Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Cross Culture
Management
Assignment
Baskar M
ICHE-UGPA 13-16
Subject Name
.
: Cross Culture
Management
Student Name
: Baskar M
Session
: 2013-2016
Batch
Contact Number
: 96261-99981,
: baskar180@gmail.com
Submission Date
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Question 1:
What challenges do mergers create for managing national &
organizational cultures?
Answer:
It may sound obvious but language differences can cause huge
misunderstandings and frustrations for organisations integrating two
nationalities into one workforce. English speaking managers often make
the mistake of assuming their new colleagues will adapt easily to
operating in English. However good their language skills are it can be
stressful to work in another language, particularly at times of
uncertainty when important decisions are being made. Non-native
English speakers can risk feeling disadvantaged and misunderstandings
and frustrations can all too easily occur.
Even if both parties share the same language communication styles and
expectations can differ enormously. When there is a mismatch in terms
of levels of directness, formality, displays of emotion, amount of detail
shared, frequency and method of communication all come into play, the
new management structure can risk being perceived as aggressive,
untrustworthy, casual, secretive or worse. Senior leadership teams need
to prioritise communicating quickly and transparently via different
channels and methods to ensure that they engage with the maximum
number of employees.
INTEGRATION OF NATIONAL AND ORGANISATIONAL CULTURES
When two companies merge they each bring with them their own
organisational and national cultures that include core values, business
practices and working preferences. Decision making processes,
hierarchical structures, reward and recognition schemes and meeting
etiquette are shaped by the organisational and national cultures of each
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Culture shock happens when we apply our own personal cultural values
to a new cultural context: the clash of mismatched assumptions and
expectations can have a psychological and sometimes a physical
impact. Some people assume that the more a culture diverges from our
own, the more dramatic or traumatic the culture shock will be. There
are many ways to deal with culture shock being prepared for it and
recognising its symptoms is key to overcoming the inevitable highs and
lows you will experience. If your company offers you cultural training
grab it with both hands!
Expatriates moving from the US to the UK is an obvious example where
culture shock can happen as we might assume that sharing a common
language and other surface level cultural traits would make the
transition smoother. However, in many cases a move to a culturally
close country may be harder because the differences are much less
noticeable at a surface level, so the clash is more unexpected. Or
perhaps the newcomer had done less to prepare themselves and learn
about the new culture before their departure assuming that it would be
the same.
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Question 2:
Analyze the management of multicultural issues in a specific firm. Discuss
how it is being carried out in your organization or an organization you are
familiar with. Briefly describe the organization you are referring with?
Answer:
Diversity management is the recognition and valorization of individual
differences. "The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and
respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique, and
recognizing our individual differences. These can be along the dimensions
of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age,
physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies. It
is the exploration of these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing
environment.
Moreover, it is about understanding each other and moving beyond
simple tolerance to embracing and celebrating the rich dimensions of
diversity in each individual"(Patrick and Kumar, 2012). As seen from a US
perspective, Diversity management is supposed to represent a break
from equality concepts such as equal opportunity and affirmative action
(Thomas, 1990 ; Thomas and Ely, 1996).
However, this distinction and implicit sequencing between diversity
management and supposedly earlier equality and affirmative action laws
may not hold in all countries around the globe. For instance, in the
European Union, notions of diversity management and equality seem to
be growing in parallel, and diversity management is sometimes seen as a
vehicle towards the institutionalization of equality and/or positive action
legislations (Klarsfeld, 2010 ; Klarsfeld et al., 2014).
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Question 3:
Globalization and Cross-Cultural Issues in Project Management Discuss
Answer:
In a global environment the ability to communicate effectively can be a
challenge. Even when both parties speak the same language there can still
be misunderstandings due to ethic and cultural differences. Over the last
decade, there have been countless examples from the business sector
that demonstrate how poor communication can lead to poor
organizational performance.
Understanding the impact of globalization on cross-culture
communication is imperative for organizations seeking to create a
competitive advantage in the global market. Recent economic challenges
further highlight the need for organizations to develop the internal
communication capacity necessary to control and monitor external
threats.
As society becomes more globally connected the ability to communicate
across cultural boundaries has gained increasing prominence. Global
businesses must understand how to communicate with employees and
customers from different cultures in order to fulfill the organizations
mission and build value for stakeholders.
The use of technology has had a profound impact on how businesses
communicate globally and market their products and services. However,
with the advancements in technology organizations must still be
cognoscente of the culture nuisances that can potentially present
obstacles in trying to increase profits and market share. According to
Genevieve Hilton, cultural proficiency doesn't mean memorizing every
cultural nuance of every market. It's knowing when to listen, when to ask
for help, and whenfinallyto speak
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Question 4:
Identify, describe and explain key models used for comparing cultures,
critically assessing the practical value of these in the context of crosscultural management decision-making?
