Culture and the International Context - Research Paper Example

Does the rise of the multinational company mean that national differences in HR practice are becoming less significant?  Introduction: The modern times are categorized by international businesses, ventures and corporations that have their links and roots established in multiple parts of the world. While the earlier concepts were limited to within the country operations, with passage of time, and with trends of globalization, the practices have changed totally and each company aims to go large and international. This has brought about the concept of multinational practices where operations, chains, and networks are spread across number of countries. The international practices have their own set of standards, requirements and rules to them which have made things easier in many ways, at the same time brought about certain set of conditions and prerequisites that must be fulfilled in order to extract the maximum and most suitable out of the concept of multinational and global practices. Large amount of research is being conducted in this field for the purpose of establishing the link between multinational operations and organizations, and the subsequent impact of cultural differences. Abstract: Multinational companies are subject to pluralistic cultures, each carrying its own representative identity. The aim is to extract uniform operations and servicing principles for ease of work and improved productivity. The H.R practices are one area that has reformed and changed with the concept of international ventures. Culture would naturally vary as the organization jumps from one country to another and one environment to another. Knowing the people’s mindset, knowing their inclination, adjusting to their likes and dislikes all entail in the carries of globalization under the umbrella of cultural aspect. Brief history of global trends: The global practices are gift of the later part of the twentieth century, and more predominantly they came to forth in form of effort by George Modelski(reference) who for the first time came up with the term globalization and the kind of business practices that are undertaken beyond borders and expanded over various parts of the world. This form of business operations has changed the overall dynamics of how operations are being held now and were being held before. An important factor consideration is that of the culture and differences in terms of the culture and people’s orientation towards particular events and elements. Other proponents of the field of management and global operations have also contributed towards the explanation and narration of the concept of global businesses; these proponents include Castells, Waters Guillen etc. According to the report, the basic roots of global trends can be traced back to archaic era where the dynastic rulers were involved in practices which were not officially termed as global practices but were spread and performed on basis of across the border operations and exchange of goods and services. Understanding the concept of culture: Human Resource practices are largely subject to the culture of that particular area. No effective outcomes can be achieved from Human Resource practices without the consideration of culture and its relative context, since culture is the representation of the feelings, ways, ethos of the people and human resource domain is the handling of all the aforementioned elements according to the inspirations and wishes of the people. Human resource actions and activities are always undertaken with due consideration of the cultural context of the masses. A cross cultural concept is the most prevalent form of the global form of businesses which include integration of different mindsets, different techniques, different resources, different environment and overall different set of components. While a local and national based business would involve dealing with a single culture and single identification mindset, the global operations include taking into account more than one mindset, more than one language, the ways of life and social factors which amalgamate into one large entity in form of culture. Culture is actually the collective characteristic representation of the masses and their mindset. Learning how to make use of your resources, your services and bringing about the best out of the deals is part of the entire cultural scheme. Importance of cultural context understanding: It is of primary importance and value to understand the cultural factor, without it, it would be a blind sail and blind working. Cultural knowledge serves as the guideline and strength towards overcoming any obstacle that may be faced in longer run. It enables working according to the need, which is the will and taste of people. Cultural study enables knowing what to do, when to do, and how to do, and further enables not doing anything that is not desired and demanded for. Without the cultural context understanding and estimation, it would be a disaster and could lead to possible failure in totality. Example can be quoted of the number of incidents that have taken place over period of time in Korean airlines. It is being established and deduced that the cultural barrier and lack of understanding in totality in this domain led to the incidents that took place then. This could have been avoided with better cultural integration in place, and this can come if the companies make it part of their agenda and working manifesto to establish cultural studies and understanding according to the requirements that would be incurred during multinational ventures. Understanding of the HRM domain in totality: Apart from the cultural understanding, it is important to understand the broader scope of HRM as well. Understanding its implementation, its affectivity, its implementation in a particular environment, getting to learn and know the tools that are in practices in HRM in different parts of the world is another area that must be taken into account while dealing with HRM in a contextual and detailed retrospective. Without the proper understanding of the functions of human resource management, it would be difficult to implement any effective strategy related to the cultural operations and differences between different cultures. Research has been conducted n this domain as well for the purpose of better understanding of the human resource management, followed by its better execution. Peters & waterman, Pfeffer are few of the experts who have invested considerable research in this area in order to evaluate the exact extent of human resource management