar party in organisational context regarding the cultural values. Lastly, it can also be said that all the three models highlight the importance of compliance to cultural values in order to develop better performance standards in the society. Implications on successful management of global teams in international environment Cross culture plays essential role within organization because it is not helping to understand different cultural employees’ behaviours but also supports to improve brand image in global market (Kim, and et.al., 2017). Manager plays important role for managing cross cultural team within organization. To manage different culture various issues are faced by manager which is described below: Affect on leadership and motivation To manage virtual team at global level gets faces cultural variation issues by the international management. For example,some employees who belongs from British country they are dominating nature they require guidance of their leader rather than support. As same with other employees who belongs to Indian countries they require supports and monitoring. In that situation, manager can’t lead different cultural employees by specific leadership style. So international management take help of Trompenaars theory which is based on the seven dimensions of culture. By the universalism vs pluralism helps to understand psychology of different cultural employees. Such as universalism culture states that people like to work under ethics and morals instead of relationship and friendship (ArunachalamKumar and Kawalek, 10
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2018). While pluralism states that people believe in relationship and friendship and maintains their wellbeing as well. To meet different cultural objectives adapts different leadership style like democraticandHezberg’sequitymodelbymanager.Theyoffersdifferentfacilitiesfor motivating different employees at global level like manager follows Hezbergs equity model to give guidance or act as guider to universalism cultural and democratic leadership style adapts by manager for motivating pluralism culture. Thus, international management influences different cultural to work in global team and give high performance within workplace. Communication and negotiating Cross culture leads communication issues between employees and management. To deal with different cultural team at global level is the big deal for the manager. The reason behind is that there are large numberof employees who keeps difference to each other and offers their services in different countries (Hossain, 2018). Communication issues occurs by various reason i.e. physical distance, different time zones, language barriers and cultural differences are the majorreasonwhichcausespeopleunabletocommunicatetoeachotheroravoidto communicate. There is an example to understand communication issue such as UK’s people who speaks English while Chinahas own language, most of the employee of china gets difficulties to understand English language due to British ascent. So, most of the time, both countries like China and British people avoid to communicate witheach other’s. Language barrier is dominant for each country which leads communication issues. To resolve communication issues organizes communication classes by international management so that helps employee to understand different language and leads high communication among the employees. To negotiate different cultural employees’ analyses Hofstede’s cultural dimension which helps to understand adaption power of different culture. International management organizes skype meeting two time in a month which supports different cultural employees to share their views and leads clarification in task as well (Batovaand Andersen, 2017). International management introduces feedbacks strategy as well for influencing virtual global team. Where management who is allocated in different countries takes feedbacks from employees like they are easy to understand British language or others. when international management analyses that both countries i.e. UK and China employees faces difficulties while communicating eachother then resolve their issues like when British employees speaks slow then Chinese easy to understand. As same when Chinese speaksproperwordsthatleadshighunderstandingandcommunicationaswell.Thus, 11
international management maintains wellbeing of both type employees and negotiates them to give high performance. Decision making and organizational relationship International management gets difficulties while making decision for he virtual global team because individuals has different needs and expectation. So most of them time, virtual team resist on implication of decisions. For example,manager createsstrategic plan for motivating employees at workload time like rewards strategy. but management doesn’t get appropriate result which they expectlike British and other countries employees gets excited and will give high performance. the reason behind is that British employees believes in leisure and time flexibility which negotiates them to give high performance at workplace and maintains their wellbeing at work load. On the other hand, other countries like India, Mexico, Netherland etc. employees are motivated by rewards i.e. money and recognition instead of leisure and time flexibility. So, international management provides different policies as per the countries expectation and offers to virtual global team sothat they motivate and give high performanceduring work pressure (Henderson, Stackman and Lindekilde, 2016). As same concept implements for organization relationship with their employees. Where international management gets difficulties because different countries follows different culture. According to individualism vs communitarian states that individualism culture’s people believes to work individually and gives high performance rather in community. While communitarian culture believes to work in community instead of individual. Individualism culture follows by British while communitarian culture follows by Netherland, Israel, Indonesia, Italy etc. they believe to work in community. Apart from this, British follows neutral culture while other countries followemotional culture. To meet different culture creates different policies and leadership by the international management which helps to build different relationship at global level. Thus, international management influences different culture and motivates virtual global team. Flexibility in changing organizational context To promote different cultural team at global level requires high flexibility in policies, leadership, initiatives and strategies. International management follows external directed culture so that can comply with external situation and organizes virtual global team who supports organizationraisegoodwillandbrandimagebyofferinghighperformanceatdifferent 12
workplace. international management is not only kept flexibility in their policies but also meets different cultural employees’ objectives so that can get advantage within workplace. CONCLUSION The research conducted in the report above helps in concluding that the need for cross culture management in the organisations is very extensive and crucial for the success of the organisations. The importance of the cross culture was discussed where it was identified that this help in increasing the overall productivity and performance of the business in global context. Hofstede’s and Trompennar’s model of cultural management was used along with the Hall’s model in order to evaluate the different aspects related to culture that need to be managed collectively so that better decisions can be taken for the workforce that is culturally diversified. The report further discussed the similarities and differences between all the three models and collectively, their contribution in effectively managing the culturally diverse workforce was identified in the report. Lastly, the report also identified and evaluated the implications or the impact that cultural differences have over the businesses that operate globally. The different barriers that can arise were evaluated and the manner in which they could be addressed was also identified and concluded in the report. The report collectively helped in ascertaining how using varioustechniquestheculturalbarriersthatmightarisecanbemitigatedby theglobal organisations. 13
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