THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURE ON MANAGEMENT PRACTICES OF MULTINATIONAL FIRMS

ABSTRACT

It is a well-known fact that business organization develops a particular work practice and  management attitude, which reflect  their shared values, aspirations and goals. A workforce is made up of people with diverse values. The more the organization accept these values the higher the morale productivity of the employee. This is easier when members of this organization are drawn from the same cultural configuration. The culture of people which constitute  the  organization would  wish  to  express  their diverse  values  and expects that such be respected. Culture constitutes the spiritual consciousness of people and it is deep rooted in their life. Their rituals are part of their daily lives and they will give their best to those who will make them grow and allow them to retain their basic  core  values.  However,  in  a  multinational  workplace  there  are  power bases and corporate culture are influenced by the culture of the power base. In most multinational organizations in Nigeria, the culture of the host country determines how work is done. The study discovered that management practices are influenced by culture, the cultural orientation of the company’s management determines the management practice they adopt. Where there is multinational orientation, the management practice causes the workforce to stretch in other to align to the culture being practiced by the organization, this is however, unproductive. The work of this research is reported in chapter five. Chapter one laid down the basic philosophy necessitating the study as well as the nature of the problem, it stated the basic questions it aimed to answer. The second chapter discussed various lectures on the subject. Chapter three presented the method adopted, while the remaining chapters presented the outcome of the study and made useful conclusion.

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

1.1     BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Management is an issue that has invited a lot of study aimed towards finding ways of achieving results/attaining desired goals. It is an instrument used by organization to achieve specified goals. It is been influenced by diverse environment,  social,  political,  economic  and  psychological  factors. Organizations use it to plan, organize, direct and control the entire human, material and financial resources available to them.

It concerns the various practices and activities which result from the process of combining the resources available to the organization’s work attitude and practice. This identified way of doing things in the organization is the organizations culture.

Modern organizations are in themselves cultural entities, with their own values and share practices. Noticeable are their policies, objectives and decision – making processes. All these constitute the company’s corporate culture. Corporate culture or company culture can be seen as the shared practices and values of an organization. The organization operates in a cultural environment, which it seeks to serve, and from where it draws its resources to achieve its

goals. The environment has its own values and practices, which it seeks to protect. The two cultures are always exerting influences on each other. This they do as they seek to achieve their various interests enshrined in the economic and social contract binding their relationship.

In   this   relationship,   the   organization   draws   its   resources   from   the environment, and the environment meets its needs from the services provided by the organization.

One of the most valuable resources which the organization draws from the environment, it people. The individuals inside the organization have their own values,  interests,  beliefs  and  norms.  Having  come  from  somewhere,  the specific culture and value system usually have bearing on their work attitude and practices.

In an organization that cuts across tribes or cultures, the cultural values are brought together within the organization’s culture. This implies that an organization has culture and the various individuals in the organization carry with them their own specific culture into the organization. The presence of this tribal culture often affects or influences the organization’s culture.

The coming together of culture entails the problem of cultural conflicts. It is the interface of a group dominating another, determining work practices and the way of doing things in the organization. It could also result to a group

resisting the suppression and negligence of their cultural values. Both reactions to culture will produce a set of management practices, which either reflect the values of the dominant culture or reaction to manage the weak culture. This reaction within the organization resulted to the creation of management activities which are either goal friendly or goal aversive.

In multinational companies, there are many national cultures that make up the co-operate culture. The American culture applies to American businesses in America, British culture for British businesses in Britain and Nigerian culture for Nigerian businesses in Nigeria. If one culture exports its values overseas, it must be realigned to harmonize with local values.

Our task in this study is to examine the influence of culture on management practices of multinational firms in Nigeria and how cultural values can be harnessed at workplace to enhance productivity. The study content will seek to examine the following:

1)        Fundamental Management Practices. The Universal Theories on which they are built,

2)       The Adaptation of these practices to the value system of a particular tribe- culture,

3)       How  these  practices  have  been  influenced  or  changed  through  the working together of many cultures and,

4)       The effect they have on management.

1.2     STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

It is a well-known fact that a business organization develops a particular work practice and management attitude, which reflects their shared values, aspirations and  goals. People that constitute its workforce  came with their diverse aspirations, expecting the organization to help them achieve them. The more they achieve these aspirations the higher the morale and productivity of the employee. This is easier when the members of this organization are drawn from different cultural groups. The various cultures, which constitute the organization,  do  express  their  diverse  values  and  expect  that  such  be respected.

Culture constitutes the spiritual consciousness of people and is deep rooted in their lives. Their rituals are part of their daily lives and they will give their best to those who will make them grow and allow them to retain their basic values. Hence, you will find that each group will carry some of its own cultural values into the work place. A Nigerian company will have its own culture, so will an organization managed by a Malaysian and so it is with an Indian and Chinese Company. Experts have shown that synergy exists in workplaces that are inter- cultural. That is where all cultural groups are able to work together with a lot of “give and take”.

There is no doubt that the greatest asset a company has is its people and synergy lies in diversity, each group brings its own strengths and weaknesses to  the  workplace.  However,  in  a  multicultural  workplace,  there  are  power bases and corporate culture that are influenced by the culture of that power base.

In most Multinational Organizations in Nigeria, the culture of the home countries determines how things are done in those organizations. Americans will expect Nigerians to be familiar with American way of getting things done. For instance, most Nigerian workers in American Companies at first find it difficult calling their superior by their first name, since such is considered by Nigerians as ill-mannered. There are other values, which are high in the American scale but very low among Nigerians, but because of the power base, Nigerians who are in these companies are expected to adapt with reservation. This is easy because Nigerians in general are very obedient. They do not like to question, particularly when the person giving the orders is their superior.

