Cross Cultural Management. Importance of Value - Essay Example

?Cross Cultural Management Introduction Cross cultural management has become an integral concern in organizational life after the emergence of globalization. This cultural diversity can be managed successfully if the organization learn the manifestation of this diversity and its implications in the context of international business. Cross cultural management refers to a mechanism formulated to train people regarding the variations of practices, preferences, and culture in global business. With the lapse of time, diversity in practices, cultures, and preferences of consumers increase substantially, thereby increasing the need to bridge the communication gap by implementing cross cultural management. In management, cultural differences refer to varying taste, preferences, culture, likes and dislikes, ways of communications, norms, values, and beliefs of every culture. The objective of this paper is to examine the cultural variations in the light of scholarly articles as mentioned in two renowned models. An extensive study of Hofstede and Schwarts model will be done followed by a criticism of Hofstede model. These two models can be viewed in terms of how the business managers react to cross cultural management. The business managers face various sorts of cultural issues while performing their tasks e.g. workforce diversity, language barriers, religious issues etc. Under these circumstances, it is highly effective for the business managers to understand these two cross cultural models and incorporate their effects in their organizational context. Importance of Value Hofstede and Schwartz have studies cross cultural values and their findings are in the subsequent parts of this section in order to gain acquaintance with importance of value and varying values in different culture. Hofstede Model Hofstede (1993) stated that when management theorists embark to other parts of the world, outside their own country, they encounter strange customers, beings, theories, organizing and disorganizing, immoral or old-fashioned ways of doing things. Some of them work but some of them fail to work. After gaining this experience, the traveler comes to home country and can use this experience advantageously. The purpose of the study of Hofstede (1993) was that all great ideas relating to management, politics, or science, have come from different parts of the world and have been enhanced by foreign influences. Hofstede (1993) examined the context of management from different parts of the world. Hofsetde (1993) reviewed the managerial culture of countries like Japan, France, China, Holland, Russia, Germany, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Hofstede (1993) stated that management is what is common among all countries but its context and meaning differ to a smaller or a larger extent from country to country. Hofstede (1993) further stated that it requires considerable cultural insight to understand the philosophies, processes, and problems. Further arguing, Hofstede (1993) stated that if management is such a broad word and it means so many varying things, then it cannot be expected that management theories of one country will be applicable to abroad as well. Management is related to government, politics, and school. It is present in beliefs and religion about science. Management theories are interdisciplinary but as soon as national boundaries are crossed, it becomes more interdisciplinary. By stating so, Hofstede (1993) divided cultural difference into five dimensions. i. Power distance; inequality among people that is considered as normal among people ii. Individualism vs. collectivism; degree to which people of a country tend to act as individuals instead of a members of a group iii. Masculinity vs. femininity; where tough values like performance, assertiveness, success prevail over gentle values such warm relation, care, quality of life. iv. Uncertainty avoidance; people preferring planned situation over unstructured ones. v. Long-term orientation vs. short-term orientation; long-term refers to values inclined towards future, whereas short term refers to values relating to past or present. Schwartz Model Values are seen as beliefs or abstract concepts that serve a guiding principles for his or her life. It can be said that values are the fundamentally crucial aspects to a person and constitutes the main part of the identity of an individual. The value model of psychologist Shalom Schwartz has explained the concept of value model which comprises on ten types of human values. The two main direction upon which they are ordered include: conservation versus openness to change and self-transition versus self-enhancement. Significant number of researches have revealed the validity of the model across varying culture. In short, culture differs in priorities of value. Schwartz (1994) stated value can be defined as a belief relating to desired outcome or mode of conduct that guides the evaluation and selection of people, behavior, and events. It is also organized with respect to other values that form a systematic priorities of values. Value differ from culture to culture and person to person. Schwartz (1994) stated that values are compatible with other but often times they can come in conflict with each other. The findings of the study of Schwartz (1994) concluded that all ten different types of values differ in in terms of their importance. Findings of the study further revealed that only those values that have similar meaning across different cultures should be used while comparing the priorities in value of different cultural groups or nations. The two models can be compared in a way that both the theorists attempt to identify the meaning and importance of value. Both the research state that values can prioritized, and are compatible but in some cases, cause conflicts. The two models can be contrasted in a way that two different set of values were taken and identified by Hofstede (1993) and Schwartz (1994). Another similarity between the two studies are the findings of the study of Hofstede (1993) and Schwartz (1994). Hofstede (1993) stated that dimensions of values differ from country to country and Schwartz (1994) inferred that universal aspects of contents and structure of human values is negative. Critique Despite of various benefits of