...compensation, and task distribution. Determine whether or not there are leadership behaviors, attributes, and organizational practices that are generally accepted and effective across cultures. o * *From the e-Activity, compare the two (2) cross-cultural management theories that you researched to Hofstede’s cross-cultural theory. Determine two (2) fundamental differences and similarities between each theory. The impact the Hofstede’s study had on the cultural context of HRM practices are as follows: Recruitment and selection: In cultures low on “in-group” collectivism such as the U.S., and the UK, individual accomplishments are important selection criteria, and societies high on “in-group collectivism” such as China and Spain put more importance on team-related skills than on individual capabilities. Training and development: While no country has perfect gender equality, societies high on the gender social equality scale have more women in positions of power and similar levels of education as men, such as the U.S, women usually have the same chances for a straight up career progression as men and societies which score low on gender social equality such as Afghanistan and Liberia do not have nearly the same chances. Compensation: In societies high on uncertainty avoidance employees tend to be rather risk adverse and prefer fixed compensation packages or senior-based pay where in societies low on uncertainty avoidance employees tend to be rather risk-taking and accept high...
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...of leadership styles as influenced by their respective different cultures. The reason in selecting Japan as one of the research countries is because of its deep rooted strong cultural beliefs and group centered style in a business perspective. It is well known to the world that Japan is a closed economy but at the same time, extremely competitive. On the other hand, United States make a good contrast in terms of its open culture and individualistic style of doing business. Despite the differences, both are amongst the most competitive and successful nations in the world. The compromising Japanese and confrontational Americans do make this research journey an exciting and interesting one. Different cultures exist in the world and their impact on leadership styles in their respective countries is significant. As defined by Luthans and Doh (2009, p96), “Culture is the acquired knowledge that people use to interpret experience and generate social behaviour.” And culture is gained through transmissions between individuals in forms of symbols, rituals, languages, stories told and etc. It will be interesting to find out that the countries’ cultures do in fact influence their leadership styles to quite a great extent. In this report, two entirely different cultures; Japan and United States will be explored in depth to provide a better understanding of their background. The seven determinants of culture in these two countries will be individually discussed as well. Leadership styles...
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...collapse of socialism, the role of national culture in organizational practices in countries that are in transition is becoming a widely recognized and studied topic. However, empirical studies about cultural influences on organizational subcultures and leadership styles in Ethiopian organizations are not very frequent in contemporary literature. In fact, there are almost no relevant attempts to examine these phenomena. Nevertheless, after democratic political changes in May 1991, we can observe a growing interest in understanding national culture and leadership practices in Ethiopian organizations, as well as in the whole Ethiopian society. Therefore, the main purpose of this assignment paper is to investigate the influence of national culture on organizational culture and practices (subcultures and leadership styles) in Ethiopian organizations. Widely known Geert Hofstede’s value/belief theory of culture (Hofstede, 2001) with its theoretical and methodological premises has been used as a starting point of this assignment. 1 2. 2.1. LITRATURE REVIEW DEFINITION OF CULTURE We must first define and agree on what Culture is before we can deal with cross culture. Like many other behavioral science terms like Leadership, there are many different definitions of culture used in management today. The famous Dutch behavioral scientist, Geert Hofstede defined culture “as the collective mental programming of a people in an environment". These mental programming consists of...
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...The evaluation of the five dimensions for Germany give a picture of the workplace values and an idea of the type of place Germany may be to visit. Defining the Five Dimensions of Germany According to the website of Professor Hofstede Germany is “highly decentralised and supported by a strong middle class” (Hofstede), and also that “control is disliked and leadership is challenged to show expertise and best accepted when it’s based on it” (Hofstede). These two points are not surprising from a country where centralization and blind trust in leadership led to defeat in one of a grandest wars the world has ever known. In the lifetime of a World War II veteran Germany has grown to a industrial superpower, been defeated leaving industrial capacity and citizen moral destroyed, and has also been reborn into the post-Cold War nation that it is today. Germany has one of the most indivigualized populations of any nation. The combination of the cultural mixes created through numerous occupying forces over the centuries has led to a diverse racial population, as well as, diversity of activities within communities and like age groups. “There is a strong belief in the ideal of self-actualization. Loyalty is based on personal preferences for people as well as a sense of duty and responsibility” (Hofstede). People are judged based on personal interactions, not solely on racial or family ties. Gone are the days in Germany are the days...