components which are directly responsible for cultural integrity and better services in a multinational environment. Research findings: Since many experts have taken up this matter on grounds of detailed research, Markus Pudelko(Pudelko 2005) is one of the main leads who conducted vigorous research in this field in order to establish the case for or against the cultural differences when it comes to the multinational businesses which are more prevalent in present times than were in the previous century. In his study and findings by Markus Pudelko ,over 200 experts and managers were questioned about the same nature of problem and situation at hand. Apart from individuals, over 500 companies were being investigated, their overall working was being observed and based on their policies, strategies and actions under taken conclusion and comparisons were derived. The research took into account companies of repute and international stature, which namely included companies from Japan and Germany as well. In the findings, it was established that a hybrid form of cultural integration is being adopted and put in place in certain areas as well. Yet it was further established that such an attempt has been of low productivity and has yielded low dividends. The carries of globalization: As a result of global operations, various factors have gained importances which were of little or no significance in earlier modes of operation. One of those factors includes the consideration of cultural differences. Since the company operating over different parts of the world would encounter different cultures, different trends and orientations, thereby proper consideration must be given to the cultural constraint and cultural coherence. Globalization has brought about more reliance and more supplier holders interaction in the entire process of operations. It has made the elements, functions, units, employees, departments, and other related entities ever so dependent with each interacting and responding accordingly. All these are connected through the cultural context. It has brought about every unit and element on single page. To some proponents it is termed as the global order where survival and existence is possible only through following the basic tenants of the globalized businesses and practices. Two basic elements narrated here are the F.D.I (Foreign Direct Investment) and international trade that is being undertaken, these are two of the many functions which are characteristic of the global operations. The report further presents values and figures in terms of the raise in F.D.I over period of time, explaining the ever expanding and rising trend of global operations. Globalization has offered much more than the domestic form of businesses would offer. They have expanded the horizons and have created more opportunities, have made the businesses faster yet easier in their operations. With communication and transport means being ever so fast, and everything being operated on international level and the concept of global village, the global practices have crept in, in parallel and thereby offered much more than the conventional form of practices that were being held in earlier days. Possible dimensions: There are two set of schools and mindsets who evaluate their findings, experience and observation pertinent to the impacts of global operations of businesses that are dominantly in practice. While one set of scholars, experts and proponents believe that the global concept has more positives than the negatives, other set is of the opinion that the global operations and multinational culture is more towards divergence and deviance in the operations and functions of the organization. The integrative approach of global practices is advocated by Kerr, Dunlop and various others who believe that the global practices have more positives in terms of the harmony, cultural integration, better services and better working environment. The common points following and working in a larger group in form of one single family is effective and it enables synchronization amongst the units. The organizations and entities that deal in similar services and products manufacturing would be able to work in coherence with one another, would bring about more competition, and rapid delivery and services means. All these are directly helpful to the customers who are the ultimate beneficiaries. It further provides the change for mass expansion and overall industrial growth and economic prosperity of a particular region where the operations and functions are being performed. The concept of improved education and training: The integrative school of thought defends their ideas through the point of expanded chances for training and education of the members involved. With international interaction and global operations, new things are easy to learn and develop, pace of processes is being speeded up, and training and guidance is being provided on professional levels which would otherwise be slow and low in the local domain of business enterprises. The conventional forms of practices would eventually give way to the developed and state of the art enabled practices which would facilitate not just the organizations, but the members involved in form of stakeholders, the employees working and also the clients at the back end who are the ultimate receiver of the service or product that is being provided by the incumbent organization specialized in a particular field. This in contrast is contested and negated by the divergent school of thought who believes that the global concepts bring about more hurdles than easing the options of businesses. In total contrast to the integrative approach, it is being opinioned that larger entity leads to lesser complex operations, more hassle, more administrative burden and other relevant terms and concept that go against the global businesses idea. The divergent school of thought argue that different mindsets, different languages, different ways of life, and overall approach to various functions and entities lead to negative impact on the organization, the task at hand and the process of manufacturing any particular product or delivery of a particular service(Groeschl & Doherty 2000). Main advocate of this philosophy is the learned and expert Geert Hofstede who has researched and tested the context of pluralistic culture with regard to the deviances and possible negative impacts of it in the global context. Uncertainty is another element that is being expressed as a possible impeding hurdle to achieving cultural harmony in the multinational businesses and operations. Hofstede stipulated