Hofstede model, it has still received a lot of criticism. McSweeney (2002) criticized the national cultural research Geert Hofstede. McSweeney (2002) challenged and described the assumptions that inspire the claims of Hofstede. McSweeney (2002) stated that methodological flaws, confinement within states, limited description of culture has resulted in a restrictor instead of an enhancer for understanding discriminations. McSweeney (2002) attempted to criticize the research methodology of Hofstede which underlie the claim of considering national cultures. McSweeney (2002) stated that the research methodology of Hofstede has many flaws. First, it cannot be assumed that all the individuals of the culture simultaneously hold similar attributes of culture and that the culture is identical. Second, Hofstede assumes that all individuals’ behaviors and values completely and fully determine the culture of nation. McSweeney (2002) further stated that Hofstede assumes population as a homogenous unit however in majority of cases, population is constructed by ethnic units. McSweeney (2002) argued that study of Hofstede has limited description of culture, flaws in methodology and confinement within states reveal that it cannot be proved as enhancer for understanding varying aspects. Criticism of McSweeney (2002) pose a threat to all the models and cultural claims of Hofstede from the positivistic and functionalist paradigm. Implications The study of Meurs, and Dbaibo, and Harb, (2010) investigated organizational justice and value incongruence as a predictor of perceived stress. The results of the study stated that these variables are weak predictors of perceived stress. The implication of this study holds that the manager should identify the source of the perceived stress among their subordinates such that they must ensure that they must assign tasks to their subordinates based on organizational justice. They must also ensure that whatever tasks are assigned to the subordinates must have some value and it should be felt by the subordinates as well. Stahl, and Gopalan (1998) conducted a study to trace the practices and behavioral theories of American management in the business environment of India. Stahl, and Gopalan (1998) concluded that usage of English language, internet and western modes of education lead the Indian management to reflect the western practices in the business environment of India. This study implies that if American executives plan to visit India, there would be least cultural differences in Indian business environment. Judge (2001) conducted a study to determine the cultural differences in the traits of American and Taiwanese CEOs. Increased globalization has caused homogenization among the traits of business executives. This study implies that American and Taiwanese CEOs differ in terms of cultural traits therefore, before planning to commence business with these countries, they must acknowledge and respect the cultural differences of the host country. Conclusion This paper has reviewed several studies in order to gain acquaintance with the word value. A lot of researchers have studied the importance of this phenomenon in varying situations. It can be inferred that despite of increased globalization, cultural differences, values, and norms still prevail in many countries. This study implies that before embarking for a new country, the traveler must get familiarize with the cultural norms, values, and constraints of respective country. It is recommended that managers need to be more vigilant before commencing trade transactions among international countries. It is the responsibility of managers and business executives to get themselves familiarize with the norms, culture, traditions, and values of every country with which they are transacting. Without acknowledging the rituals and norms of host country, executives may put themselves in difficult situation by committing such act that is prohibited in the respective country. It may also lead to loss of important contracts or business contacts. Therefore, managers must get themselves familiarize with business etiquettes, traditions, and cultures of the countries with which they are transacting on frequent basis. References Dbaibo, Dania, Charles Harb, and Nathalie Van Meurs, 2010. Values and justice as predictors of perceived stress in Lebanese organisational settings. Applied Psychology 59(4), p. 701-720. Gopalan, Suresh, and Angle Stahl, 2006. Application of American management theories and practices to the Indian business environment: understanding the impact of national culture. Management in India: Trends and transition, p. 376-400. Judge, William Q, 2001. Is a leader's character culture-bound or culture-free? An empirical comparison of the character traits of American and Taiwanese CEOs. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies 8(2), p. 63-78. Kreiser, Patrick M., et al., 2010. Cultural influences on entrepreneurial orientation: The impact of national culture on risk taking and proactiveness in SMEs. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 34(5), p. 959-983. Kalliny, Morris, Kevin W. Cruthirds, and Michael S. Minor, 2006. Differences between American, Egyptian and Lebanese Humor Styles Implications for International Management. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 6(1), p. 121-134. Osland, Joyce S, and Allan Bird, 2000. Beyond sophisticated stereotyping: Cultural sensemaking in context. The Academy of Management Executive 14(1), p. 65-77. McSweeney, Brendan, 2002. Hofstede’s model of national cultural differences and their consequences: A triumph of faith-a failure of analysis. Human relations 55(1), p. 89-118. Jackson, Terence, 2011. From cultural values to cross-cultural interfaces: Hofstede goes to Africa. Journal of Organizational Change Management 24(4), p. 532-558. Schwartz, Shalom H., 1994. Are there universal aspects in the structure and contents of human values?. Journal of social issues 50(4), p. 19-45. Hofstede, Geert., 1993. Cultural constraints in management theories. The Academy of Management Executive 7(1), p. 81-94. Poortinga, Ype, and Fischer, Ronald, 2012. Are cultural values the same as the values of individuals? An examination of similarities in personal, social and cultural value structures. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 12(2), p. 157-170 Read More