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...cultural practices are high power distance and high family and group collectivism. The region is facing signi®cant challenges during its period of transition from communist philosophy to market-based economies. The participating managers value a much greater degree of future and performance orientation, but are strongly attached to their cultural heritage of deep family and group cohesion. They are also highly value charismatic and team-oriented leadership. The challenges and complexities facing the region are explored in the paper. # 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Inc. 1. Introduction This article provides an in-depth look at the eastern European culture. This region is understudied due to its socialist past and was not (with the exception of Greece and Yugoslavia), included in Hofstede's seminal work (1980) or basic reviewing and synthesizing study of Ronen & Shenkar, 1985 comparative study of 25 countries. Over the past few years, a few writers have examined cultural and managerial issues in this region. Kiezun (1991) showed that leadership styles in Hungary and Poland were the least rigid and autocratic2 and management decision-making 1 The lead author prepared the manuscript, while the other three authors (long-time contributors to Hungaro-GLOBE) helped to develop ideas in a series of discussions, provided generous reviews and feedbacks that helped to...
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...College of Charleston, U.S.A. This study builds on work by Matveev & Nelson (2004) which investigated the relationship between cross-cultural communication competence and multicultural team performance using American and Russian managers. This study examines the impact of national culture on German and American subjects. While a relationship between cross-cultural communication competence and multicultural team performance was found, it did not differ by overall national culture. Of the four dimensions of cross-cultural communication competence, only Cultural Empathy was found to be significantly different between Germans and Americans. No differences were found for the dimensions of Interpersonal Skills, Team Effectiveness, and Cultural Uncertainty. 1. Introduction Worldwide intercultural cooperation drives corporate growth and development across the globe resulting in a heightened demand for a qualified but diverse workforce. researchers have documented that the successful performance of multicultural teams is a vital and contributing factor to organizational success (Jackson, may, & Whitney, 1995; Snow, Snell, davison, & hambrick, 1996; Wheelan & hochberger, 1996). the increased reliance on multicultural teams has renewed interest in understanding and developing the communication processes necessary to develop high performance teams across cultural differences. From surveying American and russian managers, matveev and Nelson (2004) found a significant effect of national culture...
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...Running Head: MAKING INTERNATIONALISM WORK 1 Making Internationalism Work Carol Brittain MAKING INTERNATIONALISM WORK 2 Making Internationalism Work How would you define the term “leadership?” Some may define leadership as the ability to influence others. Others may define leadership as one who inspires organizational members to want to achieve. (Munley, 2011) Leadership is directing a team through communication to reach the organizational goals. Leadership communication is essential to businesses and organizations especially when companies are opening branches overseas, conducting business through conference calls or working with a manager from another country. With this new era of business relations companies are facing cultural differences, and these cultural differences need to be taken into consideration. Dutch social psychologist, Geert Hofstede, pioneered a study on cultural differences and developed the five dimensions of culture. The five dimensions are power/distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty/avoidance, and long term orientation. This paper will discuss the cultural dimensions of Japan and Denmark. It will be interesting to see the differences and the commonalities of Japan and Denmark of their vastly different cultures. Power Distance Power distance, PD, looks at the degree of equality between individuals in societies. The degree of equality can also be expressed...
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...that expand globally, enterprises from emerging countries are doing the same more and more organizations are expanding from a local to a global market space. Especially India is establishing itself as economic center and is rapidly becoming the new global economic superpowers. An understanding of local culture and how it affect Western leadership practices and behavior is key in order to become a successful leader, as Western enterprises continues to establish themselves into these emerging markets. In the very same way as enterprises from emerging markets need to understand the local culture when they establish themselves in Western countries. The aim of this report is to investigate what cultural factors/dimension that affect leadership in the context of multi countries as well as to investigate behavioral styles and practices leaders operating in India and see how Western leadership theories are relevant to these set up. Introduction In today’s world we have emerged from the industrial age, into the information age where knowledge is our most valuable assets. The rapid technological development that have enabled this information age is also affecting the pace at which change is happening in the world. The pace of change is rapidly increasing and in order for organizations to be successful they need to keep up with this pace (Schwarz & Brock, 1998). In a recent business leader review with more than 400 senior executives around the world, forty-one percentages believed...
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...BME5001 Leadership and Managerial Skills Carlos Ghosn and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd BME5001 Leadership and Managerial Skills 2014 According to Pearce (2012,pp162) *the practical interest in cultures began with a fascination with the power and strength of multinational Japanese corporations. It wasn’t one thing the Japanese did. Rather, management practices, employee perceptions, expectations and social environments all seemed to reinforce and work in concert to create Japanese corporations’ success”1. Hence, it is intriguing to have Nissan Motor Co Ltd (Nissan) as a case study feature; for an absolutely contrasting reason. Equally fascinating was that Nissan was revived by a non-Japanese leader; Chief Operating Officer (COO) - Carlos Ghosn (Ghosn). Many reasons could have brought about Nissan’s dire state. Since “what successful leaders do depends much on their particular situations than it does on matching cultural leadership practices to stereotyped images of another culture”1, this paper would focus on examining Ghosn’s leadership practices which revived Nissan. “Leadership is the guiding of others towards an objective”.1 To do that, “leaders must diagnose and clearly understand the situations in which they find themselves”1. When Ghosn arrived at Nissan, he assumed nothing, hit the ground to observe and listen to everything that was said and practiced by employees working the floor right up to divisional presidents; in order to understand...
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...Nehru (first Prime Minister of India) and Kamla Nehru. She learned politics at an early age by being her father’s assistant. Later, she made history by becoming the first woman Prime Minister of India. Today, she is well known around the globe for her accomplishments as the head leader of a third world democratic country. A pivotal event for Indira Gandhi as a leader was when she declared a state of emergency for India. State of emergency is a period when government may alter constitutional human rights if he or she perceives grave threats to nations internal and external sources or financial situations of crisis. A controversy indeed, that led to her resignation. However, three years later she regained her position as Prime Minister. Indira Gandhi’s leadership style was greatly influenced by her culture, which was struggling with overpopulation, low food production, financial difficulties and poor foreign relations. Her leadership style will be analyzed through different theories. Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity, and long-term vs. short-term orientation will illustrate her leadership as Prime Minister. Max Weber’s traditional, rational legal and charismatic authorities will also portray her leadership skills. Douglas McGregor’s theory x and theory y will too describe her different management styles and leadership behaviors. Followed and hated by many, Indira Gandhi exercised a profound influence...
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...Entrepreneurial Leadership Hillary Wright The Business Enterprise – BUS 508 Instructor Dr. Jennifer Fleming April 22, 2011 Introduction In the ever-changing world that we live in today, it is important now more than ever for organizations to not only have the best product or service but also to diversify the dynamics of their organization through increased innovation and competitiveness. To be successful in this new age of business, business leaders must emerge ready to lead organizations that face these challenges and uncertainty in multiple dynamic markets (McGrath and MacMillan, 2000). These new types of business leaders are coming to be known as “entrepreneurial leaders.” These leaders are expected to be familiar with the common elements of different theories and philosophies as they relate to the new definition of entrepreneurial leadership along with being able to compare the dimensions of leadership styles within certain organizations. As entrepreneurs, they are privy to a wealth of knowledge, tools and resources that can be obtained from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the website SCORE. Entrepreneurs are able to use this information to gain an advantage at the start-up of their new business. Hybrid Theory/Philosophy When defining entrepreneurial leadership, it is most widely viewed as a complex style of leading that helps develop and sustain elements of the organizational culture (Bergstrom , 2004). Individuals who practice this style are generally...
