Cross Cultural Management and Its Relevance in Supporting Global Business Operations - Essay Example

 Introduction Culture is the unique means of a group of people to cope with particular circumstances as well as passing these coping skills to other generations. The coping style defines people on who they are and where they are from. The style and approach used by these groups of people dictate their behavior, level of productivity at work, morale, as well as sets values under which these people should operate with (Mader & Guerin, 2007, p. 4). Culture influence attitudes towards how one should deal with business situations as well as relevant actions to adopt for particular circumstances. Culture is therefore the main driver to human reaction and behavior (Young & Nie, 1996, p. 169). Culture and cultural identities affects interactions and human engagement with each other. People from the same culture feel more comfortable when grouped with others from a similar culture. This merging becomes more specific especially when money is involved. Same culture individuals consider partnership in the business world. However, when different cultures have to come together these people have to grow together to meet the organization goals (Adekola & Sergi, 2012, p. 13). While growing together, these people face similar problems and have to agree on joint actions to defeat the problems. The more they solve the issues together, while embracing each others culture, the more it becomes a norm and system of rules that will later be local legislations that with practice will become the groups guiding principals. Cross-cultural management is thus the study of behavior of people from different cultures who have come together to meet a common goal (Laasch & Conaway, 2014, p. 432). The study emphasize on the main motivation factors like group dynamics, leadership structure and decision making practiced by such a mixed group (Adler, 1983, p.7). The study work to explain the relevance of global changes to cultures. Economic system is one aspect that has exposed cultures to elastic limits. Earlier, the economies were divided into first world, second world, and third world. First world economy had advanced free enterprise system, second world had centralized planning, and third world was more of a developing economy. Third world was built up by countries moving from agriculture economy to industrial economy. However, any global minded person knows that these dimensions have since changed. Many economies are mixed and many third world economies happen to have particular strengths that make them stand out. Some countries like china have the technology sectors, Poland is in transition to free enterprise systems, and some second and third world economies have regionalized their operations to complement each other (Young & Nie, 1996, p.197). Medical systems have been integrated to cater for the global need for preventive medicine to diseases. The modern medical practitioners have adopted cross-cultural medicine that is universal to all cultures as long as the people are suffering similar ailments. This means that the global medical business has taken a different perspective unlike in the traditional practice where medicine was regionalized. Governments have also embraced global perspective since issues like terrorism, global warming, immigration and global economy all affect every country and thus an integrated approach to solving the issues bring the governments together. Therefore globalization has lead to more global driven interactions with people and products from different cultures hence creating a competitive global environment where every individual have to prove fit to be in the market (Brooks & Guile, 1987, p. 114). Theories of cultural differences Individualism verses collectivism This theory views people as coming from a culture where they operate either as individuals or as members of a group. Every individual is mandated to take care of him or herself without engaging the efforts of other people. Autonomy, privacy, and individual achievements are placed more than supported outcomes (Johann, 2008, p.6). In collective culture, people are more inclined to group decision since the group takes care of them (Velo, 2011, p.29). The people in this culture are more inclined to devotion and group loyalty where they only engage in issues that will benefit every individual in the group. The group can be an organization, a clan, or just a family where one comes from. Masculinity versus femininity theory The theory focus on evaluating the icon of strength in a society. The theory measures if money and power are highly valued at the expense of the comfort of other people as well as how such dimensions affect relationships. Through research, men have been seen to embrace assertive views more than women do. Men want things to be done and achieved in a manly way while female gender is considered weak and unable to make anything substantial when measured against male gender’s achievement. The masculine society is highly regarded as achievement oriented. The ideal in this society is the tireless pursuit for the highest performance there can be (Johann, 2008, p. 6). Power distance verses uncertainty avoidance This theory explains the degree to which people from a different culture accepts unequal distribution of power (Vela, 2011, p. 30). The high power distance cultures practice high power gaps between seniors and the juniors. There is a clear hierarchy where juniors are expected to show respect to the bosses even when they are wrong. The seniors are more authoritative than they invite dialogue. This is the opposite of the low power distance countries. The bosses in these cultures choose low profiles since status to them are just privileges that can be given to anybody. They allow junior participation and free expression of their concerns. Uncertainty avoidance defines the extent to which people from a particular culture will be willing to take risks. High-risk avoidance culture makes risk averse people who are less ambitious on innovation and acceptance of change. This is unlike in the low uncertainty avoidance culture that is more interactive and considers less of rules in their dealings. Long-term orientation Long-term oriented societies avoid immediate gratification to enjoy in the future (Lussier & Achua, 2009, p. 392). They are more inclined to saving unlike the short-term oriented society that spends even if it means surviving from one loan to another. To them, long-term oriented culture, spending after saving is