Managing Across Cultures - Essay Example

Managing Across Cultures Name Institution Course Date Managing Across Cultures Introduction The term culture has different defined through various meanings via different individuals. For some, it is described as the eye of the world. Therefore, all round the globe, their perspective is as different as their work ethics (Hofstede, 2001). Work ethics is very fundamental especially when it comes to working with each other. Culture has a much desired effect on these values especially when people have the intention of coexisting and working together. The claim that every individual who works should be rewarded and vice versa has been viewed as difference in opinions on how people perceive work values. Therefore, in managing across cultures, theories regarding quality management have been created with intent of knowing and evaluating how different managers cope with managerial policies (Hofstede, 2001). Managerial practices from managers across cultures can be traced to effective learning. Therefore, bringing different people from different cultures together so that they can learn brings about better managers since all of them are exposed to similar managerial practices without judging where they originated from. Thus, learning assists in bridging cultural barriers. Top managerial support is important for it directly affects quality practices therefore, they ought to consider differences related to Human resource development, customer focus as well as satisfaction (Chow et al., 2002). This assessment will discuss organizational environment with regard to management across cultures, the conflicts faced in an organizational environment and the importance of management across cultures. Organizational Environment An organizational environment comprises of both institutions as well as forces that potentially influence the performances of organizations. These factors that directly impact organizations include Environmental change, environmental complexity and munificence and uncertainties. Organizational environment incorporates aspects of organizational culture which is custom or rights within an organization. Good managers usually strive for more sophisticated anthropological model when running operations within their organizations (Chow et al., 2002). Therefore, it is clear that every organization has their own way in which an outsider brings as an observer. The various dimensions of organizational culture include external environments which incorporates mission, vision and goals of an organization. Managing internal integrations which include matters such as a common language, group boundaries as well as developing rules. The third element of an organizational culture is how cultures are created by leaders within their organization. This defines the impact of the founders as leaders for instance, their beliefs, values as well as their assumptions (Elevator, 2008). Lastly is the organizational midlife which includes the culture, growth and change within an organization. These are well developed by the managers within the organization. In addition, in an organizational environment, managers face certain constraints when managing across cultures. They face aspects of individualism vs collectivism. In some cultures, they embrace individualism whereas in others they embrace collectivism (Hofstede, 2001). This poses as a challenge to the managers since they should have a clear stance on where the culture within the organization embraces. Furthermore, they also face aspects of power distance which states that power ought to be distributed unequally. Uncertainty avoidance is another challenge faced by these managers. Some organizational culture tend to acknowledge and accept change whereas others don’t. Finally, masculinity vs femininity is another challenge faced by these managers. These terms ought to be overlooked so as to value other matters within an organization (Hofstede, 2001). Regional Models of Organizations An organizational model is also known as an organizational structure. It describes an organization via its framework which is inclusive of its line of authority, duties, resource allocation as well as its communications. These models are always driven and motivated by the organization’s goals and functions as background where processes operate (Chow et al., 2002). The ideal model of an organization is based on the nature of their business and the various challenges they face. This therefore determines the number of staff members required together with their required skill sets. This model consists of various elements. Organizational units recognize jobs that function together so as to complete a specific work operation (Hofstede, 2001). The models may include multiple physical locations. Reporting structure commonly referred to as chain of command recognizes reporting relationships within the organization and integrates span of control for example the number of staff members a manager has reporting directly to her. In addition, the span of control governs the number of managers an organization can have (Elevator, 2008). For instance, in an organization that has 50 employees, there might exist a narrow span of control that regulates the number of managers to about 10 of them. Each manager has 5 employees reporting to the, whereas a wide control span may have 10 employees reporting to each manager out of 5 (Elevator, 2008). Types of Organizational Models Organizational models are categorized into three types: Functional, product-based and matrix structure. Functional organizations are usually traditionally based hierarchies where tasks are gathered by functional area as sales, administration, and engineering and customer services to name a few (Hofstede, 2001). Therefore, a functional model is considered the most effective where the aspect of routine processes is executed where there is a few service lines. For instance, a functional model would be appropriate for accounting companies providing services having 50 employees or less. The second type of