Developing Global Managers - Essay Example

Running head: global managers Developing global managers Define ethnocentrism, and explain what Hofstede concluded about applying American management theories in other countries. Drever (1952) defined ethnocentrism as “an exaggerated tendency to think the characteristics of one’s own group or race superior to those of other groups or races” (as cited in Hofstede, 1984, p. 25). In simple words, ethnocentrism means considering one’s own culture, country and beliefs to be the best compared to others.

Hofstede’s work exclusively focused on impact of culture on management. He strongly advocated that different cultures require different management styles. Applying one management style or theory because of its success in one place does not necessarily result in similar success in other countries. This concept has been explained based on various characteristics associated with societal beliefs, national cultures, and impact of management policies and practices in cross-national and cross-cultural settings.

Therefore, before applying the management theories that originated in one country or culture, it is important to assess its implications on other cultures and countries. 2. Explain the difference between individualistic cultures and collectivist cultures and your personal experiences with culture shock. The difference between individualistic and collectivist cultures is that people in the former type, it is generally assumed and accepted that every individual is responsible for him/herself and that individual is responsible for all rewards and repercussions for his/her actions.

Individual decision making is highly emphasized and do not entertain indulgence in others privacy. The latter type believes in family or team culture in which responsibilities and repercussions are shared by the group/family. These individuals let others invade their privacy because that is thought to be respectful, and group decision making is common. As an American manager, my experience with Japanese counterparts gave a culture shock when I had to give feedback for one procedural mistake committed by an individual; that individual was offended after receiving the feedback.

I realized this only when my senior manager educated me about the cultural difference and reason for the staff members’ demotivated behavior. 3. Demonstrate your knowledge of these two distinctions: high-context versus low-context cultures and monochronic versus polychronic cultures and provide specific examples of each. High-context cultures emphasize learning from situations and experiences whereas low-context cultures believe in learning from written documents and brief statements and during conversations.

For example, in high-context cultures, like China, meetings are conducted only to agree upon decisions that were taken during situations or at work; contrary to this, low-context cultures, like the U.S and Germany, meetings are conducted to decide upon specific action plans based on facts collected previously. Monochromic cultures, like the U.S, lay much emphasis on time and prefer to do one task at a given time unlike polychromic cultures, like the Middle East, where it is considered good to take up multiple tasks at one time.

The polychromic cultures consider time to be flexible whereas monochromic cultures consider time to be rigid and precise. 4. How would you describe the prevailing culture in your country to a stranger from another land, in terms of the nine GLOBE project dimensions? Based on the nine GLOBE project dimensions, the United States culture can be described as low power-distance with minimal difference between boss and subordinate in terms of power. Secondly, in United States, people do not hesitate to take risks in actions or job they perform; they like to try new methods and new types of activities.

Thirdly, though institutional collectivism is seen, individual appreciation, credit and accountability is given more significance than team or group accountability. The United States follows less family-oriented values and norms compared to the Eastern countries. Here, gender differentiation is considered as offensive, and hence both genders are given equal importance and rights. Individuals in the US believe in being more assertive in their actions and relationships. These individuals give lesser importance to planning and saving for the future; instead, they believe in living to the fullest in the present.

The US culture is highly performance oriented and would compromise all other things and/or relationships for achieving their goals. This makes it slightly lesser oriented towards humane emotions such as kindness, fairness, friendship and generosity compared to other cultures. References Hofstede, G. (1984). Culture's consequences: international differences in work-related values. Edn 2. California: Sage.