Introduction
It is a widely acknowledged fact that the different countries around the world will be different in terms of culture, communications, leadership styles, managing teams, decision making and value systems. These differences can be analyzed through power distance, orientation, uncertainty avoidance, indulgences and individualism. The purpose of this report is to compare and contrast the managing and value systems of two culturally different countries, namely Jordan and Czech Republic. Both Jordan and Czech Republic maintains a hierarchical society that reflects centralization, inherent inequalities and autocracy. There is a stark contrast in the degree of individualism in both the countries. While Jordan fosters interdependence and social collectivity, Czech prefers independent individuals residing in a loosely knit societal framework. These aspects determine how each country manages teams and organizes their value systems.
Comparing and contrasting the two culturally differing nations
Managing teams (Jordan)
Jordan, being situated at the crossroad between east and west, is a country of economic and cultural importance. To analyze the managing teams of Jordan, the motivating factors for employees at workplace requires mention. More than monetary motivations, non-material motivations such as group interactions and human relations are the driving factors of productivity. Social factors like loyalty towards peers and friendship determine job satisfaction in the country, they are more valued than incentives, wages physical conditions of work. The three patterns of behavior related to motivation are choice, persistence and intensity. These patterns affect the work environment and the productivity of the worker. For instance, an employee who is persistent with labor and is concentrated intensely in the job will be more productive than the one who is not. Although money is not the sole motivating factor at the workplaces of Jordan, workers are meticulously rewarded for hard work. The yearly bonus provided for diligence and perseverance are highly motivational for employees. The organizations look to it that the workers maintain healthy, cordial relationships with peers and supervisors so that employees are involved whole-heartedly in the organizational and operative functions of the office. Apart from work satisfaction, the job sectors in Jordan aim to ensure that the workers have a happy and healthy personal life; which according to the human resource management of the country is the key to increasing productivity and employee motivation in a work field. Moreover, Jordan is an extremely value-oriented country and the employees are more inspired by ethics and values of work rather than the monetary benefits of the same.
Management procedures of Czech Republic
The Czech Republic has observed wholesome and remarkable changes after transitioning to a market economy based on free exchanges. Czechs, unlike the people in Jordan are strictly non-conformists and adherents of an individualists society, (Stacho et al 2013) hence are tolerant of risks and changes. Unlike the employees of Jordan, Czech workers are motivated by basic salary and consider incentives, promotions and extra benefits integral to productivity. Additionally, a good working team is essential to employee motivation as most of the projects undertaken by the companies require teamwork. Although the workplace maintains a friendly and welcoming atmosphere, the co-workers do not prefer developing out of office relationships with peers unlike Jordan people. The chief contributing factor to job satisfaction is job security. The employees must know that their hard work will be rewarded and their jobs secured under corporate law in order to remain motivated for work. Further, the Czechs are characteristically competitive in their work field and value that more than any employee morale. The managing teams aim at providing autonomy to the workers even while they work in teams, so that no worker feels too dominated or overpowered by their superiors. The most prevalent distinction in team management between Jordan and Czech Republic is that unlike Jordans, Czech maintains clear demarcation between professional and private life. Although a balance between work and life is an integral factor of employee motivation for both the countries, the Czech population is driven more by monetary factors and material success while the Jordan workers adhere to values and corporate social responsibility.
The value system of Jordan, compared and contrasted with Czech Republic
The value system of Jordan encourages normative things and are greatly concerned with establishing one ultimate truth. They are strong adherents of traditional norms aim at achieving quick results. On the other hand, Czech exhibits pragmatism in their value system. They consider truth to be relative in nature, dependent on situation and time. They are known to adjust with new tradition easily and demonstrate thriftiness with a diligence towards achieving results. Jordan prefers avoiding uncertainty and maintain inelastic behavioral codes, notwithstanding unorthodox ideas. The usually resist innovation and are driven emotionally by rules, hard work, punctuality and precision. Czech Republic and Jordan are extremely similar in terms of their tendencies to avoid risk. Another notable point of similarity is the extent to which the countries engage in indulgences. Neither of the countries are indulgent in their activities. They are bent towards cynicism and demonstrate pessimistic behavior. Their actions are reserved by societal norms and practice control over desires. While Jordan is a strictly hierarchical state, Czech Republic follows a hierarchy which is slightly different from that of Jordan. While Jordan insists on centralizing the power of authorities, Czech believes in distributing some part of that power with individuals belonging from different strata of the society. Further, Czech is a state with individualist orientations (Strielkowski and ?ábelková 2015). That is, it accounts each individual responsible for his/actions, to look out for one’s own interest. Jordan has traditionally believed in a collectivist society, as noted earlier in the report. The society values extended families and fosters team works, loyalty and integrity towards team members over everything else. The employees in Jordan work to sustain themselves in an emerging socio-economic world. Although the managers hanker for consensus, the people value solitary and quality in workplace. The workers in Czech Republic are assertive and are driven by competition, although they emphasize on equality. Jordan is therefore a Feminine society and Czech is a Masculine one.
Conclusion
Studying the cultural dimensions of the nations reveals certain striking contrasts and similarities with respect to the ways they organize management, deal with the market and evaluates society as a whole. Although the countries are located in geographically different places (one in the Middle East and the other in Europe, they follow strikingly similar systems in trade and management of business. It is noteworthy because the Middle eastern countries are supposed to be dynamically and radically different from the European states. Both the countries encourage free market interactions and encourage freedom of speech, press and any other form of communication. The nations are driven by success and are not overtly secretive of business affairs. The value system are similar in some cases and bear conspicuous dissimilarities in the rest. The traditional rules established by Jordan are rigid and the state heads do not tolerate any disobedience towards the same. Czech Republic on the other hand is more open with regulations and encourage active participation of citizens (especially youths) in changing, molding the communist rules of olden times. Moreover, if both the nations engage in business among each other, they would be compatible and make profit off each other’s interest.
References:
Böhm, C., 2013. Cultural flexibility in ICT projects: A new perspective on managing diversity in project teams. Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, 14(2), pp.115-122.
Císa?, O. and Vráblíková, K., 2013. Transnational activism of social movement organizations: The effect of European Union funding on local groups in the Czech Republic. European Union Politics, 14(1), pp.140-160.
Saleem Salem Alzoubi, E., 2016. Ownership structure and earnings management: evidence from Jordan. International Journal of Accounting & Information Management, 24(2), pp.135-161.
Stacho, Z., Urbancová, H. and Stachová, K., 2013. Organisational arrangement of human resources management in organisations operating in Slovakia and Czech Republic. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 61(7), pp.2787-2799.
Strielkowski, W. and ?ábelková, I., 2015. Religion, culture, and tax evasion: Evidence from the Czech Republic. Religions, 6(2), pp.657-669.
Waweru, N.M. and Riro, G.K., 2013. Corporate governance, firm characteristics and earnings management in an emerging economy. Journal of Applied Management Accounting Research, 11(1), p.43.
