How much sleaze is too much? Putting cultural theory into practice.
Since the world entered the new century globalization of all aspects of people’s lives has increased. More and more companies have been transformed into MNEs. According to Rugman and Collinson (2009) the number of employees working across borders nearly tripled over the last 20 years, exposing managers to various socio-cultural and ethical issues. Geert Hofstede argues that “culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and often a disaster” (cited in The Economist, 2008, para.4).
I used an article by Asbjorn Osland ‘How much sleaze is too much’ as a real life scenario while examining the cultural frameworks.
…show more content…
This suggests that a different management ought to be applied because the likeliness of cultural/ethical issues is very high. In addition, many researchers (Nwabuzor, 2005; Olaya, 2006 cited in Baughn et a.l, 2009) indicate that bribery is more apparent in developing economies, such as Senegal, where legal system has not been fully established, leaving gaps for illegal activity. Moreover, low-income societies are more likely to perceive bribery as “a necessary means of supplementing low income” (Baughn et al., 2009, p. 16). Unlike the US, Senegal scores very low in the IDV variable, suggesting that they are a highly collectivistic society. Hofested (1999) emphasises that high power distance societies often present a paternalistic approach, in which loyalty and favours are perceived as a norm. Moreover, a paternalistic approach is correlated with collectivistic societies, in which the power of group and a group’s interest is more important that written laws. Hence, individuals will make decisions that will not necessarily be socially acceptable but will benefit the group (cited in Baughn et al., 2009).
These findings suggest that an American company should not assume that it can adapt an ethnocentric approach and operate in a foreign country by its own rules. As shown in the case study and research, complexity of culture and other economic and social factors have a strong impact
In his essay, “Sexism in Practice: Feminist Ethics Evaluating the Hookup Culture,” Conor Kelly argues that the hook up culture prevalent in today’s society is sexist towards females. He argues that this culture gives off the illusion of freedom, but it instead disempowers women. Kelly begins by giving the definition of hook up culture. He defines it as, “the practice of pursuing sexual activity without any expectation of a relationship.” He then states what he believes are the four main factors that contribute to the disempowerment brought on by this culture: a lack of commitment, use of ambiguous language, alcohol use, and a social pressure to conform. Kelly then gives his argument as to why hookup culture should be concerning.
The journal article addresses the issue of undergraduate women using slut shaming and the actual reason women participate in it.
Ellen Goodman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, and the writer of many books, published an article entitled, “Countering the Culture of Sex,” which appeared in The Boston Globe in 1995. Goodman makes the point that the media serves as a “cultural message maker.” Goodman’s uses of the rhetorical appeals are not blatant, but rather reserved throughout the article. Logos and ethos are very well represented as the topic needs both logic and credibility and to make its point. On the other hand, because this article does not pry into the feelings and emotions that are tied to the topic, pathos is not very well represented. This article could have been much more powerful if in fact
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
It would be convenient to start this research paper by stating that corruption is a challenge mainly for businesses in developing countries and that it is unrelated to the current affliction of the economy in the United States. It would also be convenient to claim corruption has declined in America as a result of awareness raising campaigns and the numerous anti-corruption laws. But none of those aforementioned statements would be true. Corruption is not the exception, but rather the rule in today’s business practices. In 2004, Daniel Kaufmann, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution and former director at the World Bank, calculated an index of "legally corrupt" manifestations which is defined as the extent of undue influence
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.
Cross Cultural management explains the behaviour of people in organizations worldwide, helping managers and firms to understand how to act in business matters dealing with the different cultures. (Adler, 2008)
Whenever a company is entering a new market it has to take into consideration the cultural differences between countries. Based on the case study analysis, the difference between the two countries in terms of eating out habits and eating preferences seem not to be understood by the Denver headquarter. Denver headquarter believes that it can enforce the same business model applied in the U.S to its stores in China, regardless of local preference. In addition, Foster seems to lack knowledge about the Chinese culture because she was not familiar with the market in China, as she had no experience working internationally. There was a lack of cross-cultural communication between Chen and Foster; even though, Chen had experienced both cultures while studying abroad in the U.S.
In doing business so many times an organization must think globally. This might be done to increase sales and/or profits or to lower labor costs. In either case problems can occur due to ethical and cultural barriers in global expansion. In this paper I will attempt to show some of what a global organization and a cultural issue that affects their interactions outside the United States by identifying and comparing some of these cultural differences.
Culture and the environment affect a business in many ways. Culture is not simply a different language, a different shade of skin, or different styles of food. Culture, and the environment in which you are a part of, affect the running of day to day business operations of all companies’ day in and day out. This paper will assess how Linda Myers, from the article, “The would-be pioneer,” (Green, S., 2011) was affected by the huge culture shock of working for a global conglomerate from Seoul, South Korea. We will discuss what went wrong with Ms. Myers approach to business, Hofstede’s five dimensions of culture as it
The rise of multinational companies and increased global diversification by even small companies has resulted in people of diverse backgrounds and cultures working together in the same office or for the same organization. Conflict in such situations is predictable, but understanding the diversity issues can help companies implement programs designed to keep conflict at a minimum and to take full advantage of the many benefits which such diversity brings to an organization. Key to understanding how diversity is managed in multinational organizations is understanding the concept of corporate culture (which defines organizations), diversity programs and their use to minimize conflict among employees, and the unique problems that employees
WalMart's approach to global expansion exemplifies the journey of self-discovery many corporations who have a stable, profitable domestic base of operations go through as they attempt to enter new markets globally. For WalMart this meant confronting the exceptionally high level of ethnocentrism in their organization while also using their analytics-based prowess to better understand cultures, not just costs and profits (Ming-Ling, Donegan, Ganon, Kan, 2011). The intent of this analysis is to define how WalMart overcame a significant series of challenges and successfully launched into China, overcoming an ethnocentric mindset and tendency to rely too much on analytics alone in guiding global expansion.
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 most challenging decision that a company may face in internationalization is the degree of standardization or adaptation in its operations. The question of standardization or adaptation affects all avenues of a business’ operations, such as R&D, finance, production, organizational structure, procurement, and the marketing mix. Whether a company chooses to standardize or adapt its operations depends on its attitudes toward different cultures. These attitudes are defined by three orientations toward foreign culture: ethnocentric, polycentric, and geocentric.
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