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...LEADERSHIP Exam questions: 1. “Leaders are born, not made” – Discuss this statement in a cross cultural context 2009/2010 2. What is the meaning of leadership? Are western theories of leadership relevant to non-Western cultural settings? Illustrate with examples.2009/2010 3. Are Western theories of leadership relevant in Non-Western cultural settings? Illustrate with examples. 2008/2009 4. Leadership is critical for the success or failure of international operations, and what is effective in one country might be considered as ineffective in another culture. Select two leaders from two different cultures and compare and contrast their leadership styles. Explain why they are different or similar.2007/2008 5. “Leadership is fundamentally the same irrespective of culture.” Do you agree/disagree? 2007/2008 6. How does culture influence the practice of leadership? 2006/2007 Objectives: 1. Describe the basic philosophic foundation and styles of managerial leadership 2. Examine the attitudes of European managers toward leadership practices 3. Compare and Contrast leadership styles in Japan with those in the US 4. Review leadership approaches in China, the Middle East, and developing countries 5. Examine recent research and findings regarding leadership across cultures 6. Discuss the relationship of culture clusters and leader behaviour to effective leadership practices, including increasing calls for more...
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...consultant and author, and widely regarded as the pioneer of the contemporary field of leadership. He is named as dean of leadership guru by Forbes and Business Week called him one of ten business school professors who have had the greatest influence on business thinking. He is University Professor and Distinguished Professor of Business Administration at the University of Southern California. In the past decade, he served as chairman of the Advisory Board of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, has consulted for many Fortune 500 companies and served as adviser to four U.S. presidents. Bennis has written or edited over 20 books, which have been translated into 21 languages and many articles on three of his passions - leadership, organizational change, and creative collaboration. Bennis served four years in the U.S. Army and at the age of 19 he was one of the youngest infantry commanders in Germany and was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. In his interview video, Warren’s main idea was about Leadership and Leaders. He starts off talking about the young entrepreneurs especially with startups and says how different they are from ones with mature companies. He brings up that point because he conveys the message that entrepreneurs are of different kind and they don’t belong to organization structure. Thinking about leadership and management, leaders comes from deep sense of individualism and willing to move continuously...
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...Lynn Sigrid Vea Ford and Taylor Scientific Management (Edited) Ford shifted its strategy because they think that they can do better so they conducted a study with the help of Taylor. Taylor focused on the production process of the employees and realized that it takes a lot of time for the employees in assembling the car. So they made modified machines to satisfy the modifications of the process. Ford with a low cost can produce more than their usual. This type of strategy is the Cost Leadership Strategy which strives to be the lowest-cost producer for a particular level of product quality. The management of Ford also gives employees an additional pay since Ford apply the Operational Excellence, which is an efficiency maximization now that they had enough money. PepsiCo Among Ethisphere's World's Most Ethical Companies The PepsiCo do not just stick to the idea that they get winning awards every year or that they are committed only to their shareholders and employees but also they want to be committed to the community as well by applying the code of ethics because being able to act good in different situations will reflect how they go on with their company. And according to management experts, Wayne Cascio and Peter Cappelli that “Ethics, values, and strong organizational cultures are the very fabric of business.” TEDxNewEngland | 11/01/11 | Nitin Nohria, Practicing Moral Humility The is about leaders who should have moral over confidence. It says that if we stand by our ethics...
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...Best Practices in a Diverse Work Environment Melody Nelson HRM 531 October 18, 2010 Caroline Willett | InterClean, Inc. | Memo To: First level managers From: Melody Nelson CC: Date: October 18, 2010 Re: InterClean, Inc and EnviroTech Merger Transition Merger Transition The merger between InterClean an EnviroTech is in its final stages. As in any situation involving change, there will be some uncertainties and insecurities among the staff and it is the responsibility of all management personnel at all levels to effectively deal with these issues. However, setting a good foundation and following through with good communication, uncertainties and insecurities will be kept at a minimum. Following are a few ways you can make a significant contribution toward that goal. Enthusiasm is contagious! This is a golden opportunity not only for the future of InterClean but also for anybody at InterClean. As we begin merging the operations of both companies, there very well could be some downsizing in certain areas. However, there will also be new opportunities to learn, grow, and move into positions of greater responsibility. Commitment is contagious! “The importance of talking the talk and walking the walk is fundamental to achieving commitment” (Schifalacqua, Costello, & Denman, 2009). Frequent communications updating the status of the merging of operations should be relayed to all team members in a timely fashion in order to keep the excitement flowing...
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