Cross Cultural Management

This report discusses the importance of cross cultural management in organizations and how it affects communication and negotiation. It explores Hofstede's dimensions of culture and the impact of different cultural dimensions on communication style. The report also provides recommendations for managing cultural differences in cross-cultural negotiations.

Running Head: CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
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Cross Cultural Management
Student Details
4/30/2019

Cross Cultural Management 2
Contents
Background......................................................................................................................................3
Hofstede’s Dimensions....................................................................................................................4
Low vs. High Context Cultures.......................................................................................................6
Impact of other Dimensions on Communication Style................................................................6
Impact on Approach to Cross-Cultural Negotiation........................................................................7
Recommendations............................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................10

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Background
Culture is defined as a set of beliefs and learned behaviours that distinguish a society or group of
people from one another. Every group of people is defined by its attitudes, beliefs, religion,
ideals, diet, clothing, art, entertainment, and several other things. Due to globalization, people are
getting opportunities of working in different cultures and people of different beliefs, attitude, and
ideals. According to (Hofstede, 2009) culture is defined as a collective programming of human
mind that distinguish one group members from others. There are various levels of culture such as
national culture, organizational culture, gender culture, occupational culture, regional culture,
Identity group culture, team culture, functional culture, individual culture, and many more. All
these cultures are different from each other as per different types of social systems (Mind, 2019).
When people of different cultures work together then the chances of cultural differences and
clashes between them increase which affect the performance of the organizations and decrease
their effectiveness. Hence, there is need of effective management of different cultures and
promote better team collaboration where organizations’ employees work with each other in
coordinated way and utilize each others’ different cultural knowledge to meet the company’s
objective. In cross culture management communication and negotiation are two important
elements (Shonk, 2019). Communication is a way of exchanging information through verbal and
non-verbal medium and negotiation is a process of finding a solution to an acceptable level
through bargaining. Organizations hence create negotiating teams who are capable of making
deals closed even after having different priorities and different desired outcomes. These teams
work on business development plans while keeping aside their personal conflicts (Kumar, 2014).

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This report discusses about all these aspects of cross cultural management in context of
Singapore and Mexico where business to business transaction is to be made for importing IT
goods and integrated circuits in Mexico. Doing business with another country also means dealing
with a different culture. Hence, this report describes how business is conducted in a culturally
different country.
Hofstede’s Dimensions
In order to bridge the cultural difference, Geert Hofstede started his study in IBM organization in
56 countries in 1970. His theory of cultural dimension revolved around cross-cultural
communication. These dimensions of his theory define the impact of the culture embedded in
society on the beliefs and values of the people who live in that society (Study.com, 2019). A
structure based on factor analysis is also used to define the relationship between these values of
member of particular society and their behaviour. Knowledge about the manner in which various
business features are viewed in different cultures assist business leaders in managing cross
cultural differences (Brett et al., 2009). Hofstede described six cultural dimensions which are
described below:
1. Power Distance: This dimension of the theory explains the extent to which the less
powerful members of the society accept and expect that the power distribution is unequal.
Societies which have large power difference have features which include: autocracy in
leadership, hierarchy level’s number, large supervisory staff, centralized authority,
acceptance of privileges, and paternalistic ways of management while societies with
lower power have features of consultative management style, flat organizational
structure, small supervisory staff, decentralized authority, lack of acceptance, and

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consciousness of rights (Nishimura et al., 2009). Power distance in both Mexico and
Singapore are high but Mexico is still ahead of Singapore in power distance dimension.
But the business in Singapore is afraid of the fact that importing IT goods and integrated
circuits in Mexico will increase power of distance of government of Mexico.
2. Uncertainty Avoidance: This dimension of the theory describes the extent to which
people of the society are not at ease with uncertainty and indistinctness. Features which
bring weak uncertainty avoidance include flexibility, undertaking risk, and tolerance
towards changing behaviours and opinions while features which represent strong
uncertainty avoidance include risk avoidance tendency, respect for authority, minimal or
no tolerance for deviants, various standardized procedures, strong consensus requirement,
and respect for authority (Zieba, 2019). There is large gap in this dimension of Hofstede
for Singapore and Mexico. Singapore has very low uncertainty avoidance in comparison
of Mexico.
3. Long term vs. Short term Orientation: Long term orientation describes that the society
is inclined more towards virtue search, and the short-term orientation refers inclination of
society towards absolute truth establishment. Long term orientation is perceived in high
scoring nations where basis of everything that is education, society, and training is family
as well as here, elderly people and men are given superiority as compared to young
people and women while low scoring nations promote individualism and creativity and
treat each other with equality and always willing to help each other to execute innovative
ideas and plans (Kuncoro, 2016). Singapore has long-term orientation due to its
population which include people from different religions of Asia who are highly sensitive

