What are Cultural Differences in Management?

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Table of Contents

Introduction
The origins and definition of cultural management
Cultural differences in management
Discussion
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Cultural differences in management are examined by business administrators, psychologists, and even anthropologists. This report is aimed at examining several questions that are related to this topic. In particular, it is necessary to provide a definition of cross-cultural management. Furthermore, one should provide examples that can illustrate the cultural peculiarities of management.

For instance, one should focus on such aspects as the behavior of employees, leadership style, and interactions between people who represent various levels of the workplace hierarchy. Much attention should be paid to the strategies that can help managers to work in a multicultural environment.

Overall, business administrators should remember about cultural differences in people’s values, worldviews, or attitudes toward work, risk, achievement and so forth. This knowledge can be derived from various psychological studies. Yet, they should remember that conventional classifications of cultures are not always relevant because individual and cultural values are not necessarily similar.

The origins and definition of cultural management

The importance of cultural peculiarities began to attract the attention of managers at the time when many American and European companies moved to developing countries. Business administrators understood that many of the conventional techniques could be applied to different business cultures.

For example, one can speak about the challenges that American businesses faced in India (Gopalan & Stahl 1998, p. 30). These problems gave rise to the development of such a discipline as cross-cultural management.

This notion can be defined as the method which enables the management to incorporate the representatives of different cultures in the organization (Thomas 2008). Moreover, this discipline helps managers make sure that cultural differences do not impair the performance of a business.

Cultural differences in management

Initially, the researchers attempted to construct a model of universal values that can appeal to people who can represent various cultures (Schwartz 1994). For example, Shalom Schwartz (1994) introduces such a model which is based on the empirical findings.

Moreover, some authors advocate the idea of creating a global culture in which employees, who have various ethnic or national backgrounds, are accustomed to working with one another (Levy, Taylor, & Boyacigiller 2010). Furthermore, researchers speak about the need to maintain the corporate culture which enabled an organization to achieve success (Levy, Taylor, & Boyacigiller 2010).

The main limitation of this approach is that it does not help managers predict the potential difficulties related to cultural differences. This is why modern researchers attempt to construct an alternative approach to this issue.

Overall, scholars believe that it is necessary to distinguish various elements of culture, namely values, rituals, or symbols (Kandola 2008, p. 37). These are the main aspects that researchers focus on. In turn, business administrators should understand how these differences in values or attitudes manifest themselves in the workplace (Jackson 2011).

The explanations of cultural differences in management closely are based on the model developed by Geert Hofstede (1993). This model implies that there are certain dimensions which characterize a culture. For instance, one can mention uncertainty avoidance, power distance, individualism, or masculinity (Hofstede 1993). In turn, they shape cultural differences in management.

For example, in Western companies, managers and employees are more likely to accept risks; yet, this behavior is not always displayed by people working in Chinese companies (Hofstede, 1993, p. 90). This issue should be taken into account by people working in companies in which different cultures are represented.

For instance, they should remember that some of their initiatives may not be readily supported by their colleagues, but it does not mean that these initiatives are flawed (Hofstede, 1993, p. 90). Moreover, one can speak about power distance. For example, in the United Kingdom, people, who represent various levels in the workplace hierarch, are more likely to treat one another as equals.

In contrast, in South Korea, executives and subordinates are more likely to recognize the differences in their position or status. Thus, business administrators should consider these differences in order to avoid such pitfalls as rudeness. Overall, Hofstede’s theory is based on empirical observations, but in the course of several decades, this approach has been modified several times.

There are many empirical studies that are aimed at examining the impact of cultural dimensions of management. For instance, business administrators, who come from Western countries, should know that risk-taking in Asian organizations is not always tolerated (Kreiser, Marino, & Dickson 2010, p. 978). These studies incorporate the data collected in different business environments.

Therefore, managers, who come from American or European companies, should not expect that their subordinates will be willing to take independent steps (Kreiser, Marino, & Dickson 2010). This is why these distinctions should not be overlooked.

Moreover, managers should take into account that people, who represent different cultures, have different humor styles (Kalliny, Cruthirds, & Minor 2006). In many cases, managers rely on jokes to motivate employees. Yet, some of the jokes can be misunderstood; furthermore, they can be offensive.

Additionally, much attention should be paid to leadership qualities. William Judge (2001) believes that leadership strategies differ dramatically across cultures. The comparison of American and Taiwanese CEOs indicates that these professionals have different attitudes toward their professional and personal lives.

For example, American CEOs attach importance to achievement and self-of respect, while their Taiwanese counterparts attach more importance to equality, wisdom, and pleasure (Judge 2001, p. 69). This comparison is derived from self-reports of corporate executives. Thus, managers and employees should bear in mind that these executives can set different expectations for their subordinates.

Moreover, it is important to remember about the differences in communication styles. In Western business cultures, people are willing to start the most problematic issues as soon as possible (‘Indirect communication’, 2001). Such behavior can be observed among many managers and employees.

In contrast, in China and other Asian countries, one should first start with an indirect question and then proceed to specific tasks (‘Indirect communication’, 2001). Therefore, managers should change the way in which they interact with their colleagues or subordinates.

Nevertheless, such studies are primarily based on the experiences of separate business administrators, but such arguments should not be generalized. This is one of the limitations that should be overlooked because it can diminish the validity of research.

