Multinational Enterprises – Organizational Culture vs. National Culture
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
J o u r n a l
o f
M a n a g e m e n t
C a s es
Multinational Enterprises
– Organizational Culture vs.
National Culture
Sabine Scheffknecht
Leeds Metropolitan University, UK
This situation brings a lot of advantages (less dependence on the economy or political situation of one single country; differentiated marked position; economy of scale through the size of the business; use of synergies; etc.) but also comprises the challenge to combine many different nationalities and with this also diverse cultures under one roof.
Abstract
Multinational enterprises are the engine of the world’s economy. Reason enough to focus exactly on this kind of organizations within this paper.
Analyzing multinational enterprises it has to be recognized that such an organization is in fact not one homogenous company but most often a conglomerate of companies spread out around the world. Most of these multinational enterprises try to establish a common organizational culture within their companies (e.g. workshops to communicate the values).
To be able to use the advantages mentioned above, it is important that not too much energy within the organization is lost through cultural barriers. Therefore, many multinational enterprises try to establish an own organizational culture to find a common “language” or way to collaborate all around the world.
Although the efforts are high to create such a culture there are still national or regional cultural influences which can not be avoided. Assuming that the organizational culture or at least the efforts to establish such a culture are the same within one international enterprise, differences in certain behaviour may come from these national differences. However, it is not possible to fully neglect the influence of the national / regional culture. Therefore, although these enterprises often run expensive programs to establish a common organizational
culture,
J o u r n a l
o f
M a n a g e m e n t
C a s es
Multinational Enterprises
– Organizational Culture vs.
National Culture
Sabine Scheffknecht
Leeds Metropolitan University, UK
This situation brings a lot of advantages (less dependence on the economy or political situation of one single country; differentiated marked position; economy of scale through the size of the business; use of synergies; etc.) but also comprises the challenge to combine many different nationalities and with this also diverse cultures under one roof.
Abstract
Multinational enterprises are the engine of the world’s economy. Reason enough to focus exactly on this kind of organizations within this paper.
Analyzing multinational enterprises it has to be recognized that such an organization is in fact not one homogenous company but most often a conglomerate of companies spread out around the world. Most of these multinational enterprises try to establish a common organizational culture within their companies (e.g. workshops to communicate the values).
To be able to use the advantages mentioned above, it is important that not too much energy within the organization is lost through cultural barriers. Therefore, many multinational enterprises try to establish an own organizational culture to find a common “language” or way to collaborate all around the world.
Although the efforts are high to create such a culture there are still national or regional cultural influences which can not be avoided. Assuming that the organizational culture or at least the efforts to establish such a culture are the same within one international enterprise, differences in certain behaviour may come from these national differences. However, it is not possible to fully neglect the influence of the national / regional culture. Therefore, although these enterprises often run expensive programs to establish a common organizational
culture,
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