Leadership across Cultures - Essay Example

LEADERSHIP ACROSS CULTURES By College Department 29th September Introduction The aim of this paper is to discussleadership across different cultures. For the purpose of this study, the paper starts with a definition of culture though in a broader context. This then forms a basis for the discussion on models and standpoints that highlight this. The hospitality industry includes a number of interrelated businesses such as lodgings, restaurants, airlines, tour operations amongst others. Leadership is a terminology commonly used in workplaces. Underneath leadership lies the terminology of culture, which is a major factor in leadership. The importance of understanding culture in a workplace drew the attention of Hofstede; he decided to analyze the cultures across the world by means of large and quantitative research (Bing, 2004). Most hospitality and travel companies have realized the significance of international business. Despite this realization still, very few can offer training programs to prevent misunderstandings that occur as a result of intercultural interaction. Customer satisfaction for services offered depends on management and supervision of individual service encounter. Service providers that provide their employees with effective training achieve better results. Organizational culture needs to be managed through effective leadership. For this reason, it is important to properly define organizational culture. It is not an easy task to arrive to a definite description, but some basic questions need to be answered. These include: What are the components of organizational culture? Can a given culture be completely described? Can culture management bear fruits? Which management strategies would be successful? Definition of Culture In a wider sense, culture serves to describe varied groups of people based on the extent to which each group is perceived and how a specific group relates to worldly features, which could be living or nonliving including spiritual divines. Historically, culture is said to develop slowly by slowly as each group creates certain patterns of behaviors and beliefs that tend to help them in a way, to effectively solve their day to day problems. As a community lives together, new behaviors crop up and are associated with certain values and beliefs. Furthermore, this is reinforced by rituals, myths and beliefs. It then forms a formidable culture. Apart from the fact that culture enables people to have a sense of belonging, it further provides a means of distinguishing between different groups with different behaviors (Willcoxson and Millett, 2000). Cultures can be dynamic; any changed circumstance leads to incorporation of new patterns or ideologies. As new systems are introduced into the environment, new patterns of behavior are adopted. When such times arrive, a new set of adaptations is developed giving rise to new beliefs and assumptions. Hospitality Industry Just like the wider sense of broad culture definition, “an organizational culture can generally be described as a set of norms beliefs, principles and ways of behaving that together give each organization a distinctive character” (Brown, 1995 cited in Wilcoxson and Millett, 2000, p. 93). Just as in the national culture, organizational culture undergoes some changes to adapt to the new behaviors. Organizational culture is formed based on competition in the environment, which is caused by the needs of the customers as well as the behaviors of the founding members. In this regard, researchers have come up with the following attributes of organizational culture: It comprises of patterns of shared assumptions. This culture is invented, discovered and developed by the existing group in the organization and in the process of adapting to the growing changes within the organization. Any new member is made to learn the new culture; he or she is made to believe in this culture as a way of correct thinking and a way of solving issues. Today, most companies have experienced the issue of multicultural diversity, where the management and the employees have different national and cultural backgrounds. It has become a big challenge to manage the hospitality industry due to cultural diversity. To minimize the challenge, both the line and expatriate managers need to effectively deal with multicultural adjustments. Since misunderstanding between people of different cultures occurs when certain behavior of one community is unacceptable in the other community, researchers have begun to focus on influence caused by cultures during service provision. International visitors on tour often expect their service providers to understand their values and cultural beliefs. If the service provider fails to satisfy the traveling firm or individual on the basis of cultural differences, then intercultural conflict occurs. It is important to note that these conflicts are as a result of different cultural norms and values. The result leaves both the service provider and the visitor frustrated and consequently, there loss of business. To avoid this, measures can be put in place, for example through implementation of intercultural sensitivity. This is an attitude that enables service providers to interact with the visitors. Consequently, employees can be introduced to subjective training, which is an exercise that enhances employee performance. Cross cultural training teaches hospitality and travel industry workers to develop better cross cultural performances. This increases cross cultural competencies, which would lead to success for the service workers. Today’s life requires companies to be globally transformed. All along, it has been easy to offer things such as goods, money and information throughout the world, but what has become difficult is the ability to put people in one place. Peiperl points out that “moving people across