Organizational behavior + national and organizational culture

Organizational Behavior and National Culture

We started the course of Organizations and Cultures learning about Organizational Behavior, national and organizational culture.
First of all, it is important to understand what culture means. Based on the definition of Helen Deresky in her book “International Management: Managing Across Borders & Cultures”, we can conclude that a culture is the system where people within a specific group or society share their beliefs, values, attitudes, understandings and goals which are transmitted from one generation to another.
Every nation or organization have their own culture and people who want to get into a new organization must adapt their beliefs, values, etc. so they can fit in the new group that they are willing to belong.

“OB is the study of individual behavior and group dynamics in organizations.” (1). This definition refers to the environment in which we live day by day; the people, organizations and cultures that we have to face every day. This is why it is really important to know how an individual person or a group of people act and develop in organizations.

To understand completely the meaning of Organizational Behavior we should comprehend what human behavior and organization mean. When we analyze human behavior we must take into account two perspectives: The first one is the internal perspective, which refers to the factors inside the person, his/her thoughts, feelings, experiences and needs. And the second one is the external perspective, which considers factors outside the person, external events and the environment.

On the other side, Nelson and Quick in their book “Understanding Organizational Behavior” define an organization as a “structured social system consisting of groups and individuals working together to meet some agreed-upon objectives”. We can find formal and Informal organizations. The formal organization refers to the policies, objectives, mission, vision, products and services and the Informal Organization refers to the values, beliefs, feelings and attitudes shared in an organization.

Another important concept related to organizational behavior- suggested by Eric Brown, ProLine International’s VP of Global Business Development- is how to manage behavior in times of change. He explains that an organization should be adapted to changes in a good way, seeing challenges as a positive opportunity given to the company. He suggests that organizations must follow 4 steps:

1. To have a positive attitude
2. Ask questions
3. Listen to the answers
4. Be committed to success.

In the globalized world we live today, it is really important to understand all these concepts and to apply them to our way of life. When we have the opportunity to meet people from other countries it shows respect when we demonstrate that we care about their culture even though is different from ours. This could probably be an advantage in a business environment.


References:
• (1) Nelson, Debra L. and Quick, James Campbell. “Understanding Organizational Behavior” chapter #1 Organizational Behavior and opportunity.
• Deresky, Helen. International Management: Managing Across Borders & Cultures.
• Mead, Richard. 2004. International Management: Cross-Cultural Dimensions London: Blackwell Publishing. Chapter 1.


1. Question
Considering the conference "Dealing with Cultural Differences" by Nick B. Meyer, choose 1 cultural dimension and use 2 hypothetical but realistic situations - or real ones - to illustrate the business implications of cultural differences, you may not use situations or examples already discussed in class or in the conference.

" Culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and often a disaster." Prof. Geert Hofstede, Emeritus Professor, Maastricht University.

Nowadays it is really important to know how people in other cultures behave so we can be more effective when interacting with them in other countries. This is why it is so useful to understand Prof. Geert Hofstede´s research about the 5 Dimensions.

Based on Prof. Geert Hofstede´s website http://www.geerthofstede.nl/culture/dimensions-of-national-cultures.aspx Hofstede´s 5 Dimensions are:
1. Power Distance Index (PDI)
2. Individualism (IDV)
3. Masculinity (MAS)
4. Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI)
5. Long-Term Orientation (LTO)
I decided to choose the Long Term Orientation Dimension to illustrate the business implications of cultural differences.

SITUATIONS:
1. In 1995, Carrefour tried to get into China (Country with the highest-ranking in Long term Orientation according to Geert Hofstede), willing to sign 5 contracts so they could open 5 stores there. While French people from Carrefour were waiting for Chinese people to sign the contracts so they could close the deals, the Chinese where focused basically in the long term relationships that they would be able to build with the Carrefour’s managers. For this reason, Chinese people were trying hardly to know their business partners and the people with which they were about to close the deal before doing it. They were patient, persistent, loyal, committed and ordered relationships by status so they could give everyone the treatment deserved by his/her position in the company. Meanwhile, Carrefour’s entrepreneurs were anxious for signing the contracts and were less interested of knowing their partners and establishing a long term relationship with them.
Finally, they got to sign the contracts, but while French people followed them strictly, Chinese people were not so attached to them and more to the things that they had spoken and to the relationship they had built, so they could breach the contract anytime. For this reason, they found a lot of inconvenience in doing businesses together, because sometimes they were not looking for the same objective or they were just going in different directions.



