Cross cultural management 3rd chapter 1 (15) culture and management

The concept of culture What culture is?/is not?. • Culture is a code of attitudes, norms and values, the way of thinking.... • Culture determines: – How we see ourselves – How we see the

Part 1

Culture and management

Chapter 1

Determinants of culture

The concept of culture

What culture is?/is not?

• Culture is a code of attitudes, norms and values, the way of thinking

• Culture determines:

– How we see ourselves

– How we see the world

• Culture is not right or wrong, inherited, about

individual behaviour

Three layers

The concept of culture has three layers:

1) Artefacts and attitudes

– Behavioural or explicit level

2) Norms (rules) and values

– Every culture has its own system

3) Basic assumptions

– Difficult to describe or explain.

Comparison of value systems of societies

Four categories (Ruano-Borbalan, 2002)

• Traditional society (Arab countries)

– Religion plays an important role

• Rational society (Germany)

– Interests of the individual come first

• Society where materialism is predominant

(ex-communist countries)

• Post-modern society (Scandinavia)

– Tolerant and democratic

European culture

What is important in the forming process of a

European culture?

•Meeting of diversity

•Complementarity of ideas

•Interaction and interference within opposite values:

– Religion/rationality

– Mythical thought/critical thought

– Humanism/science

(Morin, 1987)

Levels of cultures in a business context

Cultures can develop at different levels:

• Culture and nation

• National culture

• Organisational culture

• Corporate culture

• Professional culture

• Culture and management.

Culture and nation

Influence of culture/nation on organisations:

• Macro level

– Laws and economic institutions

– The nation must be considered by organisations going about their business

• Micro level

– The organisation is influenced through a number

of cultural elements relating to:

• employer–employee relationships

• behaviour among employees.

National culture

• Elements that contribute to the creation of a

national culture:

– Physical environment

– History of the nation

• Institutions that contribute to the establishment

of a national culture

– Family/Religion/Education

– Mass communication media

– The multinational company as culture-building

institution.

Organisational culture

• In organisations, culture affects the way:

– Strategy is determined

– Goals are established

– How the organisation operates.

• The personnel of the organisation:

– are influenced by their cultural backgrounds;

– share their own values and perceptions.

(Schein, 1999)

Cultural assumptions in management

Edgar Schein defines culture as:

‘a set of basic assumptions – shared solutions

to universal problems of external adaptation (how

to survive) and internal integration (how

to stay together) – which have evolved over time

and are handed down from one generation to

the next’.

(Schein, 2004, p.14)

Corporate culture

• Corporate culture is a combination of:

– Organisational culture

– National/regional culture

• Two differing views about the influence of

corporate culture on a (multi-) national company:

– Success depends on it having either

1 A clearly defined corporate culture, or

2 A flexible culture

• Internal factors play an important role, in

particular the extent of cultural control.

Professional culture

Three professional cultures in management:

• Operators

– involved in production (goods/services)

• Engineers

– design and monitor the technology

• Executives

– senior managers

(Schein, 1996)

The question remains: how do these professional cultures co-exist?

Culture and management

Cross-cultural management

• Explains the behaviour of people in organisations around the world

• Describes and compares organisational

behaviour across countries and cultures

• Seeks to understand and improve the interaction

of : co-workers, managers, executives, clients,

suppliers and alliance partners.

(Adler, 2002)

• Chapter 1 shows how difficult it is to give a

definition of the word ‘culture’.

• Chapter 1 also shows that the individuals in a

group form a culture that can be national,

organisational or professional.