Schwartz Cultural Value Inventory and Management

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Cultural Values According To Shalom Schwartz

The Schwartz Value Inventory (SVI) is a model that Shalom Schwartz formulated and categorized human cultural values into ten (In Zoglowek and In Aleksandrovich, 2013). His work was the findings of a survey done on 60,000 people after which he identified ten groups of characteristics of individuals. He established that self-direction, power, stimulation, achievement, hedonism, tradition, security, universalism, benevolence, and conformity, summarize human cultural traits. According to Murray, Murray, and Jones (2006), such a model constitutes the Circumplex Model of individual values. He supposed that humans drew power from prestige and social status because they felt that the power to control other individuals is vital and concluded that people will seek it continuously. He suggested that the assumption of power over others granted the rulers a chance of controlling critical resources.

According to Schwartz (2010), achievement is a relationship between the setting and the attainment of goals. He proposed that harder challenges make success a sweet experience. Hedonists are individuals that Schwartz suggested enjoy themselves from their habit of seeking pleasure out of what they do. Stimulation is close to hedonism except that the person that enjoys themselves derives the enjoyment from thrills and excitement, which acts as the motivation. Some people are Universalists, and they pursue tolerance and social justice for others. Such people promote equality and do not value war expect where it will result in long-lasting peace. Schwartz also suggested that individuals who have benevolent tendencies are those that seek to help others as well as providing for their social welfare. There are those people that the academician called traditionalists. Such people are those who cannot do anything out of the customary practices of their organizations. For such a reason, such people are naturally conservatives and seek to preserve organizational order. Schwartz also suggested that people who seek conformity always conform to regulations, and structures established. Another cultural trait identified with the Circumplex Model of individual values is that of security. He suggested that people who pursue security seek health and safety to greater levels than others.

The theory could be summarized into three main categories because of their interrelationships. For instance, there are those traits that relate to openness to transformations, those that deal with self-enhancement, conservation, and self-transcendence. Is such a perspective, self-direction, hedonism, and stimulation relate to openness to change. Similarly, power, achievement, and hedonism refer to self-enhancement while the remaining traits correlate with self-transcendence (Halverson and Tirmizi, 2008).

Cultural Theories and Their Relationship with the Schwartz Value Inventory

Collectivism vs. Individualism

Culture includes practices and values of individuals in a community and is a constituent of the shared understandings expressed in act and artifact. Collectivism is a theory and the practice, which puts groups of individuals rather than one person as the fundamental element of the three spheres of life (Schwartz, 2006). In such a scenario, communal interests are more valuable than personal values. Therefore, people and organizations that have the collectivist approaches will appreciate the traits related to universalism and benevolence. Leaders of such types are therefore people who will only explore the interests of the community and not their own. On the contrary, the theory of individualism is one that believes in the sense that everyone has the freedom and the right to make their rational thoughts and decisions. As such, individuals that have such approaches to management will not realize the need of incorporating others into their decisions (Schwartz, 2010). They are, therefore, the group of individuals who have values related to self-enhancement as discussed from the Schwartz’s Model.

The Power Distance Models

Similarly, the Power-Distance Model is one that defines the relationships between individuals in the society represented by the existing hierarchy. In cultural settings where there are high power distances, the people who hold power or those who rank high influence the decisions of others (Rothwell, 2010). It is noteworthy that the relationship of such nature will always work because the low-ranking persons of the same setting do not have options away from the suggestions of the powerful. According to Kitayama and Cohen (2007), such individuals are those that will always seek power, achievement, hedonism, and self-direction. On the contrary, low power distance cultures allow for some considerable deemphasizing of power by those who have it. Such an approach is the Egalitarian model and encourages the intermingling of all workers at the workplace. Therefore, the ideas of this model resemble those of collectivism approaches.

Polychronic vs. Monochronic Tendencies

Monochronic cultures are those whose members like doing only one thing at ago in the sense of orderliness, as well as the idea of the right time and place in all activities. Such cultures do not give room for interruptions, and even if they happen, they are undesired (Sycara, Gelfand and Abbe, 2013). Individuals operating in such environments will always like to concentrate on one task and carry it on through to completion because they treat commitments with esteemed levels of seriousness. In contradiction, polychromic cultures are those whose members who always seek to do multiple activities at a time. They are always busy and open to interruptions as is the case with modern managers’ offices where there are phones ringing, doors slamming, and a meeting in progress simultaneously (Baumann, 2007). As much as there are chances of distractions, the people operating in such contexts will always manage them well and can even shift plans so that they suit the prevailing situations.

High vs. Low Context Communication Cultures

McGee (2007) proposed that in high-context cultures, the people concerned value stable interpersonal relationships because they are intuitive, collectivists, and contemplative. Therefore, they develop trust in themselves, which is a fundamental principle for healthy relationships. They also prefer consensus and group harmony because they share in the success of one of them. Such cases are evident in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South America. However, on the contrary, individuals from the low-context cultures are those who are linear, action-oriented, individualistic, and logical (Novinger, 2001). For this reason, they will always consider values in cases of problem-solving rather than intuition and their discussions conclude in actions. Communications in the same context are precise, straightforward and efficient in their description of the expected actions. Cultures like the one described are common in Western Europe and North America.

