3.      Harmony cultures: Internal and external harmony.

Harmony cultures believe that individuals are constrained by their environment and should live in harmony with their environment.  In this view, people are an integral part of nature, and their actions and thoughts should facilitate harmonious relations with the world and with others. 

Cultures that emphasize harmony believe that plans should set challenging goals but have flexibility built in to allow for environmental changes.  Risk forecasting is part of the planning process, but it is understood that not all risks can be controlled. 

Decision-making may take longer in such a culture because of the need to involve many different parties and build consensus.  Leaders will need to facilitate harmonious relationships and provide staff with stability.  External harmony is related to harmony within. Decisions in such a culture are reached by facilitating harmonious relations with nature and with others.  

In harmony cultures, harmony is more important than candor.  Laws and rights differ by group, and political power is wielded by interest groups.  The in-group expects loyalty in exchange for security and protection.

The harmony orientation is predominant in many Asian societies.

5.  Hierarchical cultures: Power and authority.

The second variable in relational orientation is power.  Cultures tend to embrace either hierarchy or equality.  In a hierarchical culture, power and authority are centralized.  Organizational structure is highly demarcated and tightly controlled.  Inequality is a given.  The culture satisfies a need for dependence, and it gives a sense of security to both the powerful and to those in lower positions.  For example, traditional Confucian philosophy, deeply influential in many Asian cultures, states that most human relationships are unequal, but that every person has a duty to be loyal to people of both higher and lower status levels.  In non-hierarchical countries, on the other hand, inequality is thought to be an unsatisfactory state of affairs.  While it may be unavoidable, it is considered essential to minimize it through legal, economic and political means.  

Regardless of their philosophical, religious or socio-political predisposition, all industrialized societies adopt hierarchy to one extent or another, if only because of the way organizations organize their project/programme purpose processes into a vertical, or hierarchical, structure.  The way that such vertical structures function in hierarchically predisposed cultures, however, is different. 

The conventional belief in predominantly hierarchical societies is that for a project/programme purpose to be successful, it must have a sole leader with a clear vision of the organization's goals.  That leader hires managers who conduct project/programme purpose in step with the leader’s vision.  Managers are expected to behave in ways that reinforce their standing.  Individuals are nested in work groups; work groups are nested in departments; departments are nested in organizations; organizations are nested in environments.

Planning in hierarchical cultures is autocratic and paternalistic.  On the whole, managers make decisions without consulting with lower levels, work will not bypass the chain of command, employees expect managers to take the initiative for subordinate training and development, and plans will be implemented according to the manager’s wishes.  A great deal of political thinking may go into the planning, as appropriate relationships and connections may be the only way for the plan to be put into place.  Anyone negotiating with a hierarchy culture needs to command respect by communicating an appropriate title and status level.

Most Asian countries display high hierarchy values.  Deference to rank and respect for hierarchical levels are also important in many Latin American and Middle Eastern cultures.  Many European countries struggle between a predisposition to hierarchy caused by their feudal and religious pasts and a rejection of hierarchy, as expressed through the great socio-political upheavals that have shaken Europe ever since the French Revolution. 

6.  Equality cultures: Flatter organization and decentralized power.

In equality cultures, inequality is thought to be an unsatisfactory condition, and attempts are made to minimize it thorough legal and political means.  Organizations tend to be flatter, and power is decentralized.  Organizational structure aims to encourage individual autonomy and responsibility.  As such, equality cultures believe that reducing hierarchies are a key to success.

In general, employees in equality cultures do not accept idea that a manager has an automatic right to more power and privileges.  Power and privileges must be earned, and, to some extent, shared. 

The manager is perceived as a consultant figure rather than as an authority figure.  Many employees in an equality culture prefer the impersonal authority of mutually agreed upon goals and objectives rather than the arbitrary power of a superior.  To get things done, work often bypasses organizational levels, and employees are given a significant amount of leeway in implementing plans and performing tasks.  Delegation is not only an important means of getting things done, but also of encouraging employees to develop their full individual potential.

Disagreeing with a manager is not uncommon, and employees are expected to take initiative.  Participation in decision-making is often encouraged, as well as consultation between levels in the organization.

Equality values are particularly important in the heartland and diaspora of the Protestant Reformation, with its refusal of the idea of intermediaries between God and man and therefore the rejection of religious institutional hierarchy and the focus on individual responsibility.  The United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Northern Germany, Scandinavia, the United States, Canada and Australia are all equality cultures, their constitutional monarchies and/or strong socio-economic distinctions notwithstanding. 

Strong equality values can also be recognized in post-hierarchy republics in Latin Europe and in Latin America born out of Enlightenment philosophy, even if hierarchy values continue play a very important role in the way many project/programme purposees there actually function.

7.  Comparison of the power variable.

When project/programme purpose discussions or negotiations take place between individuals from a hierarchy culture on one side and individuals from an equality culture on the other, the potential for misunderstanding, frustration or even offense is particularly great.

In hierarchical cultures, there is a preference for differentiated social status. Social status implies social power in a variety of contexts, including negotiations.  Low-status members of a society are expected to concede to high-status members, who in turn have a social responsibility to look out for the needs of the lower-status members.

