International Organizational Behavior
However, recent studies relating to the field have created a bit of a controversy on the framework applied by companies. Most companies encompass national culture on the basis of territorial boundaries and national identities. Research has shown that, while this method is still predominant across the corporate sector, it is often ineffective when culture is not unified and homogenous in nature. Recent studies have actually shown that territorial boundaries do not define culture alone (Singh, 2005).
The paper seeks to understand the extent to which cultures can be termed as homogenous across territorial boundaries. Using the examples of India and China, the paper will discuss why territorial and national assigned boundaries do not determine a national culture. The second part of the paper will discuss the implications this has on companies using unified frameworks to analyze cultures of their host nations. Since most companies use national cultural frameworks to define their organizational behavior, the question lies in the fact that what do companies do when the culture of their host nation is not unified according to their framework.
National culture
To understand homogeneity and unification of culture, it is first important to understand the term culture and national origin. Similarly, with it entails the research on the history and antecedent of national cultures. Most researches and studies do not consider this valuable asset, but it is extremely useful in defining the characteristics of culture and the homogeneity and unified concept that follows.
When most researchers consider culture, they tend to combine and group together the entire culture of a country. This helps in the context of comparisons between different nations and to gain a holistic view of the culture. However, when we are considering countries with multi linguistic, religious and ethnic backgrounds, it is difficult to combine them into one holistic culture based on national boundaries without losing sight of the main picture (Schneider, 2002).
To define my point, the culture of a nation is promoted through the analysis of the various components and traditions that are part and parcel of the population of that country. Observing tribes, societies and communities, a set of rituals, traditions and the general way of life, a combination can promote one unified culture (Singh, 2005). A methodology through which various researchers have identified national cultural frameworks used to study the culture of various nations. This study of culture is then used by various companies operating in multinational environments to shape their organizational behavior.
The point of contention occurs in nation states such as Russia, China or India, where there are a set of different cultures operating in different regions of the country. In such cases, for sake of simplicity, unifying the cultures based on territorial boundaries makes comparison and distinction between various companies easier, but it does not give a true picture of the entire elephant, but rather just its parts (Singh, 2005). The argument lies in the fact that national culture is a relatively new term coined in the early part of the 20th century. Secondly, the issue in itself is western centered, given that most nations across Asia only witnessed nation states emerging in the later part of the 20th century (Singh, 2005). Finally, the term nation state has different implications and jurisdictions in different parts of the world. Thus, one can safely presume that on the basis of stereotyping, and reducing complexities, national culture is a name coined to promote a short hand account and description of a nation(Singh, 2005). It not only saves time, but also saves resources.
Analysis of national cultural frameworks
With time, various researches have been conducted to find a singular, unified way of identifying cultures. These frameworks, designed to promote national culture have been used not only in text books to teach the younger generations, but also to help multinational corporations expand into new markets. This data comes in extreme usefulness as multinationals seek to identify their strategies and way of operating in another country, given the cultural differences that might occur between the host nation and the country of origin for the multinational company.
The first research was done by Hofstede. Based on a research conducted on in house attitude of various subsidiaries of two American multinational companies, Hofstede identified a range of factors which determine cultural setting and help in its analysis (Tayib, 2001). They were
Power distance
Uncertainty avoidance
Individualism and collectivism
Masculinity and Feminism
Time orientation
These five factors varied on a range of high to low, and countries could be situated on this axis. Using these factors and way of behavior, a company could successfully analyze the cultural base of a country (Schneider, 2002).
Another theory, developed by Triandis based culture entirely on the factor of individualism and collectivism. These factors could be used to analyze cultural, psychological and individual levels (Tayib, 2001). During the same time, Fiske developed his own factors of examining culture claiming that a thorough analysis of social patterns and behavior, the entire culture could be broken down and thus examined and compared. He offered four critical factors for analysis which included (Tayib, 2001)
Communal sharing
Equality Matching
Marketing Pricing
Authority ranking
Finally, Trompenaars (1993) model offered another continuum based view of culture. He proposed a set of 7 dimensions, with the majority dealing with the way people in a culture handle their relationships with others, to describe a national culture (Tayib, 2001). His 7 elemental parts of his theory were
Universalism and Particularism
Individualism versus Collectivism
Neutral versus emotional
Specific versus diffuse
Achievement versus ascription
Time orientation
Environment orientation
Hall (1977) also presented his view on national cultures. According to him, it was easy to distinguish a national culture simply on the basis of two dimensions low context and high context. According to him, the way communities and societies in a nation communicate with each other are the primary source of definition of culture (Tayib, 2001). According to him, context related to the information around the surroundings of a person. Those cultures that favored low context had a population who favored direct communication, free of indirectness and ambiguity. High context populations favored non verbal communication and indirect communication as a primary source of information.
