Cross Cultural Management

This document explores the concept of cross cultural management and its impact on businesses. It discusses the importance of understanding national culture, different leadership styles, and motivation in a cross cultural context. The case study of a major dam project in Tanzania is used to illustrate these concepts.

Cross Cultural
Management

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
Background..................................................................................................................................1
Category one................................................................................................................................1
Category two................................................................................................................................4
Category three..............................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Cross culture is a conception that recognises the differences between business people of diverse
countries, backgrounds and ethnicities and the importance of bridging them. With
internationalisation, cross culture education has become critically essential to businesses. Cross
culture management is the study of administration in a cross culture context (Guan, Xie and
Huan, 2018). It considers the examination of the impact of social culture on managers and
management activities as well as the study of the cultural orientations of individual
administrators and organisation members. This written report is based on a case study of a major
dam project in Tanzania. The document will discussed about some category like national culture,
leadership and motivation or HRM by considering different models and concepts from each
categories.
MAIN BODY
Background
Graham Stenberg is the vice precedent in a US based company Hydro Generation and the
firm is going to work on a major dam project in Tanzania. The administration of the respective
firm provided it all responsibilities regarded this project to Brett Jones who has already
completed his assignments on the preliminary and construction phase of the project and the
outcomes had been highly satisfactory and had finished every task on time and within budget.
Jones also knew the philosophy and values of the founders and the CEO who had been
instrumental in shaping HG’s mission and culture (Kohon, 2018). The management provide all
the responsibilities to Jones regarding this project the person has effectively aware and familiar
with this nation as Jones earning an MBA at the University of Boston and then took a job with
HG and when the venture establish its new project in Tanzanian then company select the person
to perform in this project and take the responsibilities of this African assignment.
Category one
National culture
It refers to the set of norms, behaviours, beliefs, and customs and values shares by the
population of a sovereign country. Also indicates to particular attributes like language religion,
ethnic and racial identity and cultural history and traditions. As per the view of Geert Hofstede ,
the collective programming often mind distinguishing the people of one group or category of
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individual from others. For effective description of culture, the venture can consider Hofstede’s
cultural Dimensions concept (Fong and et. al., 2018). This model includes some cultural
dimensions and the description of them can be drawn to analyse and compare US and Tanzanian
(An African Nation) cultures. Different dimensions can be implemented such as:
Power distance- This dimension defines the degree to which the less powerful members of
a society adopt and desire that power is allocated unequally: beliefs about the effective
distribution of power in community. The primary complexity here is that how a society handles
inequalities among individual. In communities, with low power distance, people strive to
equalise the allocation of power and demand justification for inequalities of power.
In Tanzanian PDI is much higher as the case study illustrates that the main power is in the
hand of government and with the help of corruption any work can be done by them. So if any
issues can be faced by respective venture regarding its dam project, than the administration can
execute their work by hiring local people, as relative of governance etc., can complete in well
manner. In comparison to US power distance is relatively much lower as the company operate
their activities in effective manner by following laws and legislation of the government. Before
performing any task, both administrators and employees expect to be discusses and information
is shared effectively. At the same time, communication is informal, instant and participative.
Individualism- This dimension is all about the relative importance of individual versus group
interests. This high side of this dimension is called individualism and can be explained as a
preference for a loosely knit social structure in which individuals are desired to take care of only
themselves. Whereas collectivism presents for a tightly knit structure in society in which
individuals can desire their members of a specific in team to look after them in exchange for
unquestioning loyalty. By considering case study, the collectivism dimension in Tanzanian is
low as to execute the project, the venture is ready to gain local support for the project by working
with the both the Tanzanian government in the capital and villagers in vicinity of the
construction site. Whereas in US, the company who is working these kind of project is only
responsible to take the accountability and for the completion of the project without making any
of involvement of others, rather than people of the business venture (Mannucci and Yong, 2018).
Masculinity- This dimension of culture is about what values are considered more essential in a
society. The masculine side of this dimension represents a preference in society for
accomplishment, heroism, assertiveness and material rewards for development. In term of
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business masculinity and femininity is sometimes also connected to as “tough versus tender”. In
context of case study, in US masculinity dimension is high as organisation provides equality to
all genders to provide the accountability of a specific job role (Kremer, Villamor and Aguinis,
2019). Whereas in African nation like Tanzanian, the company provide the major roles to male
as according to them this gender is highly responsible to the take the duties of superior roles.
Uncertainty avoidance- This dimension expresses the level to which the members of a
society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. Nations displaying high uncertainty
avoidance maintain rigid codes of belief and behaviour and are intolerant of unorthodox
behaviour and thoughts, nations with low uncertainty avoidance index keep more relaxed attitude
in which activity counts more than principles and the requirement for rules to constrain
uncertainty is minimal. As per the illustration of the case study, it can be determined that
Tanzanian is a low uncertainty avoidance nation so during construction of Dam, 700 villagers are
displace and for resettlement of them, HG assembled a resettlement package that included the
renovation of school, health centres in the new location.
