Preview

Cross-Cultural Analysis of Building an Effective Motivational Process: China and Usa

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2903 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Cross-Cultural Analysis of Building an Effective Motivational Process: China and Usa
National Research University – Higher School of Economics

Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs

Department of Strategic Management

Essay topic: “Cross-cultural analysis of building an effective motivational process: China and USA”

Moscow, 2013

Content

Introduction 3
Cross-cultural motivation 4
Major cross-cultural concepts 7
Building an effective model of cross-cultural motivation 10
Bibliography 13

Abstract

In the modern world it is essential to understand the cross-cultural peculiarities and manage them in order to succeed in business. It has to be done not only while negotiating, but also while being engaged in other management processes, such as: leadership, communication, decision making and problem solving and motivation. Little research has been done on cross-cultural motivation study, whereas it is the issue of utmost importance to motivate employees to work efficiently when doing business internationally. To illustrate the motivation cross-cultural process more precisely so that a real difference between cultures and types of motivations needed can be seen, this paper is concerned with two cultures, Chinese and North American.

Introduction

The paper will be organized in the following way. First, popular motivation theories will be reviewed through the lense of cross-cultural management. Secondly, major cultural concepts studying the dimensions of national culture will be introduced on the example of China and US. Thirdly, the issues listed above will be applied to suggest a model of cross-cultural motivation in the case of North American culture meeting Chinese one. And, finally, the suggested model will be justified or demolished using the cases in existing practice.

The significance of the research is confirmed by the notion that motivation process is not universal, thus is should take into account the cultural differences.



Bibliography: 1) R. Moran, Ph. Harris, S. Moran. (2011): Managing Cultural Differences. 8th ed., Elsevier Inc. 2) M. Armstrong. (2009): Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 11th ed., Kogan Page Limited- London and Philadelphia. 3) Герчиков В.И. Мотивация, стимулирование и оплата труда персонала. – М.: ГУ-ВШЭ, 2007. 4) Hofstede G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions and organizations across nations. -2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc. 7) Heidi von Weltzien Hoivik (2007). East Meets West: Tacit Messages about Business Ethics in Stories Told by Chinese Managers. Journal of Business Ethics 74:457-469 8) Adler, N 9) Herzberg F., Mausner B., Snyderman B. (1957). The motivation to work. Wiley, New York 10) G 11) T. Jackson, M. Bak (1998). Foreign companies and Chinese workers: employee motivation in the People’s Republic of China. Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol.11 12) Maslow (1962) 13) V. Vroom (1964). Work and Motivation. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 14) McGregor, D. (1960), The Human Side of Enterprise, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. 15) J. K. Giacobbe-Miller , W. Zhang (1997) Equity, equality and need as determinants of pay allocations: A comparative study of Chinese and US managers. Employee Relations, Vol. 19. MCB University Press. 16) P. S. Hempel (2001) Differences between Chinese and Western managerial views of performance. Personnel Review Volume: 30

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Guirdham, Mauren. “Cultural Differences at Work”, Ch.2, Communicating Acress Cultures, 3rd edition 2011 Palgrave MacMillan…

    • 1070 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Armstrong, M., 2012. Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, 12th edition. London: Kogan Page.…

    • 3107 Words
    • 89 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    High-Performance Teams

    • 1210 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Saji, B. (2004). Cross Cultural Management, Vol 11, Iss 4; Pg 40. Retrieved April 25, 2006 from…

    • 1210 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Wang, J. (2001). A comparison of managerial style and work motivation between the People 's Republic of China and Taiwan. (D.B.A. dissertation), Retrieved from ABI/INFORM Global.(UMI No.3035498).…

    • 2683 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Management Summary This Bachelor Thesis will yield insights in the applicability of motivational theories across cultures. Within a globalizing working environment this research will provide relevant information on how to motivate employees with a different cultural background. The research combines the theory of Hofstede’s four dimensions (Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism/Collectivism and Masculinity/Femininity) with two theories of motivation; (1) extrinsic motivational theory and (2) intrinsic motivational theory. The Japanese and the Chinese culture are first subjected to the four dimensions of Hofstede, and later they are analyzed for the applicability of one or both motivational theories. The Japanese culture values harmony highly and is very collectivistic. However, the country is tending towards more individuality. Furthermore, the Japanese accept a natural order; which implies a high degree of power distance. In addition to that the Japanese are uncertainty avoidant. Regarding the last dimension of Hofstede Japan can be characterized as shifting from a masculine culture towards a more feminine culture. The Chinese culture shows some resemblance with the Japanese culture. This culture, too, is collectivistic and has a high valuation of harmony. And, again, a high degree of acceptance of hierarchy can be found in the Chinese culture. Furthermore, the Chinese are rather uncertainty avoidant; this can be seen in aspects as fear of the loss of face. On the last dimension of Hofstede, the Chinese score in between, tending a bit more towards femininity. The outcome of this Thesis shows that none of both motivational theories can be applied across cultures. This means…

