Mcs 358 Int Cult MGT

Kwame Nkrumah University of
Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
MCS 358
INTERCULTURAL MANAGEMENT
Kwame Ohene Djan

(BSc, MSc, PhD)
Department of Marketing & Corporate Strategy
KNUST School of Business
12/08/2022 1
Course Outline
Introduction to Intercultural Management
Unit 1: Role of Culture in International business management
2.1 Culture and its effects on Organizations
2.2 Cultural Value Dimensions
2.3 Project GLOBE Cultural Dimensions
2.4 Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
2.5 Trompenaars’s Value Dimensions
2.6 Developing Cultural Profiles
2.7 Culture and Management Styles around the world
Unit 2: Communication Across Cultures
3.1 The Communication Process
3.2 The Culture-Communication Link
3.3 Managing Cross-Cultural Communication
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12/08/2022 K Ohene Djan 2

Course Outline Cont’d
Unit 3: Motivating and Leading
3.1 Global Leader’s Role and Environment
3.2 Cross Cultural Research on Motivation
3.3 Cross-cultural research on leadership
3.4 Contingency leadership: The Culture Variable
Unit 4: International Human Resource Management

4.1 Expatriation and Repatriation
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Introduction to Intercultural Management
Origin of the concept
Intercultural management as a concept assumed an identity on its own in the mid

1980s. It gained considerable ground during the 1990s from international
diversity perspective.
Intercultural management concerns itself with the management of
workforces functioning in culturally different operating contexts.
These differences can be either ‘external’, where an organization operates across
national and ethnic cultures, or ‘internal’, where an organization operates across
different branches or regions.
Intercultural management may be viewed as a subset of international
management.
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Unit 1: Culture and Intercultural Management
What is culture?
Over 160 definitions of culture were uncovered in the research of Kroeber and Kluckholm (1985), cited by North and Hort, (2002). There is no universally satisfactory definition of the domain of culture (Daniels, 2004).
Culture represents a complex pattern of beliefs, expectations, ideas, values, attitudes and behaviors shared by members of a group or team (Hellriegel and Slocum, 2004) who come from the same village, town, country or region – or from the same work unit, department, division or organization.
Hofstede (1984, p.13) sees culture as “the collective programming of the mind, which distinguishes members of one human group from another
Culture consists of people with shared attitudes, values and beliefs. Cultural activities could be national or organizational.
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Culture also refers to …
A set of 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 (Deresky, 2017)
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Visible and Invisible cultures
• There are two dimensions to culture: visible and invisible.
• The visible dimensions of culture include:
 Language: that spoken language in different countries, organizations which
reveals the existence and non-existence of certain concepts;
 Short vs long term orientation: different cultural attitude toward time,
either short-term thinking and pressure on time, or a more unhurried, longer-
term perspective;
 Use of space: it varies among different cultures, in terms of comfort in being
close; physically to strangers or not;
 Religion: that most people follow in each country or a group of countries,
and it is the most influential part that can affect the society as whole.
Visible cultures Cont’d
• Founders’ values - are critical as they hire the first set of managers
• Founders likely hire those who share their vision. This develops the culture of the
firm
• Socialization - Newcomers learn norms and values
• Learn not only because ‘they have to’ but because they want to
• Organizational behavior, expectations, and background are presented
• Symbols - Anything visible representing a shared value: simplest, basic
cultural expression such as logos, architecture, parking priorities, uniforms,
office location/size, art on the wall etc.
Invisible culture
• Shared assumptions (e.g. time orientation) are the underlying
thoughts and feelings that members of a culture take for granted and
believe to be true. Societies differ in their assumptions about time. E.g.
In India, Hindus belief that time is everlasting and frequently arrive
late to meetings
• Values and norms inform workers about what goals they should
pursue and how they should behave to reach these goals – basic belief
about condition that is important. E.g. TQM to Toyota. Some
organizations work hard to create a culture that encourages and rewards
risk-taking eg. Microsoft, Oracle seek innovation. Others create an
environment of caution eg. Oil refineries, nuclear power plants must
focus on caution.
Levels of Culture
A culture starts developing in a context where a group of people have a shared
experience.
- Family members share a life together
- In a business context, culture can develop at different levels within a
department or at the various ranks of hierarchy.
- A company can develop its own culture provided it has ‘a sufficient shared
history’ (Schein, 1999).
- Applies also for a collection of companies within a particular business or sector
(e.g. airline companies, car making companies, public sector organizations etc.
- Regions of a country, regions across countries, or groupings of nations sharing
a common experience like language, religion, ethnic origins or a shared history in
development
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12/08/2022 10
E.g. Swahili is a Bantu
language spoken mainly in
Tanzania, Uganda and
Kenya, and also in
Burundi, Mozambique,
Oman, Somalia the
Democratic Republic of
the Congo and South
Africa by about 98 million
people. Swahili is an official
language of Tanzania,
Uganda and Kenya, and is
used as a lingua franca
throughout East Africa.
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K Ohene Djan
3 Main Levels of Culture
1. Societal Culture
Tayeb (2003) argues that there is a constant thread through our lives which
makes us distinguishable from others, especially those in other countries: this
thread is our national culture.
Societies are organized politically into nations, but within this national unity
subcultures may exist with specific cultural characteristics.
These groups use the society in which they are embedded as their framework of
reference, and share their nationality, language and institutions, while being
delineated by their socio-economic, historic or geographic characteristics.
National variables + Sociocultural variables = Societal Culture