Uncertainty Avoidance Values

Avoidance of risks relates to the tolerance of a community for ambiguity and uncertainty and the search for truth. It is an indicator of how much cultures condition their members to feel either comfortable or uncomfortable in their dealing with unstructured conditions (Daft, 2010). Therefore, Uncertainty avoiding cultures strive to reduce the possibility of situations like these through the institution of stringent rules and laws, security and safety measures, and by the use of philosophy and religion. Truth is the fundamental aspect of the uncertainty avoidance practices (Daft and Lane, 2008). In the organizational context, there are elements of planning that the firms undertake as a mechanism for ensuring that risks do not happen unawares. According to Adams (2006), such plans may include insurance, banking and other measures that assure people of their financial stabilities in the future.

Specific Management Layout, Practices and Rituals of the Intercontinental Hotels Group

Management Layout

There is a recognized top-to-bottom management at the company with the CEO as the top-ranking official. The rest of the management design of the firm is organized categorically to cater for the various functions of the organization. For instance, there are managers for the business reputation and responsibility (IGH, 2015). This unit has a responsibility of protecting and championing the reputation of the corporation and its brands across the globe. The section includes the legal services, corporate responsibility, risk management, internal audit as well as the company secretariat. There is also the global communications department that has the responsibility of enhancing the reputation of the company across the globe. There is also the global finance department dealing with financial and planning matters of the institution. The Intercontinental Hotels Group runs a global sales and marketing section responsible for managing brands as well as other issues related to the marketing of sales.

The largest segment of the business is the global human resources department because of the belief that the employees of the institution are the most valuable assets of the corporation. The department has the responsibility of development of quality staff in which the business relies on for all its successes.

Management Practices and Rituals of the Hotel Group

The company alludes its success to the mannerism of their behavior and their culture, which has their basis on the corporate values of the institution. Therefore, there is the conclusion that the company is one that believes in its values and the outline of its culture. The values of the organization provide a basis for defining their shared purpose that are fundamental to driving the performance forward. The set of values also determines the company’s dedication to making the employees comfortable at their places of work. The culture, therefore, recognizes the fact that employees, the management, and their culture are a critical element of success (IGH, 2015). The company has also oriented the performance of its business to the people; the clients because they define the firm’s marketing strategies.

Recruitment Tool of the Company

About Intercontinental Hotels Group

One of the leading hotel groups around the globe
Have 710,295 rooms operated in more than 4800 hotels and 100 nations globally
Runs 9 hotel brands; InterContinental®, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza®, Holiday Inn Express®, Candlewood Suites®, EVEN™ Hotels, Holiday Inn®, Staybridge Suites®, and HUALUXE® Hotels

Our mission

To grow by development of preferred brands for our customers.

Our values

Customer experience
Excellent returns from our hotels
Brands the first choice for guests
Strengthening our organization
Performance of our brands
Strong partnerships within our firm
The welfare of our employees

Our Company Management

Top-to-bottom with the CEO as the senior most
Other department managers and their assistants
Believe in the power of the people because all people have a chance of advising the management

Our Way of Business

We believe in the power of our culture
We believe that we can do better through our obligations to customer and employee satisfaction
We are fair in employment opportunities
Our success is our culture and the rewarded effort of our staff.

References

Adams, D. (2006). Management accounting for the hospitality, tourism and leisure industries: A strategic approach. London: Thomson Learning.

Baumann, A. (2007). Influences of culture on the style of business behavior between Western and Arab managers. München: Grin Verlag.

Daft, R. L. (2010). Management. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Daft, R. L., & Lane, P. G. (2008). The leadership experience. Mason, OH: Thomson/South-Western.

Halverson, C. B., & Tirmizi, S. A. (2008). Effective multicultural teams: Theory and practice. Dordrecht: Springer.

In Zoglowek, H., & In Aleksandrovich, M. (2013). Psychological and pedagogical aspects of motivation: Edited by Herbert Zoglowek and Maria Aleksandrovich.

InterContinental Groups Hotel (IGH). (2015). How we behave. [Online]. Web.

Kitayama, S., & Cohen, D. (2007). Handbook of cultural psychology. New York: Guilford Press.

McGee, R. W. (2007). Accounting reform in transition and developing economies. New York: Springer.

Murray, P., Murray, P., Poole, D., & Jones, G. (2006). Contemporary issues in management and organisational behaviour. South Melbourne, Vic: Thomson Learning.

Novinger, T. (2001). Intercultural communication: A practical guide. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

Rothwell, J. D. (2010). In mixed company: Small group communication. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Schwartz, S. H. (2006). A theory of cultural value orientations: Explication and applications. Comparative sociology, 5(2), 137-182.

Schwartz, S. H. (2012). An Overview of the Schwartz Theory of Basic Values. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1).

Sycara, K., Gelfand, M. J., & Abbe, A. (2013). Models for intercultural collaboration and negotiation. Dordrecht: Springer.

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