cross culture

Amity International Business School


MBA International Business2nd Semester

Cross Cultural Management

By Prof. (Dr.) Gurinder SinghPro Vice Chancellor, Amity University, U.P.

Director General, Amity International Business School &CEO, Association of International Business Schools, UK

Sector -125, Noida, U.P., India


What is culture?

Culture is the commonly held and relatively stable beliefs, Attitudes and values that exist within the organization.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE:

1. Culture is learnt -

Internal Environment

[ beliefs, attitudes & values]

External Environment [Embedded in social, political, legislative, economic &Technological system]

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2. Culture is both an input and an output:

Culture is both the product of action and conditioning

element of future action. It is likely to self perpetuating

and highly resistant to change.

3. Culture is partly unconscious:

Member may unconsciously process information that

influences the way they think. Conscious beliefs, attitudes

and values that underlie behavior may repeatedly lead to

success to the extant that they become ‘ taken for granted.


4. Culture is historically based:

It developed from the original assumptions strategies and structures made by their founders.

5. Culture is commonly held rather than shared

6. Culture is heterogeneous


THE FORMATION OF CULTURE

The nature and formation of individual beliefs, attitudes and

values

1. BELIEF FORMATION

Information Observation & Behavior

Inference

Beliefs


2. BELIEFS & ATTITUDES

BELIEFS ABOUT ‘X’

EVALUAION OF

ATTRIBUTES

1

2

3 ATTITUDES

N TOWARDS ‘X’


3. VALUES

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BELIEFS, ATTITUDES,

VALUES & BEHAVIOUR

Internal Attitudes

Environment

Sets of Beliefs Values

External

Environment

Behavior


The culture of a society comprises the shared values, understandings, assumptions, and goals that are learned from earlier generations, imposed by present members of a society, and passed on to succeeding generations.


Influences on Culture


Managing in Cross culture

• HR paradigm

• Global Benchmarking – Shrinking world

– Global market

• Target and goal setting– Corporate vision

– Quantified SMART goals

– Core values – defining behavior

– Performance Management System


We need to have a open mind

What it implies is a willingness to

• learn, much beyond economic principles – be it language, business culture, local history

• respect the other and her cultural background• see each interaction as an opportunity to learn• adapt and think on her feet• accept people for what they are• An ability to fell comfortable in different situations• An ability to think on a global scale


Session Plan Session 1, 2, 3

What is Cross Cultural Management?

Importance in the area of International Business

Resistance of Global players

Strategies for breaking Resistance

Session 4, 5, 6

Japanese, American, Indian style of ManagementDiscussion and analysis of John Higgins Case

Session 7, 8

Presentation by students on Case StudiesMary Kay Cosmetics: Asian Market Entry


Session 9, 10

Cross Cultural Leadership

Session 11

Presentation by students on Case Studies

Session 12

Role of Ethics in managing Cross Cultures

Readings Page 14-35

Case Ciba Geigy P-61, 66, P 67 –76]

Session 13, 14

German, French, Spanish styles of management


Session 15, 16


Session 17, 18

UK, Switzerland, Latin American countries

Case Studies

Hoover: Multinational Product Planning

Harlequin Romances

Cummins Engine Company

Session 19, 20



Session 21, 22

International Negotiation

Reference: articles on subtle art of Negotiation, Managing Negotiation

Session 23, 24


Electrolux

Session 25

Management of MNCs

Case Studies: Managing Brand ITC: a cultural perspective

Proctor & Gamble

Snapple

Warner- Lambert Ireland


Session 26-29

Read Article of HBR: “Competing with giants: survival strategies for local companies in emerging markets”

Prepare presentations by selecting a product and company of choice

Presentation by the students on the Research Project Work undertaken by them on their respective MNC’s and their strategies

Session 30, 31

Managing Cultural Differences

Session 32-34

Understanding personalities through handwriting, signatures, facial expression, body language, body postures and breathing gaps


Session 35, 36

Stress Management: Tackling Tough Situations

Session 37, 38

Relationship Handling and Cross Cultural Management

Session 39-40

Case Studies

Sony Corporation: Car Navigation Systems

Arcelik White Goods


COUNTRY ALLOCATION

Section A & B : EU and North America

Section C, D & E : Asia, LAC, Middle East and CIS Countries

Section F, G & H : Africa


Assignment # 1

1. You need to conceptualize a business concept and translate it into a company which should be of a Foreign origin. You can choose any country.

