Comparative Management Practices In China And The West
analytical Essay
1500 words
Comparative Management Practices in China and the West It is true to say that globalisation is a two-way street. As international business and trade continue to grow, models of organisations and approaches to management are beginning to merge; nevertheless it remains imperative for firms to understand and govern across the myriad of cultural differences which still exist. These differences seem most apparent in China, where managerial values are deeply rooted in archaic and powerful culture. Some authors argue that even with a certain degree of convergence between Chinese and Western cultures, such convergence does have its restrictions. The Hofstede model of national culture differences, based on research carried out in the early seventies, is the first major study to receive worldwide attention. This influential model of cultural traits identifies five dimensions of culture that help to explain how and why people from various cultures behave as they do. According to Hofstede (1997) culture is Ù[ collective programming of the mind? This referring to a set of assumptions, beliefs, values and practices that a group of people has condoned as a result of the history of their engagements with one another and their environment over time. In this study, culture refers to a set of core values and behavioural patterns people have due to socialisation to a certain culture. The author̼ theoretical framework will be applied to compare differing management practices in China and the West. The five measurements of culture identified by the author are: (1) power distance ( measured from small to large); (2) collectivism versus individualism; (3) femininity versus masculinity (4) uncertainty avoidance ( from weak to strong) (5) short term versus short term The first national culture dimension to be identified is the measurement of power distance. This can be defined as the degree of inequality among people built upon what the population of that country accepts as normal. In countries with high power distance like China, individuals are more likely to accept differences in authority or inequality. Management are inclined to be dictatorial, making autocratic and paternalistic decisions, with their subordinates remaining faithful and obedient to them at all times. Often these societies or institutions possess business structures that are typified by close control over all operations. Organisation structures tend to be tall hierarchies with numerous levels within a formal setting. One of the reasons that can be identified for the acceptance of this type of authority in China is derived from thousands of years of political centralisation, which tends to result in a tradition of obedience.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how hofstede's third cultural value considers masculinity and its opposite pole of femininity.
- Explains that globalisation is a two-way street, but it remains imperative for firms to understand and govern across the myriad of cultural differences. the hofstede model of national culture differences is the first major study to receive worldwide attention.
- Identifies the national culture dimension of power distance as the degree of inequality among people built upon what the population of that country accepts as normal.
- Analyzes how hofstede defines uncertainty avoidance as the extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations.
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- Greet Hofstede: The Cultural Dimensions Of American Cultureargumentative essayThe dimensions of culture came as a result of a research conducted by Greet Hofstede. The study investigated how culture in a workplace can be influenced by values of the people. In his view, culture is defined as the collective programming of the human brain that helps in distinguishing a group from another one. Moreover, the programming of the human mind influences the patterns, values and perspectives that define a certain community or nation. Hofstede developed a model of the national culture that is made of six dimensions. In addition to that, the cultural dimensions demonstrate the personal preferences on affairs that can be easily distinguished from that of individuals from another nation. Using the model, it is easy to identify systematic differences between the selected nations in terms of values (Hofstede). This paper discusses the cultural dimensions to compare the United States of America and China. The dimensions include Power Distance, Masculinity versus Femininity, Uncertainty Avoidance Index, and Individualism versus collectivism, Indulgence versus Restraint and long-term orientation versus short term normative orientation.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how greet hofstede's study investigated how culture in a workplace can be influenced by values of the people.
- Explains that power distance is the degree to which the less powerful participants of firms and organizations admit and presume that authority is shared equally. in america and china, the culture can clearly be distinguished.
- Explains that uncertainty avoidance is concerned with how the community is tolerant of ambiguity and uncertainty.
- Explains individualism versus collectivism, which is the extent to which individuals are grouped. collective societies are integrated into groups that have strong ties between individuals.
- Explains the difference between masculinity and femininity, where emotional roles are distributed among the genders that serve as an important factor to find solutions to a range of duties.
- Compares the long-term versus short term normative orientations in china and the us. both countries foster pragmatic values that prepare for the future in terms of persistence, adaptation to changes, and saving.
- Explains that indulgence involves a community that is concerned with the natural and basic human drives as well as having fun. a restraint society is regulated by strict social norms.
878 wordsRead More - Cultural Values In China Case Studyargumentative essayThe discussion and information were provided by 22 seniors managers which is 17 males and 5 females were employed at multinational corporations in China. This discussion also included 10 western, 4 Chinese and 1 Far East multinational companies. This study is discuss on the cultural value...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the journal was discussed on cultural values and decision-making in china by 22 senior managers at multinational corporations.
