Download - National Culture in Organization Development
National Culture In Organization Development: A Conceptual & Empirical Analysis
Keith R. Johnson & Robert Golembiewski
Abimanyu N NGayathri G
Harsha KarriSanjay Krishna
INTRODUCTION• OD – Collection of Intervention Techniques• Western practices need adaptation• Lack of empirical work
National
Cultures
OD Values
OBJECTIVE
OD Values
National
Cultures
OD Success Rates
MEASUREMENT OF OD & CULTURAL VALUESHOFSTEDE’S METHODOLOGY• Power Distance• Uncertainty Avoidance• Masculinity – Femininity• Individualism - Collectivism
53 countries and regions
MEASUREMENT OF OD & CULTURAL VALUESJAEGER’S ANALYSIS OF HOFSTEDE’S DIMNESIONS• Conforms only in Scandinavian countries• Coherence & Homogeneity to OD• Provisional AgreementDimensio
nDegree
What OD Values Stress on
Power Distance
Low Status equality & Minimization of social differences
Uncertainty Avoidance
Low Tolerance of ambiguity & Minimizing elaborate structuring of relationships
Masculinity
Low Feelings and relationships
Individualism
Medium
Tolerance of individual differences & facilitation of collaboration and teamwork
MEASUREMENT OF OD & CULTURAL VALUES
JOHNSON’S METHOD• Hofstede’s dimensions into a single measure of
cultural differenceAll countries vs. DenmarkAll countries vs. ‘OD Country’All countries vs. USAAll countries vs. Culture of Economic Development
OD MODELS & SUCCESS RATE• Close fit between OD values & Values of host
country – OD Success• Greater differences between OD and national
values – Lower success rates• 100 OD projects in third world countries• Contrary hypothesis – OD projects unlikely to
induce change in values when they are highly congruent with national culture
METHOD• Three basic variablesMean project ageMean project successTotal number of OD projects per country• Three hypothesisGreater the difference Between Target’s values & OD values – Less
frequent OD interventionsLess successful are the applicationsBetween nation’s culture and target – More
difficult the transfer of OD project
RESULTS• 87 cases overlapped with the 53 countries in
Hofstede population• Seven coefficients out of eight for age and
number in the expected direction• Relationship between national culture and OD
project age, frequency and success have been tested for the first time
• Outcome variable – Project Success
SUMMARY & DISCUSSION1. Reporting of outcomes is uneven – High PD & Low
UA2. Funding agent is external to the nations – Positive
association b/w OD values & robustness of evaluation
3. Rural Areas – Measurement problem4. Present population – Too small5. No consistent reporting for cross cultural OD case
studies6. Possibility of close fit hypothesis being wrong7. Inappropriate basic conceptual distinctions –
Distortion of cultural variance due to geography
Organization Development and National Culture : Where’s the Fit?
