Practicing Organization Development (A guide for Consultants) - Part 51 ppsx

Since we are more likely to understand our own culture better than other cultures, and since local contexts are more likely to be more homogeneous although, in today’s world, far from ho

greater good is served and goals are met when everyone’s effort is nur-tured and utilized Everyone is leader and everyone is follower The ideals

of wisdom and right action are appreciated even more than the accumula-tion of wealth, power, and personal pleasure

CONTEXT FOR GLOBAL OD

As a result of the many cultural differences that businesspeople encounter around the globe, there is no “one best way” for practicing OD Rather, our per-spective is to respond to an OD situation as appropriate given the context It is not necessary to choose an either/or approach; rather it necessitates a both/and perspective The ability to deal with ambiguity and different perspectives is a primary requirement for successful work in a global context This is easier for people from some cultural backgrounds than it is for others In cultures encour-aging right/wrong answers in schools, learning to deal with ambiguity and differing perspectives can be extremely difficult Stereotyping is an illustration

of this concept

One stereotype, for example, is that U.S businesspeople are very task-ori-ented, while Latin Americans are more relationship-oriented Therefore, if two businesspeople, who fit into these stereotypes and who are from two different cultural contexts, meet to consider a business relationship, the U.S American (note that everyone living in North, Central, and South America is an “Ameri-can”) probably will be frustrated by the Venezuelan’s leisurely approach to din-ner, which delays conversation about their potential business On the other hand, the Venezuelan will also be frustrated with the U.S American’s pressure to get right down to business without first establishing a personal relationship Both parties risk loss of business if neither can adjust to the other’s cultural style of doing business

Another important factor that supports the business need for understanding how other cultures function is the tremendous costs involved in sending people

on expatriate assignments that prove unsuccessful because the assignee cannot adjust to the new culture or those in the host culture cannot adjust to the new assignee This U.S American-Venezuelan business interaction illustrates a prob-lem that occurs when individuals, especially leaders, are unaware or unprepared

to deal with cultural assumptions, norms, or perspectives Organizational behav-iors or “operating practices” are often unwritten and are only transmitted to others when asked Observation without judgment becomes critical

Differences in OD practices emerge as more cultures come into contact with each other in this era of globalization However, there has been little rigorous research to guide our practice in these areas We are too often left with many more questions than answers In responding to these questions, the authors will

draw on the research that is available as well as on our extensive experience doing global work in more than sixty countries

Thinking systemically is also critical for understanding a global wisdom con-text While we have an obligation as global OD practitioners to think systemi-cally, not one of us alone is capable of fully understanding the systemic implications of our work, whether local or global Many good intentions have unintended consequences Since we are more likely to understand our own culture better than other cultures, and since local contexts are more likely to be more homogeneous (although, in today’s world, far from homogeneous), we perhaps can understand the systemic implications better in a local context than

in a global context

So what can we do to improve our ability to think systemically? Begin with collaborative listening (listening from your own perspective and then deeply lis-tening from the perspective of the other person), and use partnering—with an inside/outside OD practitioner (depending on whether you are inside or outside

of the organization) of a different gender, of a different age, of a different cul-ture and language, of a different functional background, and so on The more perspectives and voices that can be heard, the more likely we are to understand the potential impact of whatever action is taken within a systemic context Next, align with key decision makers so that we understand how they are thinking and what their potential reactions are likely to be Recognizing that we cannot control others, we must at least look to where ultimate decisions are likely to

be made so we can put our OD work in a context that is most likely to have the desired systemic impact and positive outcome

GLOBAL OD METHODOLOGIES

OD practitioners are often sought by organizations (as one aspect of OD work)

to help improve organization effectiveness and create organizations and com-munities that work (Block, 1996) A challenge for the global OD practitioner is

to address two critical questions related to this task: (1) How do I begin to understand and then translate to the client what may work (and for whom) in multicultural environments? (2) How is value defined, created, and sustained within a multicultural or transcultural organization or community given the pos-sible incongruence between a business imperative and a broader social, cul-tural, or environmental reality? Success in doing global OD work is dependent

on the practitioner’s ability and interest in raising such issues in a way that real work can be accomplished and positive outcomes (for all involved parties) max-imized This section looks at past and future methodologies that address these questions and inform and guide practice

