Tesi - uno studio interculturale: Aspettative degli studenti e criteri decisionali relativi al contesto di lavoro internazionale

Università degli Studi di Bergamo

Dipartimento di Scienze aziendali, economiche e metodi quantitativi

Corso di Laurea Specialistica in Management, Finance and International Business

Classe n. 77 – Management, Leadership and Marketing in inglese

A cross cultural study: students’ expectations and decision criteria concerning the international working context. Recommendations for companies

Anno accademico 2016 / 2017 1

Index

Index ……………………………………………………………...5

Table of contents

List of figures …………………………………………………………………….7

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………...9

1. Interests about the research ………………………………………………..9

2. Explanations of the research ………………………………………………..11

• Starting point ……………………………………………………………12
• Purpose ………………………………………………………………….18
• Methodology and structure ……………………………………………..19

Chapter 1 – Foundations

Chapter 1 Foundations …………………………………………………….21

1.1 The concept of diversity and diversity management ..21

………………………...24

1.1.1 The global context and workforce diversity

1.1.2 Multicultural teams and interpersonal relationships ………………..26

1.1.3 Diversity management and the inclusive workplace ………………...28

1.2. The concept of culture and cross-cultural... ………………………...………………………………….29 Management

1.2.1 Cross-cultural theorists and researches ………………………………31

• Hofstede’s study ………………………………………………..31
• Schwartz value survey ………………………………………….33
• Hall ……………………………………………………………..34
• Trompenaars’s Dimensions …………………………………….35
• The GLOBE study... ……………………………………………36

1.2.2 Activities in cross-cultural and diversity management ………………39

1.2.3 Advantages and disadvantages of diversity and cross-cultural management …………………………………………………………...40

1.2.4 Culture and country attractiveness in the target areas ……………….43

• United Kingdom ………………………………………………44
• The Scandinavian region ……………………………………...47
• Germany ………………………………………………………49
• Spain …………………………………………………………..51
• Italy ……………………………………....................................54

1.3 Dealing with cultural diversity and activities associated to cross-cultural diversity management ….57

1.3.1 Cross cultural interaction model ……………………………………58

… ………………...…58

1.3.2 Cross cultural dimension of decision making

1.3.3 Communicating across cultures …………………………………….61

1.3.4 Motivation across cultures ………………………………………….62

Chapter 2 – Decision criteria and expectations of students

Chapter 2 - Decision criteria and expectations of students ….65

2.1 Challenges when looking for a job ………………………………………...65

2 when looking for a job …………………………………..67

2.2 Decision criteria

2.3 Expectations ……………………………………………………………….68

Chapter 3 – Research method

Chapter 3 - Research method ……………………………………………..71

3.1 Starting point and objectives ………………………………………………..71

3.2 Research process ……………………………………………………………73

Target countries and students’ home universities …………………………..76

3.3

3.4 Questionnaires and online surveys …………………………………………79

3.5 Limits of the survey. ………………………………………………………..85

Chapter 4 – Empirical analysis

Chapter 4 - Empirical analysis …………………………………………...87

–4.1 Statistics Demographic criteria …………………………………………...87

4.2 Results ……………………………………………………………………..100

• Countries’ attractiveness and unattractiveness ………………………100
• Companies’ attractiveness and students’ expectations ………………106
• Students’ skills ……………………………………………………….113
• Students’ expected organizational culture …………………………...117

Comparison and research’s answers ………………………………………124

4.3

Chapter 5 – Observation concerning students from different countries

Chapter 5 - Observation concerning students from … …………………………………...141 Different countries

5.1 Skills (foreign language, social skill, problem solving, critical thinking)...143

5.2 Flexibility and adaptability ………………………………………………..147

“Far-sickness” vs. “Home-sickness” ……………………………………...148

5.3

5.4 Global and cultural awareness …………………………………………….149

Chapter 6 – The “fittest students” and how to get them

The “fittest students” and how to get them …151

Chapter 6 -

6.1 Implications and recommendations for companies …150

6.2 Further researches ………………………………………………159

Chapter 7 – Conclusion

–Chapter 7 Conclusion ……………………………………………………..161

References ………………………………………………………………………165

Acknowledgments ………………………………………………………..….173

34

Table of content

List of tables

Tab. 1 Non-national population by group of citizenships, 1 January 2015. Source: Eurostat

Tab. 2 Demographic data of the targeted countries. Source: Eurostat, Indexmundi (CIA world factbook) and population growth rates based on the United Nations estimates

Tab. 3 Population projection of the targeted countries. Source: Eurostat

Tab. 4 Hofstede's Ranking. Source: Hofstede. "Countries comparison." The hofstede centre, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2017. <https://geert-hofstede.com/countries.html>.

Trompenaars’s countries Rankings. Adapted from “Riding the waves of Tab. 5 culture” (1993)

Tab. 6 Selection methods and processes by country. Adapted from Ryan, McFarland, Baron (1999). An international look at selection practices

Tab. 7 Demographic results from the Scandinavian cluster, own graph

Tab. 8 Demographic results from the Anglo cluster, own graph

Tab. 9 Demographic results from the German cluster, own graph

Tab. 10 Demographic results from Spain, own graph

Tab. 11 Demographic results from Italy, own graph

Tab. 12 Demographic results from the Latin European cluster, own graph

Tab. 13 Comparison concerning the expected working environment, own graph

5

List of graphs

Elements of countries’ attractiveness across the target clusters. Own graph

Graph 1

Graph 2 Willingness to work abroad. Comparison across countries. Own graph

Country’s unattractiveness and major limits for students. Own graph

Graph 3 Students’ perceptions on job opportunities abroad and in their home countries.