a symbol of wisdom (Elmer, 2009, p. 23). The long-term oriented society is capable of having huge developments that will be shared by generations. Aspects of culture capable of affecting global business operations Culture is the driver to any business success or failure. The business proprietors package their businesses as per their culture or as per a culture they have chosen to embrace. To be able to operate in a global business arena, the following aspects of culture will play as the greatest influence to success. Education system Knowledge and how it is imparted into new member varies between cultures. Some cultures pass skills and values through informal means while some others will emphasize on formal mode of education. Some cultures will graduate their members from one stage to the other through passing exams while others will use age to define where one should be in the learning system. This influence hiring qualification placed on jobs offered in culture. Food and feeding habits Different cultures have different ways of selecting, preparing, and presenting food (Freedman, 2007, p. 90). The difference is much more in how the food is taken and using what instruments. While Chinese take pork for meat delicacy, Muslims and Jewish will not take because it is forbidden, while American eat beef, Hindus will take something else. This affects any person venturing into food industry. The advice remains that they should consider offering food that meets different cultures. Relationships Relationships are grouped by status, wealth, power, age, wisdom, and gender (Moran, Harris, & Moran, 2011, p.12). This aspect is explicit in the family unit where appointments are from the smallest to the largest. The appointments also dictate the sitting positions for each individual in the group for some cultures. For example, some cultures dictate men to sit on one side of the house while female sit on another side. For some cultures, man is the head of the family. Such cultures only acknowledge men as leaders unlike in other cultures where any gender can lead the community. For some cultures, children are not allowed to sit with the elders but some accepts children as part of the gathering. While some cultures will solely stand for monogamous marriages, some will accept polygamous marriages. All these relationship differences explain why some cultures will appreciate something while some will not even recognize its existence. Religious systems This is the cultural approach to super natural power ordering things in the society. Some cultures, as the Hindu culture is build on religious believes. However, this aspect of culture can be unified to one belief like Christianity and Islam. These groupings have defined ways of doing things which to some extend also define the basis of governance thus dominating political systems and legal systems. For example, Roman Catholicism in Lutheran directs the political system and legal frameworks applied in cases of crime. This is the same as the applications of Judaism in Israel. Besides unifying cultures, religious systems can also be the main dividing agent is the society based on the practices emphasized in one religion. Different religions may fail to agree on extreme practices like ethical cleansing, holy war, terrorism on the people of the opposite religion and general religious practices (Moran, Harris, & Moran, 2011, p.15). These differences have always been source of religious conflicts since one religious culture wants to dominate at the expense of the other. Sense of self and space This is defined as the self-identity one expresses with him or herself. The level of comfort displays appreciation levels to culture that is enhanced by continued interaction. For some cultures like the American culture, individual space is more valued than the togetherness space (Moran, Harris, & Moran, 2011, p.11). That is, an American will opt for an environment where nobody interferes with their space as compared to Arabs who will prefer a space shared by members of a group. The communal space is less formal as anybody can invade at any time as compared to the individual space where formal acceptance is sought before interference. Dress and appearance This aspect dictates how one should look on the outward. The garments and adornments are defined by culture and thus distinguish people from different cultures. For example, Englishmen wear bowler and umbrella, Africans have a head dresser, and Native Americans have headbands. However, a subculture cuts across all cultures, the formal business look, and the uniforms worn by different groups of people in the working or school environments. All these depict different aspects of the society that defines a particular class of people. Communication and language Communication system distinguishes one culture from the other (Moran, Harris, & Moran, 2011, p. 11). That is in both nonverbal and verbal forms of communication. In a country, there is more than one major spoken language. This is considering specifics like accents, jargons, dialect, and slag that make the language different (Chaffee, 2014, p. 283). Within the languages, there are subcultures that have special signals and terminology. The military is one subculture with unique signals and terminologies that are understandable by many people in the same positions across nations. Political systems This aspect defines how a society is governed and how law and order are enhanced. Some cultures are practice democracy while some are lead by a ruling royal family and others are lead by some tribe chiefs. An individual from any of the three political cultures often see the other culture weird and will prefer their own way of exercising power and authority. Recreational system This aspect defines how people from particular culture spend their leisure time. For example, sports are business in some cultures, while to others it is a form of enjoyment. However, with cross-culture approach, films, music, and sports have become the unifying factor in global communication. Such events have called for global broad casting so that everybody with access to media can have knowledge on the proceedings of a particular sport. This has become part of the global competition where even business people use the platform to market their businesses during the events. Such events have also been the source of social interactions through electronic media shared as form of recreation. Association systems These are the social belongings formed by persons of like minds like professionals and trade associations. Some