Be creative in conceptualizing the business concept. It may please be original.

2. Your group will consist of minimum 4 students who will have the following designations:-

CEO (Chief Executive Officer)

CFO (Chief Financial Officer)

CMO (Chief Marketing Officer)

COO (Chief Operating Officer)


3. You need to study the culture, corporate environment, HR practices, management style, governance structure, statutory requirements, strategic management requirements, financial structure, International environment & growth aspects while making your concrete business plan.

4. You may like to search the websites of the successful companies in the area where you want your company to be established.

5. Do extensive research on the country and come up with a report and presentation which may help you in the times to come to start your own business venture in the country.


6. For the country assigned to your group Identify 10 companies ( 5 domestic & 5 international Prepare a strategic paln to do your internship in any of these companies

7. Prepare a report on the country assigned to your group. Also make a video on the country to depict its culture

8. Read one book per week to understand the culture of the country assigned to your group. Write review of the book and give a presentation on the same during the class.

9. Identify top business school / Universities in the assigned country and find out the names of Vice Chancellor or President Of thoes Business School / Universities and invite them during INBUSH. Also explore the possibility for student exchange progarms with them.


Japanese Style of Management


Pertinent Characteristics of Japanese Management

• Company-wide union or house union.

• General preference for inexperienced fresh graduates from schools or colleges.

• Preference for promotions from within.

• Life-time employment.

• Quality Control Circles (QCCs).


Pertinent Characteristics of Japanese Management

• Training practices

– On-the-job training

– In-house and outside training

– Job rotation

• Decision making and consultation practices

– Bottom-up communication

– Regular management-labour consultation

• Settlement of conflict trough negotiations


Understand Japanese Management – The Company as the Family

• Social belonging

• Life-time employment and loyalty

• Social status of employees linked to success of company

• Social role of employment– company song– company pin– Paternalism

• Emphasis on harmony (suppression of conflict)

• Seniority system


Understand Japanese Management – The Company as the Family

• Zaibatsu Groups –

– the financial & industrial conglomerates were outgrowths of family enterprises

• Scarcity of daily necessities during World War II

– Fostered company-based cooperative activities in the procurement and distribution of goods

– Companies were used by the government to distribute rations


Understand Japanese Management – Recruitment and Training

• Fresh graduates are recruited each spring through company's entrance examinations and interviews– Well known corporations usually focus on a few high ranking schools

and universities

• Costs and benefits of training internalised within one firm (paternalism / loyalty) – Continuous training

• Seniority system facilitates on-the-job training– Senior workers train junior workers without fear of jeopardizing their

own position


Understand Japanese Management – Participatory Management

• Process of decision making not centralized at the top

– Process of broad consultation and consensus

• System cannot move capable individuals upwards

– Moves authority downward through personal contacts and relationships (of CEO and junior)


Understand Japanese Management – Participatory Management

• Anyone with a stake in the decision will be consulted (hierarchical relationship blurred).

– Explains why talented, able and young employees can be satisfied under the seniority-based system

• The Father-leader

– Authoritarian

– Able to advance corporate goals through unobtrusive persuasion and conciliation

– Synthesizes group with warmth, sincerity and humaneness


Japanese Meetings • Punctuality is important — it shows respect for the attendees.

• Consensus nature of decision making in Japan

• Meetings are often preceded by long, non-business polite conversation which could cover such topics as mutual contacts, the merits of your company, Japanese food etc. as it is an essential element of the relationship-building process.

• Humour should be avoided during serious business meetings where it will be viewed as out of place. Humour will, in any case, probably not be comprehensible

• Avoid strong eye contact which can be seen as threatening or hostile behaviour.

• Body language is minimal and it can be very difficult to gauge progress made or the general sentiment of a meeting.

• Decisions are arrived at through a lengthy consensus-building process. As it is almost impossible to speed up this process, patience is needed.

