International OB: Managing across Cultures

1. International OB: Managing across Cultures Chapter Four

2. Learning Objectives LO.1 Define the term culture, and explain how societal culture and organizational culture combine to influence on-the-job behavior. LO.2 Define ethnocentrism, and explain how to develop cultural intelligence. LO.3 Distinguish between high-context and low-context cultures, and identify and describe the nine cultural dimensions from Project GLOBE. LO.4 Distinguish between individualistic and collectivist cultures, and explain the difference between monochronic and polychronic cultures.

3. Learning Objectives (cont.) LO.5 Specify the practical lesson from the Hofstede cross- cultural study, and explain what Project GLOBE researchers discovered about leadership. LO.6 Discuss the results and practical significance of the recent Bloom and Van Reenen study of national management styles. LO.7 Explain why US managers have a comparatively high failure rate on foreign assignments. LO.8 Summarize the research findings about North American women on foreign assignments. LO.9 Identify four stages of the foreign assignment cycle and the OB trouble spot associated with each stage.

4. The U.S. Has Diverse Cultural Roots

5. Societal Culture Is Complex and Multilayered • Societal culture • a set of beliefs and values about what is desirable and undesirable in a community of people, and a set of formal or informal practices to support the values

6. Cultural Influences on Organizational Behavior

7. A Model of Societal and Organizational Cultures • Employees bring their societal culture to work with them in the form of customs and language • Organizational culture affects an individual’s values, ethics, attitudes, assumptions, and expectations

8. Ethnocentrism • Ethnocentrism • belief that one’s native country, culture, language, and behavior are superior to all others.

9. Research Insight and Dealing with Ethnocentrism • A survey of companies in Europe, Japan and the U.S. found ethnocentric staffing and human resource policies to be associated with increased personnel problems. • Those problems included recruiting difficulties, high turnover rates, and lawsuits over personnel policies.

10. Question? Patricia has lived in the US her entire life. She believes that the US is the greatest country in the world. Her belief is an example of _____.  • Societal norm • Cultural paradox • Ethnocentrism • Collectivism

11. Cultural Paradoxes Require Cultural Intelligence • Cultural intelligence • ability to interpret ambiguous cross-cultural situations correctly

12. Cultural Intelligence

13. High-context cultures and Low-context cultures • High-context cultures – rely heavily on situational cues for meaning when perceiving and communicating with others • Low-context cultures – written and spoken words carry the burden of shared meanings

14. Contrasting High-Context and Low-Context Cultures

15. Avoiding Cultural Collisions • People on both sides of the context barrier must be trained to make adjustments. • Background information is essential when explaining anything. • Do not assume the newcomer is self-reliant. • High-context workers from abroad need to learn to ask questions outside their department and function. • Foreign workers must make an effort to become more self-reliant.

16. Project GLOBE • GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) • attempt to develop an empirically based theory to describe, understand, and predict the impact of specific cultural variables on leadership and organizational processes and the effectiveness of these processes

17. Nine Cultural Dimensions fromthe GLOBE Project • Power distance • How much unequal distribution of power should there be in organizations and society? • Uncertainty-avoidance • How much should people rely on social norms and rules to avoid uncertainty and limit unpredictability?

18. Nine Cultural Dimensions fromthe GLOBE Project • Institutional collectivism • How much should leaders encourage and reward loyalty to the social unit, as opposed to the pursuit of individual goals? • In-group collectivism • How much pride and loyalty should individuals have for their family or organization?

19. Nine Cultural Dimensions from the GLOBE Project • Gender egalitarianism • How much effort should be put into minimizing gender discrimination and role inequalities? • Assertiveness • How confrontational and dominant should individuals be in social relationships? • Future orientation • How much should people delay gratification by planning and saving for the future?

20. Nine Cultural Dimensions from the GLOBE Project • Performance orientation • How much should individuals be rewarded for improvement and excellence? • Humane orientation • How much should society encourage and reward people for being kind, fair, friendly, and generous?

21. Question? Rebecca has always focused on delaying gratification and saving money for the well-being and education of her children and her own retirement. According to dimensions from the GLOBE project, Rebecca's behavior reflects: • Future orientation • In-group collectivism • Masculinity-femininity • Assertiveness

22. Countries Ranking Highest and Loweston the GLOBE Cultural Dimensions

23. Individualism versus Collectivism • Individualistic culture • characterized as “I” and “me” cultures, give priority to individual freedom and choice • Collectivist culture • oppositely called “we” and “us” cultures, rank shared goals higher than individual desires and goals

24. Question? Michelle is torn between her desire to go on vacation and her organization's desire to have her at work. She decides to take her vacation. Michelle is probably from a(n) _____ culture.  • Organizational • Low-context • High-context • Individualistic

25. Cultural Perceptions of Time • Monochronic time • revealed in the ordered, precise, schedule-driven use of public time that typifies and even caricatures efficient Northern Europeans and North Americans

26. Cultural Perceptions of Time • Polychronic time • seen in the multiple and cyclical activities and concurrent involvement with different people in Mediterranean, Latin American, and especially Arab cultures.

27. Interpersonal Space • Proxemics • study of cultural expectations about interpersonal space

28. Interpersonal Distance Zones for Business Conversations Vary from Culture to Culture

29. Practical Insights from Cross-Cultural Management Research • Cross-cultural management • Understanding and teaching behavioral patterns in different cultures

30. GLOBE and the Hofstede Study • Power distance • How much inequality does someone expect in social situations? • Individualism-collectivism • How loosely or closely is the person socially bonded?

31. GLOBE and the Hofstede Study • Masculinity-femininity • Does the person embrace stereotypically competitive, performance-oriented masculine traits or nurturing, relationship-oriented feminine traits? • Uncertainty- avoidance • How strongly does the person desire highly structured situations?

32. Leadership Attributes Universally Liked and Disliked

33. Question? Manuel is manager of a work crew. He keeps to himself and prefers not to interact with his employees. This is an example of which negative leader attribute. • Asocial • Ruthless • Eccentric • Loner

34. Why Do US Expatriates Failon Foreign Assignments? • Expatriate • refers to anyone living and/or working outside their home country

35. Avoiding Unrealistic Expectations • Realistic job previews are a must for future expatriates. • Cross-cultural training • any type of structured experience designed to help departing employees (and their families) adjust to a foreign culture

36. The Foreign Assignment Cycle

37. Key Cross-Cultural Competencies

38. Avoiding Culture Shock • Culture shock • anxiety and doubt caused by an overload of new expectations and cues • Best defense is comprehensive cross-cultural training, including intensive language study

39. Support during the Foreign Assignment • Host-country sponsors • assigned to individual managers or families • Serve as “cultural seeing-eye dogs”

40. Video Case: Cirque du Soleil • Why is Cirque du Soleil successful throughout the world? Why does the product transcend culture differences between countries? • How do the cultural influences influence organizational behavior at Cirque du Soleil? • Why is it important for Cirque du Soleil to be a good corporate citizen? How does ethnocentrism relate to fulfilling this role?