Managing Staff From Different Cultural Backgrounds

You are asked to write a report advising managers working for international organisations on the issues involved in managing staff from different cultural backgrounds.

How culture influences working styles

In the modern society, it is becoming a norm for people to work from different cultures. This has both positive sides and negative sides of both the managers and the staff working in different backgrounds. Managers from different backgrounds have to understand what motivates their staff to do a good job. Some organizations have begun realizing the importance of giving training to their staff to become more inter-culturally competitive in a way to ensure the staff continue to be more productive and also motivated (Qi 2009, p.29). The report covers a variety of issues which includes how culture influences the styles of working, the different styles of management and why training is essential for managers to make them inter-culturally competitive.

Research has shown that culture has an impact in the working styles of management of most of the organizations and they vary from one another. Even though there have been similarities which have been noted over the past years on the style management in businesses is being carried out, culture has been diversified across the globe. The local cultures play vital roles in the styles used for management in the organizations in that dominion (Bjerke, 1999). For example, when the subordinate staffs are being referred by their first names in the United States is regarded to be respectful but appears to be unpleasing in France or Portugal. The individuals from certain countries do respond differently to time. The Americans do keep time and are usually punctual to their meetings as compared to the people of Latin states where they respond indifferently to it, and this makes them be perceived as being lazy.

The practices played by different countries in their cultures determines who acts as a role model in that society. In United States, a person to be play the part in managing the society is chief executive officer of an organization whereas in China is the head of a family. Some ideological policies of an individual country also influence the working styles of a certain society as they play a role in the culture of a particular country (Gudykunst 2003, p.980). Some post-communist nations have been seen to inherit the styles of management and the working styles from their predecessors, and their practices have been seen to be manifested by the older management teams. This may be in a way showing some lack of enthusiasm in performing the tasks, slackness or even lack of motivation. The junior staff has been seen in different societal backgrounds trying to adapt to different approaches which are characterized by the western style of management, global expansion of industries and free market economies. The style of management in the United Arab Emirates comprises of issuing of instructions to their subordinates. There have also been no restrictions that their leadership has been given and to some extent considered to be good for organizations management. The style of working is also paternalistic. This style of leadership in this cultural concept has been regarded to be poor by some people and kills the initiative of others in their respective projects (Schneider and Barsoux 2003, p.781). The Ukrainians on the other hand show great respect to the status and age which is regarded to be an indication of how much wealth someone has and therefore recommended to lead certain organizations. This style of leadership style have been thought to be autocratic since the staffs have to follow some guidelines and procedures which have been put by their leaders. The different styles of management also depends on other factors for example the advancement of technology, educational development and economic development. Since there is a change in the global economy, the different styles of management discussed above appear to change as time goes by (Joynt and Warner,  2002).

Different management styles

Generally, there exist six management styles:

Authoritative- This style is visionary. It aims at providing given directions and visions for the employees and making them have long-term impacts. This style of leadership involves the manager being strict in but is also fair in making the decisions of a company. The managers also lead their employees by giving them a clear and a precise path which they should follow. They also motivate them through persuasion in a way to make them perform their tasks which they have been given and providing the necessary direction and motivations needed for the workers to complete their duties effectively.  This leadership style is useful when clear and precise directions are given out to the employees. The style is effective when the workers are understaffed and require the necessary guidance on specific steps to be carried out to benefit the organizations (Kirby 2009, p.45).

Directive - The directive style of management is coercive and is generally aimed in the effecting compliance of the subordinates.  The activities carried out by the manager is usually controlling the employees and using threats and required discipline to make the employees compliant of the rules set by the company. The style is effective when there is a crisis in management, and the company cannot deviate. This style is not advisable to use in the circumstances where employees are required to learn something from their managers and especially if they are skilled.

Affiliative- This style of leadership generally aims to foster harmony between the staff and their employers in an organization. Managers do motivate and focus on the plight that the employees may have before they can be assigned a given task (Gesteland, 2002). This style of management is effective when it is used in conjunction with other managerial styles and when a need for preventing the eruption of conflict does exist. However, this style may not be effective when a crisis in the company arises needs to be corrected.

Participative Style- This style of leadership is democratic and it is, basically aimed at ensuring the employees to commit to the achievement of the goals that have been set by the organization. The manager decides on the decisions to be made by the employees and also motivates them by rewarding them for an exceptional job carried out. The style is effective when there is a stable environment to perform different tasks and if the staffs are well experienced.  However, if there is incompetency in an organization, this style can be infective.

Pacesetting Style- This style generally involves performing the tasks of the organizations with the high level of experience. The manager usually prefers to carry out the tasks of the organization by themselves and expects employees to do the same. This style is effective when the employees get incentives and work under little supervision. For huge workloads, the style becomes ineffective and need to be handled by different employees (Meyer 2013, p.456).

Coaching – This management style seeks to sharpen the professional skills of the employees. Managers often play vital roles in motivating their employees to develop their strengths and skills in performing their respective tasks. The style works well when employees need for developing their skills. On the other hand, it can be ineffective if the manager lacks the expertise which is needed of them.

Training of managers fosters a good relationship between the co-workers and helps them to appreciate the diversity of cultures in different backgrounds and how it affects communication. This helps them to know what is being addressed making them to be more cooperative and encourages them.

Through training, productivity in the organization's increases and enhances efficiency. Effective communication between the employers and the managers ensures the process is productive. (Vecchi and Brennan 2009, p.868).

Training makes organizations competitive in the market as compared to their rivals. For instance, when an organization tries to strike a deal with the other from a different cultural platform, the team sent for negotiating the agreement understands the culture have higher chances of attaining it (Mead and Jones 2017, p.283).

Training ensures that the long-term benefits of an individual company are fulfilled.  If the employees understand the cultural backgrounds, they can relate well to the foreign culture.

Conclusion

Getting to know different cultural backgrounds, therefore, helps the managers and the employees relate well and enhance productivity. Through training, cultural diversity problems are dealt with and help managers to tolerate the conditions present in different cultural background setup. Through understanding, the different styles of management enable the managers chose the best styles of leadership and came up with the desired results at the end. It is recommended to undertake more than one style of leadership to ensure there is maximum production in the organization.

Through ensuring managers get trained, there will be a good basis for communication between colleagues in an organization. When all these factors are combined, the organization will be able to achieve their goals and also enable the employees to perform effectively and achieve their career goals.

References

Bjerke, B. (1999). Business leadership and culture. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

Gesteland, R.R., 2002. Cross-cultural business behavior: Marketing, negotiating, sourcing and managing across cultures. Copenhagen Business School Pr.

Gudykunst, W.B., 2003. Cross-cultural and intercultural communication. Sage.

Joynt, P. and Warner, M. eds., 2002. Managing across cultures: Issues and perspectives. Cengage Learning EMEA.

Kirby, A. (2009). Management styles. BMJ, 339(sep29 2), pp.a2528-a2528.

Mead, R. and Jones, C.J., 2017. Cross?Cultural Communication. The Blackwell Handbook of Cross?Cultural Management, pp.283-291.

Meyer, C. (2013). The relationship between time management of general managers and their management styles. Johannesburg: Gordon Institute of Business Science.

Qi, S., 2009. Cross-cultural Communication. Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture, Vol 5, no.4, pp.21-31.

Schneider, S.C. and Barsoux, J.L., 2003. Managing across cultures. Pearson Education.

Vecchi, A. and Brennan, L., 2009. Quality management: a cross-cultural perspective. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, Vol. 16, no. 2, pp.149-164.