Cross Cultural Management

Multinational corporations face a variety of management problems that have an effect on employee efficiency and morale, either directly or indirectly. Cultural variations are not readily determined, and they can be difficult to observe at times; however, they play an important role in the industry. It is wise for a company to understand cultural diversity while developing business practices and strategies. Failure to account for cultural nuances will lead to mishaps, tense relationships with business partners, and a decrease in business success. National culture must be taken into consideration by multinational corporations especially in cross-border business operations since it can have significant consequences on people. Care must be taken when dealing with national cultural differences of the employees in cross-border relationships. National culture has a direct influence on behavior that goes beyond business-related factors including regulatory policies, rules, laws, and key public institutions (Robertson 2006, pp. 212).

While national cultural differences often remain unchanged over time, it is prudent to ensure that the organization has comprehensively adopted and integrated these into its core operations in the various countries where its businesses are located. Multinational companies must take into consideration the fact that cultural value differences will persist especially in companies that have businesses exposed to various national cultures in their routine day-to-day operations (Hill 2008). Therefore, there is a degree of complexity involved in managing business across borders since it compels multinational companies to create business practices and methods that are tailored every aspect of the cultural context within which it operates.

Multinational companies should develop operations that are congruent to their cultural context in order to enhance productivity and performance. National cultural differences should not be ignored, and key operating procedures or practices should integrate a degree of variation across locations. Variation aims to ensure that the management is able to adopt and integrate cultural differences into critical functions such as human resource management at the local level. The management should develop comprehensive HRM strategies that promote cohesion between organizational culture and cultural differences of the local communities (Vaiman and Brewster 2015, pp. 151). Considering that the company hires its lower cadre employees from the local population, it is prudent to adopt and integrate the local cultural practices into business operations; hence, harmonization of organizational culture and values with those of the different cultures represented in the local workforce.

Integration of organizational culture and national cultural differences of the local base has significant benefits to the company. The company is able to compete in a more effective manner since its accessibility of local markets is enhanced by the understanding and alignment of its culture with those of the local communities (Tutar, Altinoz and Cakiroglu 2014, pp. 345). Considering that the company has established subsidiaries in different countries, the appreciation and integration of the local culture of the region in business practices enhance communication and understanding between the company and business partners in the region. Some communities as indicated by HiTreeIndia and HiTreeFinlad are sensitive to cultural practices; therefore, failure to adhere to expected cultural behavior and practices may result in prejudiced business relationships that may impair company operations. Therefore, the management should ensure that its organizational culture is tailored to the national cultural dynamics of the local communities (Scott, Heathcote and Gruman 2011).

Issues such as cultural etiquette in the conduct of meetings or business negotiations must be taken into consideration in the development of the organizational culture for subsidiaries in different countries. Cultural practices such as communication protocols should be examined and observed carefully to prevent offending or appearing as discourteous to stakeholders including local business partners and employees. Adoption of national culture as part of the subsidiaries organizational culture prevents issues of miscommunication and promotes mutual respect among the various individuals dealing with the company.

Though integration of national cultural differences in the organization has its benefits, there are various drawbacks that result from failure to understand and integrate cultural diversity into the organization’s culture, values, and practices (Konrad, Prasad and Pringle 2006). The multinational subsidiaries institution has integrated cultural diversity. However, communication may be impaired since there are different communication styles and languages involved especially between expatriates and locally hired employees. Therefore, communication issues have a negative impact towards performance and productivity.

In addition, the organization may require different people to work as teams; however, the differences in culture and language among the team members may have a negative impact on the teams’ cohesiveness, communication, and productivity. Essentially, there is a high probability of the different cultures within the organization clashing. In addition, it has been observed that first impressions in the workplace may have a lasting effect on the perception of workmates and senior management, especially during initial orientation when communication challenges are prevalent (Hill 2008). The communication challenges that arise as a result of cultural and linguistic diversity can be eliminated over time; however, their impacts on individual productivity can have significant implications on the firm’s objectives.

The relationships within the organization are critical in ensuring that workers are integrated into the organization’s culture. However, the existence of different cultures and languages within the organization creates a situation where employees of a certain cultural background will seek out employees from a similar cultural and linguistic background (Robertson 2006, pp. 214). This leads to the formation of informal groups and cliques that may become uncontrollable. This results in informal groupings and divisions within the institution among staff members. Furthermore, these groups may lead to employees of one cultural group being averse to another group causing challenges in the execution of jobs that require cooperation among the employees. Particularly, employees are unable to share their expertise, experiences, skills and knowledge in the workplace, which inhibits growth and development within the organization.

The optimal solution to the cultural problem in the institution should not be based on imposing the English language on employees at all times. Since the institution deals with diverse patients and customers, it is essential to preserve a workforce that is capable of speaking the various languages that the customers peak. For instance, in the case of HiTreeIndia, there are various dialects in the community; the subsidiary should ensure that it hires workers who can speak the various dialects in the community. However, the concerns raised by the increase of ethnic cultures should not be ignored.

