International Human Resource Management Article 2022

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 1
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
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INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 2
Introduction
Culture can be defined as the customary beliefs, social forms, and traditional
values that define the day to day interactions of people of a particular group, religion,
or country (Crane et al., 2016). Culture is developed as a result of practices and
beliefs which are passed from one generation to another for many years. Over the past
few decades, the world has become a global village. This happened due to the
improvement of information technology as well as the advancement of modes of
transportation. Globalization has had a significant impact on the culture of various
ethnic groups, countries as well as racial groups. Globalization has made it easier for
people to move across continents, and this has led to the erosion of people's culture as
a result of interacting with one another. This article, therefore, critically discusses the
statement; "culture has become less important as the world becomes more global."
The paper also examines how multinational organizations address challenges and
opportunities brought about by culture in the era of globalization.
Culture has not become less important due to the world becoming global. With
globalization, culture has become increasingly important, especially for the business
context. In a world where globalization is increasing, a business organization needs to
be culturally sensitive. This is because globalization has not made culture any less
critical. Still, it has offered an opportunity for people from different cultural
backgrounds to interact and exchange ideas as well as understand the culture of one
another. In a business context, culture refers to the behavior and activities which are
common and acceptable within a particular location compared to another. Behavior
and actions that people in one country might see as usual might be an abomination in
another country or place. According to Adekola & Sergi (2016), globalization has

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 3
made it possible for business organizations to expand to new countries, and an
organization must consider culture before establishing a business in a new location.
This is because the culture of the people in that particular country or place might not
consume the product or services offered by the organization as a result of the cultural
beliefs of the people (Eisend, Evanschitzky & Gilliland, 2016). For example, an
organization dealing with pork products cannot succeed in the Middle East since the
culture is against the consumption of pork. Culture has also become increasingly
important globally because of communication. Communication is a vital factor that
can determine the success or failure of a business. Effective communication is critical
for multinational organizations since there is a possibility of messages getting lost in
translation. Business organizations should bridge the language gap to help them
communicate effectively in the language that customers understand best(Bretos &
Marcuello, 2017). For example, a multinational company operating in China should
incorporate the Chinese language since it determines whether or not the organization
can communicate with its customers and hence determining its success.
Additionally, essential customs, manners, and gestures that are common in one
place might be offensive in another culture(Monshipouri, Welch & Kennedy, 2017).
For example, a handshake with both hands is a common norm in Europe and the US,
but the same might be viewed as offensive. This is because the culture sees the left
side as lacking hygiene, and hence a person should not touch another person with it.
Some researchers argue that culture has become less critical as the world
become global. According to, Monshipouri et al. (2017), globalization has made it
possible for various multinational corporations to carry out business even in locations
where culture was not so friendly. Globalization has also resulted in the erosion of