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Attitudes, Values and Organizational Culture: Disentangling the Concepts Geert Hofstede

Institute for Research on Intercultural Cooperation, Maastricht and Tilburg, the Netherlands Sentiments collected through paper-and-pencil surveys are often arbitrarily classified according to categories imposed by the researcher, such as attitudes, values, and manifestations of organizational culture. The question is, to what extent are such classifications supported by the distinctions that respondents make in their own minds? In this paper, distinctions between categories of sentiments are supported empirically from the results of an employee survey in a large Danish insurance company (n = 2,590). The 120 questions used were classified into attitudes, values, perceptions of organizational practices (for diagnosing organizational cultures), and demographics. Perceptions of organizational cultures were measured using an approach developed by the author and his colleagues in an earlier study across 20 Danish and Dutch organizational units. In the insurance company study, employee attitudes were found to be clearly distinct from employee values. Perceptions of organizational practices were unrelated to values, and only overlapped with attitudes where both dealt with communication. In the latter case, both can be seen as expressions of the organization's communication climate. Other perceptions of organizational practices did not form recognizable clusters at the level of individuals, but only at the level of organizational (sub)units. Key Words: attitudes • values • organizational culture • survey methods • organizational communication • insurance companies

Cultural Diversity & Negotiations—A Global Perspective By : Prof. Rajesh Asrani Core Faculty Member, N. R. Institute of Business Management, Ahmedabad, India (P. G. Centre of Gujarat University for MBA) Abstract

The emerging trend towards liberalized global policies coupled with suitable reform processes throughout the globe have drastically changed the business environment for the firms. This leaves the managers in organizations of all sizes and types around the world with the opportunities and challenges of operating in the global market. The immediate issue to be addressed is configuration of human resource that is diverse in culture and geographic proximity especially in global business organizations. The paper is broadly categorized in two parts. The first part tries to explore the meaning of culture, concepts related to it and the role of culture in finding global opportunities. It also

emphasizes on the various cross-cultural issues concerning the integration of diverse workforce in an international organization. The second part has a major emphasize in understanding the dynamics of successful international business negotiations and the strategies that work in the current multicultural business arena. The paper presents various models in a standardized form to suggest a model framework for global business negotiations and the significance of culture in the same. It mainly concentrates on 12 negotiating variables i.e. selection of negotiator, role of individual aspirations, concern with protocol, significance of type of issue, complexity of language, value of time, basis of trust, risk taking propensity, etc. All these negotiating variables in specific reference to countries like India, Russia, Germany, France, Nigeria and Brazil are considered. Finally the paper concludes with the suggestions on appropriate behavior coupled with acculturation, assimilation and maintenance of the new culture, and resistance to both new and old cultures. INTRODUCTION

The emerging trend towards liberalized global policies coupled with suitable reform processes throughout the globe have drastically changed the business environment for the firms. This leaves the managers in organizations of all sizes and types around the world with the opportunities and challenges of operating in the global market. The immediate issue to be addressed is configuration of human resource that is diverse in culture and geographic proximity especially in global business organizations. We know that every person has a unique personality. An individual’s personality is a set of relatively permanent and

stable traits. Our personality influences the way we act and interact with others. When we describe someone as warm, open, relaxed, or conservative, we’re describing personality traits. An organization too has a personality, which we call its culture. MEANING OF CULTURE

It’s a system of shared meaning and beliefs held by organizational members that determines, in large degree, how they act. It represents a common perception held by the organization’s members. Just as tribal cultures have rules and taboos that dictate how members will act toward each other and outsiders, organizations have cultures that govern how its members should behave. In every organization, there are systems or patterns of values, symbols, rituals, myths, and practices that have evolved over time. These shared values determine to a large degree what employees see and how they respond to their world. When confronted with problems or work issues, the organizational culture – the way we do things around here- influences what employees can do and how they conceptualize, define, analyze, and resolve issues. Research suggests that there are seven dimensions that capture the essence of an organization’s culture that are described in the figure. Each of the characteristics exists on a continuum from low to high. Appraising an organization on these seven dimensions gives a composite picture of the organization’s culture. In many organizations, one of these cultural dimensions often rises above the others and essentially shapes the organization’s personality and the way organizational members do their work. ROLE OF CULTURE

Universal needs create strong pressure for a global strategy. Universal needs exist when the tastes and preferences of consumers in different countries with regard to a product are similar. Products that serve universal needs require little adoption across national markets; thus, global integration is facilitated. The role of culture plays an important role in this context. In many ways, cultural issues represent the most elusive aspect of international business. In an era when modern transportation and communication technologies have created a “global village”, it is easy to forget how deep and enduring the differences among nations actually can be. The fact that people everywhere drink Coke, wear blue jeans, and drive Toyota doesn’t mean we are all becoming alike. Each country is unique for reasons rooted in history, culture, language, geography, social conditions, race and religion. These differences complicate any international activities, and represent the fundamental issues that inform and guide how an organization should conduct business across borders. Managers who ignore culture put their organizations at a great disadvantage in the global marketplace. Because each culture has its own norms, customs, and expectations for behavior, success in an international organization depends on one’s ability to understand the cross-cultural issues especially those concerning the integration of diverse workforce. DIVERSITY IN WORKFORCE

Workforce diversity has become an important issue abroad. The integration of this diverse workforce along many different dimensions has become very important. These dimensions of diversity might include gender, age, ethnic origin or any of several others. A group comprising five

middle-aged white male U. S. executives has relatively little diversity. If one member is replaced by a young white female executive, the group becomes a bit more diverse. If another member is replaced by an older African American executive, diversity increases a bit more. And when a third member is replaced by a Japanese executive, the group becomes even more diverse. DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY •

Age One important dimension of diversity in any organization is age distribution of workers. Birth rate and health and medical care are the factors contributing to this pattern.

