Study of Organizational Culture in Singapore
Introduction The reason behind choosing Singapore as my country of interest mainly was that I did my Co-Op there in Fall of 2011. Personally I loved the country as a work place. Also I noticed during my stay there the amount of awareness they had about green technologies and environmental issues. Singapore is like the best of both worlds. Culturally and climate wise similar to Asia and rules, regulations and policies of those like any western country. Singapore has a mixed racial population. There are Chinese (mainly), Malay, British expats, Indians staying there as Permanent Residents for so many years harmoniously together.
Review
Culture may be viewed as a group 's "collective being" which is both static and dynamic in nature, and may be studied by looking at the dimensions of the "collective being" at a point in time as well as over time (RALSTON et al). Low’s (2009; 2002) studies cites the twelve Singaporean values and these values are then cited and used to examine the key value(s) that prevail among these Singapore companies. According to his thesis there are eight types of corporate culture existing in Singapore. They are shown in Table 1: The 8 Singapore Corporate Cultural Types * Profit or the Mee-pok Man/ Street Noodle Seller Culture values:
i. Profits ii. Thriftiness (frugal and prudence) and this also brings about its * Co-operative Culture values: i. Social objectives and the needs of the community. ii. Subscribe to Corporate social responsibility * Modernizing/ the Bum-boat Owner Culture values:
i. Going modern and professionalism, using technology to reap the ii. benefits of automation and technology. iii. consultants to update its corporate image. * Sole proprietor/ Towkay and Family Culture values: i. “Boss-centered” ii. Creating “all-in-the-family”, a personal and caring atmosphere, iii. building a high sense of belonging and togetherness. * Stability or the Orchid Shirt and
Review
Culture may be viewed as a group 's "collective being" which is both static and dynamic in nature, and may be studied by looking at the dimensions of the "collective being" at a point in time as well as over time (RALSTON et al). Low’s (2009; 2002) studies cites the twelve Singaporean values and these values are then cited and used to examine the key value(s) that prevail among these Singapore companies. According to his thesis there are eight types of corporate culture existing in Singapore. They are shown in Table 1: The 8 Singapore Corporate Cultural Types * Profit or the Mee-pok Man/ Street Noodle Seller Culture values:
i. Profits ii. Thriftiness (frugal and prudence) and this also brings about its * Co-operative Culture values: i. Social objectives and the needs of the community. ii. Subscribe to Corporate social responsibility * Modernizing/ the Bum-boat Owner Culture values:
i. Going modern and professionalism, using technology to reap the ii. benefits of automation and technology. iii. consultants to update its corporate image. * Sole proprietor/ Towkay and Family Culture values: i. “Boss-centered” ii. Creating “all-in-the-family”, a personal and caring atmosphere, iii. building a high sense of belonging and togetherness. * Stability or the Orchid Shirt and
References: 1. A. RALSTON, DAVID. "DIFFERENCES IN MANAGERIAL VALUES: A STUDY OF U.S., HONG KONG AND PRC MANAGERS."Journal Of International Business Studies”. 24. (1993): 2 7. Michael Minkov , Geert Hofstede “Cross Cultural Management”. An International Journal Vol. 18 No. 1, (2011). 10-20 8