The institution should create a comprehensive recruitment policy that ensures employees are hired on the basis of the cultural ratio in the community. For instance, in HiTree Germany, in the event that the German-speaking groups are the majority, then a higher number of staff should be German speakers. Meanwhile, different cultural and linguistic groups should be hired proportionately to ensure that minorities are not left out or under-represented in the institution. In order to ensure that employees are able to communicate and work together effectively in spite of their cultural backgrounds, the subsidiary should ensure that they hire bilingual employees who can speak the dominant national language and their indigenous language (Tutar, Altinoz and Cakiroglu 2014, pp. 346). The language speaking policy should emphasize on all employees communication in national language that can be either German, Finnish, or Hindu depending on the location of the subsidiary to promote cohesion within the workplace. However, customers should be addressed and served in a language that they can understand or be understood effectively.

Hofstede’s cultural dimensions can be classified as “power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, and masculinity” (Piepenburg 2011). These dimensions can be integrated into the development of strategies for integrating national cultural differences with organizational culture. National cultural differences present various business implications that are represented in decision-making process including the choice of management style and approach for employees and customer-based services (Hill 2008). Understanding, national culture aids multinational companies to make effective decisions that often result in congruence between cultural context and management style. The participation of the management in business operations has the potential to enhance profitability especially in ‘low power distance’ cultures; however, the participation of the management in ‘high power distance’ cultures can result in a declining profitability (Piepenburg, 2011).

Businesses often face challenges that may require intervention in order to ensure operations are not affected. National cultural differences influence businesses in this respect in that quick fixes can enhance the company’s profitability in cultures that are more ‘short-term oriented’; however, such interventions may have a negative outcome on the company’s profitability in cultures that are ‘long-term oriented.’ Meanwhile, the development and implementation of promotion policies and merit-based pay can lead to significant improvements in profitability especially in cultures that are more masculine; however, profitability would decline in cultures that are more feminine (Piepenburg, 2011). Similarly, acknowledging and rewarding individual contributions can have a tremendous impact on enhancing profitability in cultures that are individualist and worsen in cultures that are collectivistic.

Question 3

Intercultural communication entails effective communication in varied cultural environments and contexts. Expatriate employees from HiTrees US must have the capacity to communicate with people from diverse cultures in the regions that subsidiaries are located. Therefore, the development of intercultural communication can only be realized through interaction with people from other cultures and languages. The development of intercultural competency is a progressive process that may take varied time frames depending on the cultural environment or context. As such, it is a continuous process that may experience stagnation or regression periods. Since the MNC’s various subsidiaries have diversified human resources; it results in different people bringing different motivations and goals which result in varied experiences and differing levels of cultural competence. This difference is attributable to individual preferences; there are those who wish to acquire native-like characteristics in the host culture, and there are those who perceive gaining simple acceptance or survival as adequate.

In light of these, intercultural communication can be measured in terms of how a person performs in communicating in a second language and how well the host perceives a second language speaker. However, these perceptions vary and offer insight into various cultural perceptions; more so, when a similar situation is presented in different cultural contexts. Intercultural communication comprises several components including, trait, characteristics, three domains, four dimensions, host language and developmental levels (Schmalzer, 2007).

It is essential that innate traits and qualities of individuals be distinguished from those that are acquired later in their lives that result from situational or cultural context. This presents nurture vs. nature characteristic distinction that is inherently significant in educational and training programs in organizations since it presents the question of which attributes contributes towards the development of an individual’s intrinsic personality (Schmalzer, 2007). This also poses the question of which individual attributes can be modified or enhanced through educational or training initiatives. Among the prevalent attributes and traits of intercultural communication, competence entails patience, flexibility, curiosity, openness, empathy and tolerance among other traits.

Intercultural communication competence integrates the ability to perform in three domains that are also critical in an individual’s first language. These include the ability to form and maintain healthy relationships; communication with reduced distortion or loss and working as a team with the aim of achieving a common goal.

The four dimensions of intercultural communication competence include positive attitudes, awareness, skills and knowledge; however, while these four dimensions are essential, awareness is the most critical. This is because awareness is an integral component in the cross-cultural development and is enhanced through self-examination and reflection. At this point, an individual’s first language and second language skills are comprehensively assessed by comparing and contrasting performance on both languages (Schmalzer, 2007). Awareness is perceived as a critical dimension since it encompasses individual’s perceptions towards ‘self’ in relation to the world; hence it aids in clarifying the most crucial aspects of an individual’s identity. In addition, awareness is enhanced through developments in positive attitudes, skills, and knowledge; which in turn furthers the respective dimension’s development.

