National Culture and Organisational Culture Business Essay

Hofstede in 1980's has most frequently cited literature on cross-cultural issues.Eversince hofstede(1980a) brought out culture's consequence, the idea of disparities in national cultures, rooted in his techniques of cultural mapping has been disseminated far and wide as not only a stepping stone practioneres of industry but also a tool of training novel managers.(Mwaura,1998).The main purpose of the analysis conducted by hofstede was to differentiate the assumed values "shared" by all in various organisations,as also the values of "unique" nature that could be considered specific to cultures at national level.In his opinion,values ,which are identified as acceptable to all members associated with a particular culture,could be classified and established.A particular nation's values are acquire during childhood and are usually resistant to change during subsequent years.These are formed through the history of that nation,the people belonging to the society and the institutions they have,including religion,education,government,work,law and all that are transmitted from generation to generation.(Hofstede,1980a,Olie,1995).These have been defined by hofstede (1987) as"unique values" that together constitute a collective programming at mental level specific to individual national cultures at of different nations.He concluded that a particular culture's members are determined to make use of this type of mental programmes.Thus, culture existing at national level has values which are its core component.(Mwaura,1998) The notion of national culture can be interpreted as an explaination for differences in management across nationa.In the opinion of Tung(1988) ,the very notion can be put into use to have a clear picture of difficulties in managing joint ventures.As per Bartlett and gashal,1989 and prahalad,1987, a major problem underlying the establishment of joint ventures is that of adapting to the host countries' national culture.(Mwaura,1998).According to hofstede(1994), corporate or organisational culture is different from national culture because an organisation's membership is usually partial,whereas a nation's membership is of permanent significance. He thinks that the values of employees cannot be altered ,but because of the fact that organizational cultures consist of numerous practices instead of values ,they may be slightly manageable, through a change in various practices.(Mwaura,1998)

2.3.2 organisational culture

Culture of an organisation has drawn considerable attention to scholars.(Denson,1990;Lau and Ngo,1996;Mwaura,1998).Porter(1990) states that any organisation having a history ,is bound to have a culture as well,implying that organisational culture permits employees to comprehend their workplace,rendering thin work activities meaningful and showing thin relationship with events.Scholars have defined organisational culture in different ways.According to Williams(1993),it is meaningful the generally accepted and comparatively enduring values an attitudes exist in the organisation.According to another common definition of organisational culture it is a company's mode of carrying out the process of decession making as also resolving its problems and making negotiations.(Hall,1995;Mwaura,1998).This kind of culture is rooted in social norms,rules an various role models.Corporate culture ,which is apperrained to a local or national culture, consist of the values,feelings, norms, aspirations an prospects of the members of an organ isation.The basic function it performs is that of transmitting learning, handling emotions of stong nature and integrating and offering meaning.

2.3.3 Organisational culture as source of identity and emancipation

The past of conventional management as well as organisation theory can be regareded as a history of regulating work force and establishing harmony between their interests of managerial practices. Historically ,Taylorism and its divine outgrowth concerned mostly about regulating the non-rational dimensions of organisational behaviour by the way repressive practices like a greater degree of managerial supervision. However,it was not till the first half of the 1980's which saw organisation an management consultants as well as researchers,explore organisational culture as yet another tool for regulating non-rational dimensions of the behaviours of employees.This novel means of evolving harmony in the context of an organisation ought to be assigned to the works produced by peters and waterman(1982),Deal and Kennedy(1982) and ouchi(1980.1981).Drawers inspirations from barnard(1938),Peters and waterman(1982) opine that organisational culture is required to manage paradox and ambiguity.In the opinion of Ouchi(1980) organisation culture signifies an indespensible apparatus for sound working relationship due to the fact that common beliefs and values offer a balance of interests putting an end to the possibility for behaviour of opportunistic kind of surface.Organsiation culture has great significant,since,incase the transaction cost has a complexity coupled with ambiguity for organsiations,numerous common beliefs and values are require as components of controlling mechanism.It can be attributed to a fact that culture shared values play a significant part in iterating an organisation social dimension.(Peters and waterman,1982).Such an integrative standpoint is in keeping with the organisation having mechanical qualities where uniformity in behavioural terms of ethical nature and seen as something of critical significant for organisational cohesiveness.High profile managers can evolve this culture by expressing diverse values and then executing these with formal set of policies ,norms of informal nature,language,rituals and stories.These values ,characterised by consistently would have a scope to be shared by all employees zealously an emerge as liberating and emerge(Ogbor,2001) Such a zeal among participant of the organisation would trigger a domino effect like more commitment ,greater degree of productivity and more profits(Martin and frost,1999).The notion that organisation culture is able to create passion and pride besides nourishing the evolution of the self-identity of members is therefore a core theme among the upholders of corporate culture as a proxies of managerial arena.The themes of zeal, identity and pride are specifically quite assertive in supporting arguments in favours of corporate culture in the form of a managerial tool.The presentation of the organisation make the public many br for instances a source of "pride" for the employee and may go on to give cohesive as well as commitment to the organisation.By way of sound identification with the organsiation's ideals it is possible to boost organisation pride and give rate a sense of defensive action whenever employees find the company to deserve defending,particularly when the activities pursued by it are called into question or invaded by outsiders.Moreover commitment is a kin to the identification with a specific cultural community,regarding either the corporate norm or values or those regarding occupational or professional identification(Alvesson and berg,1992;Tric and beyer,1993;Ogbor,2001) Serving as the fountain of organisational harmony as also positive identity of oneself,organisation culture along with the occupational culture within the premises of the organisation signifies the share ideologies,philosophies,values,beliefs,assumptions,aspirations,norms and attitudes that integrate a community(Kilman,1986;Trice and beyer,1993).In the same way,employees are viewed as those who lend meaning their clash of interests by means of the values offered by the organisation or those shown by their occupational culture.In this way values of organisation and faith as well as aspirations od employees help to give a systematic form of identification not only to employees with organisation,but the individual's ontological identity as well(Ogbor,2001) Thus,Organisation culture demotivates dysfunctional behaviours at work as it compels the organsiation's culture to perform things for the sake of one another or with one another that are in the organisation's best interests.