Time orientation- Each society has to keep some links with its own past while dealing with the
challenges of the present and the upcoming time society’s priorities these two existential goals
differently (Teodoridis, Bikard and Vakili, 2019). Nations that score low on this dimension, for
instance, prefer to keep time honoured traditions and norms while viewing societal modification
with suspicion. Whereas the nations with cultures that scores high on this dimension on the other
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hand take a more practical method and they are future oriented. As per case study illustration,
Tanzanian is a low time oriented nation as there are Christian majority and many of the Muslims
in the nation as well. Apart from this there with a flat structure but some local employees had
complained that it was disorganised and no one seemed to be in charge.
Indulgence- This dimension is a relatively new to the model and is explained as the level
to which individual try to control their needs and impulses that are based on the form they were
raised (Daikoku, 2018). Indulgence stands for a society that permits relatively free gratification
of basic and natural human drives connected to enjoying life and having fun. In context of
respective case study, In Tanzanian, HG follow Flat structure and due to which turnover rate of
local employees was high and no one seemed to be capable to define this. The employment
contracts were framed by experts from the firm’s HQ who told Steinberg that the forms were
generous compared to other local employers. In US, the origination of the company can follow
organisational structure as per their business and people of the firm and each person is liable to
perform their as per the form structure.
Category two
Leadership
It is the art of encouraging a group of individual to act regarding accomplishment of a
common goal. In a business setting, thus can state leading employees and subordinates with a
plan of action to meet the organisation’s needs. Leadership can be defined as an ability to direct
other without force into a direction or decision that leaves the still feeling encouraged and
inspired. With the help of effective leadership skill, the leader of the venture motivate employees
so that they can they can accomplish their set goals and aims in adequate and appropriate manner
(Liao and Chen, 2018). There are several leadership styles and traits that are used by leaders to
motivate and empower workers of a venture like HG so that they can accomplish their allotted
work and task in set time duration.
Leadership traits/characteristics
Confidence- To be effective leader, it is an appropriate quality for a leader. To have this
trait the leader can confident enough to assure that other follow the organisation’s commands.
This consists being confident enough to direct, knowing that leaders’ plans and vision are not
only viable for the group but the absolute best decision potential. In HG, by having this quality
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the leader can confident about the completion of this Dam project and meet the objective of it
timely.
Visionary- This is an effective trait and quality that is crucial for an effective leader. A
great leader clearly sets the organisational way and exercises keen determination. Determination
devising is key to new thoughts; assuring teammates know the bottom line and understand the
aims and the mission in front of them (Guan, Xie and Huan, 2018). With the help of this, the
administrator of HG can set a vision and mission for accomplishing the business objective.
Passion- With the assistance of this characteristic, the person can encourage and
passionate themselves so that they can inspire employees by encouraging them to accomplish
their set business objectives and allotted task timely. This trait helps leaders in performing their
task and executes their responsibilities in effective manner.
Decision-making- It is an effective quality to be a good leader because to have this trait,
the person can take effective decision and provide accurate directions to employees so that they
can execute their work and assigned work by meeting their aim. With the help of this quality,
leader can make effective contribution in the growth and success of the firm.
Leadership styles
It refers to those leadership forms that are used and adopted by a leader to encourage and
motivate the workers of a firm. A leader adopt leadership style as per the situation so then it can
effective direct to perform their roles and responsibilities by considering situation. There are
several leadership style some of them are defined as under:
Autocratic style- It is leadership form in which leaders is the single person who is
responsible to take decision regarding execution of work without making contribution of other
people of business venture. The decision that is taken by the person is follow by other people of
the firm and teammates.
Democratic style- In this leadership form, the other people of the venture are allowed to
make participation in to decision making process. So that they can share their ideas and issues
and get effective solution at the time (Kohon, 2018). This leadership style is beneficial as it
encourages people and they also feel special. it can be contended that Jones was more familiar
with this style of leadership whereby the leader has some confidence and trust in subordinates.
Fielder’s Contingency Leadership theory
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This concept is developed by Fred E. Fielder and supported to studies of a wide range of
group effectiveness and focused in the relationship among leadership and organisational
execution. The explanation of this concept in respect to respective case study is as under:
Leader’s traits- In order to consider the attitude of the leader, Fiedler framed the least
preferred co- worker scale in which the leaders are asked about the individual with whom they
least like to work (Fong and et. al., 2018). There are several there are several qualities of leaders
like cooperative, hostile, and cheerful and many more that are effective for the leadership. Each
item in the scale is provided a single ranking between one and eight points with eight points
indicating the most favourable rating. In context of respective case study, within this
Situational factor- As per to Fiedler, a leader’s behaviour is dependent upon the
favourability of the leadership situation. Three components work together to analyse how
favourable a situation is to a leader. Leader-member relations are the factor that the degree to
which the leaders is trusted and connected by the team members and the willingness of the
teammates to follow the leader’s guidance. Task structure is another factor and the level to which
team’s task has been defined as structured or unstructured has been clearly described and the
level to which it can be carried out by defined instructions. Position power is the power of the
leader by virtue of the company position and the degree to which the leader can exercise on
teammates in order to comply with and accept the direction and leadership.
