Cross Cultural Issues in Performance Management

When planning to expand into the global marketplace, the expanding business should set forth a well-planned business process that considers the inherent cultural differences that considers the inherent cultural differences that may exist from country to country. Cultural differences can almost always be identified as one of the primary reasons for the gaps in global internet development. Cultural factors were considered the predictors of the level of acceptance of Internet in a society. Cultural factors also determine the section of a society most likely to use the Internet, the purpose of the use of the Internet, the site visited, purpose of use of the Internet, the site visited, purchase decisions, etc. Hence it is important to consider the cross cultural issues and differences when developing any type of global business strategy

The problems that arise in joint ventures become even more salient in the new forms of multicultural organizations that have been called “collaborations”. When the group working together contains members from three or more cultures and may be operating in yet a fourth different culture, or may not be co-located at all, what kinds of cultural issues are likely to come ?

Misunderstanding the rules and norms surrounding the issue of authority is probably the most common problem in newly formed multicultural groups. The high degree of formality that is associated with diplomacy can be understood as a defense against making mistakes in this cultural arena. But formality itself can lead to problems if there nonsufficient understanding

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In the work situation, if the leader is from a culture in which it is expected that subordinates will speak up if they have a relevant piece of information, but he or she is dealing with group members whose norms dictate that one does not speak up until the boss specially asks, and even then one suppress information that would embarrass the boss, one can foresee that this group will have difficulty being effective. Misunderstandings around authority then have a direct impact on the quality of communication that is possible

Another example of “going global” is seen in personalized service firms such as law and accounting .These professions are focusing on cross-border activities like recruiting the local people who have their own culture, language, legal systems and accounting systems. The need for international expertise and capital is one reason for this trend. Companies of professionals are forming alliances with their foreign counterparts such as the Alliance of European Lawyers.

In only 10% of 191 nations are the people ethnically or racially homogenous. Never before in history have so many inhabitants traveled beyond their homelands, either to travel or work abroad, or to flee as refugees. In host countries, the social fabric is being reconfigured and strained by massive waves of immigrants, whether legal or illegal. It is estimated that Chinese now constitute 3% of New York City’s population, with a quarter million of them concentrated in Manhattan Island’s Chinatown, which overflows into older ethnic neighborhoods. This is the largest Chinese expatriate group outside Southeast Asia. The Industrial Age has given way to the Information Age, and we can only speculate on its replacement in the next one hundred years.

Thus today’s leaders are required to develop new models of management systems. They need to be more innovative and recognize the role of each and every employee in the organization in order to achieve the overall organizational goals. These dramatic changes in the workplace are producing some interesting challenges for everyone, from entry-level employees to top management.

The management of the organizations should be ready to face these conflicts and challenges that may happen when the people from diverse cultures work together as a team to achieve organizational goals. But management can also enjoy the different opportunities like productivity, expansion, and new levels of growth due to the cross-cultural environment. Our research is about successfully handling these conflicts and takes advantage of these opportunities

Globally, cross-cultural research has become increasingly essential. We can see people from diverse cultures in European countries. In this modern age , there is a need for cultural awareness and to understand people beliefs and practices. This, I argue, can be obtained by research, particularly the qualitative approach. I think cross-cultural research is very important that can help organizations to understand and create awareness about issues that may arise when people from different cultures work together as a unit

1.2 Research Questions

• What Is the Function of Culture?
• What Are Cultural Differences?
• Do Cultural Differences Really Have an Impact on Workplace?
• What are cross-cultural issues and how can we resolve them to improve organizational performance?
• What Are the Signs and effects of Cross-Cultural Management Issues in organizations and how can we resolve them?
• What Are the Signs and effects of Cross-Cultural Teamwork Issues in organizations and how can we resolve them?
• What Are the Signs and effects of Cross-Cultural Communication Issues in organizations and how can we resolve them?
• What Are the Signs and effects of Cross-Cultural Career Management Issues in organizations and how can we resolve them?

1.3 Research Objectives

The purpose of our research is to understand the cross-cultural differences that exist in organizations and their impact on the performance of the organizations. We will also pinpoint how the rewards, leadership and communications get different perspectives in cross-cultural environment. We will also study the importance of training programs and their orientation in cross-cultural environment. The focus of our study will be on

• Cultural differences and similarities
• Behaviour in global perspective
• Cultural shock
• Managerial responses
• Decision making across cultures
• Motivation across cultures
• Reward across cultures
• Leadership across cultures
• Power and conflict across cultures
• Communications across cultures
• Environments across cultures
• Organization structure and technology across cultures
• Cross-culture training

1.4 Key Literature view

Initial Knowledge Management (KM) strategies relied heavily on ICT-based solutions to store and retrieve explicit organizational knowledge. However, these ICT-based strategies often failed to deliver meaningful results (Ambrosio 2000). To date, much of the KM literature has focused on corporate and organizational culture, with relatively little attention paid to the implications of national culture. However KM, which is context embedded, is a particularly culturally dependent process (Glisby and Holden 2003; Nonaka and Toyama 2003).

Effective KM practices developed by and for one culture may not necessarily be successfully used by other cultures (Pauleen and Murphy 2005). This is an important point as cross-cultural knowledge sharing has become more prevalent through the forces of globalization, advances in communications technology, and increasingly culturally diverse workforces (Cox 1991; Nemetz and Christensen 1996), as well as through international mergers and acquisitions, Internet based e-commerce, and an increasing trend to global outsourcing. Meanwhile, dominant Western cultural assumptions about knowledge and KM influence KM research and development. Given these factors, an understanding of the influence of national culture is now, arguably, a critical requirement in understanding and implementing successful KM in organizations.

1.5 Methodology

We will focuses primarily on secondary cross-cultural comparisons (using other people’s data). Some measurement techniques lend themselves more readily to comparison than others. We will also use participant observations and un-structured interviewing that are usually a necessary first step in any field study. It goes without saying that any measure used across sites needs to be applicable to all the sites. Most comparative field studies deal with general domains of life that are found in all societies-for example, words and classification of colors, kin, animals, and plants, ideas about illness, raising children, and social behaviors. We will Compare Primary Data from Field Studies for Behavior Observations

1.6 Research ethical issues

Distinct and conceivably unanticipated ethical issues emanate from the unpredictable nature of qualitative research. Ethical considerations relevant to quantitative research impact qualitative investigations in unique and more fragile ways. The ethical dilemmas Inherent in issues surrounding informed consent, anonymity and confidentiality, data generation, treatment, publications, and participant-researcher relationships are reviewed in light of the unique issues that emerge in the design and conduct of qualitative investigations. Ethical standards for qualitative investigations must evolve from sense that the research is dynamic and that the process, by its application may result in unanticipated ethical concerns. The researcher must remain open to the possibility of new, and, to date, unexamined ethical concerns related to qualitative research. Further, the evolving standards must be grounded in the ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, and justice

Researcher must observe certain basic principles when conducting any form of research that involves human subjects. First, participants must not be harmed, thereby supporting the principle of beneficence. In any qualitative investigations, if researchers sense that the interview is causing issues to surface that may result in emotional trauma to participants, they must protect the welfare of the participants that confidentiality and anonymity will be upheld and that participants will be treated with dignity and respect. The principles of beneficence and justice are upheld in this regard. The three ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence and justice provide the organizing framework for meaningful dialogue regarding ethical issues that pertain to qualitative investigations