MGT3146: International Management and Ethics Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the cross-cultural management challenges and opportunities presented by the merger of Nissan and Renault. It examines the impact of national cultures on management practices, including decision-making processes, general management styles, staffing, time management, employee motivation, leadership styles, negotiation strategies, and communication styles. The report utilizes Hofstede's cultural dimensions to compare the cultures of France and Japan, highlighting differences in power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, long-term orientation, and indulgence. Furthermore, it explores ways to manage international work teams and projects, emphasizing the importance of open communication, group meetings, cross-cultural training, and clear norms. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and implications for successful international management in the automotive industry.

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International Management and Ethics
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International Management and Ethics 1
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Analysis of Nissan and Renault merger...........................................................................................1
Analysis of National culture of Renault and Nissan........................................................................2
How national cultures affect management practices.......................................................................3
Decision making process.............................................................................................................3
General Management Style..........................................................................................................4
Staffing........................................................................................................................................4
Time Management.......................................................................................................................4
Employee Motivation..................................................................................................................4
Leadership Style..........................................................................................................................5
Negotiation strategies..................................................................................................................5
Communication styles across cultures.........................................................................................5
Ways to manage international work teams and projects.................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to enlighten the reader with the information about the cross cultural
management. The paper will highlight the details about the impact of cross cultural factors on the
management of an organization. In the given paper, the case of merger of Nissan and Renault
organization is analyse so as to evaluate the decision making process, leadership and negotiating
strategies implemented across different cultures. It should be noted that different cultures raise
up people differently due to which sometimes issues arise in the external environment while
implementation of strategies. The paper evaluate that how the culture affect the managerial
practices of different organizations in the external environment. Culture of the organization or
the background of the people can change several business practices and can increase or decrease
the effectiveness of the business as well. More explanation of the case issue and the impact of
culture are discussed below:
Analysis of Nissan and Renault merger
With an aim to strengthen the alliance, the automakers aimed to join hands together so as to
increase their effectiveness and productivity in the worldwide environment. Both the
organizations present in the alliance form a part of the automotive industry. Therefore, the
alliance would act profitable for them as they would get to use each other’s resources and
produce better cars in the worldwide environment. It was believed that this merger would help
both the organizations to achieve potential progress in the international environment. The
companies Renault and Nissan along with Mitsubishi together sold more cars than any other
organization present in the world in the year 2018. Thus, it is believed that this alliance would
sweep off the competition from the automotive industry by declining sales of all the other
competitors (Lamarsaude n. d).

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Analysis of National culture of Renault and Nissan
Power Distance: Japan has an immediate score of 54 while France is on 68 which means that
there is high degree of power differentiation in France as compared to Japan. There is inequality
of power in the France environment which means that people of France are normal in accepting
inequality in the society. While in Japan, children are raised to be emotionally independent and
do not depend on any person to give them authority (Hofstede Insights 2020).
Individualism: It refers to the degree of interdependence in a society that is maintained by the
people living in that culture. France has high score in this case of 71 which means that people are
highly dependent on each other for living. They consider We instead of I in the environment and
live with extended family as well. Whereas, in Japan, the score is 48 which means that people
prefer living with and taking care of only immediate family members. These people look for
individual success rather than family growth (Ang, and Van Dyne 2015).
Uncertainty Avoidance: France holds the score of 86 in case of uncertainty avoidance which
means that they do not like surprises ad prefer planning their future in a systematic way. These
people do not entertain contingent situations well due to which they form a strict conduct so as to
save themselves from such problems. Japan, on the other hand, also has very high score in the

