International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior
The world of business has been transformed into a global economy. Many U.S. businesses have become multinational, extending their operations into other countries. Similarly, corporations in other countries have begun extensive operations in the United States and elsewhere. Managers of these firms encounter a wide variety of social, political, and economic environments as well as unique individual differences. Among many other factors, the difficulty in understanding local views of productivity can be a major barrier to improvement. However, when expatriate managers are effective, they help create a training multiplier effect, providing skills which become multiplied many times in the host country.
Employees entering another nation may have difficulty adapting to it because of their parochialism, ethnocentrism, or differences in cultural distance among nations. Cultural shock is a potential barrier to success, but it can be prevented or minimized through careful selection, trainings and counseling. Returning employees also need attention so that their reentry will be smooth and productive.
Expatriate managers must recognize that their organizational behavior practices cannot be transferred directly from one country to another, especially if the host country is less developed. Models for understanding and managing people need to be adapted to the particular social culture. The best results occur when neither the home country's nor the host nation's traditional practices are used. Theory Z an example of organizational approaches that integrate the most workable ideas from both sets of existing practices. Transcultural managers&-those who can adapt successfully to a number of other cultures and still achieve their goals of improved productivity&-will be increasingly needed.
Collectivism: The process of placing heavy emphasis on the group and valuing harmony among members.
Cross Communcation: Communcations across chains of command also lateral communcations.
Culture: See Organizational culture; the set of values, beliefs, and norms that is shared among its memders. And Social culture; Social environment of himan&-created beliefs, customs, knowledge, and practices that conventional behavior in a society.
Cultural Contingency: That the most productive practices for a particular nation will depend heavily on its culture.
Cultural Distance: The amount of difference between any two social systems.
Cultural Empathy: Awareness and apprecation of differences across cultures and the way those differences effect business relationships.
Cultural Shock: Feeling of confusion, insecurity, and anixety caused by a starnge new environment.
Ethomecentrism: A predispostion to use oneself as the criterion for judging others.
Expatriates: Employees who work in a nation (and culture) different from their own.
Feminine Societies: Societies characterized by a border viewpoint of the great varity of roles that both nales and females can play in the workplace and at home.
Geocentric Organizations: Those which largely ignore nationally while accenting ability in their work related decisions.
Individualism: The process of placing greatest emphasis on one's individual rights and freedoms.
Individualization: The process through which employees successfully exert influence on the socail system around them.
Masculine Societies: Those defining gender roles in traditional and sterotypical ways.
Multiculturalism: The successful bwlwnding of two or more cultures when employees from each interact on a regular basis.
Multinational Organization: Those organizations which do business in more than one country.
Parochialism: The act of people "seeing" the situation aroynd them from their own perspective.
Power Distance: Belief that there are strong and legtimate decision making rights separating managers and employers.
Reverse cultural Shock: The difficutly experienced by expatriates in readjusting to the surroundings of their home country upon their reentry.
Sensitivity Training: See Encounter group; Unstrutured small&-group interaction under stress in asitution that requires people to become senstive to one another's feelings.
Theory Z: Model that adapts the elements of Japanses managem,ent systems to the U.S. culture and empasizes cooperation and consensus decision process.
Training Multiplier Effect: The process by which skilled people develop improved communcations and human relationships.
Transcultural Employees: Indivduals who have learned to operate effectivly in several cultures.
Uncertainty Avoidance: Lack of comfort with ambiguity that drives some employees to avoid and seek clarity.
Xenophobia: Fear and rejection of ideas and things foriegn to a person.
The world of business has been transformed into a global economy. Many U.S. businesses have become multinational, extending their operations into other countries. Similarly, corporations in other countries have begun extensive operations in the United States and elsewhere. Managers of these firms encounter a wide variety of social, political, and economic environments as well as unique individual differences. Among many other factors, the difficulty in understanding local views of productivity can be a major barrier to improvement. However, when expatriate managers are effective, they help create a training multiplier effect, providing skills which become multiplied many times in the host country.
Employees entering another nation may have difficulty adapting to it because of their parochialism, ethnocentrism, or differences in cultural distance among nations. Cultural shock is a potential barrier to success, but it can be prevented or minimized through careful selection, trainings and counseling. Returning employees also need attention so that their reentry will be smooth and productive.
Expatriate managers must recognize that their organizational behavior practices cannot be transferred directly from one country to another, especially if the host country is less developed. Models for understanding and managing people need to be adapted to the particular social culture. The best results occur when neither the home country's nor the host nation's traditional practices are used. Theory Z an example of organizational approaches that integrate the most workable ideas from both sets of existing practices. Transcultural managers&-those who can adapt successfully to a number of other cultures and still achieve their goals of improved productivity&-will be increasingly needed.
Collectivism: The process of placing heavy emphasis on the group and valuing harmony among members.
Cross Communcation: Communcations across chains of command also lateral communcations.
Culture: See Organizational culture; the set of values, beliefs, and norms that is shared among its memders. And Social culture; Social environment of himan&-created beliefs, customs, knowledge, and practices that conventional behavior in a society.
Cultural Contingency: That the most productive practices for a particular nation will depend heavily on its culture.
Cultural Distance: The amount of difference between any two social systems.
Cultural Empathy: Awareness and apprecation of differences across cultures and the way those differences effect business relationships.
Cultural Shock: Feeling of confusion, insecurity, and anixety caused by a starnge new environment.
Ethomecentrism: A predispostion to use oneself as the criterion for judging others.
Expatriates: Employees who work in a nation (and culture) different from their own.
Feminine Societies: Societies characterized by a border viewpoint of the great varity of roles that both nales and females can play in the workplace and at home.
Geocentric Organizations: Those which largely ignore nationally while accenting ability in their work related decisions.
Individualism: The process of placing greatest emphasis on one's individual rights and freedoms.
Individualization: The process through which employees successfully exert influence on the socail system around them.
Masculine Societies: Those defining gender roles in traditional and sterotypical ways.
Multiculturalism: The successful bwlwnding of two or more cultures when employees from each interact on a regular basis.
Multinational Organization: Those organizations which do business in more than one country.
Parochialism: The act of people "seeing" the situation aroynd them from their own perspective.
Power Distance: Belief that there are strong and legtimate decision making rights separating managers and employers.
Reverse cultural Shock: The difficutly experienced by expatriates in readjusting to the surroundings of their home country upon their reentry.
Sensitivity Training: See Encounter group; Unstrutured small&-group interaction under stress in asitution that requires people to become senstive to one another's feelings.
Theory Z: Model that adapts the elements of Japanses managem,ent systems to the U.S. culture and empasizes cooperation and consensus decision process.
Training Multiplier Effect: The process by which skilled people develop improved communcations and human relationships.
Transcultural Employees: Indivduals who have learned to operate effectivly in several cultures.
Uncertainty Avoidance: Lack of comfort with ambiguity that drives some employees to avoid and seek clarity.
Xenophobia: Fear and rejection of ideas and things foriegn to a person.