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The End of the Beginning?
... 1. dezvoltarea unor teorii "mai bune", care au capacitatea de a explica variațiile în practicile de management din interiorul unei culturi (Smith, 2001: 21) sau a unor teorii care au capacitatea de a explicita noțiunea de "cultură" sau de a se pronunța asupra universalității / specificității anumitor aspecte ale managementului (Triandis, 2001 7. concentrarea cercetărilor asupra proceselor / mecanismelor care se află la baza diferențelor culturale, deoarece simpla conștientizare a existenței diferențelor culturale nu permite predicția efectelor acțiunilor manageriale (Staber, 2006: 109); 8. desfășurarea de cercetări care vizează mai mult îmbunătățirea potențialului uman și a condițiilor de muncă, cum ar fi: recrutarea și selecția personalului, managementul performanței, sănătatea și siguranța angajaților etc., aceste cercetări permițând o mai bună derulare a practicilor manageriale în diferitele contexte culturale (Aycan, 2000: 110, 118) etc.; ...
... 108 108 108 of looking at cross-cultural management development (Jackson & Aycan, 2006). This therefore permits the author to explore more fully the nature and efficacy of managerial talent development practices within an increasing multicultural industry, the goal of which is to show how a particular practice works in a given context (Smith, 2001). The use of indigenous methodology thus describes context-sensitive research. ...
Management development in improving productivity has become powerful tool for management effectiveness, as well as to address the management gap especially in developing countries. However, management development programmes follow Western concepts and curricula which, in most situations, are not relevant to African context. Data from interviews of 26 national managers in the Ghanaian gold mining industry produced definition of their talent development and how they expect the development programme to run in industry. The definition is just a reproduction of Western concepts of management development. Motivated by strong display of Ghanaian identity and cultural practices during author’s interactions with some national managers, the main concern of this paper is to assess how these Western concepts of management development could be localised to be consistent with traditional Ghanaian learning methods to develop national managers (in the Western dominated Ghanaian gold mining industry). Applying indigenous methodology, the Western concept of management development is compared to indigenous approach. Results of comparative assessment of the two approaches reveal that traditional Ghanaian education has it strong and enduring versions of the elements of the Western approach to talent development, most of which the author speculates are stronger in driving the talent process than the Western versions.
... The relevance for the international study of cross cultural management, and perhaps what Smith (2001) was alluding to in our first issue, is the need to incorporate context specific insight in a multicultural world. Elucidating the capacity for action through a value-rational approach, is more important, intellectually more stimulating, and more likely to progress our subject area than merely comparing nations or 'cultures' along reductionist lines, or trying to predict on this same basis. ...
This study compares how workers in Norway and the United States use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Our data—72 in-depth interviews of advanced ICT users - was coded and analyzed using a grounded-theory methodology. As our organizing structure of comparing the two countries, we use Hofstede’s four-dimensional framework of national culture. Our results show that ICTs have a homogenizing effect on cultural differences—but also a reinforcing effect on existing similarities. We hypothesize possible explanations for these findings, including tracing them to our focus on an expert-user subculture and external triggering events.
Is culture fixed and immutable, or is it emergent and changing? This is a question that has taken on growing importance in light of the culturally diverse and dynamic workplace realities that have resulted from increasing globalization. It is also a topic that is in hot debate in international cross-cultural management (ICCM) research, in management and organization studies in general, and in other disciplines. This book moves beyond the conventional dichotomous thinking of viewing culture either as fixed and immutable or dynamic and “in the making”, and aims to develop a conceptualization of culture that includes both a stable and a changing element.
This book is based on empirical research on culture emergence in Sino-Western international cross-cultural management (SW-ICCM) contexts in China. Data have been collected by semi-structured interviews of Chinese and Western expatriates working in SW-ICCM contexts in China. Data analysis has led to the formulation of a grounded theory that views culture as comprising three cognitive components, Values, Expectations, and Ad Hoc Rules, which differ in time-space in their mutual shaping with behavior, ranging from the enduring/universal, to the intermediate/context-specific, to the temporal/occasion-specific. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture#Multiplicity)
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Anti-Bredt bridged bicyclo[3.2.1] γ-lactams were designed as inhibitors of penicillin binding proteins (PBPs). The compounds were prepared by a carbenoid insertion into a lactam N–H bond. Their weak antibacterial activity could either be explained by a poor chemical stability or by unfavorable steric interactions of the methylene bridge of the γ-lactam with the targeted enzymes.
This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement.
