Lecture 14 Flashcards
The term East European refers to:
Central Europe
Baltic States
The Balkans
Russia and Commonwealth of independent States (CIS)
The CEE have their own cultural traits which are distinct from the rest:
Socialism was imposed by the Soviet rule, as a result, the majority of the EEC citizens never accepted the ideas of socialism/communism.
The era of socialism lasted shorter (1945-1989)
CEE were geographically and historically connected with West Europe
CEE and Balkan countries were culturally influenced by
Ottoman, Austro-Hungarians and later by Russian rules
After the II World War, local puppet and repressive governments rule the countries until 1989
A good portion of East European population is Ethnic Slavic (Czech Rep, Slovaks, Poles, Slovenians, Serbs, Croats, Macedonians, Bulgarians, Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusian)
EEC, the Baltic States, Slovenia and Slovakia managed to establish a sound economic reform
Have become members of EU
Russia, and the CIS countries have ailing economy and are politically shaky.
East Europeans tend to demonstrate pessimistic view about the future
The prevalence of oppressive regimes and foreign domination, and wars make East Europeans to be skeptical of the future.
These experiences have given them little hope that human beings can control their own fate
An average day is worse than yesterday but worse than tomorrow (Hungarian saying)
While individuals manifest subjugative behavior, the societies collectively are known for being stubborn and attempting to control nature:
Polish resistance war during the II World War
Collectivization of the farm in Russia
Soviet space program
Win or lose negotiation style practiced in Russia (during and after communism)
Historically time has been fluid in the former East European countries as communism protected individuals from being fired due to
mismanagement of time.
By contrast the Baltic States, Hungary, Czechs and Slovaks have relatively more fixed time attitude than Russia and the other CIS
East European time management
there is a general disconnect between past, future and present time frame, the future is
carefully planned as the past brings bad memories.
East European time management (cont.)
time to socialize with business partners is part of the
business procedure.
East European time management (cont.)
as one moves north and west of the CEEs and the Baltic States, the time allocated for socialization process
diminishes. Socialization is geared toward business discussion
East European time management (cont.)
it is important to notice that the former socialist nations, especially EEC are slowly moving from wasting to
rationalizing time.
East European time management (cont.)
__ has been the legacy of communism
high context communication
East European time management (cont.)
both EEC and Russia with CIS are known for their __, but Russia and Ukraine are more direct than others
direct communication style
East European time management (cont.)
__ is commonly used in Russia and the CIS countries (business negotiators should be aware of the fact that it may not mean any thing)
promise or positive response
Post communism and communist socio-economic system have projected
hierarchy within the society
Communist leaders were known for their charismatic image, but in order to earn respect they need to be
knowledgeable about their job
On the other hand, egalitarian lifestyle promotes
flat organizational structure.
One will see __ coexisting in many of East European countries.
structured and unstructured social relationships
For Russia and other East European, engaging in a business which profits at the expense of others is considered
selfish and not ethical. (contradicts with the spirit of entrepreneurship)
The definition of profit according to Marx is
“unpaid surplus value created by workers”. (contradicts with the idea of capitalist system)
The negation of profit was less practiced in some of
the EEC and CIS countries due to earlier privatization (after 1956)
It is important to stress that relative cultural conversion will be more visible in
EEC than in the Euro-Asian countries to which part of Russia and the CIS belong.
Do international employees who work for similar organizational functions manifest similar cultural behavior? The case of United States, Poland, Russia, Mexico and India
HYPOTHESES TESTED: Cross-country cultural differences
H1 - Every nation has its own historical heritage which is uniquely manifested by its citizen’s value system; therefore all nations represented in this study will culturally differ from one another.
H1a - The communist and capitalist systems have indoctrinated their respective citizens in their respective ideologies, therefore the U.S. and Russian respondents will manifest two extreme cultural value systems.
H1b - India and Mexico, are neither pure capitalist nor socialist, therefore both countries will be culturally more similar to each other.
H1c - Poland has always resisted communist ideology, but had lived under the Russian regime for almost half a century, therefore its cultural value system will be somewhere between East and West.
CULTURAL DIMENSIONS USED IN THE STUDY
Activity-Thinking (AT)
Activity-Doing (AD)
Collective Relational Behavior (RC)
Hierarchical Human Relational Behavior (RH)
Human relations to nature-Good/evil (HNG)
Human relations to nature-Harmonious (RNH)
Human relations to nature-Subjugation (RNS)
Activity-Thinking (AT)
Believing that business decisions should always
be based on analysis not intuitions.
Activity-Doing (AD)
The preference material possession to spiritual and
relations expecting rewards.
Collective Relational Behavior (RC)
To believe that what is good for all is good for one.
Hierarchical Human Relational Behavior (RH)
To believe that hierarchy of authority is the best form of organization.
Human relations to nature-Good/evil (HNG)
To believe that behavior can be naturally good or bad. As a result, employees in the work place have to be distrusted and monitored constantly.
Human relations to nature-Harmonious (RNH)
We should strive to maintain a balance among the elements of the environment, including ourselves.
Human relations to nature-Subjugation (RNS)
To believe that every person or organization is destined to be the way it is by nature.
Do international employees who work for similar organizational functions manifest similar cultural behavior? The case of United States, Poland, Russia, Mexico and India
CULTURAL DIMENSIONS USED IN THE STUDY
Survey based on standardized questionnaire was conducted in the respective countries
Cronbach reliability coefficient was applied to test the validly of the 11 cultural dimensions.
Only 7 out of the 11 cultural differences that had reliability coefficient above .62 (62%) were accepted for analysis in this study.
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) followed by Student-Newman-Keuls test at significance level a=0.05 was used to test cross-country and Intra-group cultural differences.
Do international employees who work for similar organizational functions manifest similar cultural behavior? The case of United States, Poland, Russia, Mexico and India.
The study contributes positively to management science:
From the outcome of the study, one learns that the American national culture is different than the national cultures of the countries included in the research.
The fact that the Polish and the Russian value systems differ in all except in one dimensions tells how the East European nations are culturally apart from each other.
The study also indicates that, nations regardless of their socioeconomic development level and political orientation, value high harmonious relations to nature and doing activities.
This implies that nations’ value systems might have been converging towards harmonious life style and seeking prosperity.
The study reaffirms the works of earlier findings (Hofstede, Laurent, Adler), that neither political orientation nor geographical proximity but socio-economic conditions determine how individuals in contemporary times value.
