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Sources: Jim Polson, “BP Oil Still Ashore One Year After End of Gulf Spill,” Bloomberg News, July 16, 2011 (February 4, 2014); Ed Crooks and Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, “Cultural Clash Leaves BP Engulfed,” Financial Times, June 9, 2010, p. 5, sourcing ING analysts; Crooks and Edgecliffe-Johnson, quoting The Guardian (May 14), Sky News (May 18), Fox News (May 30), and an analysts’ briefing (June 4). 65 2. Do you think BP should have had someone like Dudley in charge of the response from the beginning? Why or why not? 3. What role may our common use of English have played in BP’s decisions to have CEO Hayward manage the public aspect of the recovery? PRODUCTION AND PROCUREMENT Production managers have found that cultural values around attitudes toward change can seriously influence the acceptance of new production methods. Plant layout is also influenced by culture. Think of the assembly line, devised by minds socialized in a sequential, linear culture, in which the task receives primary focus, not the social relationship. Contrast that system with the Uddevalla approach found in some Volvo plants in Sweden in the 1980s, where small, autonomous teams working in a circle assembled an entire car in several hours.5 Cultural norms and rules structure the way the firm acquires resources, as well. In much of Asia, for example, procurement often exists in a web of social relationships and friendships, whereas in the United States, transparency and price frequently drive the process. ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE A culture’s accounting controls directly relate to its assumptions about people’s basic nature. Are the controls tight throughout the organization, suggesting low levels of trust, or loose, suggesting the culture assumes people will act honestly even when they are not closely monitored? Are the controls administered by formal institutions in a commandand control approach, gaining compliance through rules and sanctions, or do they rely instead on social norms, that is, customary rules of behavior? International treasurers or comptrollers confront the strength of cultural forces when, armed with excellent balance sheets, they approach local banks in a foreign country only to find that the banks attach far more importance to who the treasurer is than to how strong the companies look on paper. In some cultures financial statements are notoriously unreliable, because local norms allow creative accounting in order to keep the tax collector away. In one classic example, a U.S. business executive in Italy filed Italian tax documents the way he had in New York, where he had spent most of his career, despite the advice of his local employees that tax payment in Italy is a negotiation. As a result, the firm paid much more than was required. PREFERRED LEADERSHIP STYLES The way we think about the role and function of our leaders varies across cultures. Desired leadership traits vary by culture as well. Is the usual relationship between leader and followers hierarchical or lateral? Is the leadership model paternalistic? Heroic? Does the ideal leader come up through the ranks? Or is someone placed in the leadership position due to family or status? As for purpose and function, does leadership integrate a group of people, or does it provide direction for a collection of individuals? In Japan, which tends toward a paternalistic understanding of leadership, the firm’s director often is asked to vet a company member’s prospective bride or groom. In the United States, leaders of successful companies often are seen as heroes. In these descriptions, we have touched only the very tip of the culture iceberg. That leaves more than 90 percent of culture below the surface, for you to discover and explore. Direct experience is invaluable. Seek out subcultures in your community, spend vacations abroad, and think about undertaking foreign study. You also may want to consult the results of the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior CCULTURE FACTS CULTURE FACTS @internationalbiz @EuropeanUnion In the EU, accounting is based on principles, from which processes are deduced; in the United States, accounting is based on a collection of rules. #principles #collectionofrules


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