Organisational Culture

Managing Diversity and Cultural

Conflict
Culture (definitions revisited)

Cartwright (1999) sees

culture as a system of
Organisational management authority
culture is a general
concept which is
difficult to define or
explain precisely
(Mullins, 2006)
Hofsted (1984) defines culture as
the collective programming of
the mind which distinguishes the
members of one human group
from another and in this sense,
includes systems of values.
Cultural Diversity (what do we mean?)

Nationality or origin
Gender
Levels of development (industrial
and educational)
Power and Politics
Religion
National Culture
Organisational Culture
 Or do we mean any of these?
If, according to Brooks(2003),
culture is interlinked, the picture
should be more like this:

Language
National
Culture

Legal system Language

Education
Legal system

National
Culture

Political Values Education

Values
system

Religion Political
Religion
system
So what do theorists say?
Hofstede, after a large-scale research at IBM
in various countries, found 4 dimensions to
national cultural differences:
Power distance inequality in organisations
due to management style
Uncertainty avoidance how threatened
members of a society feel by unusual
situations
Individualist relative individualistic or
collectivist ethic
Masculinity refers to a continuum between
masculine characteristics such as
assertiveness and competitiveness and
feminine traits, such as caring, quality of
life and concern with the environment
Food for thought
Are some of those dimensions
stereotypical?
Do they still apply today or has the
world become complex?
What could sources of
organisational conflict be?
 General and Specific Sources of
Conflict
Organisational change Differences in perception
Leadership (or lack of) Limited Resources
Political Systems Departmentalisation and
Organisational Climate specialisation
Organisational Culture The nature of work
activities
Role Conflict
Inequitable treatment
Violation of territory
Environmental change
Other potential sources of organisational conflict are:
individuals, groups, organisational structure and the age gap
Strategies for Managing Conflict
Classification of goals and objectives
Resource distribution
HR management policies and procedures
Non-monetary rewards
Development of interpersonal/group
process skills
Group activities
Leadership and management
Organisational processes
Socio-technical approach
Refer to handouts for further detail
Workshop

1. Read your situation handout

2. Discuss what the conflict or area of
conflict they refer to
3. Choose a strategy for managing
each of the conflicts
4. Explain your choices