Intercultural Management & Cultural Theories

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CASE STUDY 1

Where did Mark go wrong?

As per the case study, personnel belonging to different organisations in different nations have different ways to perform work. In context to Mark, the American manager went wrong in finding suitable ways with the help of managers of Indian organisations manages coordinate and communicate with people to exchange viewpoints and ideas of all personnel and accordingly persuade them for workings. In addition, Mark was unable to properly understand ways to work in Indian human resources because of huge differences among cross-cultural working at India as well as America. The American manager was unable to properly communicate with Indian personnel because of a mismatch in IQ level addition to language differences that resulted in issues of misunderstanding with the human capital.

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How to help Mark better understand cross-cultural problems?

Mark could be helped by providing accurate insight related to differences in cultures of various nations which will assist in understanding cross-cultural problems in an amended manner. Mark by emphasising adopting suitable approaches to know how personnel prefers workings, sharing few words with them and understanding their viewpoints will help in understanding the problem. Providing some insights to Mark related to differences in cultural diversity and communication styles between Indian human resources and American human resources will work for the manager to understand pertaining to cross-cultural issues.

Usage of Intercultural cultural theories for explanation of it and supporting discussion.

Intercultural theories are mentioned in some disciplines that include a few aspects related to culture addition to social groups (Ihtiyar, 2018). In other words, intercultural theories are derived from various independent research lines which focus on studying communication across distinct social groups with cultures and the ways culture affects communication. As per the case study, the adoption of Hofstede's Cultural Model and  Hall's Cultural Theory would assist in properly understanding the behaviours of organisational managers' behaviours across two different cultural types.

Hostede Cultural Model

The theory was propounded by Geert Hofstede which encompasses cultural dimensions revolving around intercultural communication. The dimensions basically portray cultural impacts ingrained in society in addition to the values of society members (Kim, 2017). Various elements are part of the theory that are elaborated below in relevance with distinct features related to management behaviours within different cultures:

Power Distance Index: Within the dimension, the extent to which acceptance of powers and distribution of powers in an equal or equal manner is explained. Considering American culture to which Mark belongs, organisational managers have behaviour towards small power distance wherein they adopt a participative management style, flat organisational structure, less supervisory staff and decentralised decision-making responsibility. On the other hand, in Indian Culture, organisational managers prefer behaviour towards large power distance in which they favour centralised authority and huge hierarchy levels. Huge supervisory staff and expectations of inequality.     

Uncertainty avoidance: It is concerned with the extent the organisational managers have the capability to cope with upcoming uncertainness by avoiding stress (). Within American Culture, managers prefer the adoption of low uncertainty avoidance with an emphasis on building personnel, maintaining harmony and welcoming unknown circumstances. On the contrary, organisational managers of Indian Culture have behaviour for high uncertainty index in which they have limited tolerance for unknown deviants.

Collectivism and Individualism: Within the dimension, the extent to which integration of groups is emphasised. In American Culture, managers behave to implement collectivist elements for placing consideration on the wider collectivity of organisation objectives. On the other hand, Indian cultural management behaviour emphasises on implication of individualism element to achieve individual objectives first.

Masculinity and Femininity (MAS): Such a dimension revolves around the distribution of emotional roles among genders (Kiryakova-Dineva and Hadzhipetrova-Lachova, 2017). In context to American Culture, the major preference of management behaviours is Low MAS is favoured which managers create a culture within which all people such as children, men and women work with each other. On the contrary, managers of Indian organisational culture have a behaviour for High MAS is favoured within which long hours are general norms that make it difficult for women to gain advancement as well as recognition.

Short-term as well as long-term orientation: It majorly focuses on societal views related to the time horizon. In relevance to American Culture, organisational managers behave for the application of long-term orientation to attain growth and sustainability but within Indian Culture, Managers have preferences for long-term orientation to focus on stability achievement.

Restraint and Indulgence: The elements focus on happiness. The American Culture in which managers behave to implement indulgence for delivering free gratitude but on the other hand, management behaviours restraint elements which suppress gratifications related to individual needs.

Hall's cultural theory

Another cultural framework was provided by Edward T. Hall. Within the theory, various aspects are illustrated in regards to management behaviours of different cultures that are discussed below:

Low context and high context: The element describes measures of the ways messages are exchanged in the workplace or culture (Tjosvold, 2017). In relevance to American Culture, organisational managers behave towards low context culture in which explicit messages are provided in a clear and simple manner with and major emphasis on verbal communication. On the contrary, the management of organisations within Indian Culture focuses on the application of high cultural context such as much non-verbal communication, inward or reserved reactions and high commitment to relationships.

Time: The element includes aspects of mono-chronic time as well as poly-chronic time. Within the American cultural context, managers behave in a mono-chronic time wherein they perform one thing at a time, with emphasis on the job at hand and assume careful scheduling with planning. In contrast, in Indian culture, managers favour polychronic time in which people value material things as well as over time.

According to the above discussion of cultural theories, Mark must emphasise opting for both frameworks so as to gain insights related to both cultures that were Indian culture and American culture for solving issues.

Advice to Mark.

It has been advised to Mark to adopt both theories for understanding ways of working of Indian human capital and properly implement aspects to make effective relations in order to persuade and motivate them to share ideas that will help in completing activities and operations in an innovative manner. Along with this, Mark is also advised to take the help of an Indian Manager so as to handle the personnel in an effective manner.  

CONCLUSION

The above report concludes that understanding all related aspects of intercultural management is important for managers to work across distinct cultures in different countries. Managers go wrong in understanding ways of workings of people in different cultures. They are helped by providing relevant concepts that assist in getting information due to which issues of cross-culture arise. Application of  Hall's cultural theory as well as Hofstede's Theory helps in understanding distinctive features related to different management behaviours within two distinct cultures.

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