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INSTRUCTOR: NGUYỄN TẤN QUANG

MEMBERS:
NGUYỄN HUỲNH NHẬT ANH
PHẠM PHƯƠNG QUỲNH
NGUYỄN QUANG HUY
NGUYỄN ĐĂNG THANH
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TRẦN NHẬT PHI
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Our team would like to express ouor endless thanks and gratefulness to our
instructor Mr. Nguyen Tan Quang. His kindly supprt and continuous advices went through
the process of completion of our thesis. His encouragament and comments had
significantly enriched and improved my work. Without his motivation and instructions,
the thesis would would have been impossible to be done effectively.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................... 4


1.1 Definition................................................................................................. 4
1.2 Examples .............................................................................................. 6
1.3 The different of the organizational structures in different cultures .. 3
II. IMPACT OF INTERCULTURAL ASPECT ................................... 8
2.1 Pros .......................................................................................................... 8
2.2 Cons .................................................................................................... 10

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INTRODUCTION
These days, the process of globalization, emerging markets, technological
evolution, the explosion of information, the advances in science and technology,
especially the Internet is rapidly ongoing which leads to the changing of labor
environment of contemporary organizations. These changes mean that the
diversified and multicultural management is becoming the most necessary skills
for the successful business people of the future who will need to be able to
accommodate different cultural working styles, to drive their business forward with
an adaptive approach to management in different markets.
More than just conscious, Intercultural in managing people is an
understanding and respect of other cultures within an international context. In
practice, it means cultural differences being acknowledged and managed openly,
rather than ignored. Furthermore, Intercultural management is about opening the
conversation around the distinctions of different cultural approaches in business,
so managers are aware of and can respond to these differences in attitude and
behavior.

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I. LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Definition
Basically, intercultural management is the combination of knowledge, skills,
problem approach, etc. in which are
necessary to dealing national and
regional differences. Moreover, the
difference among culture is also
diversity and complicated. Imagine
how hard you in if you are a manager of
a multinational company and have to
dealing with tons of difference culture
in a day. Because of this, understanding
and respecting is what intercultural
management brings.

In different culture, we have different


ways of reacting, considering and solving
a problem. The settlement has to based on the culture of that people, that
manager and the problem must be solve rational and make both manager either
subordinate feel satisfied.

1.2. Examples
There are hundred different ways of reacting across culture. With the same problem
happens in an organization, manager from different culture have their own way to
reacting. For example, the problems we have here are:
1. A member is not doing his job appropriately, and other co-worker complain
about it, they said this make a bad effect on the result of the team.
2. A department has won a prize with a product as the best in its field.

A research in an international company showed the different ways in which


managers from Britain, Germany, France and USA saw the situations.

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1.
Britain Germany France USA

must be taken
Action promptly and (like Britain) (like (like
has to hear Britain) Britain)
from both side

consider
Reaction sensitive & tranquil & tranquil & problem
judicious unintentional unintentiona more
l seriously

to find out focus mainly make the


member’s on work and (like problem
Suggestion personal remove any Germany) more
problem obstacles clearly

2.
Form of celebrations

Britain commend and reward individually

Germany congratulating and encouraging individually

France (like Germany)

(like Britain)
USA
Plus, they take the success to influence other departments
3. For more clearly, I have an example about what happen if every single
member in a team come from different culture. A software development
company have a new project and the manager want to build a team with
subordinates from Indian and Americans. Right at the first step, the
subordinates did not agree with the deadline. The Americans think it just
needs 2 or 3 weeks to complete while the Indian said they need 2 months to
make it perfect. The Indian also send their report every week but the
Americans believe that it not necessary and the report should be sent when
the project ended. And after this happens, the manager decides that every
single member in the team, even American or Indian, have to send their own
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report when they finish their job day by day. This get the manager stuck in
the mud and have to do the thing that not necessary in others project before,
this also make the project become slower and hopeless. So, in this situation,
the manager takes a very important role to solve the problem that come from
the different culture and finally he could not make it right. The challenge
here is to recognize the reason that conflict arising from different culture and
find out how to get the team back to work more effectively.
1.3. The different of the organizational structures in
different cultures
Nowadays, any organization must have a suitable structure that will help
achieve its targets. The structural makeup of the organization must bring the
needs into line with goals so that an organization makes advanced growth in
different culture. According to the research, Hofstede has linked his elements
(power distance and uncertainty avoidance) to organizational structures, which
impact the managers’ tasks.

HOFSTEDE High power distance Low power distance

Family culture (like a Market culture (like a


family) village market)
Low
uncertainty
avoidance

Pyramid culture (like a Machine culture (like a


structured pyramid) well-oiled machine)
High
uncertainty
avoidance

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To understand
more about
organizational
structure and way
of work in
different
countries, we
choose five top
countries to
clarify this
statement, they
are UK, China,
USA, Germany
and France.

