Assignment 1: Organizational and National Cultures in Polish-U.S. Joint Venture
Global Business Manangement-510
Professor Sue Golabek
Christi Griffin
October 27, 2013
Introduction In multinational workplaces understanding how important the significance of cultural differences is larger than we might think. Organizations that are diverse have to work together because their functionality impacts the productivity of the workplace. It is vital to have an understanding the different cultures to develop a strong organization. Certain principles will help you acknowledge that different cultures exist within the organization. As a manager, you have to analyze the reasons for the development of the differences and
…show more content…
This posed a challenge for the Polish managerial experiences because they were still using a state controlled system and the U.S based their decisions to better the society as a whole. The Polish felt it necessary to resolve problems with their own interest at heart and not pay attention to the needs of other in the organization. When you only think about your own good, it hinders the organization from reaching success as a team. It does focus on team building skills and lacks structure that is needed in every organization whether working independently or as a joint venture. The Hofstede dimension model can be helpful to the Polish community by applying human resource management skills to their operation, leadership styles, multinational assumptions, decision-making and organizational design, and building a strategy to assist in daily operations. The Polish can address the human resource management skills by selecting qualified workers. This will require them to train individuals and ensure they are knowledgeable of the core concepts of being a HR manager. The Polish organization will also have to evaluate the employees for managerial position and promote employees that meet the requirements for the position of a manager. Polish organization workers will then decide on how to compensate the qualified individuals and differentiate the pay from other workers. Every employee that is working there should not be on the same level meaning there should be
Kreitner, R. (2009). International Management and Cross-Cultural competence. (11th ed.). Management. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage
Itideed, so much has been written that summary is all but impossible. The principles of organizational behaviour have long been acknowledged, and legions of authors have attempted to develop both a theory and practice of cross-cultural management. To quote in this paper the more salient works in the field would merely be redundant. The conclusion from studies on cross-culture management is that managers must analyze and become familiar with the hidden language of foreign cultures. Some key starting points include: perceptions of time, space, material possessions, and friendship; patterns of business agreements; religion, language, and tradition; educational levels; urbanization and minority patterns; features of social and business customs; crime rate and corruption levels; attitudes towards foreigners; and social structure. Although sociology and psychology, as fields of research and practice, have been entertained in connmunist countries, they have served mainly 'social-engineering ' purposes, in that they have been subordinate to pditical agendas. Relatively litUe attention has been paid to the impact of national culture detominants on organizational solutions. Even in the rare instances where local enqnrical studies of this sort have been performed, results have frequently been incommensurable with research in the West. A number of works (published before political/economic changes began in 1989) have dealt with issues of organizational culture in Poland
Those that go into the business world quickly recognize that each work environment they find themselves in can be total different from another. This can especially be said even of environments within the United States, from region to region. There is definitely a disparity of workplace environments from country to country. Not only can culture drive a varied atmosphere, but the diversity of the personnel making up that environment can equally create a challenge that a leader must be prepared to manage. Recognizing that special care needs to be placed on communication and perception skills is crucial in our present professional domain. Managers of today need to employee tools from the psychological and sociological field to be successful. Having a deep understanding in the differences in culture and diversity in the workplace is critical, especially when debating about accepting a position overseas or assigning an employee to an embedded position abroad. With a broad knowledge of cultural differences and diversity, success as a manager and the stability of a positive work environment can be achieved and maintained without unnecessary effort and focus.
Globalization and technological advancement have dictated the need for managers to deal with multiple ethnic groups with different culture in their day to day interactions. According to Kulkarni (2012), cultures play critical roles in individuals, including values, beliefs, humor, worries, fears, hopes, opinions, attachments, and anxieties.
The substantial part of the article concentrates on the way companies and their managers should embrace contemporary multinational market. The author claims: “Adaptation strategies are better suited to opportunities opened by the shift in the locus of teh global growth. (..)Western markets must compete in big emerging markets like China and India. But they can;t forcé their way in.” That is why, it is critical to pay careful attention to political, economic, or cultural diversity. Ghemawat is skilled in giving pieces of advice to those who underestimate the importance of countries differences and similarities. He also says: “I propose that every MBA gradúate – and presumably every global manager – have a mínimum body of globalization related knowledge, including (..)an understading of how differences between countries can influence cross-border interactions; awareness of the benefits of teh additional cross-border integration’.