Alfred M. JaegerMcGill University
Definitions of OD• French and bell : A long range effort to improve an organisation’s
problem solving and renewal processes, particularly through a more effective and collaborative management of organisational culture-with special emphasis on the culture of formal work teams-with the assistance of a change agent, or catalyst, and the use of the theory and technology of applied behavioural science, including action research
Culture according to Schein
Three levels• Basic assumptions and premises• Values and ideology• Artefacts and creations
An Empirical Model of Culture• Power distance• Uncertainty avoidance• Individualism• Masculinity expresses
“Everybody looks at the world from behind the windows of a cultural home and everybody prefers to act as if people from other countries have something special about them”
Personality
Culture
Human Nature
Inherited & Learned
Learned
Inherited
Specific to individual
Specific to group or category
Universal
Hofstede (1994) Three Levels of Uniqueness on human mental programming
Critiques of the model• Representative – The data is focused around the
respondents in one organisation – IBM
• Validity of the dimensions – Blodgett et al (2008) after examining Hofstede’s model
OD Values and National Cultures• Tannenbaun and Davis’ OD Values • Moving away from and Moving toward –
McGregor’s theory X and Y
OD values in Hofstede’s dimensions• Power distance: Low• Uncertainty avoidance: Low• Masculinity: Low• Individualism: medium
OD Values and National ratings• U.SPower distance: MediumUncertainty avoidance: LowMasculinity: HighIndividualism: High• 3 DimensionsHardly DifferentSomewhat DifferentVery Different
High Power DistanceFrance, Greece
ItalyPortugal
Spain, Turkey
Low Power DistanceDenmarkIrelandNorwaySweden
High UAFrance
Greece, ItalyPortugal
Spain, Turkey
Low UADenmarkIrelandSweden
UK
MasculineGreeceIreland
ItalyUK
FeminineDenmarkFinland Norway
Portugal, Sweden
High Individualis
mDenmark,
FinlandFrance, Ireland
Italy, NorwaySweden, Italy
UK
High Collectivism
PortugalGreeceTurkey
Hofstede (1994) Cultures & Organizations – The Four Cultural Dimensions
FinlandUK
FinlandNorway
SpainFranceSpainTurkey
1 – Power Distance 2 – Uncertainty Avoidance
3 – Individualism/Collectivism 4 – Masculinity/Femininity
EXAMPLES OF CULTURAL BARRIERS TO ODUnited Kingdom – Steele (1977)• Norms – Avoidance of unsuitable topics, favoring
security and stability vs. unknown• Sense of fatalism and Deeply rooted class structureSwitzerland – Bennis (1977)• OD Program cancelled• Conflict with president’s valuesJapan• Absence of assertive training due to results that are
deviant• Conflict with Japanese cultureUSA – Steele & Crockett (1977)• Accepted in Southern California than New England
SPECIFIC INTERVENTIONS & CULTUTRAL DIMENSIONS• OD’s espoused values Birthplace• MBO & OD – Hofstede – Planned Organizational
Change• Independence for negotiation (Less power
distance), Willingness for risks (Weak Uncertainty Avoidance) & Importance to performance (High masculinity)
• Germany – High UA – Mgmt. by joint goal setting• France – MBO unsuccessful• Humanization of work – Job enrichment –
Masculinity dimension• T-groups replaced by Development groups• Confrontation meeting – One day meeting –
Beckhard (1967)
SPECIFIC INTERVENTIONS & CULTUTRAL DIMENSIONS• Confrontation Meeting – Six Steps• Climate setting, information collecting,
information sharing, priority setting & group action planning, immediate follow-up by top team and progress review – Inappropriate in countries with High UA
• Survey feedback – Questionnaire about employee attitudes and percepetions
• Task orientation - Depends on degree of masculinity
INTERVENTIONS FOR PROBLEM SITUATIONS• Divergence of dimensions from OD values –
Failure• High UA – Reluctance as a result of
unpredicatability• Depth intervention• Target of change – Formal to informal system –
Harrison (1970)• Target of change – job enrichment, MBO, T-groups
and group psychotherapy
Sample Interventions
Intervention targets
Job enrichment Formal System
MBO Formal & Informal system (role expectations)
Managerial Grid Formal & Informal System (intra & intergroup interactions)
Survey feedback Formal & Informal system (attitudes & feelings)
Team building Informal & Formal system
T-groups Informal system & self
Group psychotherapy
Self and informal system
INTERVENTIONS FOR PROBLEM SITUATIONS• High PD – No confrontation• High masculinity – Lack of relationships and
feelings• Two types of interventions – Survey feedback &
Third party peace making – in case of High UA• Third party – carrier of information
SUCCESSFUL ADAPTATIONS OF OD
Use of Transactional analysis
• Latin America• Japan• India• Pakistan• Nigeria
GUIDELINES FOR ADAPTING OD• Success of intervention – Skill of OD practitioner• Knowledge of host culture• Steps for OD intervention1. Evaluate rankings of dimension of culture in
situation2. Judgements about deeply held values unlikely to
change3. Evaluate problem appropriate interventions
rankings on culture dimensions4. Choice of intervention with low risk for values5. Incorporate process modifications for cultural fit• National culture – rooted in individual