Organizational Behaviour: Culture Shock, Trompenaars View and Strategy

This report delves into the author's personal encounter with culture shock upon relocating to New Zealand, contrasting it with their experiences in Australia. It examines Trompenaars' perspective on leveraging cultural differences for enhanced understanding and problem-solving within organizations. Furthermore, the report analyzes Yves Morieux's assertion that strategy dictates organizational structure, emphasizing the interconnectedness of strategy and structure in achieving competitive advantage. The author reflects on their time at Wesfarmers, highlighting the impact of organizational layers on decision-making and overall organizational effectiveness. Ultimately, the report underscores the significance of cultural understanding, strategic alignment, and organizational structure in fostering success.

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Organizational Behaviour
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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Executive Summary
The purpose of this report is to discuss about my personal experience with culture shock and
Trompaneers view in relation to it. It also discusses about the claim of Yves Morieux and his
viewpoint regarding organisational strategy and structure.

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Table of Contents
1st Activity..................................................................................................................................3
Activity 2....................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................5
References:.................................................................................................................................6

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1st Activity
Experience with Culture Shock
As an Australian, I had to face culture shock when I had to move to New Zealand for
my profession. I had to experience culture shock as the New Zealanders had an independent
way in relation to working. The management style is unstructured that created a barrier for
me as I was not used to this kind of working style back home in Australia. The management
style is informal which is opposed to that of the work culture in Australia where people work
in a formal manner (Stuart 2015).
I held the viewpoint that people should come together in order to make a crucial
decision. The top management suggested that our company Progressive Enterprises should
carry out a project with that of Ryman Health care. I thought that we should work with some
foreign company that can enable us in getting more exposure.
The differences were overcome with the help of my logical mind set. I had to make
them understand the benefits that they would be able to get on collaboration with that of a
foreign company. The foreign collaboration can help in improving the financial growth of my
company. It can help in the generation of employment in the country of that of the resident
entity.
Trompenaars view on connection of different viewpoints
According to Trompenaar, a culture should learn from the strong point of that of
another culture and it can help in the better understanding of a particular situation. He has
said that if the different cultures do not meet at a central point then one will become more
objective. Connecting outside that of an insider viewpoint can help an individual in getting a
better picture in relation to the reality (Giorgi, Lockwood and Glynn 2015). Respecting of the

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cultural differences can help in the process of sharing of the dilemmas. Every culture bears a
semblance with that of the truth and hence a lot can be achieved with the help of
understanding the different points of view. Laughter can prove to be important in relation to
understanding the cultural diversity and the companies should be able to create values that
can facilitate the process of assimilation of different cultures (YouTube 2018) Uniformity is
necessary at some level at the organizational level and this can rightly be achieved with the
help of integrity. Etymological root in relation to the word “integrity” states that it means the
integration of that of opposing views in order to create wholeness. Reconciliation can assist
in the process of internal brainstorming and it can help in the process of exchange of ideas
(Morgan 2017).
Activity 2
The claim of Yves Morieux that strategy helps in determining the structure is true to a
great extent. The manner in which an organization carries on the work can be termed as
strategy. The strategy of an organization can have a significant impact on the structure
pertaining to the organization. The strategy that will be able to determine the direction in
which the organization will work will have effect on that of the structure of the organization
(YouTube 2018) The structural changes that take place in an organization should be able to
support the strategy. All aspects pertaining to the organizational structure should be done by
keeping in mind the strategic intent of the organization (Machado, Parambi and Venkatesan
2017). Strategy can help in suggesting the markets with which the company will carry out
competition. It can help in the proclamation of that of the targeted customer base. It can
however be said that structure along with strategy influences each other to a great extent. A
strategy would be able to succeed with the help of right kind of structure. It has been found

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that management that lays stress on the results will have a tendency of directing everyone
regarding what they should do (Ashkenas et al. 2015).
Leveraging of the intelligence of people can help an organization in gaining
competitive advantage. It can be said that if the organization is not organized in the proper
manner then it will not work well. This kind of disorganization will not help them in coming
up with the right kind of strategy. When I was working with Wesfarmers, I realized that there
are many layers in between the operations along with that of the decision making level then
the people in the organization will not be able to understand the weak points of the
organization (Dayan, Heisig and Matos 2017). It will thus to be a barrier in relation to the
growth along with development of the organization. They will not be able to see the market
opportunities and will end up making threat decisions (Olson et al. 2018). Treating the people
in an equal manner can have impact on the different strategies of an organization. Applying
the thinking of people can help in the process of maintaining effective control over that of the
organization. The structure of the organization thus according to Yves Morieux play a crucial
role in devising the strategies of the organization. It helps in determining the manner in which
an organization will work.
Conclusion:
An individual will be able to get a better picture in relation to reality if he can connect
with the viewpoint of other people. The cultural differences being respected can be helpful in
sharing of dilemma. Every culture has strains of truth in it and it is essential to understand the
point of view of that of other people. The strategic direction of an organization should be kept
in mind while designing the organizational structure. Strategy can be helpful in suggesting
market pertaining to the competition. An organization not being organized will not be able to
function along the right lines.

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References:
Ashkenas, R., Ulrich, D., Jick, T. and Kerr, S., 2015. The boundaryless organization:
Breaking the chains of organizational structure. John Wiley & Sons.
Dayan, R., Heisig, P. and Matos, F., 2017. Knowledge management as a factor for the
formulation and implementation of organization strategy. Journal of Knowledge
Management, 21(2), pp.308-329.
Giorgi, S., Lockwood, C. and Glynn, M.A., 2015. The many faces of culture: Making sense
of 30 years of research on culture in organization studies. The academy of management
annals, 9(1), pp.1-54.
Machado, N., Parambi, K. and Venkatesan, P., 2017. Structure Follows Strategy at Bharat
Petroleum. South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases, 6(2), pp.150-166.
Morgan, W.J., 2017. Local knowledge and globalisation: Are they compatible?.
In Globalisation, education and culture shock (pp. 49-61). Routledge.
Olson, E.M., Slater, S.F., Hult, G.T.M. and Olson, K.M., 2018. The application of human
resource management policies within the marketing organization: The impact on business and
marketing strategy implementation. Industrial Marketing Management.
Stuart, R., 2015. Culture shock. Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 32(24), p.15.
YouTube. (2018). Organization Design: BCG's Yves Morieux on organization and
competitive advantage. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=jm7d1dzOKmw [Accessed 18 Apr. 2018].
YouTube. (2018). Riding the waves of culture: Fons Trompenaars at TEDxAmsterdam.
[online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmyfjKjcbm0 [Accessed 18 Apr.
2018].