The reality for most corporations is that they cannot assume the challenges that are brought about by the increased level of globalization. Repatriates have increased the level of cross-cultural diversity among employees in organizations (Black & Gregersen, 2000). The diversity has also been increased among suppliers, customers, creditors, and competitors. Employers are therefore required to put in place different mechanisms that can make it possible for the retention of repatriates. There is need to note that culture has a great impact on the behavior that is assumed by individuals. The paper sets out to discuss the various methods that can be used by employers as the most appropriate means through which they can effectively manage …show more content…
Available research has clearly indicated that the ease with which employees can adapt to the host culture will give a fundamental bearing on the on the productivity levels in the new assignment. It
has found that through the inclusion of the family in the education process, the transition of the employees will be made highly possible, and this will also have an effect of reducing the time taken to carry out the adaption for the employee to the new environment (Black & Gregersen, 2000). The focus of the employee on work and achievement of the set goals and objectives will be highly possible, and this will drive the organization towards meeting its long-term mission.
Considerable time is wasted by employees who find themselves in new environments where they work out in determining the interworking of different cultures. Different employees also depict different abilities and degrees to which they will adapt to the new culture, and this plays a huge role in hindering performance levels of the individual employee and hence the level of performance for the overall organization (Handin & Steinwedel, 2006). The low-performance levels will also lead to wastage of the organizational resources leading to the overall decline in the competitive advantage that is enjoyed by any firm in the business world. Different norms and expectations are brought to the front by any culture under study
Culture is an observable, powerful force in any organization. “Made up of its members’ shared values, beliefs, symbols, and behaviors, culture guides individual decisions and actions at the unconscious level. As a result, it can have a potent effect on a company’s well-being and success” (One Page, n.d.).
Productivity in the new culture is experienced to an extremely positive extent. Business dealings and negotiations become secondary nature to the expatriate, and the expatriate’s journey becomes a great success in the perspective of their employing company.
All Organisations posses a distinct form of culture with some having more than a single culture. This culture is usually very difficult to measure, change and most especially change.
The definition of culture in this context can be deducted from Trompenaars (1998): “The essence of culture is not what is visible on the surface. It is the shared ways groups of people understand and interpret the world.” (p. 3). From this statement we can extract that people with different cultures see and interpret the world in their own way. Thus, to motivate employees with different cultural backgrounds it is necessary to understand the interpretation the employees have of certain norms and values.
What are cultural assumptions? Cultural assumptions are defined as assumptions that are commonly known throughout a culture. These assumptions are highly relevant in the modern society we live in. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, you will always have your own assumptions. Literature plays a key part in what kind of assumptions we will have, right from the age we begin to process information in our minds. This leads me to the assumption that has stuck with us since our childhood days. Stepmothers. There is a strong cultural assumption that stepmothers are ‘evil’ people, who force their way into other families and are malicious to their stepchildren. Assumptions like this influence our perceptions and lead
An attitude are the long lasting beliefs, feelings, and behavioral responses towards social objects such as other people or issues (Attitudes and Behavior, n.d.). Attitudes can either be positive or negative.
Cultural intelligence assessment will enable the individual to have certain information about himself. It is posited that cultural difference has a greater impact on business effectiveness than we think. That our cultural backgrounds really influence the way we think and act and the way we interpret each others contributions. Our success or failure in communication will depend on the extent at which we understand the different cultural background of the employees and create a fruitful collaboration in situations where cultural differences play a role. To achieve this, we need to act in an appropriate way in multicultural situations coupled with the ability to have an open mind which admits new information and this is curious about
2. When a company grows in size and makes the decision to expand internationally, it is vital for its image among current and future customers to complete projects effectively and on time. Furthermore, it is also likely that such an expansion would entail the representation of more than one culture among the workforce. Indeed, while many employees will be relocated from the home country, a further proportion will be hired from the host country. To facilitate the relations and
An organization’s culture governs day to day behavior. This type of power may be seen as a control mechanism, which businesses use to manipulate internal and external perception. Every organization has a set of assumed understandings that must be adopted and implemented by new employees in order for them to be accepted. Conformity to the culture becomes the primary basis for reward by the organization. “The role of culture in influencing employee behavior appears to be increasingly important in today’s workplace, as organizations have widened spans of control, flattened structures, introduced teams, reduced
In summary, the home culture of an expatriate predisposes them to certain behaviors and situations. It allows them to operate efficiently in that environment. However, moving to the host-culture changes that operating environment and makes their 'mental software ' less efficient and effective. Culture is clearly a relevant variable when expatriating employees and their families for international business assignments. Training can be applied to ameliorate these effects. Also, training provides insight into the procedural, substantive and informational aspects of their work and personal life in the host location.
About 3.5 million years ago, before people began to use fire, africans began to do something different. African populations began to make tools by chipping away a chunk of stone until it turned into a proper shape, a cutting tool, arrow, spear tip, and many more. During the different time periods, these tools were given complicated names like Acheulean and Mousterian which showed the growth as they progressed in the making of tools. Some of the tools that have survived over the ages like hand axes and spears which may not seem useful today actually made survival possible but nobody rarely ever notices it.
In this era of Globalisation, cross cultural management is the biggest challenge that is faced by the organisations. Within the business context, cross culture refers to interaction between different cultures. Cross cultural management refers to managing the employees from different cultural background in one environment (Adler, 2008). Cross culture management is a significant issue within the organisations as the success of an organisation depends upon the smooth interaction of the employees. This paper is aimed at providing insight on the cross cultural management and the main issues and challenges relating to cross cultural management. For the purpose of this paper, two articles, “Cross-cultural Differences in Management”, by Amman & Jordan
Foreign cultures around the world are becoming more and more diverse in organisations. “Cross - cultural dialogue has become the foundation on which global business succeeds or fails.” (Employees, 2017). Majority of businesses have become cultural in the essence of the employees that have either moved countries/cities for their career and
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 shared characteristics and, in some cases, perception of employees create what is known as organizational culture. A strong culture constructs a unified employee atmosphere, whereas a weak culture lacks a shared sense of distinction between employees. An employee’s heritage or individual culture, although different than, affects the overall organizational culture of companies. Like society, sub-cultures exist within organizations. Formed by departmental function, geographical location, and/or the personalities of employees, sub-cultures include employees who continue to adhere to the organizations’ overall culture, but have additional independent characteristics. Employees’ individual heritage, along with the culture and