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12/08/2022 K Ohene Djan 12

Environmental Variables Affecting Management
Functions
Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-13

2. Organizational Culture
1. Exists within and interacts with societal culture
2. Varies a great deal from one organization, company, institution, or group to another
3. Represents those expectations, norms, and goals held in common by members of
that group
4. Cultural elements affect the way strategy is determined, goals are established and
how the organization operates
• Organizational culture functions equivalently to societal culture, but varies a great

deal from one organization to another—even within a single societal culture.
Nonetheless, organizational culture is at least partially a function of and must
respond to societal culture.
12/08/2022 14
• Examples:
– IBM vs. Apple
– KLM
– McDonald’s in Russia
• IBM is considered a traditionally to be very formal, hierarchical, and rules- bound, and with its
employees usually in suits, and Apple Computer, whose organizational culture is very organic or
“loose” and informal with its employees typically wearing casual clothes and interacting informally.
• Airline KLM responded to Dutch attitudes regarding families and norms regarding relationships by
extending its travel benefits policy to any couple who formally registered as living together—
regardless of whether the couple was heterosexual or homosexual, formally married or not.
• McDonald’s provides more extensive training to employees in Russia than to those in the US
because Russians are less familiar with working within a capitalist system.
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TYPES OF ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
• Bureaucratic culture
• Formalization, rules, hierarchy
• Clan culture
• Tradition, loyalty, personal commitment
• Entrepreneurial culture
• Risk-taking, dynamism, creativity
• Market culture
• Achievement of financial/market goals
3. Corporate Culture
• Corporate culture takes the question of organizational culture a step further
• If an organization develops into a multinational conglomerate, the culture at
headquarters may influence that of its subsidiaries abroad.
• Similarly, a firm involved in a joint venture with a company from another

country may well find that the presence of the foreign partners influences the
underlying culture of the firm
• What evolves over time in terms of ‘corporate culture’ can have as its basis
the ‘original’ organizational culture, or the national/regional culture- or a
combination of the two.
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The extent of influence of corporate culture is disputed among experts in the
field.
Some regard a clearly defined corporate culture as key to a (multi)national

company’s success.
Others consider flexible culture to be the key to success because it can adapt to,
and respond more effectively to, a local/national environment.
Group Assignment to be submitted 3rd June, 2021.
Is it necessary for a Multinational company to change its organizational culture?

When and Why?
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12/08/2022 18
The Effect of Culture on Organizational Process
U.S. Culture Alternative Function Affected
Individual influences future Life is preordained Planning, scheduling
The environment is People adjust to the Morale, productivity

changeable environment
Hark work leads to success Wisdom and luck are also Motivation, rewards
needed
Employment can be ended Employment is for a lifetime Promotions, recruitment
Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

3-19
Culture and its Effects on Organizations
• An awareness
Cultural of and an
Sensitivity honest caring
or about another
individual’s
Cultural culture
Empathy?