Graph 4 Own graph

Company’s attractiveness and students’ decision criteria on future employers.

Graph 5 Own graph

Graph 6 Importance of diversity management based on the means. Own graph

Graph 7 Expectations concerning potential employers in the host country. Own graph

Graph 8 Limits and fears of students concerning a potential employer in the host country. Own graph

Graph 9 Knowledge about the global working context offered by the educational systems. Own graph

Students’ self-evaluation.

Graph 10 Own graph

Students’ evaluation of students’ common skills in their home countries. Own

Graph 11 graph

Graph 12 Decision criteria among students from the Latin European cluster

Graph 13 Comparison between the Anglo and Scandinavian cluster: Expectations concerning a future job abroad

Graph 14 The German cluster : Expectations concerning a future job abroad

Graph 15 The Latin European cluster: Expectations concerning a future job abroad

Graph 16 Comparison between the Anglo and Latin European cluster. Limits concerning a potential job abroad

6

List of figures

The four “target” regions

Fig. 1

Fig. 2 Design and structure of the final dissertation

“The four layers of diversity”, Gardenswartz & Rowe, 2003

Fig. 3

Fig.4 Three levels of mental programming, Adapted from Hofstede (1980)

Fig 5 Co-plot on a two-dimensional representation of value dimension across 57 countries. Sagiv & Schwartz (2000)

Fig 6 Distinction of low-context and high-context cultures. Adapted from Hall E.T., (1976). "Beyond culture". New York: Doubleday

Fig. 7 Country clusters division based on the GLOBE study

Fig. 8 Partition of the nine dimensions across the targeted clusters. Adapted from the GLOBE study

Fig. 9 Spheres of activity in the management of cultural diversity. Cox & Blake, 1991. Pp. 46

Fig. 10 Hofstede's UK Ranking. Source: Hofstede. "Countries comparison." The Hofstede centre, Web

Fig. 11 Adapted from Hofstede's Ranking. Source: "Countries comparison." The Hofstede centre, Web

Fig. 12 Hofstede's Germany Ranking. Source: "Countries comparison." The Hofstede centre, Web

Hofstede’s Spain Ranking. Source: Hofstede, "Countries Fig. 13 comparison." The Hofstede centre, Web

Fig. 14 Hofstede's Italy Ranking. Source: Hofstede, "Countries comparison." The Hofstede centre, Web

Fig. 15 Questionnaire and online survey design, own graph

–Fig. 16 Structure of the first part of the questionnaire demographic statistics

Fig. 17 Structure of the second part of the questionnaire

Fig. 18 Structure of the third part of the questionnaire

Fig. 19 Structure of the fourth part of the questionnaire

Students’ expected organizational culture divided in low and high-context Fig. 20 cultures. Own graph

Fig. 21 Distinction of low-context and high-context cultures. Adapted from Hall E.T., (1976). "Beyond culture". New York: Doubleday

Fig. 22 The psychological contract model (Guest and Conway).

Fig. 23 Suggestion for enhancing the company’s attractiveness

Fig. 24 Advices for the retention of students and talents from abroad. Own graph.

78

Introduction

1. Interest about the research

I have always been fascinated by the cultural differences and the resulting exchanges and interactions among cultures. This interest, however, increased even more when I started to travel and live in different cultural contexts such as Germany, Spain, the United States and Mexico.

At every trip and experience I lived, I was increasingly realizing the cultural differences and values across the various countries and, at the same time, wondering if it was possible to increase cultural exchanges and interactions among people from unrelated backgrounds. To those questions, there were others such as: "What does it happen to people (especially to students like me) when leaving their home country to live abroad?"; "How is their experience in another culture different from their own?"; in an international context?"; “Are their expectations "What are their expectations matched?”; “How do they overcome certain cultural shocks?”; “How can they identify themselves with the host country’s values and consequently feel integrated?”.

While I was studying in Mexico (during one of the extra-European Erasmus programs that I experienced), and I started studying for the course “Cross-cultural diversity management”, which gave me some answers to my previous questions and at the same time it seemed like it was reflecting my life over the past five years.

Thanks to this course, with a sharper focus on the workplace, the interest in the cross-cultural and diversity management in the international working environment was born. I wonder which are the motivations, fears and expectations of students once they decide to work when staying abroad and which are the best connections for their needs when they look for a job. On the other hand, I also wonder which are the companies’ needs, their fears and expectations when looking for new talents.

This final dissertation is the result of the union of multiple topics, ranging from the study of international business to the management of diversity to that of culture and human resources. It aims to find expectations and fears of students coming from five different European areas such as the Scandinavian region (Norway, Sweden and Finland), Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom to give to international companies and multinationals an adequate support to help students’ integration in the companies and multinationals an adequate support to international workplace context and to discover how they can deal with human resources from different backgrounds. 9

Moreover, the work may also help companies to find out and choose which are the employees who best fit with their company’s culture, how they may be motivated and what they benefit from.

This final dissertation is not just a typical paperwork made by researches, statistics, online surveys and questionnaires. It is more than a piece of paper. It is a two-months-travel around Europe, from North to South, to find out directly how students perceive the challenging international context and how culture shapes their needs an