Cross-cultural Management: Issues and Solutions in Hydro Generation
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Added on  2023/01/18
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This report discusses the issues of isolation of workers and hiring practices in Hydro Generation (HG), a US-based company working on a dam project in Tanzania. It applies the theory of cross-cultural management to address these issues and suggests strategies to improve organisational culture.
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Table of Contents INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3 PODCAST & SCRIPT.....................................................................................................................3 Issue 1 : Isolation of workers from other workers......................................................................3 Issue 2 : the hiring practices of the manager...............................................................................4 REFLECTION.................................................................................................................................4 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6 REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7
INTRODUCTION Organisational culture is the shared beliefs, values and assumptions which directs the way in which organisational activities are done so as to achieve its goals and objectives. As the businesses are globalising they hire employees belonging to different cultures who have different sets of beliefs and values which needs to be monitored by the managers by following the philosophy of cross-cultural management subject to companies that operate in international markets(Bian and Forsythe, 2012). The present report discusses about two issues that are identified in an organisation namedHydro Generation (HG) which is US based and is working on a dam project in Tanzania. A theory related to organisational culture will be applied to the company so that the issues can be efficiently dealt with. PODCAST & SCRIPT Issue 1 : Isolation of workers from other workers The Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory which was developed by Greet Hofstede is used to understand the differences in culture of the people working in an organisation so that such strategies can be developed which will help in managing the cultural differences which will help the company in achieving its objectives. As it can be seen that the workers of the company isolate each other due to differences in culture following dimensions of the theory can be applied:ďˇCollectivism and individualism: It can be seen from the case study that the people of Africa mostly follow collectivism culture and they give value to achieving collective gaols hence the company needs to install a collectivism culture in the company so that the project can become successful. This will help the company to involve all the people associatedwiththeprojecttocoordinateinabetterwayandwillalsoreduce individualism in the company. This will help in management of people belonging to different cultures efficaciously(Bochner ed., 2013). ďˇPower distance index: The company follows a flat structure which was disorganised and no one seemed to be in charge of the group. The company needs to follow high power index in its culture so that a bureaucratic environment can be established in the company so that the differences in power index can be identified and high respect can be given to the rank and authority. This will help in directing and managing the employees of the
company in a better manner along with directing them through the project. Bureaucracy in the company will mean that all the employees are involved in decision-making which will help the company in taking efficient decisions so that the goals of the project can be met on time and within the estimated budget(Lamb, 2013). Issue 2 : the hiring practices of the manager Jones developed a practice of mentioning openings to local people and then interviewing and hiring the people the local people recommended. This meant that the culture of nepotism in the company was increasing in the company which is considered as unethical in the US standards. This can be dealt by using the following dimensions of Hofstede's theory :ďˇIndulgence and restraint: The company needs to follow a restraint culture so that the norms of the company can be followed by the manager of HG who hires the people only on the basis of recommendations of people without considering their competence and qualifications. This is done by him so that benefit of some relaxations can be achieved by hiring the local government officials who will make the work easy. This is considered as unethical by the US and company's standards and hence a culture of restraint needs to be followed so that company norms are strictly followed(Huff, Song and Gresch, 2014). ďˇUncertaintyavoidanceindex:Itmeansthatthecompanyneedstofollowhigh uncertainty avoidance index in the company culture so that there is low tolerance towards ambiguity and uncertainty is avoided following strict rules and regulations in the company so that while hiring the people there is no confusion about the company policies regarding hiring of people. This will help in reducing nepotism that is being carried out in the company by Jones which will mean that the company abide by the rules and regulations of the company's laws and also to the laws prevailing in the US government which describes the manner in which businesses carry out their activities(Jackson, 2015). REFLECTION From this case study it I was able to identify certain problems that were being faced in the HG organisation when it started its new dam project in Tanzania which affected the efficiency of workers and their ability to perform their task so as to achieve the company goals effectively. The company seemed to a have a problem related to its organisational culture in respect to the international culture in which it had to open its new business. Jones who was the
