National & Corporate Culture

Report on Discussion Task 5

National Cultures and Corporate Cultures

Culture is an essential aspect in the operation and management of business. Presently corporate cultures are chosen from a diversity of national cultures. In that process the organisational structure is influenced in the first place by the general relationship between employees and their organisation. In the second place the hierarchical system of authority defines superiors and subordinates, complemented by the general view of employees about the purpose and goals of the organisation and their contribution to such.

Specifying, there occur four types of corporate cultures, differentiating between the person-oriented Family, the role-oriented Eiffel Tower, the project-oriented Guided Missile and the fulfillment-oriented Incubator.

The Family corporate culture is both personal, in a sense that it deals directly in face-to-face relationships, and hierarchical, where a particular person is in authority over or through those under his jurisdiction. Belgium, India, and Spain are some of the national cultures applying the family model in their corporate culture.

The Eiffel Tower corporate culture is characterized by a co-ordination of functions prescribed in roles through a supervisor, who in turn has another immediate superior that reports up to the hierarchy. This way specific relationships with statuses ascribed are fostered, and rules prescribed by the hierarchy subordinating everyone are obeyed. Australia, Hungary, and Venezuela are some of those countries employing this cultural set-up.

The Guided Missile culture is oriented to the fulfillment of projects undertaken by groups. It is egalitarian in approaching its people, yet it is basically task-oriented in dealing with goals. The United States, Norway and Ireland are countries whose corporate culture is that of the Guided Missile.

Incubators are created for the purposes of self-expression and self-fulfillment. Adapting this concept to corporate national cultures, the Incubator culture promotes the fulfillment of individuals. Being egalitarian and person-oriented, this cultural pattern operates in an intense emotional environment. The United Kingdom, Canada, and Switzerland are examples of this corporate culture.

In conclusion the differences between national cultures help form and determine the corporate culture the company selects as its business organisation.

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