his statement and results based on vast amount of research that he conducted in the field of human resource management and the subsequent factors that would come to forth in case of the multinational operations. Findings: Through the extensive study in this domain, it was established by Hofstede that the cultural differences do show up in different forms between various countries and various environments. His findings established that cultural differences are a main factor and at times obstacle too, that must be taken into account while dealing with multinational setups and backgrounds outside the parent organization. He used set of hypothesis and variables against which the cultural factor can be weighed. These variables were expressed in form of scores and schemes that were established against study and cultural entity. There are certain discrepancies reported against the overall work of Hofstede and to some experts and critiques, his results and study is more loosely based on the analogical deduction and is somewhat different and distant from the actual situation. Social order and globalization: Social order can act to impede the global operations. Training and education according to professional and international level which can be achieved only through global operations can help eradicate the social order and any possible negative impacts that might be associated with it in any way. As a result of global operations and integrated services, more flexible means of operations can be adopted; an atmosphere of free learning and free will can be achieved and established which will be based on equality, fair opportunities of progress and prosperity. Presence of social order in any other way can lead to negative repercussions and it stands against the aims that are often set against global and integrated services and products production and manufacturing operations respectively. Impact on management styles and skills: The global integrated services mechanism has an equal impact on the management style. With social order in place, equality and fair opportunities availability to everyone the management can extract better services from entire processing in this manner. Management itself is a challenging task and one of the main areas a manager and managing team must look into is that of social factors consideration. All the managerial decisions must be taken in accordance with the social ethos, and social obligations and considerations. Proponents like Kerr et.al have established a link between them in form of a connected network and activity with each complementing other. For example good management skills can be effective if the social order is in place, and this in turn is dependent on the training, management skills and education one may get. All these subsets are relevant to the major component of global operations and relevant human resource management schemes. Managers have a large role in conveying the message of importance towards cultural integrity. Awareness in the context of its absence and its possible negative impacts on the organization, the goals set forth, the individuals, their working performance, their learning and career achievements all must be clearly highlighted and this is the sole responsibility of the manager and other top leadership to ensure that the cultural factor is not left unattended. Management styles: In the context of global operations and cultural context, the style of leadership is a very important factor. Any particular management style can have a direct negative or positive impact on the overall scenario and situation at hand. For this purpose different kinds of management and leadership pattern may be adopted. These styles can come in form of authoritative style, participatory style, guidance enabled, innovative and directional based. The most common one can be that of participatory. Where the leader and manager may initiate the process by starting with self. Getting to know about the culture, getting to know the dos and don’ts, and then incorporating that particular knowledge that is attained into cultural context can enable the better execution of the human resource management schemes in a cross cultural environment. Adopting and implementing the right kind of management style is the key towards effective and successful operations. There might be situations and occasions where no hard and fast rule may apply, and showing flexibility in context of cultural coherence and cultural requirements. Bending over rules might be demanded on occasions at the same time, showing stiffness may work, and all this leads to the following of various management styles, with each working in due consideration of the culture and its possible impacts on the overall operations and goals that are set forth for achievement and accomplishment. Conclusion: Culture is an integral part of any organization whether working on national level or international. It becomes more important and more desirous to take the cultural aspect more seriously when a particular company operates on international level. While the customer is the core to any organization, understanding the customers taste, their approval, liking and disliking is largely subject to understanding their culture, which comes in form of cultural studies and cultural interpretation. Global enterprises and multinational chains are taking up this matter in the due process which has reduced the barrier of cultural context in a considerable way. Thereby the cultural context cannot be ignored in any way. Doing so would lead to serious blockades, serious hurdles and obstacles of unevenness. The global operations are a step towards it and they are enabling understanding and taking into account different cultures in the due manner. All the major organizations around are taking the cultural factor seriously enough and ensure that it does not stand in the way towards the swift operations. Failing to do so leads to non productive functions and operations with little throughput. Different sets of theories and researches have been conducted for this purpose which each establishing that national differences must be leveled in case of multinational operations. References: Hickson, D.J and Pugh, D.S (1995) Management Worldwide: The Impact of Societal Culture on Organizations Around the Globe. London: Penguin. Groeschl, S. & Doherty, L., 2000. Conceptualizing culture Cross Cultural Managment- An International Journal. s.l.:University of Leicester. Pudelko, M., 2005. Cross National Learning from Best Practices and the Convergence - Divergence Debate in HRM. s.l.:University of Leicester. Read More