the borders is still problematic” (2007). Multicultural flexibility depends on one’s ability to have a cosmopolitan outlook. Background trends however tend to have more weight. In a country where it is traditionally hard for people to have daily contact with the rest of the world, then the attitude for interaction is hard to develop. Peiperl (2007) argues that people’s mindsets are formed where there is growth and during ones growth, and once they have developed, it is hard to change. This reason contributes to the fact that organizational leadership faces a lot of challenges in trying to fix the organization to adopt a flexible culture that would accommodate all stakeholders. Mobility and ability to cope with different cultures may be hampered by stress and hardness of the unfamiliar environment. Furthermore, personal ability determines one’s adaptability. Some people are quick in sensing other people’s feelings, and are good in communicating across different cultures, while others have a poor sense of knowing what others feel, and are very bad communicators when it comes to dealing with people from a different culture. Such skills are very important if one is to work in different cultures. The Mobility Principle This principle states that one cannot learn much by being in one place as it could have been in moving across many places. Many companies have taken this as an essential feature to enable one reach a certain level of leadership position. It is advisable for people to look for opportunities elsewhere so as to improve generally, as well as become global people. Peiperl (2007) observes that people who have already challenged themselves to live and work in different environments have developed a sense of pride. When this happens, there is an improvement in system skills, global records and growth in personal networks. Moving across many cultures develops a global knowledge that one didn’t have. There is more cultural breadth, improved language skills and new level of interpersonal skills. Having such attributes develops a person, making him more sought after, and especially in leadership levels. Organizational culture comprises of basic assumptions that have formed a certain pattern. This culture was discovered and developed by a certain group with an aim of coping up with its internal and external problems. These basic assumptions have worked enough and are being taught to new members of the group so that they can also develop a correct way of thinking, feeling and perceiving problems. Organizational culture is defined by parameters such as language, concepts, boundaries and ideologies. Culture dictates what a given group pays attention to, monitors in an external environment and how such a group responds to an environment. In most cases, it is discussed on the basis of management, more so on the role of a leader. In an organization, a leader is expected to shape the culture by creating, maintaining and transforming it. Hampden- Turner believes that culture stands at the apex of leaders responsibility hierarchy (1990, pp. 7-9 cited in Wilcixson and Millet, 2000, p. 94). Throughout the history of mankind, geography, ethnicity and political demarcations have created peculiarity and differences among different people. Societies have developed into groups of people with certain characteristics that differentiate them from other people. In a business unit, cross culture needs a stern observation. Cross cultural ignorance can lead to blunders and hence negative impact to businesses. Here are some examples of blunders that occurred as a result of cross cultural ignorance: An American company dealing in cooking oil had its managers were shocked one day when they discovered that the name they used meant jackass oil in Spain. An American motor vehicle industry was marketing its car called Matador and was based on the image of courage and strength. The name however meant a killer in Puerto Rico. This instilled fear in people as it was considered a dangerous car on the roads. Eventually, the business was affected. Organizational culture can either be unitary or integrated and at times, pluralism may exist. Under a unitary perspective, organizations tend to exhibit person oriented cultures. Some people argue for the change or maintenance of this system throughout the top-down leadership and organizational systems and programs. A unitary standpoint offers high possibilities for leaders to effectively lead the organization and provide direction. This system best applies in an organization where national cultures offer less influence. The pluralism standpoint recognizes the existence of diverse sub cultures originating from aspects like professional connection and social interactions. This system provides an opportunity for effective leadership within an organization. Management of diversity is possible and any cultural change is undertaken through programs designed for different segments of the organization. International companies with national branches linked to the parent company have distinct cultures that interact with the parent company. Culture Management and Change Culture management has two approaches; conforming and transforming the culture. Any selected approach to organizational culture and strategy will be successful, depending on the internal and external environment. Before an organizational culture is changed, the first step is to identify the attributes of the existing culture, as well as those of the new culture. These attributes are the myths, symbols and values. Culture change could be based on the following: Cultural management has to ensure that any appointments made offer strength to the existing culture. Through developments and training on the existing and new culture, there is improved interpersonal communication and teamwork. Performance management systems may be used to enhance the desired leadership