• As the Japanese are loath to say 'no' or disagree, it can be very difficult to be completely confident that a decision or agreement has been reached.


• Business CardsIt is important, when doing business in Japan, that you have a plentiful supply of business cards — with information printed on the back in Japanese.

Cards are presented at an early stage in a formal manner. Present and receive the card with two hands. (Present your card Japanese side up.)

Treat your Japanese contact card with respect — the card is the man. Do not write on it or leave it behind, as this would show disrespect. During the meeting, place the cards carefully on the table in front of you with the senior personal card on the top.

Gift GivingGift giving is an endemic part of Japanese business life and should not be confused with notions of bribery and corruption. Gifts should not be too lavish but should always be of good quality. It is important to take a number of small gifts to Japan to distribute to new and existing contacts.

Gifts should always be wrapped. Avoid giving gifts in quantities of four or nine as these are unlucky numbers. Anything sharp could signify the desire to end a relationship.

Alcohol, especially good single malt whiskey, is always an appreciated gift.


• Business meals form an integral part of commercial life in Japan

• If you are invited out for lunch or dinner (rarely breakfast), it is important to accept.

• When using chop-sticks, never point them at anybody and do not leave them sticking into your rice. When not in use, rest your chop-sticks on the holder which will be provided on the table.

• It is considered polite to leave some food on your plate (or in the bowl) at the end of the meal to show that you have eaten a sufficiency.

• It is customary to remove your shoes when entering.


Japanese Teams

• they are naturally group-oriented which underlies the need for a truly consensus approach to issues.

• The consensus-building process or Nemawashi determines that agreement is sought before a formal meeting in order to avoid any direct confrontation.

• Self-promotion in the western sense is seen as childish and embarrassing

behaviour. • It is also important that group members maintain 'face' in front of other

group members, which amongst other things means that people must be seen to be modest and humble.


Japanese Communication Styles • Japanese communications are epitomised by subtlety and nuance, where

how one appears and what one publicly states (tatemae) and what one really thinks (honne) are often poles apart. There is often a huge distance between the expressed tatemae and the felt honne — they can often even be contradictory.

• It is probably best to say that everything should be questioned in order to ensure that clear understanding has been achieved. Check back several times for clarification of anything that remains unclear.

• Japanese body language is very minimal, making it difficult for the untrained observer to read.

• Levels of English in Japan are at best very patchy. Much of what is said by English speaking businessmen in cross-national meetings is simply not understood — or more worryingly misunderstood.


Women in Business in Japan

• Women are largely expected to perform lower grade tasks and to leave employment upon marriage or the birth of children.

• Western women working in Japan will probably only encounter difficulties when trying to manage Japanese male colleagues


Japanese Dress Code

• Appearance is vitally important in Japan and people are often judged on the way they are dressed.

• The business dark suit, shirt and tie is very much the norm in Japanese mainstream business and although other colours are seen more often nowadays than in the past, it is probably safest to maintain a conservative approach.

• For women, business dress should be restrained and formal – women do not commonly wear trousers in business in Japan. Accessories should be up market but not ostentatious.

• The climate in Japan is very varied through the seasons, so take appropriate wear for the season – overcoats/raincoats may be needed in the winter.


American Style of Management


Management Style

• The United States has adopted what could be labelled a 'scientific' approach to business.

• This 'scientific' approach - the constant search for better, more effective methods - has led to a business environment typified by the presence of change as a constant factor.

• American management style can be described as individualistic in approach

• Managers are accountable for the decisions made within their areas of responsibility.

• American managers are more likely to disregard the opinions of subordinates


• New is good. Change is ever present in American corporate life and therefore so is the easy acceptance of new ideas, new models etc.

• Gift giving is unusual in the States and many companies have policies to restrict or forbid the acceptance of presents

• Titles can be very confusing within American organisations with a bewildering array of enormously important-sounding job descriptors on offer (Second Vice-President etc.).

• Titles are an unreliable guide to relative importance within an organisation due to their proliferation.

• Respect is earned through conspicuous achievement rather than through age or background.

• Self-deprecation is often misunderstood by Americans as a sign of weakness. Sell your plus points.


