Assignment



Assignment

1.Role of Values and Norms in Culture

Every culture has its behavior patterns, or cultural norms. Individuals learn these behaviors from parents, teachers, peers, and others whose beliefs, values, and attitudes have been ingrained in them since birth from their culture. These values and norms shape how an individual see their world and structure their community, organization and family life. For instance, organizational culture is very much affected by employee's values and norms. It can be looked at as a system. Inputs include feedback from, e.g., society, professions, laws, stories, heroes, values on competition or service, etc. The process is based on our assumptions, values and norms, e.g., our values on money, time, facilities, space and people. Outputs or effects of our culture are, e.g., organizational behaviors, technologies, strategies, image, products, services, appearance, etc

2.Emphasis on Individual Performance in Western Societies

In western societies, the single most important pattern is individualism. The interests of the individual are or ought to be paramount, and that all values, rights, and duties originate in individuals. Individualism manifests itself in individual initiative ("Pull yourself up by your own boot straps"), independence ("Do your own thing"), individual expression ("The squeaky wheel gets the grease"), and privacy ("A man's home is his castle"). For most oriental cultures, especially Chinese culture, collectivism is the central pattern. "", which means "the interests of the nation are or ought to be paramount", is a reflection of Chinese value system.

The effects of individualism on business also include many aspects: first aspect is the spokesman of negotiations. In individualistic cultures, a single person may represent a company in negotiations. In contrast, a group of people would likely be involved in negotiations (Lusting and Koester, 1999). Second aspect is the decider of organizations. In individualism, a decision can be made by only one person. However, in other approach, after consulting and negotiating many times, people are able to make the decision.

3.Limitations of Hofstede's Research

Despite its widespread influence, Hofstede's work has been extensively criticized. One reason is that he used the employees of a single large multinational company to represent the cultures of different nationalities hence the accuracy of the research may be questioned. Secondly, Hofstede's data and information was collected through surveys and questionnaires which has certain levels of restrictions in regards to the questions asked. In some cultures, the perspective of the question asked is as important as its content. This is especially true in nations with a high level of collectivism such as China; individuals may have the tendencies to answer questions as if they were addressed to the group they belong to as opposed to how they feel.

4.Business Ethics & Ethical Strategy

When a corporation's values and ethics support its strategy, the company's stability and success is enhanced. Ethics and social responsibility are components of strategy because every business secures its future by making a contribution. Identifying that contribution and maximizing its value is a strategic initiative. Profit is the value the market attaches to an organization's contribution and the efficiency with ...