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Chapter 2 Understanding
Cross-Cultural
Management Dimensions
Managing Organizations in a GlobalEconomy: An Intercultural Perspective
First Edition
John Saee
Copyright by South-Western, a division of Thomson Learning. All rights reserved.
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Global Strategy and Culture
y To succeed, corporations must developglobal strategies. Recent decades sawthe growing importance of global
strategies, at least among leading firmsand management scholars; however, thenew millenium made it imperative(Adler 1997).
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CrossCultural Management
CrossCultural Management
yThe growing importance of worldbusiness has created a demand formanagers sophisticated in globalmanagement skills and working withpeople from other countries.
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Crosscultural management describes
organizational behavior within countriesand cultures; compares organizationalbehavior across countries and cultures;
and seeks to understand how to improvethe interaction of coworkers, managers,executives, clients, suppliers, andalliance partners from around the world.
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Global versus Domestic Organizations
yTwo fundamental differences betweenglobal and domestic organization aregeographic dispersion andmulticulturalism.
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Multiculturalism means that people from
many cultures interact regularly.
What Is Culture?To understand the differences between
domestic and global management, it is
necessary to understand the primary ways
in which cultures around the world vary.
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Culture is:
ySomething that is shared by all or almostall members of some social group.
ySomething that the older members of thegroup try to pass on to the youngermembers.
ySomething that shapes behavior orstructures ones perceptions of the world.
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Cultural Orientations
yThe cultural orientation of thesociety reflects the complexinteraction of values, attitudes, and
behaviors displayed by its members.yIndividuals express culture and its
normative qualities through the
values that they hold about life andthe world around them (Adler 1997)
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How Do Cultures Vary
As shown in Table 1, six basic dimensions
describe the cultural orientation of
societies: peoples qualities as individuals,
their relationship to nature and the world,
their relationship to other people, their
primary type of activity, and theirorientation in space and time.
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Individual Dimensions
The following dimensions answer the
questions
y Who am I?y How do I see the world?
y How do I relate to other people?
yWhat do I do?
y How do I use space and time?
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How People See Themselves
Peoples Relationship to the WorldyWhat is a persons relationship to the
world? Are people dominant over their
environment, in harmony with it, orsubjugated by it?
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Personal Relationships: Individualism
or Collectivism
Activity: Doing or Being
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yNorth Americans generally seethemselves as dominant over nature.
yOther societies, such as Chinese andJapanese, attempt to live in harmonywith nature. They see no realseparation between people and theirnatural environment.
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Table 3: Comparative Work Goals: German,
Japanese, and American Respondents Rankings
Work goals Germany Japan USAInteresting work 3 2 1
Good pay 1 5 2
Good interpersonal
relations 4 6 7
Good job security 2 4 3
A good match between you
and your job 5 1 4
A lot of autonomy 8 3 8
Opportunity to learn 9 7 5
A lot variety 6 9 6
Convenient work hours 6 8 9
Good physical working
conditions 11 10 11
Promotion 10 11 10Source: England (1986, P. 181)
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In another international study of
managementperformance appraisalsin the U.S.A., Saudi Arabia, and Japan
conducted by Harris and Moran
(1991), it was found that performanceappraisal differed significantly across
cultures.
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A seminal research by Hofstede (1980)
went further in showing how theunderlying values of the cultures
across the world permeate through to
affect relationships, work, and socialvalues.
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Hofstede (1980) undertook acomprehensive study on worldwidesociocultural factors influencingmanagement. Hofstedes research
compared workrelated attitudesacross a range of cultures. From hissurvey of 116,000 employees in 40countries, Hofstede isolated 4 major
dimensions which were congruent withdifferent cultural values of specificcountries. These sociocultural factorswere:
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1.Collectivism vs. Individualism
2.Small vs. Large Power Distance
3.Weak vs. Strong Uncertainty Avoidance
4.Femininity vs. Masculinity
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Fifth Cultural Dimension
Hofstede, in collaboration with Bond
(1984), identified an additional culturaldimension by which nations can beclassified: Confucian Dynamism.Confucian Dynamism is also referred
to as Long Term Orientation vs. ShortTerm Orientation.
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Confucianism is not a religion, but asystem of practical ethics prevalent inChina.
The five basic relationships are:yRulersubject
yFatherson
yOlder brotheryounger brother
yHusbandwife
yOlder friendyounger friend.
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Harmony in the family must be
preserved, and harmony is the
maintenance of ones face, that is, onesdignity, self respect, and prestige.
Treating others as one would like to be
treated oneself is virtuous behavior.
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Skills for Effective Cross-Cultural Management
Respect. Tolerating ambiguity.
Relating to people
Being nonjudgmental
Personalizing ones observations.
Empathythe ability to put yourself in
anothers shoes.
Persistence.
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