Leadership effectiveness- The leader’s effectiveness is monitored by the interaction of the
leader’s style of behaviour and favourableness of the situational qualities. The most favourable
situation is when leader member relations are good, the task is highly structured and the leader
has a string position power.
Category three
Motivation and HRM
It is an act of encouraging people by offering and performing things as per their needs
and demands. Motivation is the word that means needs, demands, wants and drives within the
people. It is the activity of stimulating individual to actions to attain the goals (Mannucci and
Yong, 2018). In the work goal context the psychological components stimulating the people’s
behaviour can be desire for money and success. In context of the respective case study, Maslow
hierarchy of need concept is defined as under:
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Physiological needs- It refers basic needs of employees like food, clothes and shelter. If
these needs are not fulfilled then employees cannot function optimally (Kremer, Villamor and
Aguinis, 2019). By offering effective pay and fulfilling their basic requirement HG can provide
satisfaction to its local employees of Tanzanian.
Safety needs- This need consider safety and security because each employee during
performing in the project likes Dam highly have this kind of need. So by offering an safe and
secure working environment the firm can satisfy this need. Along with the venture can also
provide medical facilities, health and life insurances etc. for the satisfaction of the need.
Social needs- This need related to love and affection as people who are working in the
firm also have the need of belongingness as human being is social animal. By making good
employee relation the administration can make good relation with the employees.
Esteem needs- It refers to growth, achievement and respect. When an employee perform
well then the individual is respected by other workers of the firm. This motivates the person to
perform well and fulfil this need.
Self actualisation needs- This need related to the development and success of the employees
that where they want to be (Teodoridis, Bikard and Vakili, 2019). So by offering training and
development or offering equal growth options this need can be fulfilled in effective manner.
Recommendations for action
As per above define information or actions it can be recommended that the person can
use effective cultural model to know the nation’s culture in better manner. By using of
implementing Hall and Hall’s model and Trompenaars model the manager can effectively gain
information about the culture of a nations. It can also be suggested that different leadership
concepts like Contingency, Transactional, Transformational and Vroom & Yetton Models can
adopt by leader to work as per situation or accept leadership style as pr situation. This will assist
in properly lead or direct employees in better way. By using Herzberg, Vroom and Adams
Equity theories of motivation, the individual can get information about motivating level of
workforce and with the help of these concepts; the person can encourage them in term of
fulfilling their needs so that they can do their task in better form.
CONCLUSION
This has been summarised from the above information that culture play an effective role in
the growth and success of the company. As per culture of nation and location, the way of
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working, motivational aspect and leadership directions all are changed. By considering effective
methods and concepts of culture like Hofstede cultural dimensions, motivational theory of
Maslow and leadership concepts, the company can perform in effective manner.
REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Guan, X.H., Xie, L. and Huan, T.C., 2018. Customer knowledge sharing, creativity and value co-
creation. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Kohon, G., 2018. No lost certainties to be recovered: Sexuality, creativity, knowledge.
Routledge.
Fong, P.S. and et. al., 2018. Knowledge hiding and team creativity: the contingent role of task
interdependence. Management Decision.
Mannucci, P.V. and Yong, K., 2018. The differential impact of knowledge depth and knowledge
breadth on creativity over individual careers. Academy of Management Journal, 61(5), pp.1741-
1763.
Kremer, H., Villamor, I. and Aguinis, H., 2019. Innovation leadership: Best-practice
recommendations for promoting employee creativity, voice, and knowledge sharing. Business
Horizons, 62(1), pp.65-74.
Teodoridis, F., Bikard, M. and Vakili, K., 2019. Creativity at the knowledge frontier: The impact
of specialization in fast-and slow-paced domains. Administrative Science Quarterly, 64(4),
pp.894-927.
Daikoku, T., 2018. Musical creativity and depth of implicit knowledge: spectral and temporal
individualities in improvisation. Frontiers in computational neuroscience, 12, p.89.
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Liao, S.H. and Chen, C.C., 2018. Leader-member exchange and employee creativity: Knowledge
sharing: the moderated mediating role of psychological contract. Leadership & Organization
Development Journal, 39(3), pp.419-435.
Online
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions. 2020. [Online]. Available Through: < https://www.business-to-
you.com/hofstedes-cultural-dimensions/>.
Fiedler’s Contingency Model. 2020. [Online]. Available Through: <
https://managementstudyguide.com/fiedlers-contingency-model.htm>.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. 2020. [Online]. Available Through: <
https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html>.
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