Assignment 3 Organizational an National Cultures in Polish-US Joint Venture

Kreitner, R. (2009). International Management and Cross-Cultural competence. (11th ed.). Management. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage

Itideed, so much has been written that summary is all but impossible. The principles of organizational behaviour have long been acknowledged, and legions of authors have attempted to develop both a theory and practice of cross-cultural management. To quote in this paper the more salient works in the field would merely be redundant. The conclusion from studies on cross-culture management is that managers must analyze and become familiar with the hidden language of foreign cultures. Some key starting points include: perceptions of time, space, material possessions, and friendship; patterns of business agreements; religion, language, and tradition; educational levels; urbanization and minority patterns; features of social and business customs; crime rate and corruption levels; attitudes towards foreigners; and social structure. Although sociology and psychology, as fields of research and practice, have been entertained in connmunist countries, they have served mainly 'social-engineering ' purposes, in that they have been subordinate to pditical agendas. Relatively litUe attention has been paid to the impact of national culture detominants on organizational solutions. Even in the rare instances where local enqnrical studies of this sort have been performed, results have frequently been incommensurable with research in the West. A number of works (published before political/economic changes began in 1989) have dealt with issues of organizational culture in Poland

Those that go into the business world quickly recognize that each work environment they find themselves in can be total different from another. This can especially be said even of environments within the United States, from region to region. There is definitely a disparity of workplace environments from country to country. Not only can culture drive a varied atmosphere, but the diversity of the personnel making up that environment can equally create a challenge that a leader must be prepared to manage. Recognizing that special care needs to be placed on communication and perception skills is crucial in our present professional domain. Managers of today need to employee tools from the psychological and sociological field to be successful. Having a deep understanding in the differences in culture and diversity in the workplace is critical, especially when debating about accepting a position overseas or assigning an employee to an embedded position abroad. With a broad knowledge of cultural differences and diversity, success as a manager and the stability of a positive work environment can be achieved and maintained without unnecessary effort and focus.

Globalization and technological advancement have dictated the need for managers to deal with multiple ethnic groups with different culture in their day to day interactions. According to Kulkarni (2012), cultures play critical roles in individuals, including values, beliefs, humor, worries, fears, hopes, opinions, attachments, and anxieties.

The substantial part of the article concentrates on the way companies and their managers should embrace contemporary multinational market. The author claims: “Adaptation strategies are better suited to opportunities opened by the shift in the locus of teh global growth. (..)Western markets must compete in big emerging markets like China and India. But they can;t forcé their way in.” That is why, it is critical to pay careful attention to political, economic, or cultural diversity. Ghemawat is skilled in giving pieces of advice to those who underestimate the importance of countries differences and similarities. He also says: “I propose that every MBA gradúate – and presumably every global manager – have a mínimum body of globalization related knowledge, including (..)an understading of how differences between countries can influence cross-border interactions; awareness of the benefits of teh additional cross-border integration’.

Cultural diversity can be defined as the existence of a variety of cultural or ethnic groups within a society. On the surface, many may think cultural diversity in the workplace is pretty self explanatory. However, if you go a little deeper you will find that diversity in the workplace not only consists of culture, but also race, religion, communication, background, and demographics all which play an important role in what configures the differences within a workplace. Understanding the root of why people act a certain way, have a specific dress code, or how they approach conflict may possibly be the difference between an innovative, productive work environment and an inefficient, non productive work environment. It’s important that those in the workplace try their best to get along and not pass judgment on those who seem different from first glance. Ensuring cultural understanding makes sure that entire chain of command operates smoothly to allow the business to perform at maximum potential.

Managers were concerned about knowing and understanding each and every perspective of their employee’s cultures. As they know that without studying or knowing the culture, coordination cannot be built between the employees. It is the existing perspective of managers dealing with cross-cultural management (Sultana, 2013).

The importance of understanding cultural, ethnic and gender differences by managers and professionals in a business setting is essential to make the work environment comfortable. In every culture there are basic standards of thinking, and acting and these cultural differences strongly influence workplace values and communication. What may be considered acceptable and natural in the workplace for one person may be unacceptable for another person. People from diverse cultures bring new ways of thinking, creativity and language skills needed to survive in today’s work force. In many

It is critical to organizations because the employees are from different cultural backgrounds. These distinctions have to be considered when making decisions because they have an impact on formal work relationships and performance. This understanding is more paramount to multinational organizations because they have business operations right at the heart of different cultures in the various countries. The success of global firms depends on how well the management handles the cultural differences and uses them to the advantage of the

The various theories are providing a way for firms to understand cultural differences and address these issues. This is achieved through utilizing these strategies in conjunction with one another to comprehend the root causes of the problems and introduce solutions to them. When this happens, a neutral culture is established that is taking into account numerous traditions and theories. These different ideas are providing an avenue for dealing with the complex relationship that exists between headquarters and their subsidiaries. This is the point that everyone can communicate and collaborate on a host of issues (using a culturally neutral perspective). (Janssen 2009) (King 2009)

Mead, R. & Andrews, T.G. (2009) International management. 4th ed. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons.

Effective cross-cultural management has to be grounded in a detailed knowledge of individual cultures. Discuss using examples from two multinational companies.

Within every environment and business, culture plays a role in many different ways. In my reading I have found that culture is defined as the shared intellectual programming of the human mind which differentiates one group of individuals from another group. It has often been understood that statements about culture do not describe “reality”; they are all general and relative”. Often times you will find that dependent upon the person, culture can be very subjective, meaning everyone sees things in a different view forming their personal opinions. According to this weeks’ case study we were challenged to determine and understand how culture and environment affect institutions and their management. This paper will assess how Linda Myers, from the required reading, “The Would-Be Pioneer,” was affected by the huge culture shock of working for a global conglomerate from Seoul, South Korea. I will highlight what went wrong with Ms. Myers from my point of view over the course of her assignment. I will also analyze the cause by explaining the problem Ms. Myers is encountering using the Hofstede’s five dimensions of culture to compare Korean and American assumptions about interpersonal relationships and management. Finally I will conclude through proposing a solution by making a recommendation of three specific

When cultures are not respected or appreciated it will effect negotiations and operations. The mix of the cultures within the departments collaborating on project teams and managing can take its toll if the organization has not been cross-trained on cultural differences. The cultural differences on conflict resolution, teamwork, and problem solving can be profound. For example, in the Japanese culture the board room is not used to have discussions. Instead the boardroom and meetings are meant for progress reports. Unlike the Western culture where we use meetings to have discussions, debate, and sometimes physically display our views when we disagree with someone. It is examples like these that can take a place in the business that will set the company back or destroy it before it can even begin. While personality cannot be changed our cultural response can be. It is a learned set of beliefs, values, assumptions, and can be constantly evolving with the right training.

Many opportunities are associated with a culturally diverse workplace and global expansion may have potential to provide just such a diverse work group. Cross-culturalism in business can provide leaders and employees with a wonderful opportunity to work with people from different backgrounds and cultures. In addition, “the more opportunities for business leaders to interact with people from different cultures, the more likely they will be to have positive attitudes from different cultures and identify, learn and apply diverse culturally-appropriate business behaviors” (Caligiuri & Tarique, 2012, p. 614). Culturally diverse environments offer a multitude of benefits including “the variety of perspectives, skills and personal attributes” (Matveeve & Nelson, 2004, p. 254). Moreover, multicultural teams have potential to “generate more ideas of higher quality in brainstorming tasks” (Matveeve &