Inter-cultural Management in Business

This report explores the mechanism of inter-cultural management in business, evaluating the impact of individualism and collectivism on workforce. Strategies to reduce cultural differences are provided.

Inter-cultural
Management in
Business

Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
EXECUTIBVE..............................................................................................................................11

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report has been drawn on mechanism of inter-cultural management in business which
involves diversity in workforce working in an organisation. Theories, concepts and opinions of
different authors on this topic has been provided to evaluate impact of individualism and
collectivism on work. Furthermore, this has been explained in international context followed by
some strategies to have effective management and reduce cultural differences.

INTRODUCTION
The term intercultural refers to various cultures at one place having deep understanding of each
other. In the context of a business organisation, it is the exchange of ideas and cultural norms on
mutual basis for developing long lasting relationships (Barmeyer and Franklin, eds., 2016). The
groups belonging to different cultures should be managed in an effective way so as to reduce the
conflicts and disputes between them. The report covers explanation and evaluation of different
views on individualism and collectivism and its impact on the workforce working in an
organisation. Further, strategies along with ethical considerations have been provided to
overcome the issues between intercultural communities.
MAIN BODY
A workplace comprises of many types of concept that are followed by the people
working in an organisation. It depends on number of factors and the environment at the place of
entity. One of these being individualism which refers to the unique personality and set of skills
of the employee. This provides every member to have their own space, make decisions, ant it
perform best in the responsibilities assigned to them. Some of the features of organisational
individualism are people tend to have strong opinions and superiors appraise the achievements or
accomplishments made by them ( Plijter and et. al., 2014).
In addition to this, organisations following individual values know the worth of their
employees and skills put in by them. According to Weber,(Le Serre, Legohérel and Weber,
2013) individualism can be defined in many terms. However the scope is limited to one
particular concept where in the social practices are done by a single person (Taylor and Wilson,
2012).
On the other hand, Luhmann (Luhmann, 2013) has described it is an outcome of growing
social differentiation that leads to increasing the generalized symbolic framework, which make it
increasingly necessary to respective situations, roles and activities, which results in increasing
the individual human beings. On critically evaluating, it has been observed that the concept of
individualism is not just limited to organization but extends to social activities also (Havrancsik,
2015). A single person may have different ways of doing a particular thing however, in this
concept an individual puts this self interest and desires at the top and above the organizational
requirements. Every individual has different sets of skills and capabilities which can be used in

their own unique way so as to bring innovation within the organisation. However, the dedication
of a person can be fluctuated with the desire to fulfil the personal interests as everyone gets
selfish at one point of time (Le Serre, Legohérel and Weber, 2013). This can cause problems in
achieving the common goals. Furthermore, the personal interests differ person to person due to
which higher conflicts can occur. The second definition emphasizes on development of this
concept because of evolution of different practices in this society (Argyris, 2017).
Large as well as growing organisations usually appoint people belonging to different
backgrounds reflecting their own culture leading to intercultural workforce. If the individualism
concept is followed in any organisation, then there could be greater issues and conflicts
(Havrancsik, 2015). Since, this concept appreciate the sole skills due to which the competencies
of other employees can clash leading to disputes. It becomes difficult to maintain a coordination
and balance between the people working in the company. This can for the lead to reduced
efficiency, greater employee turnover and decline in profitability (Watling and et. al., 2013).
On the contrary, corporation collectivism is the one in which individuals see themselves
as members of particular groups. There is enhanced cooperation between each personnel without
putting self in the priority. The entire team in a company work towards achieving the common
goals and objectives (Černe, Jaklič and Škerlavaj, 2013). There is no discrimination or
individuality between the staff members. The underlying factor of this concept is to focus on
greater good of the whole team and less on employees individual skills and achievements. The
management in an organisation wish to see members working as a cohesive group. In this type of
organisational culture, every employee gets equal opportunities helping in bringing more
stability and consistency within the team. Along with this, every person share equal rights and
responsibilities together with the ideas followed by making decisions in a collective
manner(Finkelstein, 2012).
According to Hofstede (Minkov and Hofstede, 2012) , in collective culture people are
supposed to be loyal to the group to which they belong and, the group will defend their interest.
Collectivism indicates that there is greater importance on the goals and wellbeing of the group. A
person’s self-image in this category is defined as “we”. Whereas, Triandis(Triandis, 2018) has
focused on power relations that exist in collectivism culture. The emphasizes is on equal
opportunities and rights. Individuals see themselves in a group and there is not a single element
of individual choices or activities (Waisfisz, 2015). Every person should work in a collaborative

