Appunti International Management

RESTRAINT:

- regulate and control behaviour based on social norms

- individuals participate in fewer activities; express less happiness; maintaining order is vital; friendship is less important than work ethic; introverted personalities and stricter moral disciplines.

- Ex. In Asia and Eastern Europe (Egypt, Russia, India, China)

OTHER CULTURAL MODELS - TROMPERNAARS

1. universalism VS. particularism (approach towards formal rules)
2. individualism vs communitarianism
3. neutral culture vs emotional culture
4. specific culture vs diffuse culture
5. achievement culture vs ascription culture

Trompenaars also looked at attitudes toward both time and the environment.

- Time can be viewed as sequential, synchronous, future-oriented or past- and present- oriented.

- Environment is the degree to which people believe that they can control outcomes (inner-directed) or let things take their own course (outer-directed)

CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT: GLOBE's cultural Dimensions

The Global Leadership and

1. GLOBE research program measures cultural differences.
2. GLOBE extends and integrates the previous analyses of cultural attributes and variables published by Hofstede and Trompenaars.
3. Phases one (2004) and two (2007) focused on middle managements (9 different cultural attributes).
4. Phase three (2012) examined the interactions of culture and leadership in upper-level management positions.
5. Focus on 9 different cultural attributes defined, conceptualized, operationalized by multicultural team.
6. GLOBE (1991): Global leadership and Organizational Behaviour Effectiveness -> additional approach to measuring cultural differences.
7. CHAPTER 5: THE ROLE OF CULTURE
8. THE STATEGY FOR MANAGING ACROSS CULTURES
9. As MNs become more transnational, their strategies must address the cultural similarities and differences in their varied markets. Renault made strategic decisions that changed how it did business.
10. Renault acquired interest in established foreign automakers (Nissan,

STRATEGIC PREDISPOSITION (firm orientations)

Most MNCs have a cultural strategic predisposition toward doing things in a particular way. 4 distinct predispositions have been identified.

1. Ethnocentric predisposition: the values and interests of the parent company guide strategic decisions. (profitability, hierarchical products divisions, needs of home country customers)
2. Polycentric predispositions: strategic decisions are tailored to suit the cultures of the countries where the MNC operates. (ex tortellini bolognesi non si)

possono vendere ai turchi) (public acceptance, Bottom-up governance, national units, local needs)

3. Regiocentric predispositions: the firm tries to blend (fondere) its own interests with those of its subsidiaries on a regional basis. (profitability + public acceptance, mutually negotiated governance between region and subsidiaries, product and regional organization tied through a matrix, flexible manufacturing, marketing standardize within regions)

4. Geocentric predispositions: the company tries to integrate a global systems approach to decision making. (profitabilitity + public acceptance, network of organizations, flexible manufacturing).

Successful MNCs use a mix of these predispositions based on the demands of the current environment.

MEETING THE CHALLENGE

Many MNCs are committed to a globalization imperative, a belief that one worldwide approach is key to both efficiency and effectiveness. However, effective MNCs are continuing their efforts to address local needs.

- Yet, these factors

CROSS-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES

Cultures can be a similar or quite different across countries – the challenge is to recognize and effectively manage the similarities and differences.

Parochialism is the tendency to view the world through one’s own eyes and perspectives. - A temptation for the international managers.

Simplification is the process of exhibiting the same orientation toward different cultural groups. - This orientation reflects an individual’s basic culture.

Effective international managers understand the culture in which they do business.

While there are cultural differences, there also are similarities – not everything is totally different.

SIMILARITIES ACROSS CULTURES

Some similarities across cultures have been

incentive plans.- In high-masculinity cultures, pay high salaries to senior managers.- In EU nations, compensation strategies should be similar.In the U.K, Ireland and the US, managers value individualism.- Motivate – earnings, recognition, advancement and challenge.Conventional wisdom about HRM practices in certain countries are no longer valid.- Traditionally, Japanese employees did not leave their jobs for other firms.- Job-hopping among Japanese employee is becoming increasingly common.

GLOBE ANALYSIS: comparing values inChina, US and ArgentinaExamination of the globe project hasresulted in a breakdown of how managersbehave and how different cultures canyield managers with similar perspectives insome realms and diverge in other sectors.

MANAGING CULTURE IN CHINADespite china’s global presence, manyMNC’s still find that doing business inchina can be a long, gruelling process.- A key criterion for doing businessin china is technical competence.- The Chinese tend to valuepunctuality,

so arrive on time.- Keep in mind that patience is critically important.- Another important dimension of Chinese culture is GUANXI, which means “good connections”, but resembles nepotism.- The Chinese, as a collective society, pride themselves on being members of a group.- In negotiations, reciprocity is important.- The transitioning economy has caused a shift in business culture, affecting professionals’ private lives.

MANAGIN CULTURE IN INDIA

In recent years, India has begun to attract the attention of large MNCs.- Shaking hands with male business associates is almost always an acceptable practice.- A universal greeting, “namaste”, means “greetings to you”.- For Western business people in India, light weight and light coloured business casual attire or, in formal attire if called for, is the norm.- Indian business people will wear local dress and foreign business people are not expected to dress like locals.- Remember that Indians are very

Tolerant of outsiders and understand that many are unfamiliar with local customs and procedures. - There is no need for phony attempts to conform to Indian culture.

CHAPTER 6

THE NATURE OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

Organizational culture is the shared values and beliefs that enable members to understand their roles in the norms in the organization. Characteristics of an organization's culture:

• Observed behavioural regularities.
• Philosophy about the treatment of employees and customers.
• Organizational climate (overall atmosphere of the enterprise).
• Rules dictate dos and don'ts.

The major problem is if an MNC's organizational culture in one country's facility differs sharply from organizational cultures in other country's facilities.

In some cases companies have deliberately maintained 2 different business cultures because they do not want one culture influencing the other. (ex. Tata and its controlled Daewoo).

INTERACTION

BETWEEN NATIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

There is a widely held belief that organizational culture tends to moderate or erase the impact of national culture. In fact, evidence is accumulating that just the opposite may be true.

Hofstede's research found that the national cultural values of employees have a significant impact on their organizational performance. And that the cultural values employees bring to the workplace are not easily changed by the organization.

In examining and addressing the differences between organizational cultures, Hofstede provided the early database of a set of proprietary cultural-analysis techniques and programs known as DOCSA = Diagnosing organizational culture for strategic application.

DIMENSIONS OF CORPORATE CULTURE

If the motivation is activities-oriented, then focus is to be consistent and precise, to strive for accuracy.