In a global economy, U.S. companies are becoming more diverse, whether through a global customer base, or through acquisition of other companies based outside of the U.S. With these developments the workplace becomes an amalgamation of individuals with different worldviews. These differences are the result of different educational backgrounds, and cultural norms. Though there are sometimes impediments that are created due to a conflict in viewpoints, overwhelmingly the benefits from the variety of perspectives outweighs any of the detriments. This view is not only one held by me personally, but one that most quality managers of successful international companies hold true as well. My interview with my direct manager, Dianna Ulrich-Hope, proved valuable in confirming my notions. As a Director of Pricing at Micro Focus, a global software company, her insights regarding international collaboration amongst professionals helped see how my cultural agility competencies align, and how to leverage them.
Choice of not seeing diversity of culture results in limiting the ability for its management. This involved minimizing the issues being caused while there is maximization of advantages and key benefits allowed (Latimer, 2012). When there is lack of consideration across diversity of culture, foreigners end up becoming mere projections related to organizations.
Cultural diversity can be defined as the existence of a variety of cultural or ethnic groups within a society. On the surface, many may think cultural diversity in the workplace is pretty self explanatory. However, if you go a little deeper you will find that diversity in the workplace not only consists of culture, but also race, religion, communication, background, and demographics all which play an important role in what configures the differences within a workplace. Understanding the root of why people act a certain way, have a specific dress code, or how they approach conflict may possibly be the difference between an innovative, productive work environment and an inefficient, non productive work environment. It’s important that those in the workplace try their best to get along and not pass judgment on those who seem different from first glance. Ensuring cultural understanding makes sure that entire chain of command operates smoothly to allow the business to perform at maximum potential.
It is critical to organizations because the employees are from different cultural backgrounds. These distinctions have to be considered when making decisions because they have an impact on formal work relationships and performance. This understanding is more paramount to multinational organizations because they have business operations right at the heart of different cultures in the various countries. The success of global firms depends on how well the management handles the cultural differences and uses them to the advantage of the
Managers were concerned about knowing and understanding each and every perspective of their employee’s cultures. As they know that without studying or knowing the culture, coordination cannot be built between the employees. It is the existing perspective of managers dealing with cross-cultural management (Sultana, 2013).
The importance of understanding cultural, ethnic and gender differences by managers and professionals in a business setting is essential to make the work environment comfortable. In every culture there are basic standards of thinking, and acting and these cultural differences strongly influence workplace values and communication. What may be considered acceptable and natural in the workplace for one person may be unacceptable for another person. People from diverse cultures bring new ways of thinking, creativity and language skills needed to survive in today’s work force. In many
Many opportunities are associated with a culturally diverse workplace and global expansion may have potential to provide just such a diverse work group. Cross-culturalism in business can provide leaders and employees with a wonderful opportunity to work with people from different backgrounds and cultures. In addition, “the more opportunities for business leaders to interact with people from different cultures, the more likely they will be to have positive attitudes from different cultures and identify, learn and apply diverse culturally-appropriate business behaviors” (Caligiuri & Tarique, 2012, p. 614). Culturally diverse environments offer a multitude of benefits including “the variety of perspectives, skills and personal attributes” (Matveeve & Nelson, 2004, p. 254). Moreover, multicultural teams have potential to “generate more ideas of higher quality in brainstorming tasks” (Matveeve &
Effective cross-cultural management has to be grounded in a detailed knowledge of individual cultures. Discuss using examples from two multinational companies.
Within every environment and business, culture plays a role in many different ways. In my reading I have found that culture is defined as the shared intellectual programming of the human mind which differentiates one group of individuals from another group. It has often been understood that statements about culture do not describe “reality”; they are all general and relative”. Often times you will find that dependent upon the person, culture can be very subjective, meaning everyone sees things in a different view forming their personal opinions. According to this weeks’ case study we were challenged to determine and understand how culture and environment affect institutions and their management. This paper will assess how Linda Myers, from the required reading, “The Would-Be Pioneer,” was affected by the huge culture shock of working for a global conglomerate from Seoul, South Korea. I will highlight what went wrong with Ms. Myers from my point of view over the course of her assignment. I will also analyze the cause by explaining the problem Ms. Myers is encountering using the Hofstede’s five dimensions of culture to compare Korean and American assumptions about interpersonal relationships and management. Finally I will conclude through proposing a solution by making a recommendation of three specific
Culture will play a major part in the dynamics of the way we operated in international business circles. Managers today will need special skills in order to meet these challenges. Language differences, culture awareness, and management skills are necessary for success. These challenges often lead to a debate in which is better for a company, expatriate or foreign national workers. There are pros and cons to the use of each, but it will depend on several factors to which managers will be better suited for the challenge of