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Thomson South-WesternWagner & Hollenbeck 5e

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Chapter Fifteen

International

OrganizationalBehavior

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Chapter Overview

This chapter examines the following topics: International Dimensions

Uncertainty Avoidance

Masculinity-Femininity

Individualism-Collectivism

Power Distance

Short-Term/Long-Term Orientation

Effects on Organizational Behavior

Cultural Trends: Four Scenarios

Organizational Effects

Cross-Cultural Differences

Managing International Differences

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Introduction

With multinationalizationand globalization comedifferences in nationalityand culture that can have

major effects on micro,meso, and macroorganizational behavior

Todays managers must

take internationaldifferences seriously if theyexpect to compete andsucceed in global markets

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International Dimensions

Dutch researcher, Geert Hofstede,discovered that most differences

among national cultures were

described by four cross-cultural

dimensions:

Uncertainty avoidance

Masculinity-femininity

Individualism-collectivism

Power distance

In later research, Canadianresearcher Michael Harris Bond,

uncovered a fifth dimension

Long-term/short-term orientation

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Uncertainty Avoidance

The degree to which people arecomfortable with ambiguous situationsand with the inability to predict futureevents with assurance is called uncertainty

avoidance People with weak uncertainty avoidance

feel comfortable even though they areunsure about current activities or future

events People with strong uncertainty avoidance

are most comfortable when they feel asense of certainty about the present and

future

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Masculinity-Femininity

Hofstede used the termmasculinity to refer to thedegree to which a cultureis founded on values thatemphasize independence,

aggressiveness,dominance, and physicalstrength

Femininity according toHofstede, describes a

societys tendency tofavor such values asinterdependence,compassion, empathy,and emotional openness

Together, theextremes of

masculinity and

femininity delineate

the dimension of

masculinity-femininity in

Hofstedes analysis of

cross-cultural

differences

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Individualism-Collectivism

According to Hofstede,

individualism-collectivismis a dimension that tracescultural tendencies toemphasize either satisfyingpersonal needs or looking

after the needs of thegroup

From the viewpoint ofindividualism, pursuingpersonal interests is seenas being more importantand succeeding in thepursuit of these interests iscritical to both personal

and societal well-being

The collectivist

perspectiveemphasizes that groupwelfare is moreimportant thanpersonal interests

The members ofcollectivist nationalcultures tend to ignorepersonal needs for thesake of their groups,ensuring groupwelfare even ifpersonal hardshipsmust be endured

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Power Distance

Power distance is adimension that reflects the

degree to which the members

of a society accept differences

in power and status among

themselves

Power distance influences

attitudes and behaviors byaffecting the way that a

society is held together

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Short-Term/Long-Term

Orientation

The dimension of short-term/long-termorientation reflects the extent to which themembers of a national culture are oriented

toward the recent past and the present versusoriented toward the future

The short-term orientation supportsimmediate consumption and opposes the

deferral of pleasure and satisfaction A longer-term orientation favors the opposite

strategy, that is, doing what is necessary nowwhether pleasant or unpleasant, for the sake

of future well-being

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Effects on Organizational

Behavior

The five-dimensional model based

on the research by Hofstede and

Bond does not lack for critics

Nonetheless, the model is the mostcomprehensive cross-cultural

framework currently available and

it can stimulate useful insights into

ways in which organizational

behavior varies from one national

culture to another

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Cultural Trends:

Four Scenarios

For an in-class project, use the five

dimensions of Hofstede and Bonds model

to explain the four scenarios described in

the text, pages 514-517, which deal withthe following topics:

Feelings about progress

Tendencies toward confrontation or consensus

Locus of control

Status and social position

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Organizational Effects

The four scenarios illustrate how theHofstede-Bond five-dimensional model can

diagnose differences in national culture and

help identify some of the cultural roots of

everyday customs and behaviors

To understand how these cultural differences

can influence organizational behavior,

consider first the national culture of theUnited States and its effects on American

theories and practices

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Cross-Cultural Differences

To further understand howthe differences highlighted in

the Hofstede-Bond model can

influence behavior in

organizations, consider the

various areas of

organizational behavior as

practiced in organizationsthroughout the world

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Cross-Cultural Differences:Decision-Making and Motivation

On an Israeli kibbutz (aself-containedcommunity) decisionmaking is shared among

the adult membership Japanese organizations

are well known for theiruse of ringisei

In contrast, Korean

organizations seldomuse groups to makedecisions

Japanese motives andmotivation are influencedby the relatively strongcollectivism that

characterizes Japansnational culture

Collectivist loyalty isencouraged in largeJapanese firms by the

nenko system of wagepayment

Seniority is the single mostimportant factor indetermining a Japaneseworkers compensation

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Cross-Cultural Differences:

Work Design

Jobs in the Swedish

automotive industry are

organized not around the

assembly-line processes

commonly found in the

United States and elsewhere,

but instead according to theprinciples of reflective

production

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Cross-Cultural Differences:

Leadership Consistent with cultural proclivities favoring low

power distance, mangers in Sweden often do notsupervise employees directly nor do they issuedirect orders to coordinate work activities

Groups and committees fulfill leadershipfunctions in many Swedish firms

Works council: composed of workerrepresentatives who are elected by their peers andmanagement representatives who are appointed bytop management

Special-interest committees: composed of workerand manager representatives who provide theworks council with advice on specific issues

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Cross-Cultural Differences:Organization Structure

The structures of familybusinesses in Chinareflect the ideology ofpatrimonialism, which

brings together theelements of paternalism,hierarchy, mutualobligation,responsibility, and

familialism that growout of the Chinesenational cultures highcollectivism and powerdistance

The kinds of

dependence relations

and communication

patterns formed in

Japanese organizationscreate a latticework

structure of vertical and

horizontal relationships

among the company'smanagers

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Cross-Cultural Differences:

Organizational Change

In general, national

cultures that are highly

supportive oforganizational change

tend to have low power

distance, high

individualism, and lowuncertainty avoidance

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Managing International

Differences

Diagnosing and understanding the primaryfeatures of national cultures are critical tosuccess in the management of international

organizational behavior because thisrepresents the first step toward determiningwhether familiar management practices mustbe reconfigured before being used abroad

Certain trends seem to support theconvergence hypothesis, which suggests thatnational cultures, organizations, andmanagement practices throughout the world

are becoming more homogeneous