Oraganizational Culture:

A Global Perspective
Organizational Culture is
1.Influenced by national culture
and
2. Sustained by leadership

Organizational culture is a manifestation of

the informally sanctioned corporate attitude.
It is often referred to as Organizational DNA
or the Organizational Soul.
It is a fundamental contributor to the success
or failure of corporate strategies.

A leaders vision, policies, and actions

Influential individuals or work groups

Policies & Procedures (Careless, lax, or unclear)

People management philosophy (ignoring

employee harassment)

Employee work-ethic (hire for attitude; train for

skill)

Organizational policies (no gifts from suppliers,

casual

Fridays, etc.)

ORGANIZATIONALS CULTURE IS
REFLECTED IN
A companys

Values, business principles, and ethical

standards preached and practiced by
management

Approaches to people management

and problem solving

Relationships with Shareholders, community,

customers, suppliers, government agencies,
etc.

Entrenched attitudes toward people from

different national cultures

The First Step on the Path to

Implementing a Successful
Global Strategy

Understanding the Relationship

between
National Culture and ORG.S Culture

National culture is the mental programming

of a group of people. It is comprised of the
values, customs, and belief systems shared by a
particular group of individuals.

CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING
CAN TRANSLATE TO BETTER
BUSINESS PRACTICES
Contributions of Geert Hofstede
He separated cultures into five dimensions:

Power Distance

Individualism

Uncertainty Avoidance

Masculinity

Short and long-term orientation

BUSINESS ETHICS:
IT CAN BE ARGUED THAT SOME
DIMENSIONS OF BUSINESS ETHICS ARE
FLUID.
CULTURAL NORMS CAN DIFFER
BETWEEN COUNTRIES. WHAT IS
UNACCEPTABLE IN ONE COUNTRY MAY
BE PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE IN
ANOTHER.
THUS
A HEALTHY CORPORATE CULTURE
WILL ENCOURAGE EMPLOYEES TO

Effective strategic leaders - Craft global strategies that nurture a healthy

corporate culture
Encourage employees to understand and appreciate
other national cultures

IMPORTANT QUALITIES OF
STRATEGIC LEADERS

Determination to nurture a healthy

corporate culture
Courage
Self-confidence
Integrity
The capacity to deal with uncertainty and
complexity
A willingness to hold people (and
themselves) accountable for their work

Cultural Core Concepts

Its not about Magic Its about Management

1.

Culture refers to the character of a

companys internal work climate and
personality.

2.

In a strong-culture company, culturallyapproved behaviors and ways of doing

things are nurtured while culturallydisapproved behaviors and work practices
are discouraged.

3. In adaptive cultures, there is a spirit of

doing what is necessary to ensure long-term
organizational success.
4. Adaptive cultures are exceptionally well
suited to companies with fast-changing
strategies and market.
5. The tighter the culture-strategy fit, the
more the culture steers company personnel
into displaying behaviors and adopting
operating practices that lead to successful
strategy execution.

6. It is in managements best interest to

dedicate considerable effort to building a
corporate culture that encourages
behaviors and work practices conducive to
good strategy.
7. A companys culture is grounded in and
shaped by its core values and the bar it
sets for ethical behavior.
8. A multinational company needs to build
its corporate culture around values and
operating practices that travel well across
borders.

A RELAXED CULTURE