The Impact Of Culture On Business Policies and Management Principles

 

The role of culture as it relates to norms, values and behavior patterns has become increasingly important in the field of management issues. Even in today’s global world, there are wide cultural differences, and these differences influence how people do business. Culture impacts business protocol—how to physically and verbally meet and interact; decision making and negotiating; managing employees and projects; risk taking; and marketing, sales, and distribution.

However, there are still many people around the world who think that business is just about core business principles and making money. They assume that issues like culture don’t really matter. The reality is even though people are focused on the bottom line, people do business with people they like, trust, and understand. Culture determines all of these key issues.

Culture can determine success or failure during times of change: Mergers, acquisitions, and growth. It also impacts communications – understanding of culture will affect your ability to enter a local market, develop and maintain business relationships, negotiate successful deals, conduct sales, conduct marketing and advertising campaigns, and engage in manufacturing and distribution.

Attitudes and values are the building blocks for developing business culture. In many respects, Germans are the masters of planning. The German thought process is extremely detailed, with each aspect of a project being examined in great detail. They believe that maintaining clear lines of distinction between people, places, and things is the surest way to lead a structured and ordered life. In German business culture, sudden changes in business transactions, even if they may improve the outcome, are unwelcome. They do not appreciate humor in a business context and also, their work and personal lives are strictly divided.  

The Japanese concept of management is very different from the American view. Researchers have stated that Japanese workers appear to have more respect for authority than their U.S. counterparts, as well as an entirely different attitude towards work. The Japanese apparently live to work and are willing to sacrifice their personal lives for the company. They are more tolerant of long hours and uncomfortable working conditions than U.S. workers, frequently work when they are sick and decline vacation time to avoid reducing productivity. Employment in the U.S., however is somewhat analogous to a revolving door. Workers are routinely laid-off during economic down turns and there appears to be little commitment to training. The overall focus of Japanese management is on the firm's long run competitive strategy as opposed to U.S. managers who appear to be more concerned with short run financial performance.

Japanese workers are also more loyal to their employers than U.S. workers and in many cases are essentially married to the company for a lifetime. American workers, on the other hand, tend to be loyal to themselves and sometimes their families and frequently use a company only to gain enough experience to move to a better paying position at another firm.