    • 9192 Words
    • 37 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The world has become an integrated place- a person driving a BMW to his office in Hyderabad wearing an Italian suit, a Swiss watch, working for a client in U.S. This is a common trend that is now observed across majority of the organizations.Many multinational companies providing high quality products and services need dynamic workforce to manage the activities of the organization. So, people from different cultures, backgrounds, interests, behaviour and values as proposed by their culture interact with each other and form a part of the organization. This has resulted into many multi-cultural challenges faced by the international organizations at employee level. So, it results into the need for management of such diverse workforce in the organization which gives rise to the concept of Cross Cultural Management. Cross Cultural Management refers to the management practice of managing the cultural differences between the different people of the organization in order to ensure smooth communication for achievement of the organizational objectives. There are many strategic alliances in today’s global economy of the world which gives rise to the need of establishing intercultural competencies to form strong working relationships with subordinates, business associates and clients. There is a need for individuals of different cultures and nationalities work together as a team and share their knowledge and do not entangle themselves with cultural disputes and differences. For this, there has to be a harmony between them as well as understanding of and respect for each other’s culture and values. The organizational performance could…

    • 694 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Lewis, R. D. (1999). When cultures collide: Managing successfully across cultures. (Revised edition.) London: Nicholas Brealey.…

    • 5053 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    16. P. R. Harris and R.T. Moran (1987).Managing Cultural Differences. 2nd Edition., Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, TX.…

    • 3311 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chich-Jen Shieh, I.-M. W.-J. (2009). The relationships among cross-cultural management, learning organization, and organizational performance in multinationals. Social Behavior and Personality , 37(1), 15-30.…

    • 2556 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Motivation and motivators differ across cultures as well as leadership and leaders. Practices that might be highly motivating for employees in one country may not be as effective in others. In some cultures work is more central to one’s life than in other cultures. In culture’s that value work, people’s self-identity is derived from their work; they “live to work”. In some cultures which place less value on work, people’s self-identity is tied to other factors such as family, friends, etc.; they “work to live”.…

    • 2598 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Tagreed, I. K. (2012). Cross-cultural differences in management. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(6) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/924460426?accountid=458…

    • 698 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Best Essays

    airasia

    • 3760 Words
    • 16 Pages

    7. Jackson, T. &Bak, M. (1998). Foreign companies and Chinese workers: employee motivation in the People 's Republic of China. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 11(4), 282 – 300. doi: 10.1108/09534819810225869.…

    • 3760 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Shi, Tianlin, Ma, Yangxiang & Fan, Jin. (2004). Cross-cultural management in transnational operation of Enterprises.…

    • 2561 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Kluckhohn, F., and Strobeck, F. L. Variations in Value Orientations. Evanston, Il.: Row, Peterson, 1961. Hofstede, G. Culture’s consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values Beverly Hills, Ca: Sage, 1980. ________ “Motivation, leadership, and organizations: Do American theories apply abroad?” Organizational Dynamics (Summer, 1980). ________ “Cultural constraints in management theories.” Academy of Management Executive, (1993)7, 81-94. Hofstede, G., and Bond, M.H. “The Confucious connection: From cultural roots to economic growth.” Organizational Dynamics, (Spring, 1988) pp. 4-21. James, L. R., Mulaik, S. A. & Brett, J. M. Causal analysis assumptions, models, and data. Beverly Hills, Ca: Sage, 1982. Lane, H. W., DiStefano, J. J., Maznewski, M. L. International Management Behavior. Cambridge, Ma: Blackwell, 2002. Lytle, A. L., Brett, J. M., Barsness, Z. I., Tinsley, C. H., & Janssens, M. “A paradigm for confirmatory cross-cultural research in organizational behavior.” Research in Organizational Behavior, (1995)17, 167-214. Maehr, M. L. “Culture and achievement motivation.” American Psychologist, (1974) 29;12, 887-896 McClelland, D. C., Atkinson, J. W.; Clark, R. A.; and Lowell, E. L. The 14…

    • 4926 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Western managers can enter China with an armory of motivational techniques which have proved useful back home. To some extent the legislative framework provided barriers to innovative practices, for instance, FIEs faced restrictions on recruitment and…

    • 2085 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics