Impact of Culture in Contemporary Organization

People from different countries as well as regions inside them often do things in different ways. One way to explain variations in behavior is the idea of culture. There are so many definitions of culture because the concept is complex. According to Hofstede (1997), culture is the software of the mind, similar to a computer program that controls behavior. According to Sathe (1985), culture is a series of important values and beliefs that are characteristic for the members of a particular society and are relevant to their view of the world as well as to the ideals worth to strive for. however the culture can’t readily be expressed directly. The impact of culture in an organization can be look at in several aspects.

1, the impact of culture on motivation

The culture of a country or region in which the organizations function influences the way of motivating employees a great deal. In collective countries, such as Japan, giving an individual reward to an employee could embarrass the recipient and thus be de-motivating. Offering rewards for individual behavior that runs counter to group norms is unlikely to have a positive influence on motivation. People prefer to receive money, titles, or other materialistic or status-oriented rewards. (Hofstede, 1997).  

2, the impact of culture on communication

People in different cultures communicate among themselves differently. There are major differences in language usage, verbal style, and nonverbal communication. Verbal communication styles are vary in different cultures and their communication patterns. Also culture has quite a strong impact on nonverbal communication which may be expressed through facial expressions, gestures, eye contact and posture. Greeting gestures has significant identifications. For an example, in a business situation, North Americans shake hands, Japanese bow, and Middle Easterners of the same sex kiss on the cheek (Abbasi and Holman, 1993).

3, the impact of culture on conflict resolution

The way people sense conflicts varies widely with culture. Intercultural communications expert Stella Ting-Toomey has developed a theory of culture and conflict that explains cultural differences using Hall's low and high context framework (Gundykunst and Ting-Toomey, 1988). According to this theory, people in low-context cultures see conflict as instrumentally oriented. Conflict often arises because one party violates the other's expectations. People are oriented toward action. This results in a direct, confrontational response to conflict, with all parties wanting a quick resolution. In the high-context culture, which has more specific rules of behavior, conflict usually occurs when a person violates cultural expectations. This often results in avoiding or ignoring the conflict.

References

1. Abbasi, S. M. and Hollman, K. W. (1993) ‘Business Success in the Middle East, Management Decision’, 31(1), pp. 55-59.

2. Gunykunst, W. B. and Ting-Toomey, S. (1988) Culture and Interpersonal Communication. California: Sage.        

3. Hofstede, G. (1997) Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill.

4. Sathe, V. (1985) Culture and Related Corporate Realities. New York: Irwin.