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manager of the project applied his own methods and principles and techniques to achieve the company goals. He hired people based on the recommendations of local people and interviewing them casuallywithout following the company norms and policies where there is formal way of interviewing the people and analysing the competences of people. After this the candidates are selected and recruited in the company. For this the company needs to follow the Hofstede's cultural dimension of indulgence and resistance and also the dimension related to uncertaininy avoidance index. These dimensions of the theory will help the company in establishing a strict culture in the organisation that needs to be followed by all the employees so that the people are hired on the basis of the company norms and not doing things based on the perspectives of the employees. This will allow the company to hire potential individuals who have the required qualification and determination to achieve the task they are given. This will also reduce the employee turnover of the company along with increasing the level of coordination among them. The problem that is faced by the employees due to the company's flat structure can also be dealt with efficiently. This will help in organising the employees properly and allocating tasks based on their capabilities and qualifications so that the management of these people can be easily done and the targets are efficiently achieved. Along with the practices of hiring employees in the project the other problem that was identified was that of increasing level of individualism in the company which led to the isolation of the employees. When people belonging to different cultures work in an organisation is is important to establish a culture of collectivism so that they can all be accumulated together which can help in achieving the goals of the company and all the workers working in close affinity with each other. For this that company can follow power distance index and collectivism and individualism dimension of Hofstede theory. This will help the company in encouraging collectivism among all the team members so that they can all be included in company decision- making which will help in increasing their contribution in the company. This will also bring the people belonging to different cultures together and the cross cultural management in the company will become efficient. This will also reduce the employee turnover which is increasing because they feel that the management structure of the company is unorganized and no one seemed to be in charge of the project. This makes the project goals and objectives ambiguous for them to understand which increases the number of conflicts among them. This increases the employee turnover of the company. For this the company needs to make the policies of the
company strong which will mean that Jones will have to abide by the rules of the company before hiring the employees of the company. The company thus has some problems in its operations which needs to be dealt with efficiently so that the project can be finished in the manner desired. I thus found the case study interesting which helped me in using my skills which could in return help the company to improve the organisational culture that will change the way in which recruitment is done in the project and will also help in reducing the employee turnover. This task was performed in a group which went well as the cooperation level among all the team members was high which helped in completing the task efficiently. Along with this the effective communication skills and interpretation skills helped us to determine the direction of the project and the way in which the task needs top be completed. The time management skills were a little weak and needs to be improved in the future projects so that the projects that will be undertaken in the future can be well managed according to time and the completion of the project can be timely done. CONCLUSION From this report it can be concluded that in order to work efficiently in organisations where employees have people belonging to different cultures it is important to increase the level of collectivism so that all the employees can be included in the company activities and they can be made part of the company's decision-making process. Along with this it is important that the standard rules of the company are applied irrespective of the place of its operation so that the employees do not carry out the work in an unethical manner. This can be done by establishing a strong organisational culture so that company policies are strictly followed.
REFERENCES Books and Journals Bian, Q. and Forsythe, S., 2012. Purchase intention for luxury brands: A cross cultural comparison.Journal of Business Research. 65(10). pp.1443-1451. Bochner, S. ed., 2013.Cultures in contact: Studies in cross-cultural interaction(Vol. 1). Elsevier. Lamb, M. E., 2013.The father's role: Cross cultural perspectives. Routledge. Huff, K. C., Song, P. and Gresch, E. B., 2014. Cultural intelligence, personality, and cross- cultural adjustment: A study of expatriates in Japan.International Journal of Intercultural Relations. 38. pp.151-157. Jackson, T., 2015. Management studies from Africa: A cross-cultural critique.Africa Journal of Management,1(1), pp.78-88. Johnson, J. L. and Cullen, J. B., 2017. Trust in crossâcultural relationships.The Blackwell Handbook of CrossâCultural Management.pp.335-360. Matsumoto, D. and Hwang, H.C., 2013. Assessing cross-cultural competence: A review of available tests.Journal of cross-cultural psychology. 44(6). pp.849-873. Moriano, J. A. and et.al., 2012. A cross-cultural approach to understanding entrepreneurial intention.Journal of career development. 39(2). pp.162-185. Tjosvold, D., 2017.Cross-cultural management: foundations and future. Routledge. Tran, B., 2016. Communication (intercultural and multicultural) at play for cross cultural management within multinational corporations (MNCs). InHandbook of research on impacts of international business and political affairs on the global economy(pp. 62-92). IGI Global.