Organizational Behavior: Understanding Cultural Differences

OrganizationalOrganizational
Behavior, 9/EBehavior, 9/E
Schermerhorn, Hunt, andSchermerhorn, Hunt, and
OsbornOsborn
Prepared by
Michael K. McCuddy
Valparaiso University
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 3 2
Chapter 3 Study Questions
Why is globalization significant for
organizational behavior?
What is culture and how can we
understand cultural differences?
How does cultural diversity affect people
at work?
What is a global view on organizational
learning?

Study Question 1: Why is globalization
significant for organizational behavior?
 Most organizations must achieve high
performance within a complex and competitive
global environment.
 Globalization refers to the complex economic
networks of international competition, resource
suppliers, and product markets.

Forces of globalization.
– Rapid growth in information technology and
electronic communication.
– Movement of valuable skills and investments.
– Increasing cultural diversity.
– Implications of immigration.
– Increasing job migration among nations.
– Impact of multicultural workforces.

Globalization is contributing to the
emergence of regional economic alliances.
Important regional alliances.
– European Union (EU).
– North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA).
– Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Forum
(APEC).

Outsourcing.
– Contracting out of work rather than accomplishing it
with a full-time permanent workforce.
Off shoring.
– Contracting out work to persons in other countries.
Job migration.
– Movement of jobs from one location or country to
another.

Global managers.
– Know how to conduct business in multiple
countries.
– Are culturally adaptable and often
multilingual.
– Think with a worldview and are able to map
strategy in the global context.
– Have a global attitude.
– Have a global mindset.

Culture.
– The learned, shared way of doing things in a
particular society.
– The “software of the mind.”
– Helps define boundaries between different
groups and affects how their members relate to
one another.
– Cultural intelligence is the ability to identify,
understand, and act with sensitivity and
effectiveness in cross-cultural situations.

Study Question 2: What is culture and how can
we understand cultural differences?
Language.
– Perhaps the most visible aspect of culture.
– Whorfian hypothesis — considers language as
a major determinant of thinking.
– Low-context cultures — the message is
conveyed by the words used.
– High-context cultures — words convey only a
limited part of the message.

Time orientation.
– Polychronic cultures.
• Circular view of time.
• No pressure for immediate action or performance.
• Emphasis on the present.
– Monochronic cultures.
• Linear view of time.
• Create pressure for action and performance.
• Long-range goals and planning are important.

Use of space.
– Proxemics.
• The study of how people use space to
communicate.
• Reveals important cultural differences.
– Concept of personal space varies across
cultures.
– Space is arranged differently in different
cultures.

Religion.
– A major element of culture.
– Can be a very visible aspect of culture.
– Influences codes of ethics and moral behavior.
– Influences conduct of economic matters.

Values and national culture.
– Cultures vary in underlying patterns of values
and attitudes.
– Hofstede’s five dimensions of national culture:
• Power distance.
• Uncertainty avoidance.
• Individualism-collectivism.
• Masculinity-femininity.
• Long-term/short-term orientation.

Power distance.
– The willingness of a culture to accept status
and power differences among members.
– Respect for hierarchy and rank in
organizations.
– Example of a high power distance culture —
Indonesia.
– Example of a low power distance culture —
Sweden.

Uncertainty avoidance.
– The cultural tendency toward discomfort with
risk and ambiguity.
– Preference for structured versus unstructured
organizational situations.
– Example of a high uncertainty avoidance
culture — France.
– Example of a low uncertainty avoidance
culture — Hong Kong.

Individualism-collectivism.
– The cultural tendency to emphasize individual
or group interests.
– Preferences for working individually or in
groups.
– Example of an individualistic culture —
United States.
– Example of a collectivist culture — Mexico.

Masculinity-femininity.
– The tendency of a culture to value
stereotypical masculine or feminine traits.
– Emphasizes competition/assertiveness versus
interpersonal sensitivity/relationships.
– Example of a masculine culture — Japan.
– Example of a feminine culture — Thailand.

Long-term/short-term orientation.
– The tendency of a culture to emphasize future-
oriented values versus present-oriented values.
– Adoption of long-term or short-term
performance horizons.
– Example of a long-term orientation culture —
South Korea.
– Example of a short-term orientation culture —
United States.

Understanding cultural differences helps in
dealing with parochialism and
ethnocentrism.
– Parochialism — assuming that the ways of
one’s own culture are the only ways of doing
things.
– Ethnocentrism — assuming that the ways of
one’s culture are the best ways of doing
things.

Cultural differences in handling
relationships with other people.
– Universalism versus particularism.
• Relative emphasis on rules and consistency, or on
relationships and flexibility.
– Individualism versus collectivism.
• Relative emphasis on individual freedom and
responsibility, or on group interests and consensus.

relationships with other people (cont.).
– Neutral versus affective.
• Relative emphasis on objectivity and detachment,
or on emotion and expressed feelings.
– Specific versus diffuse.
• Relative emphasis on focused and narrow
involvement, or on involvement with the whole
person.

relationships with other people (cont.).
– Achievement versus prescription.
• Relative emphasis on performance-based and
earned status, or on ascribed status.

Cultural differences in attitudes toward
time.
– Sequential view of time.
• Time is a passing series of events.
– Synchronic view of time.
• Time consists of an interrelated past, present, and
future.

Cultural differences in attitudes toward the
environment.
– Inner-directed cultures.
• Members view themselves as separate from nature
and believe they can control it.
– Outer-directed cultures.
• Members view themselves as part of nature and
believe they must go along with it.

Study Question 3: How does cultural
diversity affect people at work?
Multinational corporation (MNC).
– A business firm that has extensive
international operations in more than one
foreign country.
– Have a total world view without allegiance to
any one national home.
– Have enormous economic power and impact.
– Bring benefits and controversies to host
countries.

Multicultural workforces and expatriates.
– Styles of leadership, motivation, decision
making, planning, organizing, and controlling
vary from country to country.
– Expatriates.
• People who live and work abroad for extended
periods of time.
• Can be very costly for employers.
• Progressive employers take supportive measures to
maximize potential for expatriate success.

Ethical behavior across cultures.
– Ethical challenges result from:
• Cultural diversity.
• Variations in governments and legal systems.
– Prominent current issues.
• Corruption and bribery.
• Poor working conditions.
• Child and prison labor.
• Business support of repressive governments.
• Sweatshops.

Advice regarding cultural relativism and
ethical absolutism.
– Multinational businesses should adopt core or
threshold values that respect and protect
fundamental human rights.
– Beyond the threshold, businesses should adapt
and tailor actions to respect the traditions,
foundations, and needs of different cultures.

Study Question 4: What is a global
view on organizational learning?
Organizational learning.
– The process of acquiring the knowledge
necessary to adapt to a changing
environment.
Global organizational learning.
– The ability to gather from the world at large
the knowledge required for long-term
organizational adaptation.

Are management theories universal?
– Answer is “no.”
– Cultural influences should be carefully
considered in transferring theories and their
applications across cultures.

Best practices around the world.
– Global organizational learning should identify
best practices around the world.
– Potential high-performance benchmarks exist
throughout the world.
– Cultural diversity enriches global organization
learning.

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Organizational Behavior: Understanding Cultural Differences

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