viii managing across culture issues

7/27/2019 VIII Managing Across Culture Issues

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Managing across culture

issues & perspectives

Sun Lilu, LecturerDepartment of Human Resource Management

School of Economics & Trade,CQITChongqing 400037

People’s Republic of China



Cul tural Styles

Reference Trompenaars, Fons and Hampden-Turner, Charles .Riding the Waves of Culture:Understanding Cultural Diversity in Global Business (2nd edition). New York: McGraw-Hill,1998, pages: 1-

10, 29-36, 49-53, 68-75, 80-81, 105-111, 121-122.



Theories and Themes

Late 1950s– Edward Hall Anthropologist.( ) World War II -- U.S. Army in Europe and the Philippines. Later,

Director of the Foreign Service Institute training program. He observe first hand the many difficulties created by failures of intercultural communication.

Proxemics – human use of space within the context of culture Personal space and community (town) space, Also looked at

monochromic ( ) and polychromic( ) time



Late 1960s– Geert HofstedeFounded and managed personnel research dept of IBM Europe.Surveyed 116,000 IBM employees in 40 countries on preferences

around management style and work environment

4 dimensions where differences by country were significant power distance

uncertainty avoidance individualism/collectivism masculinity /femininity later discussed a 5th dimension = long term view (Asia)



Late 1980s Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-TurnerConsultants

By 1998: 15 years of research – questionnaire based. Framework from Talcott Parsons, US Sociologist (Harvard 1927-1973)

30 companies, 50 countries, 30,000 people 7 fundamental dimensions of culture:

relationships with people universalism vs. particularism individualism vs. communitarianism (collectivism) neutral vs. emotional

specific vs. diffuse achievement vs. ascription understanding of time attitudes toward environment



Late 1990s Robert J House et al– Project GLOBEProfessor at Wharton since 1988. by 2004: 10 years of research

150 researchers, 18,000 managers in 62 countries.Questionnaire. A few industries.

9 cultural dimensions assertiveness future orientation

gender differentiation uncertainty avoidance power distance collectivism vs. individualism

in-group collectivism performance orientation humane orientation Plus looking for leadership traits that are consistent across cultures

– charisma



Today ’ s t op ic s

Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner : 4 of the7 fundamental dimensions of culture relationships with people

universalism vs. particularism individualism vs. communitarianism (collectivism) neutral vs. emotional

specific vs. diffuse achievement vs. ascription



Before we start, I reiterate some caveats:There will be anecdotes and stereotypes. Show each other respect.Try not to offend each other.This is about NOT making assumptions!!!

These continua are frameworks. Lenses through which you can assess a situation AND yourself. Do not expect your own experiences to map perfectly to the anecdotes you hear.This course looks to build your awareness that the same

action/activity/situation may very well have different meanings.



Social DimensionsReference

Javidan, Mansour and House, Robert J. “Cultural Acumen for the Global Manager: Lessons from Project GLOBE.” Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 29, No. 4, pages 289-304, Spring 2001.

House, Robert J.; Hanges, Paul J.; Javidan, Mansour; Dorfman, Peter W. and Gupta, Vipin .Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies. Thousand Oaks,California, 2004, pages: 410, 411; 365, 366; 622, 623; 539, 540; 250, 251; 573, 574.

Schneider, Susan and Barsoux, Jean-Louis . Managing Across Cultures (2nd edition). Essex,England: Pearson Education Limited, 2003, pages 87-95.



Theory

Reminder -- Late 1960s– Geert HofstedeFounded and managed personnel research dept of IBM Europe.Surveyed 116,000 IBM employees in 40 countries on preferences round managemestyle and work environment 4 dimensions where differences by country were significant:

power distance uncertainty avoidance individualism/collectivism masculinity/femininity 5th = long term view (Asia)

GLOBE takes “masculine/feminine” and creates 2 categories

assertiveness

o gender differentiation Additional studies did not always get the

same results. Dimensions still useful – even though results variable. (World is different – not just IBM being studied)



Assertiveness and Gender Differentiation

Schneider & Barsoux) High masculine 1. Task not relationships 2. Motivation by money and things, not quality of life 3. Leadership – ensure bottom line profits and set targets 4. “Feminine” leader would safe -guard employee well-being and demonstrate concern for social responsibility

(GLOBE) – Gender Differentiation = society maximizes gender role differentiation. Who gets status and decision-making power

(GLOBE) Assertive = society encourages people to be tough,confrontational, assertive and competitive (not modest and tender).Can-do vs. cooperation and harmony.

Uncertainty avoidance deals with a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity.



(Schneider & Barsoux) High uncertainty avoidance1. More formalization, more written rules and regs 2. Risk avoidance 3. Motivated by stability and security 4. Leaders – plan, organize, coordinate, control

(GLOBE) society seeks orderliness, consistency, structure NOTE – Be explicit about difference between discomfort in unstructured situations (are there traffic rules for crossing the streetand “risk avoidance”

Power distance, the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally.



