Recognizing and Managing

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Recognizing and Managing Cultural Patterns
Stuart A. Umpleby The George Washington
University Washington, DC
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Stuart A. Umpleby

• Speakers' Bio
• Dr. Stuart A. Umpleby is a professor in the
  Department of Management and Director of the
  Research Program in Social and Organizational
  Learning in the School of Business at The George
  Washington University, in Washington, DC. He is a
  past president of the American Society for
  Cybernetics, and Associate Editor of the journal
  Cybernetics and Systems.

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Origins of cultural differences

• Organizational structure
• National, ethnic, or religious cultural
  differences
• A combination

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Guided missile Project-oriented culture
Eiffel Tower Role-oriented culture
Task oriented
Incubator Fulfillment-oriented culture  
Family Person-oriented culture
Person oriented
Hierarchical
Egalitarian  
Corporate cultures
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Family culture

• Person-oriented
• Close face-to-face relationships but also
  hierarchical
• The parent has authority over children
• A power-oriented corporate culture
• High context
• Diffuse relationships

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Incubator culture

• Fulfillment-oriented
• Free individuals from routine
• Both personal and egalitarian
• Very little structure
• Emotional commitment to a creative process
• Leadership position is achieved

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Eiffel Tower culture

• Role-oriented
• Bureaucratic division of labor
• Coordination by higher levels
• Specific rather than diffuse relationships
• Status is ascribed
• Qualifications are important

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Guided missile culture

• Project-oriented, task-oriented
• Egalitarian but impersonal
• Rationale of ends
• Neutral, not affectionate, culture
• Intrinsic motivation
• Individualists and specialists

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Cross-Cultural Project Teams

• Increasing trend in application of
• Cross-organization projects
• International projects
• Global organizations
• Outsourcing
• Multi-cultural project teams
• Growing body of research and literature on
  cultural differences

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Widely accepted studies

• G. Hofstedes studies of IBM employees in many
  countries
• F. Trompenaars and C. Hampden-Turners more
  recent studies of cultural differences
• Z. Aycan, et al.s socio-cultural dimensions

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1) Relations between people

• Individualism vs. communitarianism the
  individual is more important than the group or
  the group is more important than the individual
• USA, Australia, UK Guatemala, Ecuador, Panama
  
• Universalism vs. particularism a
  rule-oriented society (a well-developed legal
  system) vs. a person-oriented society

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2) Motivational orientation

• Masculinity vs. femininity sharply defined
  roles for men and women vs. similar roles
• Japan, Austria, Germany Sweden,
  Norway, Netherlands
• Uncertainty avoidance seeking to avoid
  uncertainty vs. tolerating high uncertainty
• Power distance people feel comfortable with
  large differences in power among people or they
  prefer equality
• Malaysia, Mexico Austria,
  Denmark

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3) Attitudes toward time

• Long-term vs. short term orientation patient
  about results or not
• China, Japan, South Korea Western
  countries, Nigeria, Pakistan
• Sequential vs. synchronic prefer to do tasks
  one at a time or comfortable doing several things
  at once
• Inner vs. outer time preference for working on
  ones own schedule or comfortable working on
  groups schedule

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4) Control

• Internal control vs. External control
• The cultures belief that it controls its
  environment or works with it
• Implications for (newly) democratic systems

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5) Socio-cultural dimensions

• Paternalism superiors provide guidance,
  protection, and nurturing while subordinates are
  loyal and deferential
• Fatalism the belief that it is not possible to
  control the outcomes of ones actions, so hard
  work and long-term plans are not worthwhile

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Western vs. Non-Western Values

• Individualism
• Winning
• Respect for results
• Specific/ linear
• Verbal
• Achievement
• Internal self-control
• Pride

• Collectivism/ group
• Harmony
• Respect for status
• Holistic
• Non-verbal
• Modesty
• External control
• Saving face

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Western vs. Non-Western Values

• Equality
• Respect competence
• Time is money
• Action/ doing
• Systematic
• Tasks
• Informal
• Assertiveness
• Future/ change
• Control

• Hierarchy
• Respect for elders
• Time is life
• Being/ acceptance
• Humanistic
• Relationship/ loyalty
• Formal
• Indirectness
• Past/ tradition
• Fate

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Year 2000 (Y2K) project

• Each nation and organization set up its own year
  2000 (Y2K) computer projects
• Information was widely shared among technical
  specialists in meetings, papers and various media
• People recognized all would benefit by sharing
  information
• Top management supported and funded this project

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Y2K results A successful project

• Millions of Y2K projects completed worldwide with
  resounding success
• Ahead of Schedule
• Generally below budget
• With no significant failures

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Iridium project Anywhere to anywhere
communications
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Iridium project

• A satellite telecommunications network costing 5
  billion and involving 6,000 engineers and
  managers in 26 countries
• Used proven project management methods and
  promising practices
• Capability Maturity Model
• Level 3 ? Level 4

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Iridium project resultsA failed project

• The international structure was almost impossible
  to manage many languages, cultural differences,
  different styles of management and communication
• Cost US3.4B ? US5.0B
• Implemented in 1998-1999
• Bankrupt in 2000 ? Sold for US25 million

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Cultural maturity
High
Accommodating When in Rome
Reconciliation

Respect
Concern for culture of others
Recognition
Forcing My way or
Low
Low
High
Concern for own culture
Adapted from Trompenaars Hampden-Turner, 2003
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Reconciliation

• An approach where the two opposing views can
  come to fuse or blend - where the strength of one
  extreme is extended by considering and
  accommodating the other
• Trompenaars Hampden-Turner, 2003

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Conclusions

• There is an increasing number of international,
  multi-cultural projects
• Multi-cultural teams can provide experience and
  innovative thinking
• Cultural differences can be seen as an asset
• Managers need to be culturally sensitive and use
  flexible leadership to promote creativity and
  innovation

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Contact Information

• Prof. Stuart Umpleby
• Department of Management
• School of Business
• George Washington University
• Washington, DC 20052 USA
• www.gwu.edu/umpleby
• umpleby_at_gwu.edu

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Questions?
Thank you very much!