Watch the cultural bias In a world of globalization, it is easy to assume that consumer tastes and cultures are all converging. The same goes for management theory - where the dominance of American practices and solutions may be even bigger than in consumer products. Can management concepts developed in the US be applied anywhere without regard for the local culture? We all know that cultural differences can be important, but how can you take them into account without having to study each culture for years to even get acquainted with it?
5 dimensions of cultural difference

In our series of classic management writers, Geert Hofstede (1928, Dutch) has done most to solve this question. In the early 1970s, a groundbreaking study of IBM staff in 64 countries allowed him to measure and statistically correlate attitude differences across cultures, leading to a classification of cultures among (ultimately) five dimensions. Illustrating with countries scoring in either extreme, the dimensions are:

1. Power distance: hierarchical (Malaysia, Guatemala, Panama) vs. egalitarian (Austria, Israel, Denmark);
2. Individualism (USA, Australia, Great Britain) vs. collectivism (Guatemala, Ecuador, Panama);
3. Masculine (Japan, Austria, Venezuela) vs. feminine societies (Sweden, Norway, Netherlands);
4. Strong (Greece, Portugal, Guatemala) vs. Weak (Singapore, Jamaica, Denmark) uncertainty avoidance;
5. Long-term orientation (China, Hong-Kong, Taiwan) vs. Short-term orientation (Pakistan, Nigeria, Philippines)

Management theory from an American perspective

After Mr. Hofstede's book Culture's Consequences came out in 1980, immediately it became clear why some management practices developed in the US had failed to work overseas. The US turned out to be the most individualist country in the entire survey and its practices just did not match the more collective orientation of some European and particularly Asian societies. The same could be said for the introduction of Confucian style work ethics into Africa, South and South-East Asia. Mr. Hofstede's model was most useful in bringing to light a general framework of cultural differences, strongly underpinned with irrefutable statistics. Cultures and Organizations is particularly well recommended for anyone about to be versed in international management.
Short-term statistics?

Yet through all his statistics, it is surprising to see how short a period Mr. Hofstede's studies actually covered. Though he offers many arguments why cultural differences remain stable over hundreds or even thousands of years, statistics to prove so over even a decade are sorely missing. Would today's Guatemalans recognise the hierarchical values of the 1970s? Do Japan's punkers worry as much about their place in society as their fathers and mothers did? Will a country's values remain as masculine when the threat of (civil) war has receded?
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  MBA falling out of fashion with recruiters? There are signs that an MBA is becoming less the universal passport to a corporate management career than it once was. Last month we reviewed Henri Mintzberg's thesis that MBA's educate the wrong people in the wrong way with the wrong results. Now there are signs that corporations, too, are getting more critical.

The Wall Street Journal (September 22nd) listed shortcomings in basic communication skills, empathy for lower-level employees, and business integrity. Although it is fair to question whether these are skills and attitudes should be taught at business schools, it is striking how many recruiters thought of graduates as good-at-numbers but bad-at-words, arrogant and elitist, and focused more on "win-at-any-cost" than on the long term benefits of the company. One starts to feel that having an MBA is rapidly becoming a liability.

Management quote of the month
"Good decisions come from wisdom. Wisdom comes from experience. Experience comes from trying out - and failing to achieve."
(Anonymous)
  ¶ 5:01 PM 0 Comments

  MBA falling out of fashion with recruiters? There are signs that an MBA is becoming less the universal passport to a corporate management career than it once was. Last month we reviewed Henri Mintzberg's thesis that MBA's educate the wrong people in the wrong way with the wrong results. Now there are signs that corporations, too, are getting more critical.

The Wall Street Journal (September 22nd) listed shortcomings in basic communication skills, empathy for lower-level employees, and business integrity. Although it is fair to question whether these are skills and attitudes should be taught at business schools, it is striking how many recruiters thought of graduates as good-at-numbers but bad-at-words, arrogant and elitist, and focused more on "win-at-any-cost" than on the long term benefits of the company. One starts to feel that having an MBA is rapidly becoming a liability.

Management quote of the month
"Good decisions come from wisdom. Wisdom comes from experience. Experience comes from trying out - and failing to achieve."
(Anonymous)
  ¶ 5:00 PM 0 Comments