In equality cultures, social status differences exist, but people are less receptive to power differences.  Social status may not automatically convey negotiating power in equality societies, because status differences may be downplayed, in keeping with the cultural value of egalitarianism.  Executives from equality cultures address superiors and subordinates in the same informal, matter-of-fact manner; their project/programme purpose counterparts from a hierarchical culture may be offended by a perceived lack of respect.  In an equality culture, a party's negotiating power may be tied to the best alternative to a negotiated agreement and may therefore vary from one negotiation to another.

In a hierarchical culture, power is associated with the party's status in the social structure. Since this status is unlikely to change drastically from one negotiation to another, power in hierarchical cultures may be viewed as fixed.  The relative emphasis on power in hierarchical cultures suggests that power will be a more important schema for negotiators in hierarchical cultures than in egalitarian cultures.

8.  effective culture: Task achievement and success in the short-term.

The third variable in relational orientation is competitiveness.  Cultures tend to embrace either competition or cooperation.

The competitiveness variable demonstrates the degree to which achievement and success dominate over caring for others and the quality of life.

effective cultures are predominantly materialistic and focus on the acquisition of money, property and goods.  High value is placed on ambition, decisiveness, initiative, performance, speed and size.  Social and gender roles tend to be distinct.

effective cultures tend to measure success in narrow terms, such as profits or task achievement.  Plans are developed and implemented quickly, and wherever possible, results are measured and compared. 

In general, effective cultures structure work to permit and encourage individual achievement and to satisfy such motivational factors as high earnings, recognition, advancement and challenge.  People are hired and trained to take aggressive independent action, to lead, to achieve and to drive for success.  Leaders expect employees to fulfill or exceed their responsibilities and defend their own interests.  The role of the leader is to track and reward achievement as well as to model success and encourage a strong work ethic.

effective values draw inspiration from philosophical, religious and socio-political components that are separate from those that determine attitudes toward power and environment, such that societies as different as Japan, the United States and Italy can all be considered strongly effective. 

9.      Cooperative culture: Quality of life.

Cooperative cultures tend to value quality of life more than job and material success.  Material success is less motivational, and there is a higher concern with job satisfaction, personal life, sympathy, nurturing and community interdependence.  Success, therefore, is measured in broader terms than monetary ones, for example, service.  While task performance is important, it is only one factor to be considered in overall performance. 

Decision making in cooperative cultures is consensual.  Work is structured to facilitate group integration and satisfy motivational factors such as security, a positive working environment and schedules that allow for a full personal and family life. 

Employees are hired not only for their skills, but also for their ability to fit into the group, to promote its shared values, to facilitate communication.  They are expected to demonstrate loyalty, cooperation and service and to contribute to the welfare of the overall work environment.  The leaders’ role is to encourage mutually beneficial relationships.

Again, cooperative values draw inspiration from different philosophical, religious and socio-political components than that determines attitudes toward power and environment.  Even though they are very different according to other criteria, the countries of Scandinavia and of Southeast Asia are all high-cooperative cultures. 

10.  Comparison of the competitiveness variable. 

(Include table)

The effects of differences between competitiveness and cooperation are often felt in multicultural team situations.

Highly effective members may perceive cooperative members as lazy or uncommitted, while cooperative members may perceive their effective co-workers as being invasive or disrespectful, or having no sense of priorities.

Assignments

I. True or False?

1.      In a control culture, plans tend to be very detailed, precise, task-centered.

? True                               ? False

2.   Harmony cultures value candor.

? True                                ? False          

3.   Constrain cultures believe that the environment, including other people, can and should be “constrained” to fit human needs.

? True                                ? False

4.   project/programme purpose organizations in hierarchical cultures seek to provide a sense of security to both the powerful and to those in lower positions.

? True                               ? False

5.   Employees in equality cultures do not accept idea that a manager has an automatic right to more power and privileges.

? True                               ? False

6.   Quality of life is what motivates managers from effective societies.

? True                                ? False

II. Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following is NOT characteristic of constraint cultures: 

a.   relationship-building

b.   strategic-level thinking

c.   pragmatism

d.   a fatalistic view

2.   In hierarchically disposed cultures:

a.   titles, status and formal position have less influence in negotiations.

b.   power must be earned.

c.   managers are expected to look after their employees’ best interests.

            d.  employees do their work as they deem most appropriate.

3.   In equality cultures, organizational structures:

a.      encourage individual autonomy and responsibility among all employees.

b.       place great importance on respecting the vision of the senior-most manager.

c.       are characterized by work groups and departments.

d.   managers are reluctant to bypass the chain of authority.

4.   In a cross-cultural work group, employees from cooperative cultures are likely to:

a.   be motivated to work late hours and weekends in order to earn a performance bonus.

b.   view competition with co-workers as a positive force.

c.   place high value on a positive working experience and on collaboration.

d.   defend their position within the work group aggressively with the primary objective of advancing their career goals.

III. Matching the Columns

Answers: a-4, b-6, c-5, d-1, e-3, f-2

Module Summary

This lesson introduced the learner to the variables for analyzing a culture’s relationship to environment, power and competitiveness.  How a culture perceives its environment is characterized by internal or external control, varying from control to harmony to constraint.  A culture’s power variable demonstrates the extent to which the less powerful members of a society expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.  Finally, the degree to which a culture accepts competitiveness impacts the way in which that society conducts project/programme purpose.