Hofstede (1984, 1991), Hall and Hall (1990), and Trompenaars (1993) have been leading theorists in describing work values and culture context across cul-tures Since their work first appeared, the world has changed significantly and

is now a very interdependent, culturally diverse world, especially within orga-nizations where most OD practitioners work A shift toward greater external influence and impact from government, economic, and political systems and broader involvement of stakeholder groups has led many OD practitioners to call for a reformulation of the prominent theoretical approaches to global OD work In addition, significant challenges are being made to the prevailing theo-ries because of cross-border and transcultural integration problems, interna-tional mergers, joint ventures, alliances, and the emergence of a knowledge economy In spite of the issues raised, the theories are still widely quoted and widely used, and ongoing research continues to affirm the core findings

The work of the Halls focuses primarily on communication (words, things, and behaviors) and emphasizes the importance of contexts (a low-context culture communicates explicitly with words, while a high-context culture com-municates implicitly through environmental cues) Other factors they empha-size include space, time, and message flow

Hofstede’s seminal work focuses on norms of social interaction and work-related values orientation within nation states He originally focused on four

variables: Power Distance (the degree of formality between people with differ-ent levels of power); Individualism/Collectivism (the degree to which individu-als put their own goindividu-als ahead of the group’s); Uncertainty Avoidance (the degree

to which people avoid risk taking when outcomes are not certain); and

Masculinity/Femininity (the degree to which people follow the stereotypical

female roles of nurturing and support) Hofstede has added a fifth dimension

that focuses on Dynamism (the extent to which an organization or individuals

take a long-term view) His research deals with the boundaries within those nation states, and, while those boundaries are now very permeable, the results continue to show differences among nation states The nation state and single culture organization is shifting, however, so the applicability of his findings may well shift in the future

Trompenaars’ work is oriented more toward the practitioner He conducted his initial research on the impact of doing business in forty countries He focused on three cultural features: relationships with people, attitudes toward time, and attitudes toward the environment

OD practitioners must learn to work effectively in all these environments Eisen, Steele, and Cherbeneau (1990) conclude that OD practitioners have to be proficient at tying together theory and practice in ways that correlate with com-petitive advantage and sustainability There is also a call to action among many practitioners for new, more comprehensive global OD methodologies that treat

culture as an enabler to interaction and a guiding factor in bringing clarity and focus to communication between individuals New methodologies have to facil-itate organization learning in creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge and then modifying it in a way that reflects insight and new practices One exam-ple of a key engine of learning is the multicultural team (Hamel & Prahalad, 1996), and new global OD methodologies can reposition and raise the level of importance of multicultural and transcultural team building to an organization’s success New methodologies are needed to focus on organization design and structures that are flexible, adaptable, portable, and easy to change, as are new methodologies to manage scale and large complex change New methodologies must address current business challenges that do more than help organizations

be profitable They must help organizations be socially responsible and ecologi-cally sound as described by the Triple Bottom Line concept (Elkington, 1999) Developing such methodologies will move us toward a global wisdom society

In addition to developing and using appropriate methodologies, the OD prac-titioner has to be familiar with a broad range of tools and techniques when working across cultures He or she must recognize that the most important skills are in being prepared and comfortable in adapting current tools or developing new tools and interventions based on the organizational context and culture

As the early OD pioneers taught, successful OD intervention is about philoso-phy, understanding, and the application of working within a human system, not merely an ability to successfully use a tool or technique

NEW AND RE-EMERGING METHODOLOGIES AND TOOLS

OD tools and methodologies have generally not been designed exclusively for use in global settings, although many of the current tools have been adapted and

are successful in such contexts Future Search (Weisbord & Janoff, 2000) method-ologies are used throughout the world with success Team-building interventions are used in many parts of Latin and South America In Korea, aggressive

adven-ture training is often used by companies as part of OD In Japan, and now in

Thailand, a widely used approach to OD is the walk around (Akaraborworn &

McLean, 2000), where employees use a form of team-based, competitive adven-turing, with feedback following the exercise

Open Space Technology (Owen, 1997) has been used worldwide with success

in all types of settings/industries, including businesses, communities, govern-ments, NGOs, and so forth It is grounded in individual passion and responsi-bility and evolves as self-organizing groups that dialogue and often take action (Holman & Devane, 1999)

Appreciative Inquiry is an affirmative approach to change that enables

full-voice appreciative participation that taps the organization’s positive change core

and inspires collaborative action that serves the whole system (Holman & Devane, 1999) Cooperrider, one of the pioneers in this approach, has written extensively on AI techniques in various settings and contexts (see Chapter Twenty-Two in this book.)