Schneider and Barsoux) High power distance

1. More hierarchy 2. More supervision (narrow span of control) 3. More centralized decision-making 4. Motivated by status and power

5. Leaders revered or obeyed as authorities (GLOBE) – expectation that power is shared Unequally.

Correlation across two dimensions:

Hofstede found that there was a correlation between power distance and uncertainty avoidance that provided insight into the kinds of organization that tend to be successful in those environments.



Orientation to Time and Space

Reference Trompenaars, Fons and Hampden-Turner, Charles . Riding the Waves

of Culture:Understanding Cultural Diversity in Global Business (2nd edition). New York:

McGraw-Hill , 1998, pages 123– 128, 132-144. Gesteland, Richard R . Cross-Cultural Business Behavior:

Marketing,Negotiating and Managing across Cultures (2nd

edition). Copenhagen:Copenhagen Business School Press, 2000, pages 55-62.



Time

Past vs. present vs. Future – Know what matters! Ascription vs. current achievement vs. potential History as determinant (bloodlines)

Current abilities as determinant (current race)

Monochronic– Polychronic– Richard GestelandNumber of concurrent tasks:Single task to multi-task

Flexibility of schedule – time allocation AND sequencing: rigid to fluid Degree of punctuality:absolute to absent



Space

Size of “personal bubble” –Edward Hall– What is “too close” in what situations?

Close family Close friends Business partners Social acquaintances

Business acquaintances Strangers



What is “private?”

If I work with you, how much access do you expect to have to myoffice space,my personal life and home?re:Specific vs. Diffuse -- (level of involvement) – access is to a specific

portion of someone’s life – or diffuse – access to one private area is access to all private areas. Plus wide range of delineation of what i public (shared readily) and what is private (your refrigerator or youcar?). Separation of business and private vs. merging of biz and private. How do you create a private space? (physical barriers,visual delineations, aural cues, eye contact, etc)



L eadership Effectiveness

ReferenceKouzes, James and Posner, Barry . The Leadership Challenge. San

Francisco:Jossey-Bass, 2002 (3rd edition), pages 13– 22, 24-25. Goleman, Daniel. “Leadership that Gets Results.” Harvard Business Review,March-April 2000, pages 78-90.

Derr, C. Brooklyn; Roussillon, Sylvie and Bournois, Frank . Cross- Cultural Approaches to Leadership Development. Westport,Connecticut: Quorum Books,2002, pages 290-292.

Graham, John l. and Lam, N. Mark . “The Chinese Negotiation.” Harvard Business Review, October 2003, pages 82-91.



Theories

Kouzes & PosnerModel the Way – behavior that wins you respect, lead from own

values, examples are often on the simple things – spending time with people, working side by side, telling stories, being visible during crisis/uncertainty

K&P list (top four) Honest Forward Looking Competent Inspiring



Inspire a Shared Vision – vision of what could be, total belief in making that vision a reality, AND can inspire commitment to that vision in others. Forging a unity of purpose. Incredibly enthusiasti

Challenge the Process – take risk. Pioneer. Willing to step into the unknown and change the status quo. Don’t have to invent – do

have to adopt early. Help others feel safe in risk-taking. Problems shape leaders – who learn from failure (and successes).Enable others to Act – trust, empowerment, teamwork. Give people

the chance of autonomy, discretion, authority. Provide both the resources and the safety net.

Encourage the Heart – help others feel strong and capable. Show appreciation. Create celebration. Recognition. (from the heart).Lship IS about strong and sustainable relationships.



Goleman

Threshold capabilities (intelligence, appropriate skills, cognitive skills– bigpicture thinking, long-term vision)

Emotional Intelligence (twice as important for outstanding performance)

Self-awareness Self-regulation – reasonable people create an environment of trust and fairness. Roll with the changes.

Motivation – achieve for the sake of achievement Empathy Social Skill – knack for building rapport



Welch (4 E ’ s )

Integrity Intelligence (breadth of knowledge plus emotional intelligence) Energy Energize Edge (courage to make tough decisions) Execute Passion



Leadersh ip m etaph ors

Derr, Rousillon and Bournois: USA – The Free Agent, superstar

Latin America – The General, strong man in charge France – The Genius, intellectual elite UK – The Diplomat Germany – The Master, expert in field Japan – Senior Statesman China – Warlord, has local power ( Traits of Chinese

Leader )



Graham and Lam (ChineseNegotiation):

– Guanxi ( Personal connections and individual social capital) – Zhongjian Ren (The intermediary) – Shehui Dengji (Social status and deference to superiors) – Renji Hexie (Interpersonal harmony) – Zhengti Guannian (Holistic thinking) – Jiejian ( Thrift) – Mianzi (Face) – Chiku Nailao (Endurance)

viii managing across culture issues

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