Beyond racial discrimination in employment lies the assumption that modern and post modern architecture is above and beyond culture. This article examines the process of design, the formation of ideas in the subject of architecture and the ‘unconscious’ assumptions behind the stated positions of the founders of Modern Architecture to see how this comes about. It argues that change could be brought about by taking a new ‘multicultural’ and ‘post‐colonial’ approach to architectural history and theory, by making architecture as a profession accessible, by working with minority communities and cultures, and by linking with academies and practices in less developed countries. But for this to happen, those with the power to change have to call for and support this change.
Purpose
– Hofstede's theory may be problematic from both a methodological/theoretical and practical view when applied to the 80 per cent of the globe we term developing. It is necessary to break out of an epistemic paradigm and a “view from nowhere” in order to focus on multiple layers of cultural interfaces within power dynamics that influence the nature of hybrid organizations and individual cultural identity. The purpose of this paper therefore is to develop a theory of cross‐cultural interfaces.
Design/methodology/approach
– Cross‐cultural values theory provides a blunt instrument in Africa, does not take into account global dependencies and is not able to analyse local perceptions of reality within a context of these dependencies. A theory of cultural interfaces is developed that incorporates an Aristotelian phronetic approach to social science.
Findings
– This moves away from the universals of analytical rationality towards practical value‐rationality that considers culture from a context‐dependent viewpoint, provides a synthesis for cultural‐institutional approaches, and engages researchers beyond merely looking at differences in cultures and the consequences, and towards what should be done about issues that arise.
Originality/value
– By providing an example of how cultural interfaces may be researched, and discussing the associated conceptual issues, it is hoped that this paper will help to move forward the debate about cross‐cultural management.
True experiments cannot be conducted in cross cultural research because it is impossible to assign participants to different cultures randomly. Cross cultural studies are therefore regarded as quasi-experimental research, and threats that jeopardize the validity of causal inferences in cross cultural research are reviewed. Borrowing from evolutionary biology and epidemiology, the consilience approach is advocated for strengthening the validity of cross cultural causal inferences. This approach holds that causal inferences in cross cultural research are most convincing when supported by diverse evidence based on a sound theoretical basis, multiple sources of data, different research methods, and explicit refutation of alternative interpretations. Three broad strategies for strengthening cross cultural causal inferences are proposed under the consilience framework, including the systematic contrast of cultural groups, the inclusion of covariates to rule out alternative explanations, and the use of multiple research methods, such as cross cultural experimentation. Future developments of cross cultural research methods are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)
This study compares how workers in Norway and the United States use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Our data—72 in-depth interviews of advanced ICT users – was coded and ana-lyzed using a grounded-theory methodology. As our organizing structure of comparing the two coun-tries, we use Hofstede's four-dimensional framework of national culture. Our results show that ICTs have a homogenizing effect on cultural differences—but also a reinforcing effect on existing similarities. We hypothesize possible explanations for these findings, including tracing them to our focus on an ex-pert-user subculture and external triggering events.
Presents a theoretical approach to understanding the local culture of firms in the multinational information sector. Called situating culture, this approach holds that cultural understanding is locally situated, behavioral and embedded in everyday, socially negotiated work practices. The application of this theory is provided through cases from the workplace cultures of US multinational IT firms operating in Ireland. These examples show how the local culture of a global IT firm represents the interaction of industry, corporate and national contexts. It results in locally situated work practices and distinct socially negotiated realities that ultimately impact behavior in these settings. The theoretical approach of situating culture contributes to a better understanding of contextualism in the cross-cultural IT environment. This understanding, in turn, has implications for future cross-cultural IS research as well as for cross-cultural IT practice.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to highlight employee diversity at the workplace level in a MNC, and consider its impact upon management attempts to promote a global corporate culture.
Design/methodology/approach
– The investigation took the form of an ethnographic participant‐observation study, which involved interviews and archival research plus a three‐month period when the lead researcher worked on the plant's final assembly line. This provided insights into the personal and psychological issues of individuals within the workforce, and an experiential dimension to the study which is difficult to replicate in other ways.
Findings
– The management approach to cultural and diversity issues worked both for and against the development of cohesion and improved employee relations. Managers sometimes ignored the real impact of local ethnic diversity, focusing instead on inter‐management conflicts, which contributed to employee morale and communication problems. But where diversity was recognised, more success followed, in particular where the distinct history and identity of the plant was emphasised. The study also tentatively suggests that “crossvergence” may be a fruitful way of interpreting the complex determinants of employee attitudes.
Originality/value
– The paper highlights how global strategies are always mediated by local circumstances, thus strengthening the arguments for recognising the interaction between management elites and local workforces, acknowledging cultural diversity and its impact on global business, and looking beyond simplistic notions of “national culture” towards diversity within national boundaries. The key implication for managers is that the successful implementation of global corporate strategies works best not just with due acknowledgement of local workforce identities, but with positive engagement with local historical and cultural traditions.