Implications on national cultural frameworks
All in all, the above mentioned frameworks have been very useful to multinational companies seeking to operate around the world. However, it is equally valid that one theory is never used to analyze a culture. The above theories are used in collaboration with each other to gain the maximum point of average to determine a culture of a country. However, the underlying problem with all these theories is that they are based on territorial lines and collective thinking.
If we observe some of the factors mentioned above, we can see discrepancies within the cultures of a nation. When observing the French nation state, on the basis of territorial boundary, it is easy to quantify the people as highly individualistic in nature. However, based on the policies that the State itself exhibits, a different picture emerges. Their reliance on public transport, welfare programs and social policies reflect a very collectivism based nature. Similarly, Japan is construed as a culture with a high level of collectivism in its population. However, Masakazu (1994), a prominent sociologist in Japan argues against this. He claims that Japans culture itself has been shaped by strong individualistic people who have built the traditions and values that Japan holds today (Tayib, 2001).
If we compare nations, the United Kingdom is individualistic in nature whereas India is collectivist in nature. Technically, in the event of a tragedy the people of the UK should bundle in their homes and forget the fallen, where as the Indians should do the exact opposite (Tayib, 2001). However, in most situations, we ll witness that people gather around, communities center around and donate to help those in a problem in the UK. Where as in India, often such a tragedy would be complimented with another on the basis of caste differences and status quo.
Considering another variable, if we look at attitude to power and authority, we find that the factor is entirely based on situations and context. Given a narrow look into the Indian society, a man will find himself feeling more powerful and having more authority in his home, in the presence of his wife, then what he will feel when he is with his boss, or work place (Tayib, 2001). The situation becomes even more complicated if the company where he works is headed by a female member.
Time orientation is situational based as well. Monochromic individuals are time oriented whereas polychromic tend to take time scheduling less importantly. The question really lies are on what basis can one entire population is critically structured to fit in one of the above two. If we look at the Japanese, anybody can clearly tell that their orientation towards the timings of meetings and scheduling daily tasks can vary. Perhaps because of their over emphasis on developing relationships and adhering to their collectivist nature, but when we witness their production schedules and techniques, their entire processes are fine tuned keeping in mind time scheduling and eliminating any delays. That aspect is so important that they have gained worldwide recognition for their timeliness and honor in this respect (Tayib, 2001).
Thus, it becomes evidently true that there are more factors involved when determining the culture of a country. It also becomes clear that assigning a culture on the basis of categories or factors does not give a true representative sample. Often, there are variations amongst the population of a particular country as opposed to the characterization offered by national framework models. It also comes to light that the behavior of a population will be based upon factors such as ones values, assumptions, economic activity, age, education and life experiences. This dispels the notion that a country can have a unified culture because within the national boundaries of a nation, these factors are variables according to context. The case is made even clearer when we consider a member of the population of a country who is well travelled and well educated (Tayib, 2001). Such as person will be far more appreciative of diversity and accept other nationalities. However, a person from a rural background, lack of education and no exposure to other ethnic backgrounds will find it harder to do so.
Description of true cultural variants (Singh, 2005)
Research has shown that there are a set of factors that contribute to the social upbringing of a person in an environment. Based on environmental factors and personal factors, the culture exhibited varies from person to person in one unified country. Thus, the claim that a culture can be unified and homogenous in nature based on territorial boundaries can be investigated using the following characterizations
Social identity
Historical context
Economic Parameters
Institutional Factors
Geography
When we discuss the effects of social identity, language usage, religion, literacy and perhaps even territorial mobility factors come into play. The way a person exhibits behavior is highly reliant on the above factors. Thus, based on the above factors, it is highly plausible to believe that in major countries such as India, China and Russia, a set of different cultures exist together (Singh, 2005). The various regions in such state offer different varieties of social identities to their people. Some areas might have a high literacy rate where as others might have a high religious background. This is particularly true in cases of metropolitans where the population is more accepting of western ideals and cultures since their environment is more similar to their current situations.
When we examine the historical context we need to trace back to the ancestry of the country. Now it is highly likely that certain provinces will have shared histories, myths, stories and legends with other bordering nations (Singh, 2005). For instance, if you examine India and Pakistan, both split from one nation, will share similar historical events. Thus provinces bordering India would show more inclination towards the Indian culture rather than the unified Pakistani culture. In some cases, this even leads to revolt. For instance, there are certain provinces in India that are asking to be independent based on their differences with the homogenous culture of India (Davis, 2006). Some want to join Pakistan, where as some areas in Pakistan want to join Afghanistan.
Economic factors are often associated with being the fastest transmitter of cultural norms. Since economic parameters are fundamental to all cultures, the economy materializes the culture. States such as Vermont witness more farming oriented culture. Whereas the culture in New York is based more on a fast tracked life.