Apart from that, managers should take into account that employees from various countries respond to stressors in different ways (Dbaibo & Harb 2010, p. 19). For example, Lebanese employees are not likely to experience stress if they see that their values do not coincide with the values of their co-workers (Dbaibo & Harb 2010).

In turn, managers should try to emulate the behavior of these people. For instance, they should attach importance to communication style and etiquette. This is one of the suggestions that can be of some use to managers.

While discussing the cultural differences in management, researchers focus on various aspects. For example, Joyce Osland and Allan Bird focus on the need to re-evaluate the validity of cultural stereotyping (2000, p. 65). In particular, these researchers critique the validity of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and provide examples contradict this theory.

For instance, they mention that Japanese managers can take risky decisions, even despite their alleged uncertainty avoidance (Osland & Bird 2000, p. 65). Thus, one should pay more attention to the context in which a specific behavior is displayed.

One should not suppose that individuals always follow cultural patterns of behavior. Although the scholars do not conduct an empirical study, they provide many valuable observations regarding cross-cultural differences and stereotypes. Moreover, business administrators should keep in mind that cultures are not homogeneous (McSweeney 2002, p. 113).

The behavior of employees strongly depends on their age or gender (McSweeney 2002, p. 113). Therefore, one should not suppose that conventional classifications of different business cultures are always accurate.

Admittedly, there is a significant overlap between personal and cultural values (Fischer & Poortinga 2012, p. 167). Yet, one should not forget that cultures can evolve with time passing. This is one of the main issues that can be distinguished since it is critical for avoiding various pitfalls such as stereotyping.

Discussion

Overall, each of the articles can throw light on the peculiarities of cultural differences in management. It is possible to identify three approaches. One of them is premised on the idea that a management can create a universal business culture that can be shared by every employee. The second framework implies that there are cultural dimensions which can be accurately measured.

Thus, it is possible to predict the behavior of people and minimize the risk of misunderstanding. In turn, many authors suggest that cultural and personal values may not be similar. Such researchers do not overlook the findings of anthropologists or psychologists who show that there are certain values or attitudes which are typical of a certain culture.

However, they almost set stress on such variables as age, sex, or linguistic competence of employees. They advocate such policies as on-site cultural training of expatriates, critical evaluation of stereotypes about various countries, or the use of empirical studies related to various business cultures (Osland & Bird 2000).

Moreover, managers should reflect on the impact of context on the behavior of a person. This approach can help a business to develop the most effective approaches to cross-cultural management.

Conclusion

Overall, the examples discussed in this paper shows that the work of managers is strongly shaped by cultural environment of a country. These differences can be explained to people’s attitudes toward risk, power distance, uncertainty, and other factors. Moreover, managers should pay attention to people’s perception of stress and the things that motivate them.

Yet, they should also remember that cultures are not static, and individual behavior may not be consistent with the dominant stereotypes about a culture. Such stereotypes can also be dangerous because they can prevent managers from understanding the behavior of employees. These are the main issues that should be taken into account.

References

Dbaibo, D & Harb, C 2010, ‘Values and Justice as Predictors of Perceived Stress in Lebanese Organisational Settings’, Applied Psychology, vol. 59, no. 4, pp. 1-19.

Fischer, R & Poortinga, Y 2012, ‘Are cultural values the same as the values of individuals? An examination of similarities in personal, social, and cultural value structures’, International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 157-170.

Gopalan, S & Stahl, A 1998, ‘Application of American Management Theories and Practices to the Indian Business Environment: Understanding the Impact of National Culture’, American Business Review, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 30-41.

Hofstede, G 1993 ‘Cultural constraints in management theories’, Academy of Management Executive, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 81-94.

Jackson, T 2011, ‘Journal of Organizational Change Management Emerald Article: From cultural values to cross-cultural interfaces: Hofstede goes to Africa’, Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 532-558.

Judge, W 2001, ‘Is a Leader’s Character Culture-Bound or Culture-Free? An Empirical Comparison of the Character Traits of American and Taiwanese CEOs’, Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 65-80.

‘Indirect communication and indirect leadership in Asia’ 2001, GlobThink, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1-4.

Levy, O, Taylor, S & Boyacigiller, N 2010, Global expansion dilutes winning corporate Cultures. Web.

Kalliny, M, Cruthirds, K, Minor, M 2006, ‘Differences between American, Egyptian and Lebanese Humor Styles Implications for International Management’, International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 121-134.

Kandola, B 2008, “Understanding cultural differences in global organizations’, Cultural Intelligence, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 37-38.

Kreiser, P, Marino, L, & Dickson, P 2010, ‘Cultural Influences on Entrepreneurial Orientation: The Impact of National Culture on Risk Taking and Proactiveness in SMEs’, ET&P, vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 959-983.

McSweeney, B 2002, ‘Hofstede’s model of national cultural differences and their consequences: Atriumph of faith – a failure of analysis’, Human Relations, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 89-118.

Osland, J & Bird, A 2000, ‘Beyond sophisticated stereotyping: Cultural sense-making in context’, Academy of Management Executives, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 65-77.

Schwartz, S 1994, ‘Are There Universal Aspects in the Structure and Contents of Human Values?’, Journal of Social Issues, vol. 50, no. 4, pp. 19-45.

Thomas, D 2008, Cross-Cultural Management: Essential Concepts, SAGE Publications, New York.

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