American Meetings

• Meetings in the USA, is often aggressive.

• This 'confrontational' approach, (where openly and directly debating all the relevant issues even at the expense of personal relationships is valued, ) is very alien to those cultures who always put diplomacy and harmony at the heart of their approach to meetings.

• Meetings often include formal presentations by one or more of the participants.

• These presentations are a vital element in the demonstration of

professional competence.


• Presentations should not only be relevant and well researched but also delivered in a positive, enthusiastic and committed manner.

• The meeting and especially one in which a presentation has to be made, is seen as an opportunity to impress — important if personal success is to be achieved.

• Punctual for meetings - if you are late apologise.


American Teams

• In the States, teams are groups of individuals brought together for the

moment to complete a given task or project.

• It is important to show enthusiasm for the project and to show belief in the ultimate achievement of the objectives.

• In the States, teams are expected to be transitory in nature.

• Despite the seeming lack of hierarchy within an American organisation, the boss is the boss and is expected to make decisions and is held accountable for those decisions.


American Communication Styles

• Coded speech and verbosity is often seen as time wasting and in time pressured corporate USA, that is a crime.

• Americans value straight talking and 'getting to the point'.

• When an impasse is reached in meeting situations, the reaction is often to address it directly and ‘with feeling.’

• This direct, robust debate in the States is seen positively and as a sign of definite progress.

• Paradoxically, on first introductions, American can seem very friendly, polite and solicitous of your well being which seems to be at odds with the verbal behaviour exhibited half an hour later in the meeting.


• Overt friendliness (Have nice day!, Hi, how are you doing? etc.) should be taken for what it is — part of the protocol of the language and not as an attempt at establishing a life long friendship.

• Americans are much more open in conversation about private affairs than many European cultures and the converse of this is that Americans will often, quite naively, ask very personal questions at an early stage in a relationship which may be perceived by some people as intrusive.


Women in Business in The USA • Women play an active part in business in the US.

• Although progress to the boardroom might still be more difficult

• A large percentage of American executives are women and this percentage is rising year on year.


American Dress Code

• Describing dress codes for men traveling on business in the States can be a risky business.

• Dress will vary from the formal, dark business suit, shirt and tie to literally T-shirt and shorts.

• Dress code for women is as varied as that for men


Organization and Business Ethics – an international perspective

• # Business ethics and conflict in Cross Cultural Environment.

• # Many times personalities become more important and issues become secondary – Is it ethical?

• # What ethical importance do emotions have in business ?

• # How to resolve conflict?


CASE FACTS

• # John Higgins – (1) Born in U.S.A (2) studies in Japan (3) finishes his M.B.A in Japan.(4) Get’s married to Japanese girl.(5) Goes back to U.S.A and joins Weaver Pharma Multinational Co. (6) Stable, loyal, dedicated, hardworking individual.

• # for six years working in the same company.

• # Gets the promotion and becomes very close to the C.E.O because of his working style.

• # After six years C.E.O makes him the Vice President of the Weaver Pharma (Japan).

• # Higgins is an American who is embodied with Japanese values. He firmly believes in Japanese style of management and business ethics.

3 Continue..


• # In Japan he is reporting to Mr. Prescot who is the president of the company

• # Mr. Prescott, an experienced successful business executive follows the American style of Management.

• # He is very formal and does not believe in giving up.

• # Follows the philosophy of independence rather then philosophy of interdependence.

4

Continue..


# Mr. Higgins is sent to Japan and clash occurs between him and Mr. Prescott over the style of management and Business Ethics.

# Mr. Prescott gets angry with Mr. Higgins when he overlooks his order of suspending two employees for negligence of work.

# With Mr. Parker’s approval Mr. Higgins takes the alternate decision which further complicates the situation.


PROBABLE SOLUTIONS

1. Call back Mr. Higgins to U.S.A and give Mr. Prescott complete authority.

2. Mr. Prescott should be removed from the Japanese unit giving Mr. Higgins complete authority.

3. Appoint an official between Mr. Prescott and Mr. Higgins breaking the hierarchy and flow of communication.


Thank you

cross culture

Documents

understand

japanese style

commonly held

business concept

management

body language

american style

early stage