Institutional factors are factors related to governance. When we see major federations, we see that the local governments preserve each regions culture. They impose laws and regulations based upon the idea of the people in that particular area. Some laws vary from nationally implemented laws. Often, some states might even have separate constitutions, showing a clear difference in their cultural standing. Thus, one unified federation can have different cultures operating within it.
Finally, the geography of a land and the climatic factors also play their role in determining culture of a national region separately. Work habits, work timings, division of labor, work ethics, structure of society, and even rituals of a society (Singh, 2005). The fact can be simply termed in the following celebrating Christmas in an atmosphere of cold and snow is entirely different from celebrating Christmas in an atmosphere without any. The ritual and traditions change based on locality and geography of the nation.
Implications on organizational behavior
The underlying question that this paper seeks to answer is that why many multinational companies falter in new markets even though they have extensively researched their host nations culture. The fundamental reason lies in the following
Nations are made of up different cultures. It is true that for the sake of collective comparisons, one unified culture becomes more applicable and advantageous. However, organizations operating in different areas inside a country need to realize that their consumption patterns, marketing strategies and recruitment techniques will vary based on where they base their operations within that very country itself.
Second, organizations have to break free from the idea that cultures are static. Organizations must favor new research that is founded on the principles of ethnicity basing. This way, a more current and relevant form of data will be available to organizations for the implementation of their strategies. This fundamental difference is in the fact that organizations can see the varying thought processes and consumption patterns between different age groups in the same country.
On the concrete nature of organizational behavior and cultural constraints, organizations operating in federating countries need to understand that each constituency will have their own domains, legislative, executive and judicial parameters. Since federating units have a considerable amount of freedom in application of their own laws and regulations, cultures can significantly vary between provinces and federating units on the basis of institutional effects. Thus, legal parameters on the basis of one unified culture have to be restudied by organizations and thus their organizational behavior should reflect the same differences as the differences visible in the national culture of the country they are operating in.
Language constraints and the effect of multiple languages in a country can seriously change the course of business for any multinational organization. They strictly have to observe that their communication aspects of the company are along the lines of the various cultures present in the country. Without which, not only their marketing efforts will yield little rewards but at the same time, the reach to potential consumers will be drastically hampered. This is an issue that the organization would want to consider internally as well. Since the diverse range of employees it will hire, giving directions and implementing organizational behavior will require diversity in the medium of language the company chooses as well (Tayib, 1998).
Multinational companies trying to enter new markets will be presented with new challenges as well. Entry strategies will drastically be affected by the recognition of different cultures in one territorial boundary. The company will have to consider factors such as
Is the home office ideal for the entire country
Where should the location of operations be
Is the entry strategy appropriate for all cultures of the country
Level of customization in products and services
HRM processes will have to be varied
Will the current skill set of our employees need to be recharged to fit a multi cultural environment
Organizational behavior of a company will vary in the sense, after due consideration to the factors mentioned above, that it will reflect a multi marketing strategy. This strategy will help the organization realize real time benefits in the face of human resource planning and marketing strategies. In lieu of these advantages, companies will be able to develop their operations on the basis of cultural clusters (Singh, 2005). This in turn will help them place their operations more effectively. A marketing strategy in one part of Pakistan could also be applicable in a neighboring Indian state, reflecting a low cost and more effective marketing strategy (Davis, 2006). Thus, marketing will not be shaped according to territorial boundaries but rather cultural boundaries, which would make operations for a firm more effective, both internally and externally.
Understanding diversity in the workplace and accepting variable cultures will help organization adapt to situations more profoundly. In the instances of work conflicts, employee motivational techniques and production techniques, organizations will find their operations more streamlined if they consider multi cultures in one nation. To continue working effectively, and efficiently, employee needs must be carefully evaluated. To group all employee needs on the basis of one culture will alienate some other groups of people and thus the strategy will be useless in eventuality (Tayib, 1998). Thus, diversifying strategies in line with diverse cultures will bring stability to the firm and its organizational behavior (Ralston, 1996).
Conclusion
Based on the above arguments, it is quite unreasonable to assume that countries such as India, China, Russia and even Japan have one unified culture. The studies that have been done on national cultures seek only to provide a holistic view of a nation, often divided by various cultures operating under the hood of one. Understanding these cultures is of utmost important, especially to companies who are operating in multinational atmospheres.
The research that is being done must be done with the inclusion of the antecedents of culture. Without looking at what really defines culture would only result in bias treatment of the research itself. Adequate research on these factors and fair methodology of research will help organizations see a different picture of the global cultural perspectives. As is visible in the Indian Subcontinent, Middle East and Far East, companies will find cultural clusters which can dramatically readjust their marketing strategies in the region, instead of relying on national consensus based on territorial boundaries which can be misleading (Ralston, 1996).
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