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given case that is 92. The nation is constantly face the threat of natural calamity, disaster etc.
Due to which they have created beliefs and institutions that focus on avoiding the issues.
Masculinity: the country France has feminine culture with the score of 43 which means that
monetary as well as non-monetary aspects are a part of growth. The upper class in the society of
France possess feminine features while working class still believe masculine feature for growth.
In the nation Japan, the feminine score is 95 which means people live in masculine society where
there is high competition between groups and monetary growth is the only growth that is seen in
the society (Neal 2016).
Long-term orientation: France hold 63 score, which means that society, makes use of pragmatic
approach and perform tasks in the environment while considering present and past situation.
They keep context of time in making right decisions. While, Japan has a score of 88, which
means that, the people live in short moments. They believe in current time and do what is best
for them at that time (Sawaya, et. al., 2017).
Indulgence: Both Japan and France have similar scope for indulgence that is 48 and 42
respectively. This means that the people of the nation are more relaxed and enjoys life with
whatever may come.
How national cultures affect management practices
Both the companies forming alliance in the Automotive industry have different headquarters
which means that the cultures and practices of both the organizations are independent and
different. Renault is headquartered in France while Nissan was founded in Japan. The managerial
practices of both the organization to operate their functions are different. Due to which
difference arises which leads to complications in the business environment (Dodd, Frijns, and
Gilbert 2015). Further, the ways in which national culture affect the management practices are
mentioned below:
Decision making process
The decision making process is different in Renault and in Nissan based on the above mentioned
evaluation of the culture of both the organization. As on one hand people of the nation France
certainly wants all types of achievement in the business environment that include reward and

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recognitions along with monetary benefits. Therefore it is important for management of Renault
to implement effective performance management system and take right and ethical decision.
While in the case of Nissan, as far as the business is making profit, the decisions would be
considered good for the organization. The decisions of both the organization also change
themselves (Regnault, and Herdman 2015).
General Management Style
The management of Renault makes use of hierarchical organizational structure where the power
is shared by the top level management of the organization. The lower level management need to
obey the decisions of the top management of company. While there is presence of differential
organizational structure in Nissan, where the lower level employees are provided the opportunity
to take part in decision making process of the organization. In this way, management style of
both the organizations differs accordingly based on the prevailing trends in the society.
Staffing
Based on the cultural appearance, it is believed that the Renault focuses on hiring diversity in the
organization while Nissan has dominance of men in their human resource. Resulting in which,
the hiring pattern and basis of both the organizations are different. Renault staffing process
includes the requirement of sot skills and vice versa in case of Nissan (Hofstede Insights 2020).
Time Management
The long-term orientation process account to the time management facility implemented by both
the organizations differently during the process of merger. It should be noted that Renault
considers the past experiences in implementing future directions for any project. While, Nissan
on the other hand implement the time management activity while considering the current
business environment. Thus, it can be seen that this merger has been looked with two different
approaches by both the organization as on one hand Renault look at as a long term business
opportunity while Nissan looks at it as a short term way to achieve success and profitability in a
short span of time (Minton, et. al., 2018).
Employee Motivation
Based on the different expectations of employees from both the cultures, it is important for the
management to motivate them accordingly. It should be noted that Renault should consider the

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Maslow’s hierarchy theory will motivating the employees to perform better. While, Nissan
should focus on providing power, authority and monetary benefits to people while motivating
them to work efficiently in the organization. Thus, it should be noted that both the organizations
should capture the needs of the employees differently based on their culture and then motivate
them accordingly.
Leadership Style
Leadership definitely changes with the change in culture as wrong leadership skills could lead to
dissatisfaction of employees from the organization. It should be noted that the management of
Renault should make use of democratic and participative style of leadership in the environment
while the management of Nissan should focus on providing transformational leadership skills in
the environment. These types of leadership skills would individually help both the organizations
in capturing the interest of the employees (Adekola, and Sergi 2016).
Negotiation strategies
The negotiating strategies are involved to help the organizations attain high level of profitability
in the environment. It should be noted that based on the environment in which both the
organizations are prevailing, they need to implement the negotiating strategies accordingly. Like,
the environment of Japan is more strict, therefore, Nissan management need to implement strict
functions based on code of conduct, while in case of Renault, the organization can use flexibility
and effective communication in order to negotiate on the terms (Lauring, and Klitmøller 2015).
Communication styles across cultures
Communication is the key feature for the success of operations in an organization. It should be
noted that the manager of Nissan could not motivate Renault employees because of difference in
language. Both the companies use their native language as the common language which might
arise confusion in the organization. Resulting in which, it should be noted that language and
communication difference is one major difference in national culture of both the company that
can be resolved by using English as common language for mutual understanding (Frijns, Dodd,
and Cimerova 2016).

