Sunday, December 8, 2019
International Intercultural Management for Nations- myassignmenthelp
Question: Discuss about theInternational Intercultural Management for Nations. Answer: Introduction The aim of this report is to highlight on the international intercultural management. In the globalised world and the development of economic interdependence among the nations, culture has been becoming vital in contemporary management of the business. At present, the expansion of globalization of business influences the culture on companys variables. These variables have been considered as one of the important determinant in the organizations success of doing their business operation in the global market (Spencer-Oatey 2015). Culture is defined as the deposit of beliefs, knowledge, values, religion, attitudes, roles, relations and the possessions that the individuals acquire through generations. Language as well as regional characteristics affects the business culture with the help of their core values. The globalization of a particular economy along with cross border alliance and ventures has introduced huge reforms in the aspect of international consumer relations as well as inter cultural management (Barmeyer and Franklin 2016). This led to a rise in appreciation by organization and hence managing differences in culture can be one of the key factors in doing things in effective way across borders. Intercultural management refers to the interdisciplinary field in human resource that is basically concerned with aiding communication and effectual interaction of the people across borders (Cassell and Blake 2012). In this study, the culture of Saudi Arabia has been compared to the national cultures of other two countries that includes India and Russia. This study also highlights on the cross-cultural analysis of Saudi Arabia with respect to the other two countries. It also includes evaluation of theoretical models such as Hofstede and Hall that has been applied in the cross-cultural analysis. The geographical data of Saudi Arabia reflects their total population, religious affiliations, language, level of education etc. Recent statistics highlights that the total population of this nation has been steadily increasing over the last few years. Near about 51%off the total population of Saudi Arabia is below 25 years of age. Saudi Arabias cultural environment is highly conservative and specially adheres to elucidation of Islamic religious law. However, men and women are not usually allowed to attend the events jointly and are also separated in their workplace. Thus, there has been no religious freedom within this nation. According to the recent estimates, the Islam comprises of two-thirds of the total population. In addition, other small communities and Christian population are also of uncertain size. Saudi Arabias official language is Arabic (Deresky 2017). The culture of India and Russia has been totally different with respect to Saudi Arabia. The culture of India has been l abeled as merger of different cultures and civilizations. In Russia, there are more than 100 languages spoken and the religion has been one of the basic components of their peoples life. However, religious freedom exists in these two countries and hence men and women are not discriminated in the workplace. There are some major inter cultural problems that each individual deals with in Saudi Arabia includes- Each person in this nation have confusion for lack of boundary between their private life and business Various hierarchy levels Lack of knowledge in the working process However, the other two nations must consider the following points for preventing these cultural problems. These includes- The people of these two countries must understand the behavior of Saudi Arabian and should not touch in their believe system and core values They must improve their personal relations and be flexible at certain times The people of other two nations must be open minded as well as aware of their cultural differences Cultural values are important in every nation as it provides the fundamental principles of integrating as well as organizing people, sorting of hierarchy, selecting of lifestyle and social behavior. The culture of Saudi Arabian particularly emphasizes on the use of silence, languages and other communication cues. Cross-cultural Analysis and evaluation of model Cross-cultural analysis refers to the comparative procedure of various cultural patterns in different societies, especially contrast of the cultural traits (Chanlat 2014). The analysis of cross culture is mainly intended in strengthening the interaction among the people of different countries and is an important problem in international business. The two theoretical frameworks of the cross-cultural analysis include Hofstede and Hall. Hofstede Model National culture has huge impact on the values of work. The dimension of Hofstede model of national culture is basically determined for 53 nations in the globe. According to this model, the workers and managers differs according to following national culture dimensions, which includes- Comparing individualism and collectivism Power distance Contrast between long term and short term orientation Uncertainty avoidance Individualism dimension refers to the extent of interdependence that each society maintain among the individuals (Elamin 2012). On the contrary, collectivism defines as the society where the individual from birth includes cohesive group protects their life in exchange of loyalty. Power distance refers to degree in which less powerful individuals of organizations within the specific nation expect that power have been unequally distributed. This aspect reflects that each person in the society is unequal. Besides the societies with high distance in power usually accepts huge power variation within the companies. Long-term orientation has been featured by the qualities on future rewards, especially