Technology is also changing the way in which OD is done in a global context.

(See Chapter Twenty-Four.)

OD work has to do with creating or holding the space where people can talk/act with each other about what is important to them, to their organizations, and to our world The difficulty, of course, is that what space people want and can work with effectively is determined by their culture There is a human ten-dency to make things more complex than they are The use of organization development principles is ancient and highly developed, yet rather simple and basic So our challenge is to find ways to create this space that are compatible with how people function within their cultures, especially when multiple cul-tures come together Robust and sound methodologies and tools can be enablers

to this process

CRITICAL FACTORS INFLUENCING SUCCESS

Ethical Issues and Ethical Dilemmas Ethical conduct and guidelines serve as an anchor helping organizations maxi-mize their effectiveness and achieve desired results The OD field has always shown concern for the ethical conduct of practitioners (Rothwell, Sullivan, & McLean, 1995) The Organization Development Institute (ODI) and Organization Development Network (ODN) collaborated in the 1980s and published guide-lines for their members There have been other recent collaborative projects with IODA (International Organization Development Association) The Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD, 1999) and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (McLean & DeVogel, 2002), both of which contain many OD practitioners and academics, also have developed ethical guidelines The case below illustrates how global OD practitioners can be faced with ethical dilemmas

A large multinational corporation invited an OD consultant to meet with a new expatriate manager in Barcelona, Spain The manager had just assumed respon-sibility for a business unit in Madrid that was being relocated from the U.K She would be moving from Barcelona to Madrid, but she was originally from Den-mark This was the consultant’s third engagement with the organization but it would be the first assignment outside the U.K Management emphasized to the consultant the importance and urgency to achieving the business unit goals Sig-nificant changes in staffing and decisions related to job duties had to be made

quickly The new manager had a solid track record for rapid change The consul-tant wanted to make certain she began to understand the cultural context as well as the business context that this manager would experience The consultant also wanted to ensure the first meeting would be positive and would start the process of building trust with the manager.

Ethical issues and dilemmas in global OD are concerned with how practi-tioners perform their work with organization leaders and members in environ-ments in which there are multiple perspectives on ethical behavior They are often heightened when there is a sense of urgency mandated from authority What actions should the consultant take to ensure success? The first step begins with using your specialized training in organization diagnosis to understand the cultural and business environmental context Transcultural and multicultural organizations can be significantly impacted by economic, political, and social forces This is an important factor to consider before entering the client system Organizations often have highly specialized political and social systems that make it difficult to use many of the OD conceptual or theoretical models devel-oped in the United States Preparation will be critical

From the time you begin to make your travel arrangements and complete the itinerary until the end of the initial meeting, it is important to observe what is said and what you are asked to do Close observation of behavior and recog-nizing that all client systems are different and that they respond differently to different situations will be key to early success Observing behavior will also increase understanding and awareness of tensions and anxieties that will accom-pany the changes required of this business unit Effective communication, espe-cially collaborative listening, is critical during the initial client meeting It allows the practitioner to enter the client system and contract with the client in a way that demonstrates understanding of the scope of the work assignment, the change necessary, and the context for the work

A host of potential ethical issues exist in the practice of global OD, and recent events have heightened the urgency for having accountability for ethical con-duct within OD professional practice Examples of cross-cultural ethical and legal issues include the following:

1 Relocation of employees, work hours, type of work, and job elimination

2 Use of others’ intellectual property in many countries (for example, not all countries honor copyrights and patents—is this piracy or good busi-ness?) Computer software, prescription drugs, and music discs are most vulnerable