which in turn changes leadership. All organizational members who have a stake in cultural transformation and maintenance have a mandate to incorporate decision and development activities so as to achieve a long term change of values. Interpersonal relationships play a major role in supporting an existing culture in an organization. They promote good integration of members and ensure existence of teamwork. Value Theory Value theory provides us with what is more important is our lives. Each person upholds values that would provide him with basic life requirements such as security, independence, success and pleasure (Schwartz, 2006). Each of these values is held at different degrees by people and may vary from one person to another. Researchers and theorists have come up with important features of these values as follows: They are motivational blocks, as they offer the desired targets that people struggle to achieve. Values surpass specific events and situations. Values offer an order of priorities that characterize people as individuals. The ordered values distinguish people according to norms and attitudes. For the purpose of coordination amongst people in pursuit of a given target, people present these requirements as specific values about which they make a common communication. This forms the basis of a culture. Basic values are resultant from universal requirements of human circumstances. These are needs of individuals being biological organisms. These derived values include all the values found in different cultures around the world. The summary of human values covers the distinct content found in value theories, as well as in religious and philosophical debates. Schwartz (2006) says that it is possible to categorize all items found in the list of specific values found in different cultures into distinct basic values. Practical Application of Hofstede’s Research Orientation and training In an organization, a new employee needs to be provided with orientation which incorporates an overview of cultural differences and how they have influenced communications and many other transactions in the world. Upon such orientation, the learners are provided with a common language to frame the conversation of cultural diversity. Multicultural workplaces provide models of cultural influence on transactions within multicultural working environments. An approach can be deduced to provide a criterion of approaching each employee’s preference. Relocation training is provided to employees who are relocating from one environment to another with a different culture. The training provides a basis of understanding of the two cultures; they are then harmonized so that they can serve the same purpose effectively and with productivity. Leadership training and development Leadership practices and expectations may differ internationally. This calls for a way of expressing specific leadership practices of organizations in a manner that can be understood across different cultures. The development of this leadership needs to consider different cultures since cultures differ in leadership behaviors. While considering leadership across different cultures, one may ask the following questions: Are there leadership behaviors, attributes and practices that are accepted across many cultures? Or are there such qualities that are only accepted in some cultures? How do certain cultural attributes affect the type of required leaders with desired organizational practices and behaviors? Is there a universal and culture specific aspect of a leader across the different cultural setups? Benefits of Cultural Diversity As much as cultural difference is a big challenge, there are advantages associated. The positive side of cultural differences is that the differences can bring about positive results. They present an opportunity for massive growth if well managed, and for example they provide a chance for innovation, increased competition and increased exchange of knowledge. Cultural differences also provide an opportunity to acquire talents as well as reduction in labor cost. A company can also diversify its business by developing partnerships with minority companies; this boosts the company’s image in the community. When workers are diversified in terms of culture, a higher opportunity for increased efficiency is created, and communication barriers between the customers and the workers can be completely eliminated. Conclusion The role of organizational culture is debatable and rests on the perception of culture; whether historically based or it’s resistance to change. The perspective selected determines the aim of cultural change. It is based on the extent of the change and what to involve, be it the whole organization, small groups brought together for the purpose of change, or identified sub-cultures. These answers are hard to tackle and offer big challenges to the organizational strategic leaders. Managers should ensure that they reduce the organizational gap caused by culture differences among their employees. This can be achieved by enhancing interrelationship within the employees, increasing communication with such employees, as well as giving them a chance and an environment to make their ideological contribution, so that they can effectively increase their trust and loyalty. References Bing, W. J., 2004. Hofstede’s Consequences: The Impact of His Work on Consulting and Business Practices. ITAP International. 18 (1). Peiperl, M., 2007. Are you Globally Mobile? [pdf] Lousanne. Available at: [Accessed 29 September 2014]. Schwartz, S. H., 2006. Basic Human Values: Theory, Methods, and Applications. [pdf] The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Available at: [Accessed 29 September 2014]. Willcoxson L. and Millett, B., 2000. The Management of Organizational Culture. Australian Journal of Management & organizational Behavior. 3(2) 91-99. Read More