GLOBE STUDY

NATIONAL CULTURAL DIMENSIONS

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 Situation I:
Indus Steel is a leading family managed steel manufacturing company in
India. As part of its expansion programme, the organization acquired a
steel mill at Churchill, Canada. Churchill is a small town and most of the
population is dependent on the steel mill, Churchill Steel Plc for their
livelihood.
As Indus acquired Churchill Steel, a delegation was deputed from India to
take over the plant. The delegation consisted of the senior executives, with
a long stint at Indus. The head of delegation, Mr. Maheshwari carried a
beautiful Ganesh statue with him and got it installed at the factory gate as
a good omen. In the introductory meeting with the union representatives,
he informed them about the vegetarianism being practiced by Indus
management and as per the policy, hence forth only the veg food would be
made available in the cafeteria within the premises.
The next day, union served a notice to strike, the local news paper carried a
big article on how the new management was threatening the customs of
the locals and the city council informed the delegation of employees that it
would be writing to the federal government to intervene to stop the cultural
How
onslaught on Churchill.© 2007 do we address the situation?
Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.
15–2

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 Situation 2:
Indo Engineers had a collaboration with a Japanese firm to manufacture
power generation equipment in India. A Japanese instructor had trained the
trainee workmen in the production techniques before placing them on the shop
floor for regular production.
On day, the instructor noticed that one of his trainees was cutting corners and
was deviating from the process, in spite of his emphasis on following the right
process for the product quality. The instructor went to that person and slapped
him hard and walked away. Every one else was stunned and watched in
silence.
The union created hue and cry to the management and demanded strict action
against the instructor. The HR head enquired with the instructor about his
behaviour. He was quite cool and replied,” When my trainees behave like this
in Japan, I slap them hard. Then they follow the right process next time. What's
wrong in this?”
Is the Japanese instructor right on his part?

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 A Model of Societal and
Organizational Cultures
Societal culture
 involves shared values, norms, identities, and
interpretations that result from common
experiences of members of collectives that are
transmitted over time.

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 Cultural Influences on
Organizational Behavior

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 Merging Societal and
Organizational Culture
Employees bring their societal culture to
work with them in the form of customs and
language
Organizational culture affects an individual’s
values, ethics, attitudes, assumptions, and
expectations

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 Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism
 belief that one’s native country, culture,
language, and behavior are superior to all
others.

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Research Insight and Dealing with
Ethnocentrism
A survey of companies in Europe, Japan
and the U.S. found ethnocentric staffing and
human resource policies to be associated
with increased personnel problems.
Those problems included recruiting
difficulties, high turnover rates, and lawsuits
over personnel policies.

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 Question?
Patricia has lived in the US her entire life.
She believes that the US is the greatest
country in the world. Her belief is an
example of _____.
A. Societal norm
B. Cultural paradox
C. Ethnocentrism
D. Collectivism

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 Project GLOBE
GLOBE (Global Leadership and
Organizational Behavior Effectiveness)
 attempt to develop an empirically based theory
to describe, understand, and predict the impact
of specific cultural variables on leadership and
organizational processes and the effectiveness
of these processes

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Nine Basic Cultural Dimensions from
the GLOBE Project
Power distance
 How much unequal distribution of power is
there in organizations and society?
 Highest : Russia, Lowest: Denmark
Uncertainty-avoidance
 How people WANT to avoid uncertainty and
limit unpredictability?
 Highest: Germany, Lowest: Russia

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Nine Basic Cultural Dimensions from
the GLOBE Project
Institutional collectivism
 How much leaders encourage and reward
loyalty to the teamwork, as opposed to the
pursuit of individual goals?
 Highest: South Korea Lowest: Italy
In-group collectivism
 How much pride and loyalty individuals have
for their family or organization?
 Highest: China Lowest: New Zealand

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Nine Basic Cultural Dimensions
from the GLOBE Project
Gender egalitarianism
 How much effort people into minimizing gender
discrimination and role inequalities?
 Highest: Poland Lowest: India
Assertiveness
 How confrontational and dominant individuals are in
social relationships?
 Highest: U.S.A Lowest: Japan
Future orientation
 How much people plan and save for the future?
 Highest: Singapore Lowest: Kuwait
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Nine Basic Cultural Dimensions
from the GLOBE Project
Performance orientation
 How much individuals are rewarded for
improvement and excellence?
 Highest: Taiwan, Lowest: Argentina
Humane orientation
 How much society encourage and value people
for being kind, fair, friendly, and generous?
 Highest: Egypt , Lowest: Germany

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Countries Ranking Highest and Lowest
on the GLOBE Cultural Dimensions

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 Leadership Attributes Universally
Liked and Disliked
Table 3-2

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 Internet Humour:
INTERNATIONAL BEER SYNDROME

An insect falls into a mug of beer.

Englishman : Throws his mug of beer on the floor, and walks

out.

Chinese : Eats the insect and throws the beer out.

Indian : Sells the insect to the Chinese and the beer to the
Englishman, and buys himself a new mug of beer.

Pakistani : Accuses the Indian of throwing the insect into his

mug, relates the issue to Kashmir, asks the
Chinese for military aid, and takes a loan to buy
another mug of beer.

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Key Cross-Cultural Competencies

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