Quite often, problems do arise in the area of how work should be done. To illustrate, take a situation where a new expatriate is not quite sure how to get the most from his host subordinates. He intends to evaluate work by using the

standards  that  are  used  in  his  home  country.  He  wants  the  indigenous employee to speak up, ask questions, challenge him and be more assertive. Assertiveness  conflicts  with  the  underlying  values  of  politeness,  softness, humility and collective orientation. For example, a Malaysian may attend two or three sessions of assertiveness training but it is rather unlikely that he will be comfortable in applying his new skills back on the job especially with his superior as in Asma 1994. This is because Malaysians have been programmed not to fight or question their bosses.

Besides a difference in perception, there is a tendency for experts to believe that talking face to face can solve problems, but some have the tendency to avoid debates, arguments, especially with the expatriates who normally would have more power base, so they give in as they want to promote harmonious relationships.

From the foregoing, showing the conflicting circumstances in which culture affects workplaces in multinational organizations, that compels this study of management practices in Nigerian organizations.

1.3     THE OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The study seeks to achieve the following:

a)        To identify the influence of culture on management practices.

b)       To highlight the effect of cultural perspectives which managers do take for      granted and are not aware of when working out their problem or concern,

c)        To identify Nigerian work culture and its influence on management,

d)       To  identify  the  contribution  of  Nigerian  culture  to  Management  of

Multinational Companies and,

e)        To  identify  ways  of  harmonizing  culture  with  individual  and  cultural values.

1.4     RESEARCH QUESTION

This research work will seek to answer the following questions:

a)        In what ways do culture influence management practices?

b)       What is the effect of culture on management practices of multinational organization’s in Nigeria?

c)        In what ways do foreign culture affect Nigerian’s work attitude?

d)       What are the contributions of Nigerian culture to the management of multinational companies in Nigerian?

1.5     THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This   study   is   important   in   many   ways   since   multicultural organizations  require  understanding,  the  influence  of  cultural  values  that

affects the work practice. Employees have to be conscious of their culture and learn to relate appropriately at the three levels, which are intra-cultural, intercultural and cross cultural level. Those who are comfortable at the intercultural level should also learn to enlarge their repertoire of skill at cross- cultural level. Similarly, our expatriate must learn to appreciate our values at the intra-cultural and inter-cultural levels of contact. It is important, since our cultural values, traditions and practices should be harnessed to enhance co- operations, work processes, reciprocity and productivity.

In looking at values, it is important for those who work in this part of the world to consider also the incorporation of values at the individual, social – cultural and organizational requirements and then develop desired actions to uphold these  values. The significance  of  this study lies  in the  effect of  culture  on workplace, management process and training for efficiency. There is need to link  the  work  we  do  with  the  spiritual  well-being  of  the  workforce.  The influence of cultural values is very important in making employees acquire the appropriate   skills   on   the   job.   When   this  is  ignored,  it  would   be   like transplanting some foreign element without taking into consideration the indigenous soil and other key factors, which may either, act as barriers or could be building blocks in the process of learning.

1.6     SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study borders on management of multinational organizations in Nigeria. It tries to investigate the influence of diverse cultures that compose those organizations. The study concentrated on management of multinational companies using them to investigate the influence of culture on management. Therefore, three companies that cut across national boundaries and cultural backgrounds were involved in this study.

The study looked at the cultures that form the workforce of these companies, the corporate cultures of these companies and the relationships of the various cultures. In doing so, the study concerned itself with investigating how the various cultures within the organizations determine the work culture and management practices. (Source: Field Survey 2011).

1.7     LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Time  is  one  of  the  factors  that  contributed  in  making  this  research  work difficult, the time within which this research was expected to be completed was short thereby limiting the scope of the study.

Another limitation of this study is Finance. Inadequate finance was a hindrance   to   the   research   in   that   a   lot   of   money   was   required   for transportation to the area of analysis, and other resource centres where relevant data were collected for the research.

1.8     DEFINITION OF TERM HUMAN RESOURCES

Resources are various materials required to do or get something done. In production, materials needed to produce goods, are categorized into three groups, viz. this derives from nature. For instance, land raw materials, agricultural products, crude oil, gold, stone, sand or any other things that can be gotten from nature and is utilized to produce economic goods (land). The other group is financial, machine and equipment used to produce goods (capital). The last group in the human power physical or mental power, which is utilized to produce the goods (labour). The three factors of production are combined together in  the  appropriate measure to  have truly  an  economic benefit. The human in the wheel of production does this task, he use her physical, managerial and mental power to get work done. This vital instrument put into production by human beings is called human resources. It is a vital resource  in  the economy. In  this  study, we  looked  at human  resources  as people in the workplace.

MANAGEMENT PRACTICE

Management simple means doing thing through people. In other words, getting work done through people. This process involves careful study of a problem, setting objectives, looking out for solutions and taking a productive

decision  and  getting  people  to  act  in  line  with  the  decision.  The  process produces an identifiable pattern called management practice.

CULTURE

Culture has diverse definition. But any established pattern of behavior peculiar  to  a  group  of  people  is  called  the  culture  of  those  people.  In workplace, the way of behavior of the management and product of this group give  a  picture  of  their  group  culture,  work  culture,  company  culture  or corporate culture.

VALUES

Multiple beliefs (values) that are compatible and supportive of one another.

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