2. Canada is one of the less Long Term Orientated countries (High-ranking in Short Term Orientation according to Geert Hofstede). When they do businesses all over the world they are more concerned about respecting the other culture traditions, they value more every action and people’s attitude that is affected by the past or the present and they prefer to solve the problems immediately than getting to know each other and establishing a long term relationship.
Canadians are really attached to the contracts and documents that they sign; this is why they have to be careful when doing businesses with long term oriented cultures like Japan, because they will probably differ in some aspects from the negotiation terms to the contract closure. While Japanese people could be interested in building a long term relationship, Canadians could interpret this in a different way, thinking that they are not committed enough and are just wasting time, which for Canadian people means money. In some cases the contracts could not be signed due to this cultural differences and misunderstandings.

References:
• Hofstede, Geert (1997). Culture and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill (ch7).
• Lessons from a global retailer an interview with the president of Carrefour China, the mackenzie quarterly http://zonecours.hec.ca/documents/H2008-P5-1549360.CarrefourChina.pdf
• International Management, Culture, Strategy and Behavior (6th edition, Hodgetts-Luthans-DOH).
• Conference "Dealing with Cultural Differences", Nick B. Meyer
• http://www.geerthofstede.nl/culture/dimensions-of-national-cultures.aspx


2. Essay

According to John Kotter and James Heskett in their book “Corporate Culture and Performance”: “Corporate Culture refers to the values, customs, traditions, and meanings shared by a group of people that make an organization unique”.

After analyzing this definition, it can be concluded that there is a corporate culture in every organization, because each group of people inside a corporation share their own values, beliefs, traditions, etc. all these aspects make the difference between one organization and another.

Corporate culture can be seen as the character or personality of an organization, which in some cases is positive for its members and for the entire group, but in other cases it can be a negative aspect that may cause conflicts and inconvenience inside the organization. For this reason, sometimes it is important to keep studying and analyzing the corporate culture to see if it requires changes or modifications in search of improvement and a better environment or atmosphere inside the corporation.

Generally when people work together they are looking for the same organizational objective and goals. But each person has its own way to work in achieving those goals. This is why it is important to have a clear corporate culture that can serves as a way of organization, comprehending an entire group that will be guided by some values and attitudes so they can be clearer in the direction they have to take for achieving the organization’s objective.

"If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else!" (1). When the whole group gets to know and learn the aspects of the corporate culture, will be able to understand better not only the goals and objectives, but the vision and mission, which obviously help to increase the productivity of the organization.

It is also really important to have a clear corporate culture inside the organization, because when a new employee is hired, he/she should be able to understand and learn the common values, attitudes, customs and traditions shared by the corporation. In this way he/she would be able to be adapted immediately and would probably be more useful for the organization.

According to Susan M. Heathfield in her article “How to Change Your Culture: Organizational Culture Change”: “Changing your organizational culture is the toughest task you will ever take on. Your organizational culture was formed over years of interaction between the participants in the organization”.

Even though it is a difficult task, I think corporate culture can be modified, because every corporation is dynamic, so employees and managers change with time and also does the environment in which the company moves. When the corporate culture and the organization’s politics are not working and are a significant cause of the negative results that a corporation is presenting, the head of that organization has to consider some changes in the attitudes, customs, traditions, etc. and everything that conforms that culture.

After studying and deciding that the current corporate culture must be changed, the organization has to define strategies and decide how they should change their culture in order to achieve success for the entire corporation. Each individual inside the organization must understand the upcoming benefits and be capable of changing his/her behavior so they can finally have the desired corporate culture.
According to Ellen Wallach, "Organizational culture is like pornography; it is hard to define, but you know it when you see it."

References:
• (1) David G. Javitch, Ph.D.," Employee Management " columnist, an organizational psychologist and president of Javitch Associates.
• Deborah L. Knox and Sandra S. Butzel Life Work Transitions.com: Putting Your Spirit Online http://www.lifeworktransitions.com
• Wallach, Ellen. Organizational development consultant
• Heathfield, M. How to Change Your Culture.

Images taken from:

• http://www.mysteryshoppinglive.com/take-care-of-your-organizational-culture-engage-the-frontline-personnel/
• http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_china.shtml
• http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_canada.shtml
• http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_japan.shtml