- Concludes that culture values were influencing in decision-making in china, stating that knowledge of cultural influences makes managers more effective in dealing with subordinates, colleagues, and negotiating partners in foreign countries.
- Explains that cultural values are refer to the growth of globalization, and cultural sensitivity will deal with global complexities involved in conducting business in host countries.
- Explains that 22 senior managers, including 17 males and 5 females, were employed at multinational corporations in china.
- Explains how china's economy, political and social systems have undergone significant changes since the 1980s.
- Analyzes hofstede's cultural dimension of power distance, uncertainty/avoidance, and long-term/short term orientation in china.
2131 wordsRead More - guanxianalytical essayThere is not one universally accepted definition of culture; a number of key cultural concepts and debates are needed to clarify this term. Chinese culture is considered to be different in many ways from that of the West (Carlisle and Flynn, 2005; Buckley, Clegg and Tan2006; Tung, 1986). Kwon (2012) argued that Asian culture involves Confucian dynamism, collectivism and high institutional orientation. This suggests that the nation encourages group performance and reward, and people feel pride and loyalty towards their organisations and families. Similarly, Anderson and Lee (2008) draw attention to the Confucian value which remains relevant in our day. Fan (2002) claims that Chinese business culture can be character...
In this essay, the author
- Argues that guanxi is the key factor for doing business in china, which helps to build up corporate reputation, growing market share and minimaizing the risks of uncertainty.
- Argues that chinese culture is different in many ways from that of the west. kwon (2012) argued that asian culture involves confucian dynamism, collectivism and high institutional orientation.
- Explains that cultural differences between the western world and china are related to collectivism versus individualism.
- Explains that high-term orientation in chinese culture means time is important and societies willing to overcome obstacles over time. family is the basis of society, parents and men have more authority than younger people.
- Argues that hofstede's work is out-dated, and his depiction of national characteristics of culture could be stereotypical.
- Argues that hofstede's framework remains one of the most valuable because it is a starting point for all cultural research.
- Explains that guanxi can be characterised as one of the key factors for doing business successfully in china.
- Explains that many organisations believe that guanxi is one of the most decisive factors in business performance.
- Explains that guanxi's dark side is corruption, bribery, and unethical business practices, which need to be overcome in china.
- Argues that the importance of business success depends on quality, brand and distribution rather than guanxi since chinese opening-up and reform of its policies.
- Explains that trust is critical to building a long-term relationship between partners due to uncertainty in the business environment and in partner’s behaviour.
- Explains that hong kong is a chinese dominated society that values confucianism, language, marriage customs, and is more acceptable to western culture.
- Explains qualitative research will be used for collecting data including observation, interviews, and focus groups. the main purpose of research interviews is to provide deeper understanding of the questions above.
- Concludes that the paper addresses the importance of guanxi in chinese market.
2031 wordsRead More - Alpha Mill Case Studyanalytical essayUnderstanding a country’s culture is critical to success as business is conducted on a global scale. Each country has its own culture or shared beliefs, values, and customs that shape their behaviors. Despite how influential as organizational culture may be managerial practices, the country’s culture may be even more influential. Geert Hofstede created what he called cultural dimensions to help managers understand the differences in cultures. His research showed that culture impacts employees’ work-related behaviors and attitudes (Robbins and Coulter, 2002). Those five dimensions are: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity, and time orientation (Grewel and Levy, 2013; Javidan and House,
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how ang's leadership style was influenced by the task-driven nature of former military and police managers.
- Explains that john allison, former bb&t ceo, believed in the importance of independent thinking and that managers cannot be responsible for their subordinates.
- Opines that managers cannot be responsible for their employees — they are responsible to teach employees to be personally responsible. lack of responsibility is unacceptable in an organizational context.
- Analyzes how ang limited or eliminated the capacity for independent thinking and stifled motivation and building self-esteem. if operators were trained effectively to do a job and held accountable for results, they would be more motivated and competent.
- Explains that running an organization is about "getting things done" and "making things happen." managers deal with whatever issue arises as long as the solution aligns with the organization.
- Explains that running an organization is focusing on objectives that are personally important to them and coping with problems that arise in pursuit of those objectives. the focus is on what one is trying to get done.
- Analyzes how ang spent a lot of time to troubleshoot mill performance problems after implementing ian's ideas. the article does not mention if he was successful in this endeavor.
- Analyzes how ang's technical prowess fixed the problem, but at the expense of team learning. the team continued to underperform with the stricter performance standard and reduced staff level implemented by ian.
- Explains that ang was motivated by power and experienced a need to be strong, influence or control people and maintain reputation, position and strength. after the appraisal he became quiet and less involved in the mill operation.
- Explains that leaders have a responsibility to help the members of the team become masters of their field of endeavor. this requires education, feedback, and the creation of processes that support beliefs and behaviors that produce excellent results.
- Analyzes how the positive turn-around in mill performance had a negative effect on ang, who became more withdrawn and devastated by the team’s performance without his control.
- Explains that understanding a country's culture is critical to success as business is conducted on.. each country has its own culture or shared beliefs, values, and customs.
1146 wordsRead More - HRM Issues in Chinaexplanatory essayAccording to Hofstede the influence of national culture is important to management for three reasons. The first is political and institutional. There are differences between the countries in formal institutions such as government, legal systems, educational systems, labour and employer’s association, and the way they are used. The secon...
In this essay, the author
- Explains hofstede's view that the influence of national culture is important to management for three reasons: political and institutional, sociological, and psychological.
- Explains that the pdi focuses on the degree of equality in the country's society.
- Explains that the low idv typifies the chinese society as one with a more collectivistic nature with close ties between individuals.
- Explains that the mas focuses on the degree the society supports the traditional work role model of male achievement, control, and power.
- Explains that the chinese uai focuses on the level of tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity within the society.
- Explains that the lto of china focuses on the degree the society embraces long-term devotion to traditional, forward-thinking values.
- Explains that in china, the surest way to lose face is to make another lose his or her face. it is common to use indirect speech that, to western people, seems modest and even self-effacing.
- Explains that guo qing is a 2,000-year-old term, which means that china is special and the ways things are done in china are unique and superior.
- Explains that chinese middle managers usually leave important decisions to a higher management level. they don't offer individual suggestions or opinions even when requested.
- Explains that chinese managers use formal group meetings to identify decision objectives, but participation is just a formal requirement.
- Explains that chinese managers used to collect information for decision-making themselves rather than from colleagues or subordinates, because they didn't fully trust them. however, despite many positive changes, senior managers still adopt an autocratic style.
- Explains that although chinese managers like to make decisions autocratically, they believe that the responsibility for implementing decisions should not be taken individually. the chinese middle managers are excluded from the decision-making process and try to avoid responsibility whenever possible.
- Explains that in china, negotiations must proceed within the context of the confucian tradition, with the key features of:
- Opines that negotiations will be trough a committee and that there are some unexpected changes among the chinese team during the negotiations.
- Opines that ceremonies, banquets, and long negotiating periods should be treated with deep respect and consideration to preserve face.
- Explains that chinese negotiators want to discuss non-business topics to establish an interpersonal relationship before the negotiations begin. many western business people consider this initial stage of building personal relationships as a waste of time.
- Explains the five key factors for international enterprises to enter china's market and operate successfully as joint ventures: political, economic, cultural, societal and managerial factors.
- Explains that china's political system has been affected by many power struggles since 1949. political factors such as stability of government and its policies, trend of political reform, development of economic and legal systems, and efficiency of governmental agencies will have an impact on foreign investors and joint venture businesses.
- Explains that since the 1980s, china's economic system has changed from a centralized planning economy into an open and decentralized market economy. foreign investors have to pay attention to the stability of the economic policies, the establishment of business legal system, consumer confidence level and actual income increase, and the development of industrial infrastructure components.
- Explains that the international joint venture method has a high rate of dissolution and is costly for the involved companies. however, since 1997 wholly foreign-owned enterprises have become the preferred market entry method for foreign firms.
- Opines that it is essential to establish a strong china corporate centre with clear mandate to lead strategy development and implantation.
- Explains how you can achieve this by taking majority equity stakes, deploying expatriates in key management positions and providing outside support.
- Opines that china business units must be created to provide focused management leadership and share services and product expertise across ventures.
- Opines that expatriate managers have to invest heavily in training local staff, establishing china career paths for them, and instilling corporate values.
- Explains hrm of foreign firms in china: the challenge of managing host country personnel, business horizons 44(3), 2001.
- Analyzes the spanish case of joint ventures in china in european business review 97(4), 1997.
- Explains the cultural relativity of organisational practices and theories in readings in international enterprise, 1995, p.
- Opines that on transplanting human resource practices to china: a culture-driven approach, international journal of manpower, 1995, p.
- Compares chinese and western cultural roots: why ‘east is east and...’, business horizons 41(6), 1998, p.
- Explains market entry methods for western firms in china, asia pacific journal of marketing and logistics, 15(4), 2003, p.
- Explains identifying key factors for successful joint venture in china, industrial management & data systems, 2002, p.
- Explains that the great dragon ruled the middle kingdom of the world for nearly four thousand years. china's culture, tradition, and value system have a significant impact on the different business processes.
- Explains that guanxi is the practice of continuously cultivating and valuing relationships. it is based on mutual respect and trust and provides value-added services or technology.
- Explains that guanxi is used as primary bases for hiring new employees rather than a face-to-face interview. the chinese prefer well-established relationships to assess the fit between the job candidate and the organisation.
- Explains that the traditional chinese management style is marked by the centralized planning economy and the confucian philosophy.
- Explains that chinese counterparts are usually older than the westerns in a negotiation. to show respect for age and hierarchy, older executives or/and senior managers should also be involved in the western team.
- Explains that china has become one of the largest markets for international business due to its fastest growth rate in the last two decades.
- Explains that the wholly foreign-owned enterprise isn't a perfect solution for foreign companies in china.
- Opines that a high level of sensitivity to cultural variations is significant to be successful in making business in china.
3389 wordsRead More - The Four Dimensions Of Cultureopinion essayThese dimensions were developed after conducting a study at IBM. These four dimensions help to understand the behaviour at the workplace. Taking the example of Newzealand and China , the comparison can be made for Hofstede four dimensions(Eileen Crawley).Power distance is at 80 in China and 22 for Newzealand. In China, the society accepts inequality and believes that power is centred with top management, but in Newzealand, the hierarchies are just framed for convenience, there is an informal relationship among the managers and employees. Newzealand has a score of 79 and is known as an individualist culture; here people take care of themselves and self-sufficient in their work. China with a score of 20 is a collectivist country. People prefer to act according to the interest of group (family) and there is always biased behavioural due to this. Both China and Newzealand are masculine societies with a score of 58 and 68 respectively. Both these societies work towards their goal and for the success of the same. China has low uncertainty avoidance score of 30 and Newzealand has an intermediary score of 49.This reflects the importance of rules and regulations to controls risk in the society. Long or Short Term Orientation was another concept added to Hofstede’s study. Newzealand has a low score of 33, which implies that people are more focused on achieving quick results and save less for the future. China has a high score of 87, which implies that it is very pragmatic culture.("Greet-
In this essay, the author
- Explains that culture influences the success of mncs in host countries. it can be defined as values, beliefs, practices followed by a group of people, which shapes their behaviour and attitudes.
- Explains that hofstede, trompenaars, and jackson have conducted studies that understand the behavioural aspects of people in different countries in various organisations.
- Compares hofstede's four dimensions of culture: power distance, individualism masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance.
- Explains that trompenaars conducted his study in thirty companies in fifty countries to understand how cultural differences will impact the way in which business is done.
- Illustrates how a british trainer was conducting training for senior managers in spain about quality management. the participants attacked the manager during the session and blamed his work.
- Explains that achievement versus ascription, give importance to what someone has achieved. in anglo-saxon societies personal achievement is rewarded, while in japan time spent in the organisation is given importance.
- Opines that ihrm has to understand these differences and frame policies for training and developing cultural awareness.
- Opines that ihrm is important for managing the culture of the organisation and the individual manager.
875 wordsRead More - Influence of Collectivist and High Power Distance in the Process of Organizational Learninganalytical essayHofstede (1980) have developed the theory of Cultural Dimensions establishing five principal elements to measure the society culture clout on the values of its members. This influences the behaviours of the individuals inside the organization and often determines the group interaction and its outcome. Those five dimensions are, power distance (PDI), individualism/collectivism (IDV), uncertainty avoidance (UAI), masculinity/femininity (MAS), and long-term orientation (LTO). In th...
In this essay, the author
- Argues that cultural dimensions can have a negative effect on the organizational knowledge process and the knowledge sharing mechanism. millennials are forming the next generation of workers that will accept leadership positions.
- Explains that organizations evolve and develop by the combination of knowledge, skills, and abilities of its member intending to gain competitive advantage, increase their market share, augment performance, foster creativity, improve financial results.
- Analyzes the influence of collectivist and high power distance in the process of organizational learning.
- Analyzes 's aim to explore the influence of low individualism and high power distance of the chinese employees on the process of organizational learning.
- Explains that has been involved in the education environment inside mainland china for more than five years and has evolved as a senior manager controlling the hrm activities and learning process inside one unit of the organization.