3 What some might define as bribery and corruption (for example, pay-ments made to persons in power and paypay-ments made to expedite actions) are accepted business practices in other parts of the world

4 The sale of dangerous products or materials (environmental pollutants, diseased livestock, and weapons of mass destruction) is often a part of commerce

5 Environmental degradation—such as toxic emission from factories, radiation from nuclear plants, and destruction of forests—is a frequent outcome of doing business

These activities raise ethical concerns in some parts of the world, while those who are responsible for such outcomes often argue that such actions are essen-tial for survival and, therefore, are ethical Understanding the importance of these issues inside an organization will be critical to success of the global OD practitioner’s work

Coercion, safety, child labor, intentional misrepresentation in negotiation, and misuse of data are typical examples of ethical dilemmas that require atten-tion and acatten-tion but, by and large, do not have universally ethical responses This

is an area of considerable significance for the global OD practitioner and poses

a critical question for consideration: Are there universal ethics or values? This question has long been debated Tom MacLean, in the novel, China White

(Maas, 1994) said, “The world’s a hell of a lot more gray than black and white” (p 12) Kidder (1995) discussed “The Ethic of Right vs Right,” emphasizing the dilemmas that exist within this gray area and the ambiguity that exists when trying to come up with universal values He constructed four difficult dichotomies:

• Justice versus mercy: Fairness, equity, and even-handed application of

the law versus compassion, empathy, and love

• Short term versus long term: Immediate needs or desires versus future

goals

• Individual versus community: Us versus them, self versus others.

• Truth versus loyalty: honesty or integrity versus commitment,

responsi-bility, or promise keeping (p 13)

It is this ambiguity that makes ethical decision making in the global context

so difficult How do we deal with these tensions?

Handling Dilemmas The OD practitioner can use pragmatic concerns and observation to open discussion and reveal feelings and intuition about dilemmas Understanding the internal processes used to create value and build market or political superior-ity is also important Personal ethics of the leadership is a key factor in how ethical dilemmas are handled There may be a dominant authority, but, quite

often, there are many leaders and perspectives that influence behavior Part-nering with a trusted colleague can be an effective tool to better understand and develop appropriate action in an ethical dilemma

Weick (1995) discusses the social origins of ethical presumptions and how

to understand them in a cultural context The global OD practitioner becomes

a “values alignment advocate” by keeping the question and challenge of ethical dilemmas before leaders as they strive to balance the alignment of core values with local cultural values Practitioners assist leaders in building an infrastruc-ture that guides and questions actions and possible consequences This can cre-ate value and bridge practice with global wisdom The Ladder of Inference (Senge, 1994) is an effective tool to use in this situation The Triple Impact Checklist and Matrix (Baker, 2002) is another effective tool Leaders complete the checklist prior to deciding on a course of action; they then use the matrix

to discuss scenarios and help guide decision making

In some circumstances, ethical misconduct is used to gain competitive advan-tage, such as the manufacturing plant that develops safety standards that fail to provide adequate protection for workers and creates conditions that threaten worker health This is not an uncommon occurrence and is a dilemma that should not be overlooked

Global OD practitioners must be creative and prepared to assist organizations help themselves to foster a greater sense of responsible action in the path toward a global wisdom organization and to find a potential approach for handling ethical dilemmas

Social Responsibility Beginning conversations on social responsibility can be a first step toward a global wisdom organization and a key factor in influencing success There is considerable difference in perspective on social responsibility between coun-tries, and many countries are unaware of those differences and how they impact others As the global economy grows, there will be a heightened awareness of issues that have significant impact worldwide We have seen this in the misrepresentation at Enron in the United States, actions at Parmalat in the U.K., and prescription drug piracy in China

Until recently, in the U.S free enterprise system, social responsibility has been viewed as the function of government, not business Multinational corpo-rations operate in many countries that do not have an open or free enterprise system In such environments, political systems often intervene in economies and alter the free exchange that occurs in competitive markets

Assessing effectiveness against the triple bottom line is one way OD practitioners can demonstrate their concern and commitment to social respon-sibility The triple bottom line concept takes into account three parameters— economic, social, and environment—and is designed to find win-win solutions

for performance and business results in each parameter Some OD profession-als think that, in order to be successful, they have to spend most of their time and energy focused on the financial and rarely look at the interdependent nature

of all three This thinking is consistent with some in the United States, who chal-lenge the tenets of triple bottom line Many other organizations, however, are adopting the concept and incorporating it into their policies Some are holding themselves accountable by producing sustainability reports that can be moni-tored by the public For the OD practitioner, we have an opportunity to be diligent and attend to the values, issues, and processes that must be taken into account in order to minimize harm resulting from our interventions

In 1999, Kofi Annan, U.N Secretary-General, called on businesses to choose

to unite the powers of markets with the authority of universal ideals The U.N Global Compact (2003) was established in 2000 with the strategic goal “to encourage alignment of corporate policies and practices with internationally accepted values and objectives.” The Compact encompasses nine principles in three core areas (human rights, labor, and the environment) to which a number

of organizations and businesses in the world have committed The U.N Global Compact can be helpful in guiding the work of the OD practitioner as well

OTHER FACTORS INFLUENCING SUCCESS

Concept of Globalization

In today’s world, the concept of globalization has become almost a cliché A cell phone made in Korea, clothing manufactured in Bangladesh, a customer service call answered in India for a U.K.-based company, or any other product or ser-vice we use from around the world—all of these and more are signs of the glob-alizing process that we face daily The concept and the word “globalization” is perceived quite differently around the world as it affects governments and orga-nizations as well as political, economic, and social systems Each of these systems must figure out how to work more effectively in a global context and consider its susceptibility to stereotyping or the imposition of other cultural values

To be global, a company must also create a corporate culture and value sys-tem that allows it to move its resources anywhere in the world to achieve the greatest competitive advantage Being global requires a mindset and skills that extend far beyond the current scope of most organizations Rhinesmith (1996) emphasizes the importance of people whose global mindset and behavioral change are largely what globalization is about For many, developing the right people is what “thinking globally” really means (Donlon, Darwent, Cabral, & Grub, 1996)

Regarding other global issues, Friedman (2000) proposes human welfare and social justice as essential to a “new system of moral values.” To this, we add

“earth sustainability” and truly considering the triple bottom line (economic, social, and environmental) Also, to Friedman’s concept of globalization of capital, we might consider adding globalization of spirit

But globalization means more than just this It also refers to a mindset in which the business functions from a geocentric rather than an ethnocentric per-spective Figure 20.1 (Tolbert, McLean, & Myers, 2002) describes the difference

in perspective

Humanism and Profitability: A Both/And Opportunity Following is an excellent example of a “both/and” opportunity, how a business can provide better working conditions without compromising profit We believe that organizations can improve their business case by establishing humanistic policies and processes It is not a case of being “either” humanistic “or” bottom-line focused

For a number of years, one of the authors was actively consulting in Bangladesh, where many textile mills exist Some of these mills were run like sweatshops Cotton fibers floated freely in the air; lighting was poor; drinking water was unsafe; hygienic toilets did not exist; breaks were infrequent and erratic; and the food was barely consumable The most successful mills, however, were ones that were run with humanistic values In these mills, employees were given their meals and frequent, regular breaks with snacks; they worked in clean, hygienic environments; they had bonus incentives equal to half of their salary; and they were transported to and from work In the factories where humanistic values prevailed, quality and productivity were both higher, and the factory owners benefited from the humanistic perspective.

The argument here is not that humanistic values always lead to higher bottom-line results Instead, we are suggesting that an organization’s perspective does not always have to be either humanistic or bottom-line focused Both can be accom-modated Although profitability may be impacted in the short term, we strongly believe that a humanistic perspective will have a greater payoff in the long term.

OD at the National/Community Level There is often a major difference between the focus of the practice of OD in the United States and in other parts of the world In the U.S., the focus is business;

in other parts of the world, the focus tends to be broader and more external In these countries, OD is often thought of and practiced in relation to its influence

on the society and country The focus is frequently more on grass roots levels, such as NGOs, local communities, governments, religious organization, and not-for-profits

The community is a major focus in many African and Latin American nations Also, McLean and McLean’s (2001) research identifies the community