manner by putting equal efforts. With the culture, the ends results achieved are better which can
help the company gain profit and revenue in a short span of time. Also, this reduces the costs
involved because every individual is working towards the same goal this can ultimately reduce
the time taken in completion of tasks (Akkawanitcha and et. al., 2015).
The sculpture can have positive impact on work of the organisation in many ways. Some of these
are, there is enhanced collaboration and coordination to achieve the one specific goal which is set
by the organisation. In addition to this, equal opportunities to each member reduces the occurring
of conflicts or issues. It promotes friendliness which leads to positivity at the workplace. Every
subordinate is treated equally and the rights are also shared with each other due to which burden
on a particular individual is minimised (Van Hoorn, 2015). Therefore, profitability, participation
and quick decision making are some of the characteristics and advantages of collective culture.
The outcomes gained from critically evaluating are that a group is more useful in achieving the
goals of the organization in an efficient manner. Equal sharing of responsibilities help in
attaining the objectives without any hurdles. Furthermore, accountability is one of the factors
which can be seen in collectivism (Finkelstein, 2012). There is no blame game on each other and
every person is ready to take the responsibilities of their own share while working in group.
There is no ego or self interests beyond organizational objectives. In other words, the prime
concern of every subordinate is to achieve the common goals. This helps in promoting good
balance between the individuals working together. There is no separation or sole desires which
bring stability within the organization (Argyris, 2017).
Individualism and collectivism are two aspects of organisational culture which exist in
companies operating at international level since there is greater chance of having diverse
workforce. However, there can still be some situation in which gap between the intercultural can
expand and become worse with the time (B. Plijter and et. al., 2014). So, strategies can be
formulated for mitigating such differences and remove all the hurdles from the achievement of
goals. This strategies can be diversity training to make things people walking in the organization
about different cultures, languages, beliefs and background followed by encouragement in
teamwork and leadership. It is useful in creating a healthy environment in which employees can
understand and embrace the differences between all the cultures followed by workforce
(LeFebvre and Franke, 2013). Another strategy can be sharing of knowledge which allows
workforce to share cultural knowledge. This often leads to bring out more creativity in groups

which have some connection with each other. It is useful in bringing innovative ideas to the
business operations for enhancing the profitability, and desirable outcomes with collective work
(Barmeyer and Franklin, 2016) .
Apart from these, there can be e policies providing guidelines and directions to achieve a
common base for understanding the differences between cultures. Leaders should motivate every
employee to respect religious customs or encouraging cultural celebrations. Besides this, there
are many models or frameworks provided by prominent authors who have done research for
several years. Hofstede's model of individualism versus collectivism is one of them which can be
applied in organisations for better understanding of the two cultures (Černe, Jaklič and Škerlavaj,
2013).
This model can be applied to understand the individual needs such as privacy and
freedom which can be achieved through individual accomplishments. Challenges and
expectation of individual rewards can be achieved through to maintaining a difference between
work and social life. These are the characteristics for high score index. Whereas, some of the low
IDV are building skills and excelling in that is possible through wisdom. Intrinsic rewards which
may suppress feelings and emotions (Minkov and Hofstede, 2012).
Ethical consideration refers to collection of values and principles which form the basis
and guide the good or bad activities of a human. It is often made a part of the HR policy, which
provides that none of the culture in an organisation should be discriminated or disrespected. This
promotes harmony within the organisation and motivate people to work in groups and with
collaboration (Luck and et. Al.,2012).
CONCLUSION
From the matter analysed above, it can be concluded that cultural differences quite genuine
and may occur in any organization appointing diverse workforce. There are different types of
cultures such as individualism and collectivism. Each of them has their own advantages and
disadvantages and can impact the work in both positive as well as negative ways. This should be
critically evaluated for making strategies in order to mitigate differences between cultures and
promote corporation. Also, adequate training should be provided to all the subordinates to
understand and respect different cultures. Ethical consideration should also be made a part of the
policies to be implemented in the organization.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals:
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