1193 wordsRead More - How Have We Evolved In The Management Field Case Studyexplanatory essayCountry-by country differences are so prevalent of a world team scholar that have propose to create and validate a theory of relationship between culture and societal. (Mason Carpenter) The GLOBE project research had identified 9 dimensions of culture. A couple of the cultures for the business is Uncertainty Avoidance and Assertiveness. Avoidance is part of unpredictable evens and anxiety. You want to establish rules and laws in order to control the unexpected. Do managers need assertiveness? It is encouraged, managers may set up incentives that may boost their employee’s
In this essay, the author
- Opines that leadership at one time meant muscle, but today it means getting along with people.
- Explains that the milestone, the "fathered" principle, and the limitations are in the theories listed above and what i talked about in certain management movements.
- Explains the importance of a management theory/principle milestone, including who "fathered" the principle, and the highlights and limitations of it.
- Explains how management theories and principles were made for early times where few workers were educated. social movements are taking on more permanence.
882 wordsRead More - The Importance Of Culture In Business Managementargumentative essayCulture is the most important reason to influence an international company. Culture different can be nightmare to manager who do not know how to work with international employees (Passport to Trade, 2015). Three different management styles for manager to use in managing a team that are ‘Authoritarian style’, ‘Democratic style’ and ‘Laisses faire style’. In Hofstede’s study, he created five different dimensions that are ‘Power distance’, ‘Uncertainty avoidance’, ‘Individualism’, ‘Masculinity’ and ‘Confucian work dynamism’. Culture different and language become an important reason of conflicts while international people are working together (Mullins, 2010).
In this essay, the author
- Explains that culture is the most important reason to influence an international company. they describe hofstede's five dimensions: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity, and confucian work dynamism.
- Explains that culture influences the organization management and decision-making, which can affect the business strategic direction. john parker is a successful manager in digimat.
- Analyzes the main conflicts between john and the team in china. do you agree with bob’s comments that ‘people are people.
- Explains that conflict is a double-edged sword that can lead to positive and negative result. managers need to manage conflict and encourage group mate working together in order to achieve project success.
- Explains the three management styles: autocratic, democratic, and laisses faire.
- Opines that john's management style and poor training are the main conflict between john and his teammates.
- Explains that john asserts that jeremy mangoes his tram successfully because of his culture background and language skills.
- Compares john and jeremy's management styles: john is authoritarian and bob is democratic. bob respects his teammate and treats them as friends.
1622 wordsRead More - The Very Large Penisanalytical essayGeert Hofstede, a Dutch psychologist, was hired by the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in the 1960s and 1970s to examine the values and concerns of their employees around the world. While performing this task, Hofstede intentionally explored values related to individualism to understand and compare various cultures. By observing significant differences between cultures, Hofstede was able to formulate the cultural dimensions theory in an attempt to understand cultural trends between cultures, incorporate cultural contexts, and compare individual’s ways of thinking socially. Personally the attempt to quantify culture through various dimensions intrigues me, as I believe that it may be possible. However, I believe that Hofstadter’s current model lacks the proper controls necessary to account for the complex nature of culture.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that geert hofstede, a dutch psychologist, was hired by the international business machines corporation in the 1960s and 1970s to examine the values and concerns of their employees.
- Explains that hofstede's culture-based model was established based on data collected from 117,000 ibm employees in 20 different languages within 53 countries and regions. the model of cultural-dimensions has inherent methodological flaws.
- Argues that hofstede's model assumes that cultural differences are due to the national culture, rather than extraneous variables. however, not all ibm branches operate in a similar fashion or promote, the same values.
- Defines individualism as a culture with many practices and customs encouraging individuals to prioritize their own goals ahead of collective goals.
- Explains that collectivistic societies integrate into cohesive in-groups where relationships with other members of the group play a central role in the individual's identity.
- Explains that individualism or collectivism is an important facet of any culture. with basic knowledge of these concepts, we are better able to empathize with cultural differences. globalization and technology may no longer be an accurate way to classify the differences between cultures.
- Argues that cultural homogeneity is dangerous as it oversimplifies culture and characterizes individuals based on national ideologies instead of personal character.
- Explains that chinese culture has evolved within the past 30 years to include a dichotomy of socialist principles while simultaneously allowing market-driven capitalist policy.
- Explains that their class had the unique opportunity to communicate with individuals from various cultures around the world. they came to appreciate the diversity of culture and understand how important culture is in shaping our self-identities.
- Opines that lourdes garza, the hispanic ministry office director for the diocese of knoxville, presented a seminar on cultural differences in the decision making process.
- Analyzes how garza inaccurately used the terms hispanic and latino as interchangeable terms to describe the numerous cultures of the south american inhabitants.
- Argues that the term hispanic is erroneously used when describing the inhabitants of south america.
1354 wordsRead More