Intercultural communication’s qualitative and quantitative development is significantly enhanced through the capacity to communicate in the host language. When an individual grapples with a defined second language, it impacts his/her conceptualization, perception, and self-expression. As such, this creates room for the conception of alternative communication strategies at the mercy of another person’s terms (Schmalzer, 2007). This challenging and humbling process facilitates the transformation and transcendence of how an individual perceives the world. Evidently, the absence of a second language limits an individual’s ability to think and act within the context of the world except in the respective native system. This deprives an individual a critical experience and valuable attribute of the intercultural competence context.

The evolution of intercultural communication is a continuous process that takes place over elongated periods and may at times stagnate or regress depending on the prevalent conditions. A significant percentage of what occurs is dependent on the strength of an individual’s personal motivation in consideration of the prevalent cultural context. Therefore, the establishment of benchmarks is essential in aiding measurement and monitoring of individual progress (Schmalzer, 2007). In light of this, a number of levels have been established with the aim of measuring performance in the realization of cultural competency and include:

Level 1: This level is also known as the education traveler and includes participation in short-term exchange initiatives and programs.

Level 2: This level is also known as the sojourner and entails participants engagement in extended cultural integration.

Level 3: This level is also known as the professional level and involves people working in multicultural or intercultural contexts.

Level 4: This level is referred to as multicultural/intercultural specialist and involves educators and trainers involved in consulting advising, educating or training multinationals (Bakić-Mirić 2012).

These levels are not exhaustive; as such, other levels may be integrated through addition or substitution depending on the cultural context in consideration.

Intercultural communication competence is used in varied contexts; hence it has varied meaning depending on the context to which it is applied. Furthermore, it may be described as multicultural or international competence. The measurement of intercultural competency is significantly dependent on individual performance in varied and distinct cultural contexts; therefore, competency is directly linked to performance (Schmalzer, 2007).

As such, HiTrees US and its subsidiaries can effectively measure the degree within which its various employees have grasped intercultural communication competency. Competency can be quantified through critical monitoring and observation of performance. However, given the diverse aspects and contexts of intercultural communication, the identification, monitoring, and assessment are not consistent or clear across the board. In light of this, the development of the Assessment of Intercultural Competency tool was essential for increasing consistency and clarity in the assessment of competency (Schmalzer, 2007).

Meanwhile, intercultural education, training, and foreign language programs integrate varied assessment tools with the aim of assessing competence and performance in different professional and academic applications. However, this is often an aspect of intercultural competency is often overlooked by organizational trainers (Schmalzer, 2007). The evaluation of intercultural communication competency is in line with developments organizational functions and programs that seek to address essential competencies in a global context that exceeds professional contexts.

Though intercultural communication skills can be acquired through varied learning and development programs offered by the organization, such skills are primarily limited to extra-linguistic elements. Therefore, they are not sufficient for the development of adequate comprehensive intercultural communication competency. Any given level of intercultural competence requires a corresponding proficiency in the language (Schmalzer, 2007). However, cultural knowledge, skills and language proficiency may not align at all times and may result in ineffective intercultural communication. Furthermore, differing skill levels in reading, writing, listening and speaking a distinct language may have a negative impact during the performance of intercultural communication.

The success of intercultural communication in the various contexts such as expatriate environments is significantly depended on the level of interpersonal skills. This is further reinforced by factors such as tolerance, social flexibility and the capacity to handle cultural differences. In addition, the incorporation of extra-linguistic and linguistic factors at each stage of intercultural communication development is necessary to promote competency at all levels. Therefore, intercultural communication should emphasize on issues such as host traditions, rituals, values, norms, beliefs, attire, taboos, and etiquette among others. These are instrumental in smoothing intercultural associations, interactions, and integration.

Reference List

Bakić-Mirić, N (2012). An Integrated Approach to Intercultural Communication, Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K.: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Hill, C.W.L (2008). International business: Competing in the global marketplace. 7th Ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Konrad, A. M., Prasad, P., and Pringle, J. K. (2006). Handbook of workplace diversity. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Piepenburg, K. (2011). Critical analysis of Hofstede’s model of cultural dimensions. 1st ed. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH.

Robertson, Q.M. (2006). Disentangling the meanings of diversity and inclusion in organizations. Group and Organization Management, 31, pp. 212-236.

Schmalzer, T. (2007). Intercultural communication competence: Implications for learning and teaching in a globalized world. New Delhi, India: Macmillan.

Scott, K.A., Heathcote, J.M., and Gruman, J.A. (2011). The diverse organization: Finding gold at the end of the rainbow. Human Resource Management, 50, pp. 735-755.

Tutar, H, Altinoz, M, and Cakiroglu, D (2014). A Study on Cultural Difference Management Strategies at Multinational Organizations’, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, pp. 345-353.

Vaiman, V, and Brewster, C (2015). ’How far do cultural differences explain the differences between nations? Implications for HRM’, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26, 2, pp. 151-164. Brighton, C (2013). Socio-Cultural Values in the Development of Intercultural Communication Competence, New York: Peter Lang AG.