A series of spiro-piperidine azetidinone were synthesized and evaluated as potential TRPV1 antagonists. An important issue of plasma stability was investigated and resolved. Further focused SAR study lead to the discovery of a potent antagonist with good oral pharmacokinetic profile in rat.
Anti-Bredt bridged bicyclo[3.2.1] gamma-lactams were designed as inhibitors of penicillin binding proteins (PBPs). The compounds were prepared by a carbenoid insertion into a lactam N-H bond. Their weak antibacterial activity could either be explained by a poor chemical stability or by unfavorable steric interactions of the methylene bridge of the gamma-lactam with the targeted enzymes.
Hofstede's power distance (PD) and individualism (IDV) constructs were validated in the context of a single multicultural work setting. Two hundred sixty-three workers from 28 different countries employed in the information services branch of a large Australian bank completed a questionnaire the items of which measured some implications of the constructs, namely: superior-subordinate relationships, decision-making styles, the work ethic, task orientation, the psychological contract, and individual versus group achievement. On the basis of their Hofstede country index, the subjects were divided into high and low PD and IDV groups, respectively, and differences in their scores on theoretically relevant items provided support for both constructs. The questionnaire also included items stenming from the model about the nature and incidence of inteethnic work-related friction. As predicted, the out-group non-Anglo-Celt respondents reported a greater incidence of discrimination, regarded cultural diversity in the workplace more favorably, and engaged in more behaviors that the host culture would regard as countemormative.
The values of 8,841 managers and organization employees from 43 countries were surveyed. The range of nations included paralleled many of those surveyed by Hofstede (1980) but added also substantial samples from ex-communist nations. Questionnaire items focused primarily on measures of universalism-particularism, achievement-ascription, and individualism-collectivism. Multidimensional scaling of country means revealed three interpretable dimensions. The relation of these dimensions to the results of earlier large-scale surveys and to a variety of demographic indexes is explored. It is found that there are continuing substantial differences in modal cultural values of organization employees and that these are largely consistent with differences reported by others. The present results suggest that the dimensions defined by Hofstede as individualism-collectivism and power distance may be better defined as representing varying orientations toward continuity of group membership (loyal involvement/ utilitarian involvement) and varying orientations toward the obligations of social relationship (conservatism/egalitarian commitment).
This study focuses on culturally endorsed implicit theories of leadership (CLTs). Although cross-cultural research emphasizes that different cultural groups likely have different conceptions of what leadership should entail, a controversial position is argued here: namely that attributes associated with charismatic/transformational leadership will be universally endorsed as contributing to outstanding leadership. This hypothesis was tested in 62 cultures as part of the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) Research Program. Universally endorsed leader attributes, as well as attributes that are universally seen as impediments to outstanding leadership and culturally contingent attributes are presented here. The results support the hypothesis that specific aspects of charismatic/transformational leadership are strongly and universally endorsed across cultures.
We examined the impact of surface-level (demographic) and deep-level (attitudinal) diversity on group social integration. As hypothesized, the length of time group members worked together weakened the effects of surface-level diversity and strengthened the effects of deep-level diversity as group members had the opportunity to engage in meaningful interactions.
Focusing on hybrid team culture within transnational teams as a facilitator of group interaction, we hypothesized a curvilinear relationship between team heterogeneity on nationality and effective performance. Through a qualitative field study, we developed a mediation model of the effects of transnational team dynamics. Two confirmatory laboratory studies followed. The hypothesized curvilinear relationship was confirmed, with homogeneous and highly heterogeneous teams outperforming moderately heterogeneous ones in the long run. Drawing from conceptual work on status hierarchies, group "faultlines," and group membership, we discuss implications for team structures in transnational settings.