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towards relations, respect, integrity, and so on. On the other side, Mexico has short-term
orientation where people are present minded and promote innovation and creativity.
4. Individualism vs. Collectivism: This dimension determines preference of people of
either being left alone to look after themselves or want a knitted environment around
them. Individualism means little responsibility sharing and connections. They highly
value people’s time and their freedom. They also have high respect for the privacy and
expect rewards for their hard work, while collectivism emphasize more on group
cohesion, respect for members, and large amount of loyalty (Shonk, 2019). Individualism
is more preferred in Mexico whereas people of Singapore support collectivism more.
5. Restraint vs. Indulgence: This dimension determines the extent to which societies can
control their desires and impulses. This dimension focuses on happiness. Indulgent
society allows free gratification of basic and natural drives pertaining to involve into
enjoying and fun loving life (HOD, 2019). A restraint society holds back gratification and
tries to control it through social norms. Mexico is far ahead in indulgency from
Singapore.
6. Femininity vs. Masculinity: Masculinity means a society give preference to heroism,
assertiveness, achievement and material reward for achieving success, and femininity
means cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak, and quality of life are preferred by the
society. In high scores men are masculine and women are feminine while in low score
nations the difference between the roles of two is not transparent, and women work in
male dominated professions and men are allowed to be kind and sensitive (Study.com,
2019). These environments admire and respect successful women. Masculinity is more in
Mexico whereas Singapore has more preference for femininity.

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Low vs. High Context Cultures
Hall categorised cultures into two context high context culture and low context culture to
describe the basic difference in communication style and cultural issue. Communication style
means a way of expressing oneself and cultural issues refers certain societal factors (Anastasia,
2015). Cultural issues also include collectivism and individualism dimension of Hofstede.
Impact of other Dimensions on Communication Style
Communication style in high context culture is affected by well structured social hierarchy,
closeness of human relationships, and strong behavioural norms. In high context culture real
meaning is implanted deep in the information and everything is not stated openly in writing or
orally. It is expected from the listener that he/she can understand the unsaid things on the basis of
his/her background knowledge (Staff, 2019). Singapore has high context culture where people do
not communicate openly first because of language differences. In Singapore various languages
are spoken among different communities which make them not understandable for each other.
Secondly, here people are more inclined towards relations, collectivism, and integrity. Hence,
they less speak their heart out (Maclachlan, 2010).
Mexico, on other hand has low-context culture and they are present minded people. Major or the
official language of Mexico is Spanish, spoken by majority population. People of Mexico can
easily communicate with each other and because people here are more practical they believe in
expressing their information through language. Low context communication is direct, open,
dramatic, precise, and depends on true intentions or feelings (Orientations, 2019).

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Impact on Approach to Cross-Cultural Negotiation
Organizations are focusing more on team work rather than individuals. They are shifting their
ways of work organizing towards work teams. Globalization has increased the use of
multicultural or multinational teams. Members of multicultural teams are culturally diverse but
homogeneous nationally while members of multinational teams belong to different countries and
also differ in cultural background (ToolsHero, 2019). Effective leadership and communication
are important to manage cross cultural differences and thus ensures success and effectiveness of
business organizations. However, as conceptions of ideal leadership vary from one culture to
another therefore, there is a wide variety of notions about leaders (Kuncoro, 2016). However
some attempts were made by researchers to find the ideal leadership which can be applied across
cultures. As Singapore and Mexico are thinking about B2B with each other, it is important to
note that Singapore culture supports collectivism more while Mexico prefer individual.
However, this difference is not large and this can be resolved by using effective leadership.
Behavioral theory explained the critical behavior which makes a person a good leader.
Leadership style used in Singapore is Laisser Faire and the organizational structure is flat while
Mexico has transactional leadership and pyramidal organizational structure. Different leadership
styles and organizational structure are issue and causing cross cultural management problems.
The best leadership theories to address the issues of cross cultural management are situational
and contingency theories of leadership. These theories consider the fact that effective leadership
depends on various factors such as situational and leader’s variables (Shonk, 2019). Effective
leadership meets the needs of team on time and the best contingencies to leadership are situations
and followers. Contingency model of Fiedler describes two types of leadership: task leader who
aims at achieving goals of the organization associated with productivity, and relationship leader

