Paper Topic:

`With increasing globalisation, organisation culture will be more important than national culture.` Discuss and critically evaluate this statement.

ORGANISATIONAL VS . NATIONAL CULTURE

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[Author 's Name]

11 November , 2007

Organisational vs . National culture

Introduction

The issue of organisational vs . national culture has acquired new meaning in the new conditions of globalisation . The argument which of the two aspects is stronger is not yet resolved and does not have a determined answer . The problem is in the fact that national cultures have for long been predominant within the corporate frameworks of numerous multinational corporations . Moreover , the number of factors which determine the role of both organisational and

national cultures in corporate environment is too numerous to resolve the issue in the nearest time . Thus , it would be proper to state that globalisation definitely impacts the position of national culture in organisational environment , but its strength towards organisational culture depends on numerous factors and thus cannot be unilaterally determined

Background

Organisational culture is defined by Fu Hang (2005 ) as the pattern of shared values and beliefs that help individuals understand organisational functioning and thus provide them with the norms for behaviour in the organisations . Thus , organisational culture is frequently expressed in the terms of generally accepted and generally held values . Consequentially , it is possible to assume that the roots of these values are found in national cultures this is why it is wrong to diminish the meaning of national cultures in globalising organisational frameworks . The elements which are found in globalised organisational cultures range from actual behavioural patterns to generally assumed behavioural norms . Again , these norms have their origin in national cultures and even in globalising society national cultures are reflected in corporate environments . When the members of a social unit share values , an organisational culture or value system can be said to exist (Hofstede 2001

Speaking about national culture , it is difficult to deny that the countries of the world , even being globalised and creative cohesive unities , still possess drastically different features . These differences are especially noticed comparing the countries of East and West . One would have to acknowledge that the differences in national cultures between the USA and Japan are so dramatic that they cannot but impact the organisational cultures in these states . The U .S . is characterised by such values as assertiveness , decisiveness , innovativeness , and risk-taking which stem from its frontier-conquering history (Marcolides 2003 . Individualism is another determining feature of the American national culture . Simultaneously , in Japanese-American cooperation the Japanese partners frequently complain that Americans are far less flexible in their business activity , more results-oriented and rely on the power of an individual , rather than the power of the organisation (Marcolides 2003 . Thus , isn 't it a good proof for the fact that national cultures may expect to remain predominant in determining the organisational behaviour of business participants even in the conditions of growing entrepreneurial globalisation

It is widely accepted among scholars that the acceptable behaviour among consumers is determined by the cultures of their origin and the societies in which they exist (Nelson Copalas , 2003 Ott , 2004 . Also the national culture definitely determines and impacts the...

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