DEVELOPING CROSS-CULTURAL EFFECTIVENESS: AN ANALYSIS

BETWEEN PRIMA IN MALAYSIA AND SOUTH KOREA

MGM 4155 CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT

Group Members : Mohd Osman Mohd Hassan (EX02894) Michelle Lim Li Yoke (EX02885)Hafizullah Mohd Amin (EX02906)

Prepared For : Puan Ruhana Binti Busu

• Step one– About Prima

– Cultural profile table

– About South Korea

– Cultural profile table

• Step two– Cross-cultural understanding

– Cultural profile table

• Step three– Adapt your professional skills

– Cultural differences summary

AGENDA

Established under the PR1MA Act 2012 to plan, develop, construct and maintain high-quality housing with lifestyle concepts for middle-income households in key urban centers.

PR1MA was founded by a mixture of professionals from the developer industry, banking industry and also from Government agencies. The founders have emphasized the company’s vision and basic values in implementing cultural values.

Basic Assumptions

• The existence of PR1MA and its corporate goal - INSPIRE

• National Culture – to help the nation improving the quality of life by providing quality

PR1MA

CULTURAL PROFILE

Code Parameter Description Own Score

A Time Focus Monochronic 2

B Time Orientation Future 4

C Space Private Public 3

D Power Equality Hierarchy 3

E Structure Collectivism 4

F Competition Co-operative Competition 3

G Communication Low-context 2

H Action Doing 4

Polychronic

Future

Public

Hierarchy

Collectivism

Competitive

High-context

Doing

1

2

3

4

5

Time Focus : Monochronic (2)

• Scheduled based and tasked focused.

• To achieve the corporate KPI within time

• Focused on short-term results

Time Orientation : Future (4)

• Towards future results

• Ultimate goal of the company is to solve affordable housing scheme in the country.

Space : Private – Public (3)

• Vague space line

• Able to sit together and discuss with lower rank executives

• Managers has their own rooms, but not hard to be approached

• Builds up relationship among its employees

• Not forgetting on task-centred approach.

Power : Equality – Hierarchy (3)

• Encourages participative approach from all levels and emphasized on work relationship

• There are still strict autocratic orders and supervision

Structure : Collectivism (4)

• The word “team” and “we” are always being repeated

• Since induction sessions

• Group benefits are main concern

Competition : Co-operative –Competitive (3)

• Healthy competitiveness level

• Achieve individual, departmental and corporate goals, the co-operative level and teamwork

• Offer help to other departmentsCommunication : Low-Context (2)

• Some information are not freely available freely

• However, if needed, the information are communicated clearly.

• Everything is recorded and documented

Action : Doing (4)

• A “doing” concept where most of the employees are encouraged to be resourceful, proactive and be outspoken

• Action-oriented, most of the senior employees has high competencies and are professional in their field of work.

Background

One of the world's fastest-growing from the early 1960s to the late 1990s, and South Korea is still one of the fastest-growing developed countries in the 2000s, along with Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan, the other three Asian Tigers.

South Koreans refer to this growth as the Miracle on the Han River. The South Korean economy is heavily dependent on international trade, and in 2013, South Korea was the 8th largest exporter and 7th largest importer in the world.

SOUTH KOREA

Economy

South Korea was one of the few developed countries that were able to avoid a recession during the global financial crisis.

The unemployment rate in South Korea also remained low in 2009, at 3.6%.

SOUTH KOREA

SOUTH KOREA

Business Practices and Etiquettes

• Handshakes

• Business Meetings

• Contracts

• Names

CULTURAL PROFILE

Code Parameter Description Own Score

A Time Focus Monochronic Polychronic 3

B Time Orientation Past Future 3

C Space Private 2

D Power Hierarchy 5

E Structure Individualism 2

F Competition Competition 5

G Communication High-context 5

H Action Doing 4

Polychronic

Future

Public

Hierarchy

Collectivism

Competitive

High-context

Doing

1

2

3

4

5

Time Focus : Monochronic –Polychronic (3)

• Schedule based, distribute detailed information , use control systems and strict deadline

• Focus on longer term and share implicit knowledge or information

Time Orientation : Past - Future (3)

• Uses past goals to guide their processes

• Focus in continuation of company’s values and develop performance in keeping customary goals

• Develop long-term plans and results, co-ordinate to meet longer-range goals and to achieve long-term benefits

Space : Private (2)

• More on task-centred

• They plan in form of individualistic and systematic

• Performance are measured as individual

Power : Hierarchy (5)

• Hierarchy is very crucial

• Organizational structure is tightly controlled and autocratic

Structure : Individualism (2)

• ‘I’ usually predominates over the ‘We’

• Due to the competitiveness among individuals

• Everyone is task and performance focused to achieve their personal goals

Competition : Competition (5)

• The competitiveness level is high and quite unhealthy

• Individuals ‘fight’ to be the top performers

• Individuals among team tend to focus on their own performance rather than spending time on others

Communication : High-Context (5)

• The context of communication is high and messages are implicit

• They are not usually directly expressed but more on situational based

Action : Doing (4)