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who aims at developing sound relationships with team members associated with group harmony
and satisfaction (Nishimura et al., 2009).
Communication is important to deliver instructions and ideas to the teams. While working with
cultural team members, an effective communication is important. Communication should be in a
way which allows the team members from different culture or multi-functional team’s members
understand what the expectations of the organization from them are. Communication is an
important skill of a good leader (Maclachlan, 2010). Effective communication skill of a leader is
important as he is the one who communicates vision, new strategies, changes, and value related
to technology, business, and corporate culture. Effective communication of team leaders align
team members as well as bind them in a team member. Therefore, it is considered that
communication is the core of leadership activity which involves persuading and influencing
others. It is believed by Kotter that through effective communication skill of leader, he/she can
motivate the members to work as a team and achieve the organizational goals and to reach their
individual objectives (Zieba, 2019). Depending on the assumption that leadership depends on
communication skills, two approaches are identified: task competency and relational
competency. Task competency describes communication skills required for task completion and
managing group goals. The relational competency describes communication skills which are
required for managing interpersonal relationships, conflict management between team members,
and group climate (Brett et al., 2009).
Recommendations
Negotiating in cultural, national, and international environment is a big challenge for negotiators.
Below are some recommendations for coping with cultural differences:

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1. Effective Communication: Major problem is communication gap due to language
difference. Hence, effective communication should be ensured by deciding on a common
language such as English which is a global language and easy to understand and speak.
2. Learn culture of other side: It develops trust and credibility and is also a sign of respect
for the other side. This helps in choosing right tactics and strategies during negotiation
(Orientations, 2019).
3. Identify ways to bridge culture gap: Instead of making efforts to adopt the culture of
other side, efforts should be made to persuade other side to use our cultural elements or a
combination of both cultures should be used which is regarded as joint venture businesses
(Kuncoro, 2016).
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion it can be concluded that as globalization has expanded
business opportunities for the organizations but also raised issues of cross cultural management.
Further, various issues are associated with cross culture which if not managed effectively
decreases the performance of the organization. Leadership and communication are the two
important elements which play significant role in managing cross cultural activities through
motivating teams, team management, and negotiation to come out with a solution to enhance
performance of each organization.
Bibliography
Anastasia, 2015. Understanding Cultures & People with Hofstede Dimensions. [Online]
Available at: https://www.cleverism.com/understanding-cultures-people-hofstede-dimensions/.

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Brett, J.M., Friedman, R. & Behfar, K., 2009. How to Manage your Negotiating Team. [Online]
Available at: https://hbr.org/2009/09/how-to-manage-your-negotiating-team.
HOD, 2019. Cross Culture Management. [Online] Available at:
http://www.dissertationhomework.com/essays/cultural-studies/cross-culture-management.
Kumar, S., 2014. Cross-Cultural Communication and Negotiation- A Cconceptual Framework.
Research Journal of Social Sciences & Management, 3(11), pp.51-55.
Kuncoro, S., 2016. Culture and Team Leadership Communication Effectiveness: A Cross-
cultural Study from Japanese and German Leadership Communication Literature. [Online]
Available at: https://unitec.researchbank.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10652/1263/fulltext.pdf?
sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
Maclachlan, M., 2010. Cross-Cultural Communication Styles: High and Low Context. [Online]
Available at: https://www.communicaid.com/cross-cultural-training/blog/high-and-low-context/.
Mind, O., 2019. National Cultures, Organizational Cultures, and the Role of Management.
[Online] Available at: https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/articles/national-cultures-
organizational-cultures-and-the-role-of-management/.
Nishimura, S., Nevvgi, A. & Tella, S., 2009. Communication Style and Cultural Features in
High/Low Context Communication Cultures: A Case Study of Finland, Japan and India.
Management Communication Quarterly, pp.783-96.
Orientations, C., 2019. Six Levels of Culture. [Online] Available at:
https://www.culturalorientations.com/Our-Approach/Six-Levels-of-Culture/55/.

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Shonk, K., 2019. Cross-Cultural Communication in Business Negotiations. [Online] Available
at: https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/international-negotiation-daily/cross-cultural-
communication-business-negotiations/.
Staff, P., 2019. Overcoming Cultural Barriers in Negotiations and the Importance of
Communication in International Business Deals. [Online] Available at:
https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/international-negotiation-daily/bridging-the-cultural-divide-
in-international-business-negotiations/.
Study.com, 2019. Cross-Cultural Communication: Definition, Strategies & Examples. [Online]
Available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/cross-cultural-communication-definition-
strategies-examples.html.
Study.com, 2019. Levels of Culture: National, International & Subcultural. [Online] Available
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ToolsHero, 2019. Hofstede Cultural Dimensions. [Online] Available at:
https://www.toolshero.com/communication-skills/hofstede-cultural-dimensions/.
Zieba, M., 2019. Cross Cultural Negotiation. [Online] Available at:
https://www.calumcoburn.co.uk/articles/cross-cultural-negotiation/.