Cross Cultural Final Exam Flashcards
Legal concerns for MNCs
- obey laws in host countries such as human rights
- laws in some countries are incompatible than others
- important to be informed about the legal practices
Political concerns for MNCs
- expropriation risk relates to losses caused by actions by the host government leading to bankruptcy and debt
- host governments might change contracts and policies
Levels of culture (national/societal)
- macro level: common/civil laws and economic institutions
- micro level: employer-employee relations
Instillation of culture from
- Family: culture is based on infancy
- Religion: beliefs in indirect and direct ways of how people live
- Education: based on choices made in curriculum/institutions
- Mass communication: bringing people together despite geographical locations
- Multinational corporation: products and services influence people that live
Organizational culture
- strategies by organizations to determine how an organization will operate
- Schein (a pattern of basic assumptions invented, discovered, or developed by a given group)
Corporate culture
- how employees/employers in an organization behave
Professional culture
- works with a set of values shared by people working together professionally
Culture operates on three layers
- behavioral or explicit level
- norms and values
- assumptions and beliefs
4 categories based on values and norms in society
- traditional society (large families are accepted, conformity is rewarded, individualistic is rejected; pretty common in Arab countries)
- rational society (individual’s interests are put first, stabilizing society and recognizing authority; seen in Germany)
- a society where survival is a main concern (people aren’t happy, inequality and materialism; China)
-Post modern society (everyone is democratic and tolerant; Netherlands)
Cross cultural management (Nancy Adler)
- the behaviour of people in organizations around the world and shows people how to work in organizations with employees from different cultures
- seeks to understand and improve the interaction of co-workers, executives and clients
Why is cross cultural management important?
- cooperation between companies and countries are increasing
- whether you are merging, taking over, or creating a partnership or an alliance
Strenghts of Hofstede’s framework
- reflects on personal assumptions regarding norms
- review expectations and behaviours
- refine practices
- increase motivation
- minimize conflicts
Weaknesses of Hofstede’s framework
- survey is limited to IBM employees
- based on inconclusive research
- change of patterns in behaviour and the theory should be updated to the current conditions
Strengths of the GLOBE study
- only showcases how leadership is viewed in various cultures
- expansive than Hofstede’s framework
- provides an understanding of what is good/bad in leadership
Weaknesses of the GLOBE study
- only focuses on how people perceive leadership but not what leaders do
- trends tend to isolate attributes of effective leaderships
Dilemma of motivation
- typically, managers will experience this when dealing with people from different cultural backgrounds and harder for them to understand how people are motivated in different ways
Human needs
- sociological view of actions and customs of society
- biological view of human actions and physical needs
- psychoanalytic view where humans are driven by unconscious processes
- behavioural view of how humans respond
The value orientation approach
- complex principles based on cognitive, affective, and directive approaches
Human nature orientation
the good and bad of human nature
Man nature orientation
there is no separation between man, nature and supra nature
Time orientation
the ways of the past are not always considered good
Activity orientation
let’s do something about it
Relational orientation
analytical concepts for the purpose of making fine distinctions
Two conditions to innovation and culture of an organization
- the ability to produce new ideas based on culture created by the company and external and cultural environments
- the ability to transform ideas into effective projects, which requires a wide variety and flexible methods of management
The reconciliation process of cross-cultural conflict
- reaffirm our commitment to ongoing relationships and benefits of both parties
- recognize where and how we differ, develop global mindset
- continue by searching for similarities
- synethsize our solutions and outcomes
- review the learning process
National culture
- shared meanings
- unconditional relationship
- born into it
Organizational culture
- shared behaviours
- conditional relationships
- socialized into it
Micheal Porter’s 3 generic strategies
- low cost
- niche
-differentiation
Scientific leadership
planning, organizing, leading, and controlling
Bureaucratic organization
managing production processes
Trait approach
people have specific traits and skills that will allow them to strive for leadership positions
Theory X
- people dislike work
- lack of ambition
- avoid responsibility
- managers are result driven, little control for human issues