Culture’s Effects on Management
• Convergence—the phenomenon of the shifting of individual management
styles to become similar to one another
• Self-Reference Criterion—the subconscious reference point of ones own
cultural values. Many people in the world understand and relate to others
only in terms of their own cultures
• Parochialism—occurs, for example, when a Frenchman expects those from
or in another country to automatically fall into patterns of behavior
common in France
• Ethnocentrism—describes the attitude of those who operate from the
assumption that their ways of doing things are best—no matter where or
under what conditions they are applied

An example of the need to overcome the self-reference criterion is when
Japanese workers must put courtesy aside and interrupt conversations with
Americans when there are problems.
P & G demonstrated ethnocentrism when they ran a popular European

advert for Camay soap in Japan. The ad depicted a man walking in on his
wife in the bath. The commercial backfired in Japan because the Japanese
viewed the man’s behavior as bad manners.
12/08/2022 K Ohene Djan 22

Influences on National Culture
Subcultures Stereotyping
 Many countries comprise diverse • A cultural profile that tends to
subcultures whose constituents develop some tentative
conform only in varying degrees expectations—some cultural
to the national character. context—as a backdrop to
Example: Canada managing in a specific
international setting

Cultural Subsystems that Influence People and Their
Behavior
Kinship
Education
Religion
System
Economic
Recreation
System
Health Political
System System

Cultural Value Dimensions
Values Can vary across

subcultures
Are a society’s
ideas about what Allow for contingency
is good or bad, management
right or wrong
Determine how
individuals will Help managers
probably respond in anticipate likely
any given cultural effects
circumstances

Values determine how individuals probably will act in given circumstances. They
are communicated via the eight subsystems just described and are passed down
through generations.
Contingency management requires managers to adapt to the local environment

and people and to adjust their management styles accordingly.
Value dimensions and resulting cultural profiles provide only an approximation of

national character. There may be variations in national culture—i.e., subcultures
may exist as well. For example, American tend to think of the Chinese as
culturally homogenous, but distinct ethnic groups within China have their own
customs and dialects.
12/08/2022 26
GLOBE STUDIES (1993 by Robert J House )
 Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness Research Project
 How culture influences leadership and organizational processes

 What cultural attributes affect societies’ susceptibility to leadership influence
 To what extent do cultural forces influence the expectations that individuals
have for leaders and their behavior
 To what extent will leadership styles vary in accordance with culturally
specific values and expectations?
 What principles and laws of leadership and organizational processes
transcend cultures?
To understand and measure: cultures and
leadership
 62 countries
 170 investigators
 17,370 middle managers who worked in
 951 organizations
 Asked about culture, leadership and organization
 Tested 27 hypotheses
 Included archival data, media analysis, individual and group interviews
and unobtrusive measures
GLOBE studies: 9 cultural dimensions
 Dimensions drew on previous research
1. Uncertainty avoidance
2. Power distance
3. Collectivism I: societal collectivism
4. Collectivism II: In-group collectivism
5. Gender egalitarianism
6. Assertiveness
7. Future orientation
8. Performance orientation
9. Humane orientation
 Important to know:
 What the dimensions mean
 What high/low on a dimension means
 Where your country fits on the dimensions
GLOBE studies: Defining the dimensions
1. Uncertainty avoidance
The extent to which a society, organization, or group relies on social norms, rules,
and procedures to alleviate unpredictability of future events
2. Power distance
The degree to which members of a collective expect power to be distributed
equally.
3. Collectivism I: societal collectivism
The degree to which organizational and societal institutional practices encourage and
reward collective distribution of resources and collective action.
4. Collectivism II: In-group collectivism
The degree to which individuals express pride, loyalty, and cohesiveness in their
organizations or families.
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5. Gender egalitarianism
The degree to which a collective minimizes gender inequality.
6. Assertiveness
The degree to which individuals are assertive, confrontational, and aggressive in their
relationships with others.
7. Future orientation
The extent to which individuals engage in future-oriented behaviors such as delaying
gratification, planning, and investing in the future.
8. Performance orientation
The degree to which a collective encourages and rewards group members for performance
improvement and excellence.
9. Humane orientation
The degree to which a collective encourages and rewards individuals for being fair, altruistic,
generous, caring, and kind to others.
GLOBE Research Project Dimensions
• Low: Russia, Argentina, Italy