cultures like the United States are more group oriented where there are formal and informal gatherings made to enhance the common goal of the group. In some cultures, clans and families make the social belongings and most often interactions with people from different groups become difficult as one is oriented to only serve the purpose of the group. However, there are cultures that have no taste for an association system. People are more individualistic and achievement is fought at individual levels. Such cultures are easy to adopt a centralized form of governance though they may not participate in policymaking and implementations. Individuals in such cultures are subject to the law set and any failure to comply leads to legal action defined by the universal law. Economic system Economic system is the channels through which goods and services are produced and distributed. Some economies are purely capitalistic while some are still socialistic. The Japanese for example is more of a socialistic because production is purely on the family basis where there is centralized planning and control. Time and Time Consciousness Time consciousness differs by culture. While some cultures are exact on time, some are relative about the clock. The exact type are more formal in that if a meeting was scheduled for a particular time, any delays will mean some agendas to be placed in the next meeting. Some cultures however allow seniors and older members of the community to be late but expect the younger and junior class to keep time. The elders and the bosses are allowed to arrive last after everybody else is seated and waiting. While the above mind about the clock or lack of there of, there are some cultures whose time is marked by sunrise and sunset, time. Seasons are also distinctively marked in different cultures. While others talk of summer, winter spring and fall, others talk of either rainy or dry season (Moran, Harris, & Moran, 2011, p.12). With the growth in industrialization, many companies around the world have adopted an around the clock operation. However, this is not acceptable to some cultures that care fixed schedule for resting to human body. Such cultures will therefore not adopt 24-hour economy but will maximize on the 12 hours defined by their culture. Health system The aspect of how cultures deal with physical and medical well being of its people differs by each culture. Prevention of diseases as well as taking care of the sick is defined by set cultural guidelines on how to respond to such instances. Some cultures use herb medication, others use spiritual remedies and other have witch doctors to consult. Some have medical services; others like America have socialized medicine that offers universal medical coverage. In any of these cultures, global medical practitioners adopt the culture of the society to be able to provide wholesome medication to the people. To be able to venture into global business operations, a cross-cultural manager is guided by realization of the following drivers. Increased customer demands and access to competing products and services The consumer in the globe is demanding for high quality at lowest cost. This consumer will go for a global brand and forget about the local brand. They demand for the latest in the market and want to keep the pace in production. Their main shopping zones are the internet and television, which keep them updated on the latest and the most trendy at a time (Steers, Ganchez, & Nardon, 2010, p. 5). This aspect thus calls for any global minded individual to consider the changing dynamics of the market to be able to satisfy the global customer. Increased technological innovation and application The global business operation has been enhanced by technology. Technology have ensured that there is real-time communication, real time access to customers, markets, and global networks. Buyers and sellers can meet online and transact without ever meeting in persons. New business ventures, product, and markets are being created through technology that could not be appreciated a few decades ago. Therefore, technology is becoming the new global culture ruling over many other cultures. There has also been an increased power and influence of emerging markets and economies. These markets present the traditional organizations with challenges as they demand for a share of the market. As a result, the conservative cultures expose the traditional economy to high expenditure than they can cater for with the cultural production methods. The gap between haves and haves not have thus been on the increase as emerging markets take over the market and expose the cultural economies to closure if they fail to keep up with the changing market. Relevance of cross-cultural management to global business operations Global business operations call for intersection of multiple aspects of culture. These aspects intersect to make a whole organization of individuals with varied behavior dictated by their culture and orientation. However, the main cultural aspects that determine the success or failure of a business are communication and relationships and the main competitive points in the global business are the level of originality and the capacity to advance, entertain, and keep business across boarders (Velo, 2011, p. 3). This is despite the fact that the individual players come from different cultures hence facing different challenges in the organization. Some aspects like social positioning have affected the global business operation for some time. The extents of divisions in hierarchies had worked as an impediment to effective communication and interaction. Bosses and seniors had their isolated offices where juniors could only visit when need be. The gap between the bosses and the juniors was huge that organization effectiveness was limited to individuals response based on their cultural orientation. This gap has however been bridged with the introduction of open space offices and use of business cards that do not show the employee position. Cross-culture oriented managers think and react according to how well they understand the diverse nature of the team (Chanlat, Davel, & Dupuis, 2013, p.5). They cross boarders to conduct businesses, which call for an integrated cultural economy (Steers, Ganchez, & Nardon, 2010, p. 3). The stretch of perspectives beyond domestic boarders has been the drive behind successful global business perspectives. Global minded individuals have already ventured into businesses, politics, and careers that have a global perspective. They are