perseverance. On the other hand, short-term orientation is usually featured by prediction of high consumption as well as low savings. The dimension of uncertainty avoidance evaluates the degree to which the individual of specific culture feels intimidated by unknown circumstances. Uncertainty avoidance also signifies the degree to which the society avoids the circumstances by implementing behavioral codes and establishing rules (French 2015). Therefore, the people with high avoidance of uncertainty are generally concerned with life security and usually avoid risk. On the other hand, the people with low avoidance of uncertainty are not concerned with life security and are highly risk tolerant. Comparing Saudi Arabias culture with the culture of India and Russia in Hofstede Insights Power Distance- The sore of Saudi Arabia is high, which reflects that the individuals accept hierarchical order and hence each individual has specific place. India also scores high in this dimension signifying appreciation for societys and entities hierarchy. Russia has high score in this dimension as power holders are distant in their society. Individualism and collectivism- Saudi Arabia scores low and has been considered as the collectivism society. However, their society promotes strong relationship among the individuals and hence each member takes responsibility of others in the group (Minkov and Hofstede 2012). India has intermediate score in this dimension and is the society with individualist as well as collectivistic traits. Russia scores low in this dimension and has the society with collectivistic traits. Uncertainty avoidance- Saudi Arabias score in this dimension is 80 and thus exhibits uncertainty avoidance. However, they uphold rigid codes of behavior and are also intolerant of unorthodox ideas (Thomas and Peterson 2017). On the contrary, India scores medium in this dimension and has less preference for uncertainty avoidance. Russia scores high in this dimension as Russians feels threatened by uncertain situations. Long-term orientation- The society of Saudi Arabia has normative nature and has lowest score in this dimension. The individuals in this society have normative thinking, which means that they exhibit huge respect for their traditions. India has intermediate score in this dimension, as preference in their culture cannot be determined. However, they have greater tolerance for their views about religion. Russia scores high in this dimension and is nation with pragmatic mindset. Therefore, the people in this society believes that truth relies on context, circumstances and time. Figure 1: Saudi Arabia culture in Hofstede insights Figure 2: Russia culture in Hofstede insights Figure 3: India culture in Hofstede insights Hall Model The Hall framework of both the high -context as well as low- context cultures has been one of the significant theoretical model for adopting intercultural communication. This framework is mainly related to three dimensions that includes- time, context and space. Time relates to the individuals of various cultures orienting towards time and the method by which they perceives it Context relates to the various ways of constructing meaning across cultures by utilizing different information. Space signifies various cultural models that organizes space with models internalized in each person According to this model, the individuals of monochromic cultures tend to be in low context while the individuals of polychronic cultures are usually of high context. High context and low context cultures It has been opined by Hall that cultures are characterized based on their style of communication in reference to the extent of non- verbal communication. Contexting allows each person in avoiding information overload, which in turn increases capacities of individuals in coping with complex information. Moreover, cultures helps in providing their individuals with various propensities to utilize contexting in regular communication (Jehanzeb, Rasheed and Rasheed 2013). As utilization of context differs across cultures, the transaction can be featured from high context to low context. This model also helps in providing better knowledge about how the individuals of various cultures perceive the same messages in various ways. Comparison of Saudi Arabias culture with the culture of India and Russia in the context of Hall Model Saudi Arabia has been considered in the culture of high context. Therefore, this signifies that the message conveyed by the people in this nation is usually based on additional communicative cues that includes body language, eye contact etc. Accordingly, the people in this country make assumption about the message that has not been conveyed. In addition, the culture of Saudi Arabia particularly emphasizes on the non-verbal communication for avoiding confusion in the business activities (Lauring 2013). Similarly, the communication style of India follows high- context culture. Therefore, in the most of the languages of India, the peoples communication to the elderly individuals uses respectful forms. On the other hand, as the people in Russia act polychronically, it follows low- context culture. The business that has been operating in Saudi Arabia is extremely conservative and ensures cross-cultural management (Moran, Abramson and Moran 2014). However, the people maintain appropriate formality degree and hence treat the individuals with huge respect. The intercultural competence as well as risk readiness has been low in this nation. Intercultural sensitivity has been vital with their peoples attitude towards risk. Limitations of these two frameworks The cultural dimension of Hofstede enable users in distinguishing nations but it does not reflect differences among the members of society. However, this model does not define the personalities of the individuals. Even the dimensions of cultures are not pertinent for contrasting the