UK (a.k.a the COVID-19 immunity country) refers less at both power


distance and uncertainty avoidance, they favours the “village market” structure,
which means most of the difficulties are elucidate by both managers and staff
working together.
China with enormous power distance but weak uncertainty avoidance,
basically leans on the “family” method, with direct supervision from the owner
of the company and relatives.
Germany refers small power distance but strong uncertainty avoidance, they
have the tendency to be the “well-oiled machine”. It means they have a more
bureaucratic structure than British, and a high-qualified trained staff.
France refers enormous power distance and well-built uncertainty avoidance,
they shift their organizational structure to a “structured pyramid”. It means they
have high hierarchical bureaucracy in structure and high systematize work
procedures.
The USA is in the middle of the background and favours organization in
division, with a regulation of productivity.
In addition, many East Asian countries are considered to be these most
hierarchy countries. Above all, Japan is on top of hierarchical society, and
group’s mindset. Agreement and obedience to the group is the most important
thing, even above their family. Asking questions or thinking for personal benefits
will get you isolated and hated in Japan, if you don’t get agreement to others, no
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matter how dumb and stupid things others do, you will be labelled as a
“troublemaker” and immediately be put at the bottom of society, your life will
quickly become suffocating. Next in line would probably be Korea, their
agreement and group’s mindset is a lot more tranqiled, but they also have strong
superiority based on hierarchical structure.
II. IMPACT OF INTERCULTURAL ASPECTS IN
MANAGING PEOPLE
Everything always has a two-sided aspect, so does the intercultural
management. When combining different cultures into a group, there must be
some kinds of result that will be led to.
2.1. Pros
Whether working globally or locally, many organizations can not work solely
within their own cultural context. Therefore, successful management of cultural
diversity has become a strategic advantage.
Learn New Things
The most fascinating aspect of
managing people from different culture is
a lot of brands new things occurring
everyday. When interfacing with people
from other countries, there is always some
immensely interesting things to learn, so
there is additionally an ongoing learning
challenge. Regardless of whether you have
lived in another outbound place for years,
you would discover many new facts day by
day. “This learning process keeps you on
your toes and there are always new possibilities around every corner.” - one
lecturer said.

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Overcome Intercultural Problems
We normally expect that everyone else
thinks, communicates, and behaves in a similar
way as we do. A Chinese proverb said that
“Observers can see the chess game more clearly
than the players”. When talking with
businessmans about intercultural matters in
managing individuals, it is important to
understand that we will just really comprehend
one culture clearly only if we face with the
behaviour, language, situations, etc. of that
culture. Therefore, it is our capacity to see the
quality and behaviours of others as cultural or social, and not just simply
universal. This does not mean losing one’s core value of fundamental belief, it
is rather a way to step outside of one’s comfort zone and try to see things around
through another person’s perspective.

Create a WIN-WIN Mode


Managing people from different culture can be a key factor in getting things
done effectively across borders. With
increased contact of personnels and
customers from diverse cultural
backgrounds, there will be a growing
demand for businesses to
comprehend and manage the
diversity of values, perceptions,
worldviews of business, and
behaviours between corporation,
staff, and its customers. This will
create a strategic advantage in
approaching new market or widening your current one when you have already
known some special aspects of one’s culture. You will reach the customer
demand, also increase both total sales and market share; while the purchasers
will feel satisfied and pleasant.

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During the current globalization, this is one of the most important things that
makes an effective businessman when working across culture, or managing
people in offices with different worldviews.
2.2. Cons
Differences
When we talk about cultures, we
talk about differences. Some
cultures prefer individualism,
some prefer collectivism. Some
cultures are high power distance
and some are low. Some cultures
may be assertive and dominant,
some may not. And a lot more
characteristics that make cultures
dissimilar. People from different
cultures may share different
opinions, thoughts, perceptions
towards a single problem. Sometimes those differences may lead to an argument
and furthermore it may cause conflicts and tense atmosphere among people
within the organization.
Stereotypes and Culture Shock
Working with people from different cultures or backgrounds, we may see that
some of them have stereotypes or assumptions about other people. And applying
general characteristics to a particular group sometimes could be negative. Having
a bad experience with one individual does not mean the whole nation is bad.
Giving judgment or wrong assumptions about other people is the fastest way to
upset themself and it could cause feud within the organization. Besides, when
people move to a different culture, they may suffer from culture shock, which is
the feeling of confusion or anxiety when they are not used to a new environment.
For some people, they find it hard to adapt and it could be really tough, the
feelings of homesick and anxiety may haunt them. It is not only bad for our

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organization since they do not have the ability to work hard but it is also bad for
their mental health.

Paperwork Challenge
Managing people across cultures is not an easy
thing to do. And one of the difficulties is the
paperwork, some countries have strict rules
about hiring foreign employees such as the
American, they have high requirements just to
get a visa. Not mentioned those procedures take
a lot of time to carry out. Therefore, to hire an
employee from abroad, a manager must put
many efforts and patience on the paperwork.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, managers in an international environment must operate
simultaneously on a number of platforms, rooted in the culture of origin, local
culture, or the culture of the organization in which they work. In each culture,
concepts of authority, bureaucracy, creativity, coworking, assertion, responsibility
are experienced in different ways. Therefore, we should constantly improve the
skills needed for becoming a successful manager in a globalized environment.

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