Future • High: Netherlands, Switzerland,
Orientation Singapore
• Low: Germany, Spain, France

Humane • High: Malaysia, Ireland,
Orientation Philippines

GLOBE Research Project Dimensions
• Low: Sweden, Japan, Switzerland

Assertiveness • High: Greece, Austria, Germany
Performance • Low: Russia, Argentina, Italy

Orientation • High: U.S., Hong Kong, Singapore

Hofstede (1983)
• Hofstede’s research, which was conducted prior to the

GLOBE project, is based on 116,000 people in 50
countries. Nonetheless, all of the research was conducted
in a single firm—IBM. As such, the result should be
interpreted with caution.
12/08/2022 35
Hofstede’s Value Dimensions
Power Distance
Uncertainty Avoidance
The level of acceptance by a
society of the unequal The extent to which people
distribution of power in in a society feel threatened
institutions by ambiguous situations
Collectivism
Individualism
The desire for tight social
The tendency of people to frameworks, emotional
look after themselves and dependence on belonging to
their immediate families “the organization,” and a
only and to neglect the strong belief in group
needs of society decisions

Power Distance
High Orientation Toward Authority Low
MAL PHI MEX IND FRA ITA JPN SPA ARG US GER UK DEN ISR AUT
Uncertainty Avoidance
High Desire for Stability Low
GRE JPN POR KOR ARA GER AUL CAN US UK IND DEN SIN

Individualism
Individualism Collectivism
AUL US UK CAN FRA GER SPA JPN MEX ITA KOR SIN
Masculinity
Assertive/Materialistic Relational
JPN MEX GER UK US ARA FRA KOR POR CHC DEN SWE

Long-term/Short-term Orientation
High Low
CHI HK JPN TAI VIE BRA IND US CAN UK E/W AFR

Trompenaar’s (1993) value dimension
• He used 15,000 managers from 28 countries and they are as follows
:
1. Universalism vs. Particularism – many ways / one right way
2. Individualism vs. Communitarianism – Individual / group
3. Specific vs. Diffuse cultures – Extroversion / Introversion
4. Affective vs. Neutral cultures – Openly on emotions
5. Achievement vs. Ascription – Societal standing on effort towards
success and vice versa
6. Sequential vs. Synchronic cultures – Systematic and simultaneous
7. Internalistic vs. Externalistic – Power over nature and vice versa
Trompenaar’s Dimensions
Obligation
High Low
Universalistic Particularistic
US GER SWE UK ITA FRA JPN SPA SIN
Emotional Orientation in Relationship

High Low
Neutral Affective
JPN UK GER SWE USA FRA SPA ITA CHI

Trompenaar’s Dimensions
Privacy in Relationship
High Low
Specific Diffuse
UK US FRA GER ITA JPN SWE SPA CHI
Source of Power and Status

High Low
Personal Society
US UK SWE GER FRA ITA SPA JPN CHI

Critical Operational Value Differences
• Time—differences in temporal values
• Change—control and pace of change

• Material Factors—physical goods and status symbols versus
aesthetics and the spiritual realism
• Individualism—“me/I” versus “we”

Developing Cultural Profiles
Managers can gather
considerable information on
Managers can develop
cultural variables from
cultural profiles of various
current research, personal
countries.
observation, and discussion
with people.
It is difficult to pull together

Managers can use these
descriptive cultural profiles in
profiles to anticipate drastic
other countries unless one
differences that may be
has lived there and been
encountered in a given
intricately involved with
country.
those people.

