Business Culture As A System Of Marketing Beliefs And Practices (Coursework Sample)

          Business Culture   Name:     Course: Professor Name: (Date)   Introduction Culture is a system of beliefs and practices that are nurtured into an individual’s way of life. In most cases, the surrounding of a person plays a very important role in forcing a system of beliefs and practices into a person’s life. Culture is vast in its own nature, but the most important thing to note about it is that it has a way directly affecting the behavior, the point of view, as well as the attitude of a person. Culture can be nurtured traditionally, academically or organisationally (Kirkman et al, 2001). Business culture can be briefly defined as the organizational practices of a firm. These practices have to be aligned in a manner that ensures that the goals (both short term and long term), plans, and the vision of the organization are fulfilled. Business culture is cultivated and nurtured into employees by the management of the firm. Most employees tend to copy what the management does in an organization. This gives the management departments in a business organization full mandate to influence and cultivate the intended culture into their employees. (Lu et al, 1999). There are different countries involved in the formation of the management board. Taking a close look at the business culture differences in the USA and Sweden gives the following issues that Vocalink will need to give attention to while addressing the problem of cultural differences in the organization. People in the USA value the observation of hierarchy in the organization of the management system. Swedes, on the other hand, take hierarchy organization less seriously. They believe that each employee can take part in the formation of the corporate structure and rules. While the Americans are able to express their competence in almost every field of business practice, Swedes have a problem of being humble and less aggressive as compared to their American counterpart. Another difference is in the hiring and firing culture. In the USA, for instance in California, one can be fired from work without any explanation and without any further pay. Conversely, in Sweden the firing process has to be formal, should have an advance notice and a guaranteed payment after resignation. (Johanson et al, 2003). The business environment in Sweden is more friendly as compared to that in the USA. This is because the people in Sweden tend to take corporate meetings more serious and personal than their counterparts in the USA. The level of competition in the two countries is also very different. While the USA present a business field with more investment opportunities and intense competition, Sweden presents a humble business environment that is comparatively less fierce. However, these differences might not be applied to all the people in the country. There are many of this difference when all the countries are considered. These two countries just help us to understand that business cultural differences exist. I intend to define how Vocalink can overcome this differences and establish a sufficient business cross-cultural system within its management board. (Johanson et al, 2003). Decision Making The decision-making process is a fundamental and critical process on an organization. It is applied in various areas in an organization some of which include: choosing employees, choosing the efficient and effective mode of production, changing the style of management, and finding a way to motivate employees. Decision making involves the people employed in an organization. People have different ways of thinking based on the diverse school of thoughts instilled into them by their different cultures. (Casson, 1995). It is a normal occurrence for people from “superior” countries to undermine people from “inferior” countries. If the management does not take care of this form of discrimination based on the countries from which individuals come from, then, the decision-making process can be biased. Vocalink needs to understand that the best way to promoting co-operation among workers is to make every employee feel important. This is also another mode of indirect motivation. Consequently, making every employee feel treasured means that each employee has to be made aware of the importance of respecting, understanding and valuing the cultures of other employees. (Bjerke, 1999). The best way to achieve this is through cross-cultural training as for the case of Ericson Company. The first step that Vocalink needs to take towards cross-cultural training is understanding the ins and outs of the cultures of the nations represented in the organization. Secondly, the cultures can be availed to every employee in the organization. The company can apply retreat sessions and formal cross-cultural training sessions to make these cultures known to every employee. During conferences and organizational formal meetings or forums, it is also important to give each employee the freedom to express their views without any bias. This will definitely cultivate the culture of equality and unity among the employees. (Frank, 1998). Negotiation and Communication Negotiations and communication play very important roles in a business firm. Negotiation is applied in the entire process of decision making. An effective negotiation is met when all the ideas have been considered on a level ground (Frank, 1998). Effective business culture is made up of pro-efficient negotiation tools. Needless to say, any business transaction and the decision has to go through the negotiation process. Machines, capital and other factors of production do not yield much in a negotiation process; people do. Generally speaking, negotiations are always considered successful when every person involved in the process is contented of the results. (Lam et al, 2002). In most multinational organizations, employees have a tendency to make the impact of their nation to be felt in the organization. This implies the people from “bigger” nations will always push their way through winning negotiations. Vocalink has to be aware of this phenomenon because it can have detrimental effects on the organization. Decisions made in the company can be oriented towards individual superiority rather than on the logical facts presented by other employees. (Vitell et al, 1993). Communication is the back-borne of many business organizations. Research has proved that many business organizations that collapse have poor communication as a factor that results in their failure. Every business organization has an established chain of communication. Failure in communication occurs when employees tamper with this chain of communication. This occurs when the workers in an organization do not uphold the values of other employees. For instance, a senior employee can decide to tamper the financial record presented by a junior employee before forwarding it to the management board. This can be sorted by cultivating good moral standards among the employees. Moral standards directly impact on the business culture and the interaction between employees in an organization. (Davis et al, 1998). Negotiation and communication are part of an organization and that directly interrelate since they both involve sharing of information. Business deals normally go through a process of intense negotiations in order to come up with substantial results. Vocalink needs to know the four dimensions of cultural orientation in different persons in order to deal with the issue of moral standards. These four dimensions include cultural-toughness dimension, perceptual dimension, others-oriented dimension, and self-oriented dimension. (Mann et al, 1998). Cultural toughness dimension deals with the difference in cultural distances among individuals in an organization. Cultural distances can be embraced differently by different genders. Depending on the ease of individuals to adapt to different cultures, Vocalink can define a proper organization communication and negotiation network to ensure co-operation among the workers. The perceptual dimension of culture deals with the skill that one can use to understand the practices of another country. Vocalink can instill this into their new managing brand of directors from different countries through cross-cultural training programs. (Gudykunst, 2003). The third dimension is known as the others-oriented cultural dimension. This basically deals with how an expatriate relates with the locals of a given nation. It revolves around the skills that a person uses to develop a relationship with others and the willingness of a person to communicate. Though the willingness to communication is an intra-personal intelligence, skills to develop relationships can be taught. The self-oriented dimension of cross-cultural improvement in a business enterprise is known as the self-oriented dimension. This deals with the factors that affect the self-esteem of an individual. The best way that Vocalink can deal with this is to facilitate the exchange of likes and dislikes among its employees. This can be done through substitution of cultural values and moral practices via recreational activities. The evaluation of these four cross-cultural dimensions gives us a wide view of the extent to which communication and negotiation can strike a balance in an organization. (Fisher, 1980). Leadership and Cultural Intelligence The leadership of an organization is the head of that organization. The body receives and executes signals from the head, in the same way, the employees take and carry out commands from the leadership. This puts the management of an organization in the top place in determining the goals, objectives and plans of the firm. The leadership determines the culture in the organization. A great culture in an organization commences with the establishment of great goals....