• ‘Doing’ concept whereby their employees are encouraged to have the ability to fulfil organizational tasks competently and independently

• Higher expectations on performances are set for the employee to keep up with the level of competitiveness internally and externally; locally or internationally

CROSS-CULTURE PROFILE

Code Parameter (1) ------ Value Range ----- (5) PRIMA SOUTH

KOREA

A Time Focus Monochronic Polychronic 2 3

B Time Orientation Past Future 4 3

C Space Private Public 3 2

D Power Equality Hierarchy 3 5

E Structure Individualism Collectivism 4 2

F Competition Co-operative Competition 3 5

G Communication Low-context High-context 2 5

H Action Being Doing 4 4

Polychronic

Future

Public

Hierarchy

Collectivism

Competitive

High-context

Doing

1

2

3

4

5

Time Focus : Monochronic –Polychronic (2-3)

• Almost similar

• South Korea is balance between Monochronic and Polychronic

• Prima is slightly more on Monochronic by 1 point

Time Orientation : Past – Future (4-3)

• Almost similar

• South Korea is balance between Past and Future

• Prima is slightly more towards Future by 1 point

Space : Private – Public (3-2)

• Almost similar

• Prima is in the middle between Private and Public

• South Korea is more towards Private by 1 point

Power : Equality – Hierarchy (3-5)

• Prima practises balance Power between Equality and Hierarchy

• But Hierarchy is very crucial in South Korea

– Their organizational structure in Korea is tightly controlled and autocratic

• The difference is 2 points

Structure : Individualism –Collectivism (4-2)

• Gap by 2 points

• Prima is more Collectivism

• South Korea is more Individualism.

Competition : Co-operative –Competition (3-5)

• Prima is balance between Co-operative and Competition,

• But the competitiveness level in South Korea is very intense

• The variance is 2 points.

Communication : Low – High-Context (2-5)

• This is the criteria with highest gap of 3 points

• Prima is more on Low-context

• South Korean is very High-context

Action : Being – Doing (4-4)

• Share the same score for this criterion

• Both are more Doing than Being.

Example

Prima wants to expend their business in South Korea and plan to open new site office in Seoul to capture property market there.

ADAPTING TO DIFFERENT CULTURE

Planning

• Differences in cultural values regarding management tasks

– Generally, Koreans have a very high level of individualism whereby everyone is task and performance focused to achieve their own goals. KPI is easier to achieve when everyone is focusing on what they are doing. The goals and objectives set should be very detailed and quantifiable for individual objective.

• Management strategies

– Managers should have a precise planning in place which is very specific on ‘things to-be-done’ from top to bottom. KPI need to be identified for all level of staff in order to achieve company’s goal and objective.

ADAPTING TO DIFFERENT CULTURE

Organizing

• Differences in cultural values regarding management tasks

– Korean people are used to be a relatively strong hierarchy structure. Procedures and protocols will need to be followed if goals are to be achieved in the long run. Communication with Korean people will be more difficult as there are more high-context. They are not usually directly expressed and more situational based.

• Management strategies

– Hiring the right local (Korean) managers, and empower them is important to have better control in organization. Perhaps, dealing with local authorities will make work much easier.

ADAPTING TO DIFFERENT CULTURE

Staffing

• Differences in cultural values regarding management tasks

– Due to high gap in Communication, Competition, Structure and Power, it is important to get local staff in operations and management. Therefore, they will be able to work within similar working culture and environment.

• Management strategies

– Provide support from head office for training and development in order reduce knowledge gap and also to have ‘work-together’ environment with parent company.

ADAPTING TO DIFFERENT CULTURE

Directive (Leading)

• Differences in cultural values regarding management tasks

– Korean employees are used to strong directive control and detailed instruction on how to proceed. There have better respect towards local managers than foreigners.

• Management strategies

– Managing local manager is important, objectives and goals need to be defined clearly and disseminate from top to bottom.

ADAPTING TO DIFFERENT CULTURE

Controlling

• Differences in cultural values regarding management tasks

– Conflicts must be resolved before work can progress. That means, whenever a deviation to the plan has been observed, the feedback given should be carefully communicated, preferably in an indirect way.

• Management strategies

– It is important to establish good relationship with employees.

ADAPTING TO DIFFERENT CULTURE

Management tasks 1. Differences in cultural values regarding management tasks

2. Management strategies

Planning :Defining goals and objectives

1. High level of individualism2. Specific planning and KPI

Organizing :Defining tasks and relationship structures

1. Strong hierarchy structure2. Hiring strong local management team

Staffing :Acquiring appropriate human resources

1. High-context communication2. Build up long-term relationship

Directing (leading) :Leading the employees towards the goals of organization

1. Strong directive control and detailed instruction2. Precise instruction and documentation

Controlling :Monitoring performance and giving feedback on achievements

1. Conflict must be resolved before work can progress 2. Establish good relationship with employee

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES SUMMARY

THANK YOU

ReferencesUnderstanding Cross-Cultural Management (2nd Edition), Prentice Hall

http://www.pr1ma.my/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/etiquette/doing-business-southkorea.html