MAN4605 0001 Cross Cultural Management Exam 3 Study Guide Creating Cultural Synergy Do Managers See Culture o Survey of 60 consultants 2 3 said culture had no impact on mgt 1 3 said culture had a negative impact Only one person reported a positive impact of culture on Is Seeing Culture Illegitimate or Inappropriate o Many believe that recognizing culture differences is organizations Offensive Simplistic Racist Ethnocentric Unprofessional Pretending Culture Doesn t Make a Difference o Based on North American cultural norms that argue that everyone should be treated the same o Confuses recognition with judgment o Causes foreigners to become projections of ourselves Effective cross cultural management begins with recognition of cultural differences Cultural Diversity Causes Problems o Organizational Costs Increases Ambiguity Increases Complexity Increases Confusion Difficulty Converging Meanings Miscommunication Harder to Reach Agreement Harder to Agree on Specific Actions Culture Specific Disadvantages o Costs of Working in a Specific Culture Overgeneralizing Organizational Policies Overgeneralizing Organizational Strategies Overgeneralizing Organizational Practices Overgeneralizing Organizational Procedures Ethnocentrism Diversity Creates Advantages o Expanding Meanings Greater Openness to New Ideas Multiple Perspectives Multiple Interpretations o Expanding Alternatives Increasing Creativity Increasing Flexibility Increasing Problem solving Skills Culture Specific Advantages o Better Understanding of Local Employees o Better Able to Work with Local Clients o Better Able to market Effectively to Local Customers o Increased Understanding of Local Political Social Economic and Cultural Environment their parts taken separately Cultural Synergy The behavior of whole systems that cannot be predicted from Summary o In management synergy means developing strategies policies structures and practices that transcend the distinct cultures of their members o Effective cross cultural management begins with the recognition of your own culture and the new culture you are working with o Once similarities and differences are assessed a synergistic approach can be developed o Synergistic approaches use culture as an advantage by creating approaches that include both cultures in a new approach Multicultural Teams The Nature of Organizational Culture o Organizational culture Shared values and beliefs enabling members to understand their roles and the norms of the organization including Observed behavioral regularities typified by common language terminology rituals Norms reflected by things such as the amount of work to do and the degree of cooperation between management and employees Dominant values that the organization advocates and expects participants to share Low absenteeism high efficiency o Other values and beliefs customers Philosophy set forth regarding how to treat employees and Rules dictating do s and don ts of employee behavior pertaining to productivity intergroup cooperation and customer relations Organizational climate as reflected by the way participants interact with each other treat customers and feel about how they are treated by senior level management Interaction between National and Organizational Cultures o National cultural values of employees may significantly impact their organizational performance o Cultural values employees bring to the workplace are not easily changed by the organization Organizational Cultures in MNCs o Shaped by numerous factors including cultural preferences of leaders and employees o Some MNCs have subsidiaries that aside from logo and reporting procedures wouldn t be easily recognizable as belonging to the same MNC o There are four critical steps to successfully integrate organizational cultures after international expansion via mergers acquisitions 1 The two groups establish the purpose goals and focus of their merger 2 Then mechanisms are developed to identify most important structures and manager roles 3 Next the groups determine who has authority over resources 4 Finally the expectations of all involved participants are identified communication between departments and individuals is facilitated Types of Diversity in Teams o Homogenous Members all from the same culture o Token groups One member from a different culture o Bicultural 2 or more members represent each of two distinct cultures o Multicultural Members represent three or more distinct cultures Cultural Diversity s Impact on Teams o Actual Productivity Potential Productivity Losses Due to Faulty Process Causes of Process Losses in Multicultural Teams o Attitudinal Problems Dislike and Mistrust o Perceptual Problems Stereotyping o Communication Problems Inaccuracy Misunderstanding and Inefficiency o Stress o Decreased Effectiveness Potential Productivity Advantages o Diversity Increases Creativity o Diversity Forces Enhanced Concentration to Understand Others o Increased Creativity Helps Generate Better Problem Definition More Alternatives Better Solutions and Better Decisions o Diversity Reduces Groupthink Counterproductive Groupthink Behaviors o Self censoring o Diversity can hurt performance when Task is routine The task stage is entry or deciding on actions Diversity is not effectively managed o Sharing an illusion of unanimity o Direct pressuring of dissenters o Self appointed mind guards Effectively Managing Team Diversity o Diversity can improve performance when Task requires innovation The task stage involves problem description and analysis Diversity is effectively managed Managing Cultural Diversity o Recognize Differences o Task Related Selection o Establish a Vision or Superordinate Goal o Equalizing Power o Creating Mutual Respect o Giving Feedback Summary o Culturally diverse teams rarely achieve their full potential to be more effective than unicultural teams o The secret of making multicultural teams successful is balancing their increased creativity with the development of the cohesion needed for a group to work together