Developing Global Manners

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Chapter Three
Developing Global Manners
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Cultural Influences on Organizational Behavior
OrganizationalCulture

• Economic/ technological setting
• Political/ legal setting
• Ethnic background
• Religion

• Personal values/ethics
• Attitudes
• Assumptions
• Expectations

• Societal culture
• Customs
• Language

OrganizationalBehavior
Source Adapted in part from BJ Punnett and S
Withane, Hofstedes Value Survey Module To
Embrace or Abandon?in Advances in International
Comparative Management, vol 5, ed SB Prasad
(Greenwich, CT JAI Press, 1990), pp 69-89.
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Guidelines for Behavior and Ethics in Foreign
Cultures A Balancing Act
Source Three guidelines in center column quoted
from (and other contents of table adapted from
discussion in Thomas Donaldson, Values in
Tension Ethics Away from Home. Harvard Business
Review, September-October 1996, pp 48-62
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Skills and Best Practices Steps You Can Take Now
to Become a Global Manager

• Global Perspective Focus on global business
• Cultural Responsiveness Become familiar with
  many cultures
• Appreciate Cultural Synergies Learn
  multicultural dynamics
• Cultural Adaptability Live and work effectively
  in different cultures
• Cross-Cultural Communication Daily
  cross-cultural interaction
• Cross-Cultural Collaboration Multicultural
  teamwork
• Acquire Broad Foreign Experience Series of
  foreign career assignments

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Key Cultural Dimensions

• Individualistic Cultures I and me cultures
  where individual freedom and choice are given
  priority
• Collectivist Cultures We and us cultures
  where shared goals and interests rank higher than
  individual desires and goals
• High-Context Cultures situational and nonverbal
  cues convey primary meaning
• Low-Context Cultures meaning conveyed primarily
  through written and spoken words

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Key Cultural Dimensions (continued)

• Monochronic Time precise, schedule-driven, and
  public (do one thing at a time)
• Polychronic Time multi-dimensional and personal
  (engage in multi-tasking)
• For class discussion How would you characterize
  yourself in terms of these key dimensions? How
  will these cultural tendencies help or hinder you
  as a manager in your home country?

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A Contingency Model for Cross-Cultural Leadership
Former West Germany Reunited with China
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International Aspects ofOrganizational Culture

• Effects of national cultures on multinational
  organizations
• Multinational organizations
• Employees from many countries working side by
  side
• They do not shed their national cultural values
  when they come to work
• Strong chance of subcultures forming along
  national lines

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Foreign Assignment Cycle
Home Country Experiences
Foreign Country Experiences
1. Selection and training Unrealistic
expectations
2. Arrival and adjustment Culture shock
Reassignment
4. Returning home and adjusting Reentry shock
3. Settling in and acculturating Lack of support