Effect of culture in business
1. A growing number of Americans work for foreign-owned firms in the United States. Do you think that these American employees are being influenced by the foreign owner's approach to management and the culture of the country of the owner?
Because of globalization, businesses are open to do business in new markets and improving profits. Also because of globalization, companies are faced with different cultures, religion and norms. For a company to do business in another country, a manager needs to understand the differences associated with the host country. "Globalization is defined as this interdependency of transportation, distribution, communication, and economic networks across international borders" (Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly, & Konopaske, 2012, p 57). Each firm has their own organizational culture. According to Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman (2001), organizational culture represents a complex pattern of beliefs, expectations, values and behaviors shared by organizational members. The knowledge of the culture in which an employee is working is crucial. "In a dynamic and fast changing environment the inter and intra organizational behavior changes the productivity and growth trends" (Chaturvedi, 2002).
Because of the organizational culture most foreign-owned firms will tend to impose that culture on their employees. Just like U.S. companies settling abroad, foreign-owned companies will face some difficulties operating in a country with different culture. Based on Hofstede's research, which studies how values in the workplace are influenced by culture, four dimensions have been "identified as explaining:
Uncertainty avoidance: "degree to which people are comfortable with ambiguous situations and with the inability to predict future events with accuracy" (Gibson et al., 2012, p 69).
Masculinity-Femininity: A culture that has a high masculinity orientation tends to emphasize on dominance, assertiveness, and interdependence. A culture with tendency of
Because of globalization, businesses are open to do business in new markets and improving profits. Also because of globalization, companies are faced with different cultures, religion and norms. For a company to do business in another country, a manager needs to understand the differences associated with the host country. "Globalization is defined as this interdependency of transportation, distribution, communication, and economic networks across international borders" (Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly, & Konopaske, 2012, p 57). Each firm has their own organizational culture. According to Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman (2001), organizational culture represents a complex pattern of beliefs, expectations, values and behaviors shared by organizational members. The knowledge of the culture in which an employee is working is crucial. "In a dynamic and fast changing environment the inter and intra organizational behavior changes the productivity and growth trends" (Chaturvedi, 2002).
Because of the organizational culture most foreign-owned firms will tend to impose that culture on their employees. Just like U.S. companies settling abroad, foreign-owned companies will face some difficulties operating in a country with different culture. Based on Hofstede's research, which studies how values in the workplace are influenced by culture, four dimensions have been "identified as explaining:
Uncertainty avoidance: "degree to which people are comfortable with ambiguous situations and with the inability to predict future events with accuracy" (Gibson et al., 2012, p 69).
Masculinity-Femininity: A culture that has a high masculinity orientation tends to emphasize on dominance, assertiveness, and interdependence. A culture with tendency of
References: Assess-and improve-your global skills. (2012). _HRMagazine, 57_(8), 79. Retrieved from http://www.shrm. org/countryguides Bhuian, S. N., Al-shammari, E. S. and Jefri, O. A. (2001), Work-related attitudes and job characteristics of expatriates in Saudi Arabia. Thunderbird Int 'l Bus Rev, 43: 21-32. doi: 10.1002/1520-6874(200101/02)43:1<21::AID-TIE3>3.0.CO;2-B Chaturvedi, A. (2002). Organizational behavior. _Finance India, 16_(4), 1482-1484. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxylocal.library.nova.edu/docview/224360708?accountid=6579 Gibson, J.G., Ivancevich, J.M., Donnelly, J.H., Konopaske, R. (2012). _Organizations: Behavior, structure, processes_ (14th ed.)_._ New York: McGraw-Hill. Goodall, K.L.N., Warner, M. (2007). Expatriate managers in China: The influence of Chinese culture on cross-cultural management. _Journal of General Management._ Retrieved from: http://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/research/working_papers/2007/wp0701.pdf Hellriegel, Don, Slocum, John W. & Woodman, Richard W.; Organizational Behavior, South-Western Thomson Learney, 2001, pp 671.