model is known as division or product-based models. These are models which group employees of a certain group according to a common factor such as location or even customer population (Hofstede, 2001). For instance, a cleaning service may possess separate divisions for either office, restaurants or even school cleaning services. Last but not least, matrix organization brings together both functional and divisions models components by utilising cross-functional teams where employees deal with projects as well as reports to both the functional manager and a project manager (Elevator, 2008). Organizational Culture Organizational culture is the environment that surrounds you at all times in an organization. It is known as the powerful component which defines your work enjoyment, relationships as well as your processes (McSweeney, 2002). It is a concept that cannot be seen but it manifest itself physically through the actions performed within the work place environment. Therefore, culture within an organization is considered similar to personality and it comprises of values, beliefs, interests, upbringing, habits as well as experiences and underlying assumptions. Organizational culture is the conduct that leads from a group working together under a certain set of rules. In addition, organizational culture is comprised of every life experiences every staff member of an organization brings to the table (McSweeney, 2002). These cultures are particularly influenced by either organization founders, executives as well as other managerial members since their role involves decision making as well as strategic planning. Central Concepts about Cultures There are five characteristics of culture. They include: 1. Culture is behaviour Culture is used to define the various behaviours that represent the operating customs within the environment. A custom of accountability is very fundamental to an organization for it usually makes an organization successful. A custom of brilliant customer service will engage your staff members and at the same time drive the organization into achieving its goals and objectives (McSweeney, 2002). Therefore, managers within organizations should not tolerate any form of poor performance or even exhibit any lack of discipline for it maintains processes as well as systems which hinders success within the organization. 2. Culture is Learned Within an organization, people usually learn different ways of how to perform various behaviours through either rewards or even consequences that accompany their behaviours. Therefore, whenever a behaviour is rewarded, it is then repeated making it a become part of a culture (Powell, 2006). Therefore, managers within an organization ought to reward their staff members for a good job done which will encourage them in delivering. 3. Culture is Learned Through Interaction Culture within an organization encourages employees to interact with themselves. Most rewards within an organization entail the employees (Powell, 2006). The culture experienced by a new employee within an organization is defined by the managers, executives and their fellow co-workers. Through active interactions with the new employees, one can communicate the element of culture. On the other hand, if interactions don’t take place with the new employee, he or she might come up with his/her own form of culture which fails to attend to the continuity a conscious culture needs (Powell, 2006). 4. Culture may be Strong or Weak When the work culture within an organization is strong, most people within the organization strongly agree to it. But when it is weak, people fail to cope with it therefore; a weak organizational culture may lead to formation of multiple subcultures. Each department within an organization may have their own set of culture which includes both staff and managers (Elevator, 2008). 5. Supports a Positive and Productive Environment Within an organization, happy employees do not ensure productivity within an organization. Therefore, it is fundamental to establish an aspect of culture that will support happiness and productivity within the employees (Powell, 2006). After one is conversant with the organizational culture, this concept becomes useful to both success and profitability of an organization. Creation and Maintenance of Organizational Cultures Organizational cultures often can be strong and enduring. Organizational cultures are driven by shared values, attitudes as well as beliefs (Powell, 2006). In addition, various organizations have a number of subcultures. For instance, various divisions within an organization are located in different parts of a country and hence have the same components of culture. Another good example is the way managers in a certain division believe about other managers in another division on how they should either dress or communicate with each other (Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy, 2009). A visible component of an organizational culture is commonly referred to as visible artefacts. This is inclusive of the way people dress, organization’s rituals and ceremonies as well as corporate offices. For example, IBM was once known as “the men in blue suits” simply because their employees usually dressed in blue suits (Powell, 2006). Their dress codes reflected both their uniformity as well as their strength of IBM’s organizational culture. Moreover, to dress, language as well as modes of communication indicates the level of formality and speaks a lot about an organization for instance how co-workers address each other and how their address their superiors (Powell, 2006). A fundamental source of an organizational culture lies within the organization’s founders. Founders develop their organizations image with which they imprint with their own beliefs, attitudes as well as values. For example, leaders such a Bill Gates share their intensity with their employees in staying ahead of every other software developers (Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy, 2009). They also ensure that values, attitudes as well as