Organizational culture

About: Organizational culture is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 31507 publications have been published within this topic receiving 926787 citations. The topic is also known as: corporate culture & organisational culture.

The cultural relativity of organizational practices and theories

Abstract: This paper summarizes the author's recently published findings about differences in people's work-related values among 50 countries. In view of these differences, ethnocen- tric management theories (those based on the value system of one particular country) have become untenable. This concept is illustrated for the fields of leadership, organization, and motivation. * A key issue for organization science is the influence of national cultures on INTRODUCTION management. Twenty or even 10 years ago, the existence of a relationship be- Management and tween management and national cultures was far from obvious to many, and it National Cultures may not be obvious to everyone even now. In the 1950s and 60s, the dominant be- lief, at least in Europe and the U.S., was that management was something univer- sal. There were principles of sound management, which existed regardless of na- tional environments. If national or local practice deviated from these principles, it was time to change local practice. In the future, the universality of sound manage- ment practices would lead to societies becoming more and more alike. This ap- plied even to the poor countries of the Third World, which would become rich as well and would be managed just like the rich countries. Also, the differences be- tween management in the First and Second World (capitalist and socialist) would disappear; in fact, under the surface they were thought to be a lot smaller than was officially recognized. This way of thinking, which dominated the 1950s and 60s, is known as the "convergence hypothesis." During the 1970s, the belief in the unavoidable convergence of management prac- tices waned. It was too obviously in conflict with the reality we saw around us. At the same time supranational organizations like the European Common Market, which were founded very much on the convergence belief, had to recognize the stubbornness of national differences. Even within existing nations, regional dif- ferences became more rather than less accentuated. The Welsh, the Flemish, the Basques, the Bangladeshi, the Quebecois defended their own identity, and this was difficult to reconcile with a management philosophy of convergence. It slowly became clear that national and even regional cultures do matter for management. The national and regional differences are not disappearing; they are here to stay. In fact, these differences may become one of the most crucial problems for man- agement-in particular for the management of multinational, multicultural orga- nizations, whether public or private.

Innovation, organizational capabilities, and the born-global firm

Abstract: We investigate born-global firms as early adopters of internationalization – that is, companies that expand into foreign markets and exhibit international business prowess and superior performance, from or near their founding. Our explication highlights the critical role of innovative culture, as well as knowledge and capabilities, in this unique breed of international, entrepreneurial firm. Case studies are analyzed to better understand the early internationalization phenomenon and reveal key orientations and strategies that engender international success among these innovative firms. Case findings are then validated in a survey-based study. Despite the scarce resources typical of young firms, our findings reveal that born-global firms leverage a distinctive mix of orientations and strategies that allow them to succeed in diverse international markets. Findings have important implications for the internationalization of contemporary firms.

Market orientation and organizational performance: Is innovation a missing link?

Abstract: In recent years, a market-oriented corporate culture increasingly has been considered a key element of superior corporate performance. Although organizational innovativeness is believed to be a pot...

Cultural constraints in management theories

Abstract: Executive Overview Management as the word is presently used is an American invention. In other parts of the world not only the practices but the entire concept of management may differ, and the theories needed to understand it, may deviate considerably from what is considered normal and desirable in the USA. The reader is invited on a trip around the world, and both local management practices and theories are explained from the different contexts and histories of the places visited: Germany, Japan, France, Holland, the countries of the overseas Chinese, South-East Asia, Africa, Russia, and finally mainland China. A model in which worldwide differences in national cultures are categorized according to five independent dimensions helps in explaining the differences in management found; although the situation in each country or region has unique characteristics that no model can account for. One practical application of the model is in demonstrating the relative position of the U.S. versus other parts of the...

Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life

Abstract: For junior and senior managers alike, Deal and Kennedy offer explicit guidelines for diagnosing the state of one's own corporate culture and for using the power of culture to wield significant influence on how business gets done.. Business experts everywhere have been finding that corporations run not only on numbers, but on culture. In this revised and updated 2000 edition of Corporate Cultures , organization consultants Terrence Deal and Allan Kennedy probe the conference rooms and corridors of corporate America to discover the key to business excellence. They find that the health of the bottom line is not ultimately guaranteed by attention to the rational aspects of managing-financial planning, personnel policies, cost controls, and the like. What's more important to long-term prosperity is the company's culture-the inner values, rites, rituals, and heroes-that strongly influence its success, from top management to the secretarial pool. For junior and senior managers alike, Deal and Kennedy offer explicit guidelines for diagnosing the state of one's own corporate culture and for using the power of culture to wield significant influence on how business gets done.