2.3.4 Subcultures, conflicting forms of control and fragmented identity:

Even though the traditional discourse on corporate culture has supported a perception of a monolithic behavioural code as a fountain of organisational harmony,control and other kinds of avenues for securing identity other researchers have come up with the view that it is not correct to concentrate on organisation culture as something monolithic.According to Gregory,1982;Martin,1992;Trice an beyer,1993 the sub cultural presence in a particular organisation eroes the monolithic identity of the culture of an organisation and is able to provide an identity which avoids the one given by an organisation.These researchers have indicated how a specific organisation culture in a particular organisation may get fragmented by ethnic,occupational,geographic ,gender,industrial and professional subcultures,mirroring the variegated streams of culture at large(Ogbor,2001).As per this view,to concentrate on just one culture,generally managerial,is indirectly ethnocentric;organisations are essentially multicultural.Characteristically ,various organisations are multicultural,which implies that there are several subcultures within their preview.Mmembers may be associated with over one subculture;actually,being associated with multiple subcultures may be quite prevalent sometimes.Subcultures signify symbolic spheres of influence(Trice and beyer,1993;Ogbor,2001). Various subcultures in an organisation,like occupational subcultures,usually compete with particular cultures of organsiations for members heart and mind(Trice and beyer,1993).During the process of asserting rights for the performance of specific tasks,occupations'members naturally show the tendency of stressing what menders them similar to one another as also different from others.Hence.instead of concentrating on organisational cultures as some sort of monolithic tool for regulating and liberating workers,we find subcultures as offering healthier aources by way of which employees achieve security for their identity.It can be arttributed to the fact occupations make use of cultural forms to assist members in managing their emotions in a very apt way(Trice and beyer;ogbor,2001) The culture suspective regarding organisation signifies a counterculture within the theory appertained to organisation as it poses challenge to,and at times sismisses the conventional structural as well as systems perspectives regarding how decessions are made,as also how it can be possible for staff and organsiations to respond to environment in thin own special way.A very different definition of what is billed as organisational culture has come from schien(1989),who looks upon culture as the more preforme level of fundamental assumptions and conviction which are shared by organisational members,which operate in an unconscious way,and which determine almost presupposed organsiation's self-perception and understanding of the environment.It is seen a sthe invisible and inexplicable force which is in every situation behind the palpably practices of an organisation that can be seen and scaled.Usually,it is construe as a sort od social enery which makes communication with people,and provides them motivation to act.Culture can be regarded as the personality of the organisation a concealed but integrating which gives meaning,mobalization and direction(Kilman,1985;Sweeney and hardaker,1995) Recognising the critical part played by different people in various organsiations,Johnson and schools(1993) have propounded the concept of waht they call "cultural recipe".Here culture is viewed as the ffective complex of numerous variables,such as the leadership type,current stories and myths,acknowledged rituals as well as symbols,power structure type,the organisational structure,the process of decession making,policies for functional aspects and aspens of management.It is stated that the intensity and strength of these cultural variables may show variation from individual one to another as also from a certain group to other groups within an organisation and between different organsiations, though the dominant culture of the organisation will exist as a common base throughout(Harrison and carroll,1991).Due to the intensity and nature of what has been called the culture recipe that one organisation gets competitive advantage compared to another,despite both having similar magnitude of reasons at thin disposal.(Ackroyd,s and crowdy,1990).Yet another general conviction is that an individual behaviour or group at every vital stage of the process of change goes on to preserve and validate the prevailing organisational culture and that in such situations when people decessions they get determined by then cultural ethos(Sweeney and Hardaker,1995). Sweeney and Hardaker,1995 emphasis the significant of this particular observation.In the entire process of change each stage is vital ingredient.Affected by the dtrongest organisational culture, a group or an individual accountable for the supervision of the environment may or may not even be able to identify a problem's existence.Keeping in view that a problem is identified,their definition of stumbling block may be attuned to commercial reality or may not be so.The creation and choice of possible solutions might also be determined or boosted by the very nature of the culture prevailing in the organisation,and the ultimate execution of the "solution" that is desired will depend very much on the people's co-operation at numerous levels in the organsaition for the success it achieves ,and they are affected by the existing culture(Sweeney and Hardaker,1995). A considerable amount of strategic research has been dedicate to intrinsic and extrinsic conditions which give vent to generic strategies of competitive character and,in trying to come to terms with predictors,conventionally such studies have capitalize on approaches,concentrating on stong characteristics,structure of the market or characteristics of product.Of late may researchers have laid stress on numerous competitive strategies adopte by firms in various nations(porter,1990 ),and substantial bulk of work has been taken up as well in the specific context of the "global strategy" concept as also the national culture's notion(Rugman,1990).The operations of several multinational organsiations have given numerous managers opportunities to have intimate touch with different national cultures.In European context ,the needs of skill of managers as also the roles played by them show variations as per the national culture in which they may be operating and in which they get socialize on managerial level.Every such element also affects the manger's strategic awareness,besides the competitive edge which international co-operation yields.(Shan and Hamilton,1991;Sweeney and hardaker,1995)

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