• Though profiles have their limitations, managers can use them to anticipate
differences in the level of motivation, communication, ethics, loyalty, and
individual and group productivity that may be encountered in a given culture. This
Comparative Management in Focus section illustrates how to synthesize
information from Hofstede and others to gain a sense of the character of a society.
• Much of Japanese culture and working relationships can be explained by the

principle of wa. Wa is embedded in the value of indulgent love, which leads to
mutual confidence, faith, and honor necessary for business relationships. As such,
the workplace is characterized by a mix of authoritarianism and humanism—much
like a family. Management systems stress rank and looking after employees. There
is devotion to work, collective responsibility, and a high degree of employee
productivity.
12/08/2022 45
Comparative Management in Focus
Japan Germany
• “Wa”—peace and harmony • Preference for rules and order,
• A mix of authoritarian and humanism in the privacy
workplace • Dislike of inefficiency and
• Emphasis on participative management, tardiness
consensus, and duty • Assertive, but not aggressive
• Open expression and conflict discouraged • Organizations are centralized but
still favor consensus decision
making

Comparative Management in Focus
Latin America
• Not homogenous, but common similarities
• “Being-oriented” compared with “doing-oriented”
• Work and private lives are more closely integrated
• Very important to maintain harmony and save face

Under the Lens: Doing Business in Brazil
 Almost everyone has a combination of European, African, and indigenous

ancestry
 Individual relationships are important
 Brazilians take time when negotiating
 Brazilian business is hierarchical, and meetings are required
 Avoid confrontations
 Dress well and conservatively
 Business cards are exchanged
 Having your business card printed in Portuguese on the opposite side is a good idea.

Developing Management Styles and Ways of
Doing Business: Saudi Arabia
Paternalism,
Tribalism
nepotism
Close Person-orientation,
friendships Theory Y management
(treat workers with
freedom and respect)
Honor, Conflict avoidance,
shame positive reinforcement

Developing Management Styles and Ways of
Doing Business: Chinese Family Business
• Small, family businesses predominate
• “Guanxi” connections
• People are put ahead of business – human centered
management style
• Globalization has resulted in more competitive management
styles: the new generation manager is more individualistic,
more independent and takes more risks

Summary of Key Points
 Each society has its own unique culture

 Managers must develop cultural sensitivity
 Researchers such as Hofstede and Trompenaar have created studies which
help describe cultural profiles; GLOBE study created a body of data on
cultural dimensions
 Managers can use research results and personal observations to develop
cultural profiles of countries

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Kwame Nkrumah University of

Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

Kwame Ohene Djan

12/08/2022 K Ohene Djan 2

Unit 4: International Human Resource Management

12/08/2022 K Ohene Djan 3

Intercultural management as a concept assumed an identity on its own in the mid

12/08/2022 K Ohene Djan 4

12/08/2022 K Ohene Djan 5

A set of shared values, understandings, assumptions,

12/08/2022 K Ohene Djan 6

National variables + Sociocultural variables = Societal Culture

12/08/2022 K Ohene Djan 12

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-13

• Organizational culture functions equivalently to societal culture, but varies a great

• Similarly, a firm involved in a joint venture with a company from another

Some regard a clearly defined corporate culture as key to a (multi)national

Group Assignment to be submitted 3rd June, 2021.

Is it necessary for a Multinational company to change its organizational culture?

U.S. Culture Alternative Function Affected

Individual influences future Life is preordained Planning, scheduling

The environment is People adjust to the Morale, productivity

Employment can be ended Employment is for a lifetime Promotions, recruitment

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-20

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-21

P & G demonstrated ethnocentrism when they ran a popular European

12/08/2022 K Ohene Djan 22

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-23

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-24

Values Can vary across

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-25

Contingency management requires managers to adapt to the local environment

Value dimensions and resulting cultural profiles provide only an approximation of

 How culture influences leadership and organizational processes

• Low: Russia, Argentina, Italy

• Low: Germany, Spain, France

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-33

• Low: Sweden, Japan, Switzerland

Performance • Low: Russia, Argentina, Italy

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-34

• Hofstede’s research, which was conducted prior to the

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-36

High Orientation Toward Authority Low

High Desire for Stability Low

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-37

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-38

CHI HK JPN TAI VIE BRA IND US CAN UK E/W AFR

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-39

US GER SWE UK ITA FRA JPN SPA SIN

Emotional Orientation in Relationship

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-41

UK US FRA GER ITA JPN SWE SPA CHI

Source of Power and Status

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-42

• Change—control and pace of change

• Individualism—“me/I” versus “we”

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-43

It is difficult to pull together

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-44

• Much of Japanese culture and working relationships can be explained by the

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-46

Copyright ©2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-47