This study sets out to test the assumption that concepts of leadership differ as a function of cultural differences in Europe and to identify dimensions which describe differences in leadership concepts across European countries. Middle-level managers (A''=6052) from 22 European countries rated 112 questionnaire items containing descriptions of leadership traits and behaviours. For each attribute respondents rated how well it fits their concept of an outstanding business leader. The findings support the assumption that leadership concepts are culturally endorsed. Specifically, clusters of European countries which share similar cultural values according to prior cross-cultural research (Ronen & Shenkar, 1985), also share similar leadership concepts. The leadership pro to typicality dimensions found are highly correlated with cultural dimensions reported in a comprehensive cross-cultural study of contemporary Europe (Smith, Dugan, &, Trompenaars, 1996). Tbe ordering of countries on the leadership dimensions is considered a useful tool with which to mode! differences between leadership concepts of different cultural origin in Europe. Pracdcal implications for cross-cultural management, both in European and non-European settings, are discussed. Cross-cultural researchers and international managers concur with the view that a diversity of management systems exist across contemporary Europe. In respect to predicting future developments, Calori and de Woot (1994) interviewed 51 chief executives of 40 large international organizations and concluded: *. . . no advocate of diversity denied the existence of some common characteristic and no advocate
Le Mode`le de Culture Fit explique la manie`re dont l’environnement socio-culturel influence la culture interne au travail et les pratiques de la direction des ressources humaines. Ce mode`le a e´te´ teste´ sur 2003 salarie´s d’entreprises prive´es dans 10 pays. Les participants ont rempli un questionnaire de 57 items, destine´ a` mesurer les perceptions de la direction sur 4 dimensions socio-culturelles, 6 dimensions de culture interne au travail, et les pratiques HRM (Management des Ressources Humaines) dans 3 zones territoiriales. Une analyse ponde´re´e par re´gressions multiples, au niveau individuel, a montre´ que les directeurs qui caracte´risaient leurs environnement socio-culturel de fac¸on fataliste, supposaient aussi que les employe´s n’e´taient pas malle´ables par nature. Ces directeurs ne pratiquaient pas l’enrichissement des postes et donnaient tout pouvoir au contrôle et a` la re´mune´ration en fonction des performances. Les directeurs qui appre´ciaient une grande loyaute´ des employe´s supposaient qu’ils remplissent entre eux des obligations re´ciproques et s’engagaient dans la voie donnant pouvoir aux pratiques HRM. Les directeurs qui percevaient le paternalisme et une forte distance de l’autorite´ dans leur environnement socio-culturel, supposaient une re´activite´ des employe´s, et en outre ne pourvoyaient pas a` l’enrichissement des postes et a` la de´le´gation. Des mode`les spe´cifiques a` la culture qui mettent en relation ces 3 groupes de variables ainsi que les applications de ces recherches pour la psychologie industrielles trans-culturellesont e´te´ de´battus.
This paper presents the results of a study on organizational cultures in twenty units from ten different organizations in Denmark and the Netherlands. Data came from in-depth interviews of selected informants and a questionnaire survey of a stratified random sample of organizational members. Data on task, structure, and control characteristics of each unit were collected separately. Quantitative measures of the cultures of the twenty units, aggregated at the unit level, showed that a large part of the differences among these twenty units could be explained by six factors, related to established concepts from organizational sociology, that measured the organizational cultures on six independent dimensions. The organizational culture differences found resided mainly at the level of practices as perceived by members. Scores of the units on the six dimensions were partly explainable from organizational idiosyncrasies but were also significantly correlated with a variety of task, structural, and control-system characteristics of the units.
This paper examines the theoretical and empirical relationship of training and individualism-collectivism to self-efficacy (a person's estimate of his or her ability to perform a task) and performance in studies of managers from Hong Kong, the People's Republic of China, and the United States. A laboratory experiment and a six-month field experiment were used to test hypotheses predicting that for individualists, self-focused training would have a stronger impact on self-efficacy and performance than would group-focused training and, for collectivists, group-focused training would have a stronger impact on self-efficacy and performance than would individual-focused training. The results show consistent support for the hypotheses at both a cultural and an individual level of analysis. A general model of self-efficacy and culture in an organizational environment is discussed.
Two studies are presented of the ways in which middle-level leaders within enterprises in mainland China handle work events. A sample of Chinese managers reported much stronger reliance on widespread beliefs as a source of guidance than had been found in other nations in earlier studies. This effect was stronger in state enterprises than in joint ventures. In the second study, management of nine work events by Chinese leaders in joint venture hotels was investigated. Events were more frequently problematic when working with Western or Japanese partners than with ethnic Chinese. Respondents' reports of how they handled work events did not vary in relation to the overseas partner with whom they worked. However they did show awareness that agreement about how best to handle events does vary in relation to who is one's partner. The results are discussed in terms of the skills required of leaders working across cultural boundaries.
The concept of human resources management (HRM) has been much debated in the literature. The concept developed initially from work in the U.S.A. in the 1960s and 1970s and since then has been adopted increasingly around the world. This paper argues that in Europe there is only limited acceptance of the organizational autonomy upon which the concept in based, and that, therefore, different approaches to the notion of human resource management are required. External constraints are analysed and a new model of the concept that would encompass EuroHRM is proposed.© 1995 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1995) 26, 1–21