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Gender As more and more women have entered the workforce, organizations have subsequently experienced changes in relative proportion of male and female employees. Many organizations today also face a major gender related problem called glass ceiling. The glass ceiling describes a barrier that keeps women from advancing to top management positions in many organizations. This ceiling is a real barrier that is difficult to break, but it is also so subtle as to be hard to see.

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Ethnicity A third major dimension of cultural diversity in organization is ethnicity. Ethnicity refers to ethnic composition of a group or organization. Issues of right and wrong get blurred as we move from one culture to another, and actions that may be normal and customary in one setting may be unethical- even illegal- in another. To safeguard against ethical problems, companies have established codes of conduct. The codes lay out precisely what kinds of actions are permissible, and provide procedure and support systems that organizations can use in ambiguous situations.

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Other dimensions

In addition to age, gender and ethnicity, organizations are also confronting other dimensions of diversity. Country of national origin is a dimension of diversity that can be especially important for global organizations. This dimension can be particularly important when different languages are involved. Handicapped and physically challenging employees are increasingly important in many organizations. Single parents, dual career couples, gays and lesbians, people with special dietary preferences and people with different political ideologies and view points also present major dimensions of diversity in today’s organizations.

Geert Hofstede has identified four dimensions along which managers in international organizations tend to view cultural differences: •

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Power distance: the extent to which a society accepts the fact that power in organizations is distributed unequally. Individualism/collectivism: the extent to which people act on their own or as a part of a group. Uncertainty avoidance: the extent to which people in a society feel threatened by uncertain and ambiguous situations. Masculinity/feminity: the extent to which a society values quantity of life (e.g. accomplishment, money) over quality of life (e.g. compassion, beauty).

http://www.laynetworks.com/Cultural-Diversity-Negotiations2.htm Technical Ability Achievement Scientific Skills Legal training General Knowledge Language fluency CONCLUSION

Social Skills Ascription Status Personal Attributes Kinship Social class

Thus to conclude there are various patterns for negotiations in various countries, how ever any negotiator, in order to be successful has to be comfortable with the culture of the alien country in which he has to operate. Unless the same is done, negotiation, which is like a two way communication process, cannot be completed on a positive note. 1. Slide 1: Organizational Culture Jeff McNeill – 2007 University of Hawaii at Manoa Copyright © Jeff McNeill This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License 2. Slide 2: the Study of′Organizational Culture – Agenda Comes from Anthropology http://tinyurl.com/48b4o Six′ Different from National Culture λ Culture http://tinyurl.com/4dqmz Process vs.′Dimensions of Organizational Culture Open vs. Closed Systemλ Parochial vs. Professional λ Employee vs. Job λResults λ Normative vs. Pragmatic λ Loose vs. Tight Control λ 3. Slide 3: “The′Measurement of Organizational Culture Definition of Culture the mind which distinguishes one group or categoryλcollective programming of Not directly′of people from another” – Geert Hoffstede Culture is a Construct Useful in predictingλ Inferable from behavior λ λaccessible to observation behavior 4. Slide 4: Organizational Culture & About people in′National Culture Culture Normativeλ λ The way things “should be” ′ National culture = “values” λgroups “How we doλ λ The way things “are” ′Organizational culture = “practices” Descriptiveλthings around here” 5. Slide 5: How′ ′Process vs. Results Process Orientation Results Orientation Processλ λ The way we do things Outcome λ λthings are done What gets done Results 6. Slide 6: Employee′ ′Employee vs. Job Concern for Employee Concern for Job employee can do Employee Jobλ λsatisfaction Work and what 7. Slide 7: Identity taken′ ′Parochial vs. Professional Parochial Professional in the organization organization Parochialλ λfrom being Identity from outside Professional 8. Slide 8: Easy to join′ ′Open vs. Closed System Open System Closed System peopleλ λ Quickly get up to speed Only certain kind of λ λDifficult to join fit in Open Closed 9. Slide 9: Casual′ ′Loose vs. Tight Control Loose Control Tight Control Loose Tightλ λ Improvisation Punctuality λ λSeriousness 10. Slide 10: ′ ′Normative vs. Pragmatic Normative Orientation Pragmatic Orientation Normative Pragmaticλ λIdeologically driven Market-driven 11. Slide 11: Six Dimensions of Organizational Culture′Organizational Culture Open vλ Parochial vs. Professional λ Employee vs. Job λ λProcess vs. Results s. Normative vs. Pragmatic Measured onλ Loose vs. Tight Control λClosed System Bimodal Scale