Answer:
Decision-making is a mental activity which is an integral part of planning
and action taking in a variety of contexts and at a vast range of levels,
including, but not limited to, budget planning, education planning, policy
making, and climbing the career ladder. People all over the world engage
in these activities. The underlying cross-cultural differences in decisionmaking can be a great contributing factor to efficiency in cross-cultural
communications, negotiations, and conflict resolution.
Occidental philosophies are known for the extensive use of analytical
thinking a methodical approach to solving complex problems by
breaking them into their constituent parts, and identifying the cause and
effect patterns of the constituent parts, while Oriental philosophies are
well known for their emphasis on holism the idea that the properties
of a given system cannot be determined or explained by its components'
parts alone, but the system as a whole determines how the parts
behave. This discrepancy brings about further differences in values and
beliefs that can be practically displayed in how different cultures
manage their public institutions. For example, culturally determined
attitudes towards age, gender roles, and the end result are well
reflected in the way these cultures build and run their health-care
systems. Oriental cultures hold that age is a proxy to experience and
hence to wisdom, that the individual should mind their duty without
focusing on the final results of the activity, and that women are best
suited to play certain roles. On the other hand, Occidental cultures hold
that age is not correlated to wisdom, the individual should focus on the
end and drive to achieve it, and women are equal to men in all
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The individuals from high- and low-context cultures also differ in their
communication styles. The former prefer the less direct style, and
thereby they are less explicit in stating their feelings, desires, and
intentions when communicating verbally. The latter, on the contrary, are
less likely to camouflage their message and conceal their intentions. The
culturally normative communication style also enhances people's
responsiveness to the transmitted message and influences the
perception of the communicator. It influences hiring decisions. HR
agents in low-context cultures are more likely to hire direct, assertive,
and somewhat aggressive candidates, whereas the reverse pattern is
observed in high-context cultures.
Individuals from different cultures tend to have different views of the
self, which affects individuals' cognition, goals in social interactions, and
consequently influences their behavior and goals in decision
making. Individuals from individualist's cultures tend to have
independent self-construal and thus experience happiness as a socially
disengaging emotion (e.g., pride), and those from collectivist's cultures
tend to have interdependent self-construal and experience happiness as
a socially engaging emotion (e.g., peace and harmony). The former are
more likely to make decisions to fulfill personal accomplishment,
whereas the latter are more likely to make decisions that promote social
connectedness. This is reflected in their differences in the teamwork
styles. A group composed of members with low independent selfconstrual prefer the cooperative strategy to the competitive one,
whereas a group composed of members with high independent self
construal preferred the competitive strategy to the cooperative one.
Individuals from cultures with interdependent social orientation believe
that public good overrides individual benefit, whereas individuals from
cultures with independent social orientation believe that every
individual should strive to achieve their best. Thereby, when engaging in
the decision-making process the former are more likely to take into
consideration the injunctive norms, guarding stability within the society,
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while the former are more likely to follow their introjected goals. For
instance, Indians are found to accommodate to authority figures and
significant others and respond to others' expectations when choosing
what clothes to wear for a party, and what advanced training courses to
take. In each corresponding case, Americans were more likely to act with
accordance with their own beliefs of what will be beneficial to them and
didn't demonstrate the 'deference syndrome'.
There is a difference in the decision making patterns between cultures
with independent and interdependent social orientations in the
situations when risk-taking is involved, namely the members of cultural
groups with high independency show more risk-aversive behavior. It is
interesting to note that this pattern is observed only when risk is
material in its nature, and not observed when risk is of the social nature.
The cushion hypothesis attempts to explain this difference. It suggests
that members of a collectivist society are more prone to risk-taking in
the financial domain, because they know they will more likely receive
help from their friends or extended family when they "fall", as
collectivism endorses social relatedness and interdependence. Social
networks in such societies can serve as potent material-risk insurance
and correspond to the notion "social capital". Risk-aversion tendency
among members of individualist societies are observed even in the
contexts that involve financial risks only indirectly, for instance in
decision-making contexts that involve estimating the risk of revealing
private information to gain access to mobile banking.
Affect forecasts play an important role in driving decisions. The
members of independent and interdependent societies differ in the
degree they rely on the expected enjoyment when making choices.
Euro-Canadians, who are representatives of the independent social
orientation, place more weight on expected enjoyment, whereas East
Asians, who are representatives of the interdependent social
orientation, warn against excessive hedonism, as their concern with
social obligations precludes the uncompromising pursuit of positive
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