driven by the belief that better opportunities exist in other countries than their own. Such a person sees opportunities in other countries that even the indigenous people have not seen. They embrace other cultures with the knowledge that these cultures have different viewpoints and lives that will affect their lives positively. Such persons are keen to appreciate cultural differences when dealing in business to be able to meet the needs in the market. An opportunity for cultural education, creativity, and growth is an opportunity to trade for such individuals (Moran, Harris, & Moran, 2011, p.9). Culture related Challenges facing global business managers Cultural convergence versus cultural divergence This challenge is based on the effect of globalization to modes of behavior. Culture emphasize on reinforcement of cultural believes and practices but globalization calls for a wide outlook of issues based on the current demand in the market. Such considerations affect business operations especially when the managers consider globalization as an agent of divergent from culture (Steers, Sanchez, & Nardon, 2010, p. 8). The best approach will be where the manger sees global business operation as an avenue for both convergent and divergent. On some issues, cultural influence may take preeminence but on some, business growth should be the drive to the action adopted. For example, the most affected aspect of culture is food and feeding habits. When first foods were introduced into the food market, concerns on health implications were highly discussed by non-American cultured people. However, the continued appreciation and consumption have since watered down the discussion as traditional non-American feeding habits get endangered by each day. Such divergent from one strict feeding culture lead to a convergence into another global culture. The major challenge to the managers is thus to package the food in a culturally acceptable packages. Foe example in Israel, fast food stores do not serve food with cheese. Global governance has also faced challenge of convergence as international capital markets and state regulations poses extinction threats to local governance design of loyal family and management board. Mangers are faced with the challenge of dealing with the new management strategy as more independent non-executive members like auditors take over from the traditional managers and sole decision makers. Plurality of cultures versus cultural pluralism Each culture is unique and demands a unique accommodations style to anyone venturing into such a market (Laasch & Conaway, 2014, p. 434). The global market is a blend of all the cultures that meet for trade. Many organization mangers have to face people from different cultures who need a common playing field if the organization goals have to be met. Such field is well handled through cross-cultural management that affects the type of knowledge, skills, and abilities to be developed in the workforce (Steers, Sanchez, & Nardon, 2010, p. 11). The aspect of pluralism thus influences the local managers to have a global perspective since their juniors need an integrated cultural approach to be productive (Adekola & Sergi, 2012, p. 42). Inclusion versus exclusion The global business arena have both looser and winners. Globalization presents extraordinary opportunities to people who can keep abreast with the global demand. These opportunities are packaged in terms of education and resources that teach them on how to handle global challenges hence placing such individuals above other people of the same age and culture. This elite group gets more opportunities while their counterparts have only one or no opportunity at all. This also applies to companies that apply global challenges to their advantage. Such companies end up dominating the global market when their counterparts remain struggling with local markets. Conclusion The uniqueness in cultures poses different challenges to different individuals in the global business venture. Global business operations call for intersection of multiple aspects of culture through established communication and relationships. A competitive business will thus use communication and to express their originality and capacity to trade in the global arenas. The joint effort of people from different cultures thus provides the required blend in global business ventures. Social positioning have affected the global business operation for some time. The extents of divisions in hierarchies had worked as an impediment to effective communication and interaction. Bosses have to consider cultural competent approached to management if the diverse cultures have to blend to meet the organization goals. Different individuals are trained on global management but the few trained do not meet the threshold for global engagement. This gap is thus bridged by presenting more opportunities to individuals as well as companies talking cultural differences as strength in the production line. Cross-cultural mangers have a varied stretch of perspective on global business operations. This has made a number of them to venture into global business operation through seizing available opportunities in the global platform. They are driven by the belief that better opportunities exist in other countries than their own. Cross-culture business operations are however faced by several challenges because Culture emphasize on reinforcement of cultural believes and practices but globalization calls for a wide outlook of issues based on the current demand in the market. These are wheather one should converge or diverge from culture, plurality of cultures versus cultural pluralism, and inclusion versus exclusion. Mangers are faced with the challenge of dealing with the new management strategy as more independent non-executive members like auditors take over from the traditional managers and sole decision makers. The best approach will be where the manger sees this dual nature as avenues to success. Reference list Adekola A. & Sergi B. S. (2012). Global Business management. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing, ltd. Adler N. J. (1983). Cross-Cultural Management: Issues to be faced. International studies of management and organization, 1(2), 7-45. Brooks H., Guile B.R. (1987). Technology and global industry: Companies and nations in the world economy. Washington: National Academies press. Chaffee, J. (2014). Thinking Critically. Massachusetts: Cengage learning. Chanlat J., Davel E., Dupuis J. (2013). 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