companies within the same nation. Furthermore, there are also certain limitations of Hall model that includes- High context is not efficient as well as productive while low context results in strained relations in workplace. In high context, the people are not pushed to highest efficiency whereas in low context it harms commitments to personal development. Cross cultural managerial analysis In the global economy, human resource management (HRM) has become one of the vital problems for effectiveness of the companies. The existence of cultural factors has been vital for the success of HRM. As the Arabic nations have various values as well as attitudes than other developed nations that might determine particular managerial approaches in the human resource (Robinson-Easley 2014). This nation has introduced several laws as well as policies including privatization, foreign investment for stimulating competition. However, this country has huge investment in HRM for achieving the development goals and raising their skill level. By developing HRM system in tribal society, it might result in several Saudi cultural effects on HRM practice. The impact of culture on the HRM practice in this nation reflects that the Arab countries are culturally different from few countries in the globe. All elements of culture plays vital role in the HRM practices (Neuliep 2017). The HRM practices is mainly dependent on the abilities of managers in understanding as well as balancing various cultural practices. Even in India and Russia, difference in regional cultures of the individuals leads to various problems in the organization operating in the respective nation. As the collective culture values of Saudi Arabia works, the pay performance structure identifies that the employees are destabilized when the HRM practices in organization tries to restrain it by writing statements on the forms in order to compensate the salary for the bad performers. It has been opined by Rothlauf (2015) that, culture has vital importance in companies preferences to develop proper structure for the HR practices. It has viewed by HR expert in Saudi Arabia tha t HR as strategy helps the company to improve their financial performance. Therefore, culture has strong impact on the business processes within the companies, which contribute to the option various HRM practices. This means that the companies generally have norms that the employees must be managed and be farmed by the influence of culture and hence culture refers to the procedure of conveying these norms. Conclusion There has been tremendous development in Saudi Arabian society over the past few decades. The people in this nation have adapted their values, traditions and their customs according to the modern world. The cultural traditions influence leadership as well as management of the organizations in Saudi Arabia. The mangers in this nation play the main role in the organization. Family owns most of the companies in this nation and hence the concept of family is vital in improving the performance of business and workers competitiveness. High power distance, collectivism group and cultural values in this nation have huge impact on the attitude of managers in the companies. Distance in high power among the HR managers is highlighted in the process of decision making within the organizations as it is designed by HRM policies. Therefore, the managers of the other two nations that is India and Russia aiming to work in Saudi Arabian companies will gain huge benefit from their HRM policies. The HRM practices in Saudi Arabia raises some ethical problems. First, the foreign workers working in substandard condition in their private companies. The rewards and working conditions are divided based on the origin of nation. Second, both foreign and local workers are not allowed in forming formal associations including trade unions for defending their rights. In fact, the Saudi Arabian government has made huge efforts in making sustainable development with the help of culture as well as innovation and also by joining several global conventions. The innovative solutions to potential cross cultural dilemmas includes avoiding cultural biasness, acquiring proper knowledge about other national cultures and development of cross cultural skills. References Barmeyer, C. and Franklin, P. eds., 2016.Intercultural Management: a case-based approach to achieving Complementarity and Synergy. Palgrave Macmillan. Cassell, M.A. and Blake, R.J., 2012. Analysis of Hofstede's 5-D model: the implications of conducting business in Saudi Arabia.International Journal of Management Information Systems (Online),16(2), p.151. Chanlat, J.F., 2013.Cross-cultural management: culture and management across the world. Routledge. Deresky, H., 2017.International management: Managing across borders and cultures. Pearson Education India. Elamin, A.M., 2012. Perceived organizational justice and work-related attitudes: A study of Saudi employees.World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development,8(1), pp.71-88. Evans, W.A., 2013.Management ethics: An intercultural perspective(Vol. 1). Springer Science Business Media. French, R., 2015.Cross-cultural management in work organisations. Kogan Page Publishers. Jehanzeb, K., Rasheed, A. and Rasheed, M.F., 2013. Organizational commitment and turnover intentions: Impact of employees training in private sector of Saudi Arabia.International Journal of Business and Management,8(8), p.79. 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Achieving Mutual Understanding for Effective Intercultural Management. Taras, V., Steel, P. and Kirkman, B.L., 2012. Improving national cultural indices using a longitudinal meta-analysis of Hofstede's dimensions.Journal of World Business,47(3), pp.329-341. Thomas, D.C. and Peterson, M.F., 2017.Cross-cultural management: Essential concepts. Sage Publications.
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