beliefs are maintained and sustained within their organizational cultures. Control, Participation and Decision Making The desire to devise a point of input in terms of decision making almost regularly develops when ownership of an organization is widely shared with their staff members (Ruggless, 2003). The anticipation of a chance to take part in making decisions is very fundamental in the Western beliefs with regard to ownership and thus by extension employee – ownership. Decision making is considered a complex and multidimensional matter (Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy, 2009). Researches have indicated that the core features of decision making that are constantly overlooked are the particular responsibilities that decision making authority involves. While ownership most at times brings about new rights, responsibilities are also of utter importance to a healthy ownership culture. In addition, decisions are generally a mix of ends, means as well as values. In an organization, decision making entails juggling a combination of desirable outcomes, methods as well as constraints and equity (Powell, 2006). On the other hand, the concept of employee participation is collective to various discipline areas within the social sciences. The form participation comes in various ways depending on the discipline. In order to make rational decisions in a culturally diverse workforce, one must learn the culture of that particular environment (Ruggless, 2003). Learning about culture entails learning about other attitudes and values. However, this is done by putting them into practice by using ones behaviour to connect the cultural environments. In order to succeed in control and participation in new environments, it is essential to have the tools and knowledge of how to act in these new places and not to behave the same everywhere without considering local factors that responds to an embedded code (Ruggless, 2003). When working in new cultures, we are part of a team that concepts of services, quality, and hierarchy to name a few are most diverse. Working in a cultural diverse environments means considering cognitive paradigm and reference values (Powell, 2006). It is therefore important to look at things from different points of view. Lesson Learnt From Managing Across Cultures and Its Importance From this topic I have been able to learn that various organizations have their own independent cultures. I’ve also learnt that culture is fundamental in the success of an organization. I was able to learn that a shared organizational culture brings about better communication as well as less conflicts. In addition, I took a few key points that I learnt from this topic which includes loyalty, competition, direction and identity. Pursuing a career as a manager across culture, I learnt that organization culture can keep the employees motivated and loyal within an organization. Moreover, a healthy competition between employees within an organization is due to shared organizational culture. In this career or managing across cultures, I have learnt that guidelines contribute significantly to organizational culture. Finally, an organizational culture defines its identity. The values and beliefs within an organization add to the brand image which becomes known and respected. Furthermore, the importance of an organizational culture is that it promotes equality among employees and ensures that they are treated equally in an organization. Also, organizational culture makes managers relate properly with their employees and hence make them feel more appreciated thus increase their productivity Conclusion To sum up, organizational environment refers to the external environment which is influenced by both physical and social factors. There are various factors which play a major role in influencing external environments. They include changing environment, environmental complications as well as munificence and uncertainties. These aspects influence the external environment in a various ways. In addition, organizations are structured in terms of their regional models which are based on the organizational framework of line of authority, resource allocation and communications. These regional models comprise of functional models, divisional or product-based models and matrix models. Furthermore, organizational culture refers to the environment that surrounds people at all times within an organization. Cultures within organizations can be characterized according to the following features. Culture is behaviour, culture is learned, culture is learned through interactions, culture is considered either strong or weak and it supports a positive and productive environment. Additionally, organizational cultures are strongly driven and motivated by shared values, attitudes and beliefs. Control, participation and decision making within an organization is very important for it helps managers make rational decisions in a culturally diverse workforce by learning the culture of the environment. References Chow, C., Harrison, G., McKinnon, J., & Wu, A 2002, The organizational culture of public accounting firms: Evidence from Taiwanese local and US affiliated firms. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 27(4), 347-360. Elevator H 2008, The general manager program, Retrieved July 16, 2008 from http://www.hilton-elevator.com/gm1.htm Hofstede, Geert H 2001, "Values and Culture" from Hofstede, Geert H., Culture's consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations, Thousand Oaks, Calif., Sage Publications. Hughes, R., Ginnett, R. and Curphy. G 2009, Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience, McGraw-Hill, New York. McSweeney, B 2002, “Hofstede's Model of national cultural differences”, in Human Relations, 55(1), p. 89-118. Powell, S 2006, Geert Hofstede: Challenges of cultural diversity. Human Resource Management International Digest, 14(3), p. 12-15 Ruggless, R 2003, Operators outline programs, initiatives to guarantee diversity among workforce, Nation’s Restaurant News, 37, 43. Read More