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Ways to manage international work teams and projects
Below mentioned are the ways to manage international work teams and projects:
Promote open communication: the merged organization and its management should make use of
effective communication activities. As discussed above that communication is the key that help
the businesses in achieving success. Therefore, all the employees would learn to speak and
understand simple English and communicate with each other without the interference of
translator. This would help the employees to bond with each other and take or give help to other
international employees when in need. The process of communication should be open and all
level of management should follow it in order to make the merger effective (Hareven 2018).
Initiate group meetings and parties: the organization should focus on implementing more group
meetings in the business environment so that employees get to share a mutual bond with each
other and connect. This would definitely increase the productivity of the organization. The
organization should organize team meetings, group discussion and official events time to time so
as to let the employees connect with each other. This would eliminate most of the cross-cultural
differences.
Implement cross-cultural training: implementation of cross-cultural training would help the
employees to difference in Japanese and French culture and embrace them accordingly. It should
be noted that cross-cultural training would let the employees respect the culture of their fellow
employees and give them space to follow that as well (Cole, and Tan 2015).
Creation of clear norms: implementation of clear guideline would decrease the confusion among
the employees related to the merger. This would help the organization to make the employees
comfortable with the change and understand their roles and responsibilities as well. This process
would eliminate misconception and issues from the organization.
Conclusion
Thus, concluding the above mentioned facts, it should be noted that the paper analysed
information about the merger of Renault and Nissan automotive companies in the business
environment. The paper elaborated the impact of this merger on the functions of the
organizations and changes in the organizational practices. The differences in the culture of both

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the organizations have been elaborated in the paper along with the elaborate of ways to manage
the international teams effectively.

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References
Adekola, A. and Sergi, B.S., 2016. Global business management: A cross-cultural perspective.
UK: Routledge.
Ang, S. and Van Dyne, L., 2015. Conceptualization of cultural intelligence: Definition,
distinctiveness, and nomological network. In Handbook of cultural intelligence (pp. 21-33).
Routledge.
Cole, P.M. and Tan, P.Z., 2015. Emotion socialization from a cultural perspective.
Dodd, O., Frijns, B. and Gilbert, A., 2015. On the Role of Cultural Distance in the Decision to
Cross‐L ist. European Financial Management, 21(4), pp.706-741.
Frijns, B., Dodd, O. and Cimerova, H., 2016. The impact of cultural diversity in corporate boards
on firm performance. Journal of Corporate Finance, 41, pp.521-541.
Hareven, T.K., 2018. Families, history and social change: Life course and cross-cultural
perspectives. Routledge.
Hofstede Insights., (2020) What About France [online]. Available from < https://www.hofstede-
insights.com/country-comparison/france,japan/ > Accessed on 9 Jan 2020.
Hofstede Insights., (2020) What About Japan [online]. Available from < https://www.hofstede-
insights.com/country-comparison/france,japan/ > Accessed on 9 Jan 2020.
Lamarsaude, B., n. d. Case Study: The merger between Renault and Nissan.
Lauring, J. and Klitmøller, A., 2015. Corporate language-based communication avoidance in
MNCs: A multi-sited ethnography approach. Journal of World Business, 50(1), pp.46-55.
Minton, E.A., Spielmann, N., Kahle, L.R. and Kim, C.H., 2018. The subjective norms of
sustainable consumption: A cross-cultural exploration. Journal of Business Research, 82,
pp.400-408.

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Neal, M., 2016. The culture factor: Cross-national management and the foreign venture.
Springer.
Regnault, A. and Herdman, M., 2015. Using quantitative methods within the Universalist model
framework to explore the cross-cultural equivalence of patient-reported outcome
instruments. Quality of Life Research, 24(1), pp.115-124.
Sawaya, Y., Sharif, M., Christin, N., Kubota, A., Nakarai, A. and Yamada, A., 2017, May. Self-
confidence trumps knowledge: A cross-cultural study of security behavior. In Proceedings of the
2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 2202-2214). ACM.