Employee Involvement
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Executive Summary
This organisation has ventured into international markets with subsidiaries in China,
India and Germany. This report explores employee involvement strategy through the lens of
employee motivation, teamwork, work performance and involvement. The organisation’s
operations are dependent on its workforce, a crucial aspect in modern business environments.
Cultural differences in China, India and Germany are analysed with opportunities and challenges
identified. Individualistic culture in Germany has its own opportunities in individual success and
discouraging collective tasks. Collectivism in China encourages teamwork and makes
organisational commitment low. Cross-cultural communication is an important aspect in
international collaboration between teams and employees in the subsidiaries. Investing in virtual
communication can help bring employees and managers together regardless of geographical
distance. Managers and employees also need to be trained in cultural awareness. Various
employee involvement strategies ought to be applied in consideration of individualistic and
collectivism nature of the different cultures.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................................2
Table of Contents....................................................................................................................................... 3
Report on Employee Management and Leadership................................................................................4
Introduction............................................................................................................................................... 4
Theoretical exploration of potential opportunities/challenges...............................................................5
Comparing Germany, China and India using Hofstede's model.......................................................7
Germany................................................................................................................................................. 7
China...................................................................................................................................................... 7
India........................................................................................................................................................ 8
How the opportunities/challenges fit into your underlying scenario.....................................................8
Employee motivation.............................................................................................................................8
Opportunities.......................................................................................................................................... 9
Challenges..............................................................................................................................................9
Involvement..........................................................................................................................................10
Opportunities........................................................................................................................................ 10
Challenges............................................................................................................................................ 10
Team work........................................................................................................................................... 11
Opportunities........................................................................................................................................ 11
Challenges............................................................................................................................................ 11
Work performance..............................................................................................................................12
Opportunities........................................................................................................................................ 12
Challenges............................................................................................................................................ 12
Cross-cultural communication........................................................................................................... 13
Recommendations................................................................................................................................... 14
Conclusion................................................................................................................................................ 15
References................................................................................................................................................ 16
Report on Employee Management and Leadership
Introduction
Regardless of what line of work one is in, it is obvious that running a successful
organisation requires a lot of effort and hard work (McArthur & Werker 2016). Moreover, this
becomes even difficult when the organisation is bigger in size and has branches across various
countries. This is because of so many aspects that impact the business environment. For instance,
different countries have got their own cultures that will definitely affect how businesses are run
and how employees are managed or led. One particular example is an organisation with
subsidiaries in China, India and Germany. Every country has a particular structure of
management as well as a unique way of how it approaches leadership in the organisations. As
such, it is important to accommodate this fact in regards to China, India and Germany. While
struggling to cope with turbulent environments and state capitalism, Chinese organisations have
learnt to manage differently in the past three decades (Hout & Michael72014). Most of them also
have a complex management structure (Jia 2010). One view of Chinese leaders is that they have
to create their own ecosystems by building almost everything, such as his employees’ skills
(Hout & Michael72014).
Indian leadership and management cultures are centred on employee development and
creativity and empower them through communication (Cappelli,7Singh,7Singh & Useem 2010;
Gupta, Singh, Kumar & Bhattacharya 2012; Gupta & Singh 2012). In Germany, the manager-
junior relationship cannot be said to be very strong as peer group relationships. Technical
competency is highly valued. With these in mind, this report describes an employee involvement
strategy for the top management as the target audience. It does so by highlighting the
opportunities and challenges that can arise from these different settings as well as
recommendations and strategies on how to improve the aspects relating to employee
involvement.
Theoretical exploration of potential opportunities/challenges
As indicated above, each country has got different and unique culture that dictates how
employees and businesses are run (Adamczyk 2017). However, to ensure business success,
employee involvement in every organisation is essential regardless of the environment or
country. Manoeuvring through the different cultures by managers and leaders to get the best out
of their subordinates becomes the core objective of employee involvement. In this context,
employee involvement will entail the practices through which employees and management as
well as leadership embrace that every employee is seen as a unique person and involved in
decision-making (Ibrahim 2015). The impact of this is on organizational commitment employee
participation, according to Christian, Garza and Slaughter (2011) in their studies.
To understand how employee involvement can be applied in each country, Hofstede's Six
Dimensions of Culture model can be used (Hofstede 2011; Beugelsdijk, Kostova & Roth 2017).
The model was developed by Geert Hofstede, a psychologist to help in understanding cultural
differences. Particularly, in this report, the model can be used to analyse and compare the
cultures in Germany, China and India. According to the model, six dimensions are involved
(Hofstede 2011).
One dimension is power distance. This is associated with the various solutions to the
challenge of human inequality (Hofstede 2011). Basically, it relates to the inequality degree that
exists and embraced between people who have power and those who do not have. A high score
of power distance implies that a society embraces a hierarchical and unequal power distribution,
with every person understanding ‘their place.’ A lower score implies that individuals do not
agree to unequal power distribution. The second dimension is individualism versus collectivism.
Basically, this involves how strong the ties that people have on others in the community are. In
individualist societies, the interpersonal connections are weak. In collectivist environments,
loyalty to groups is key as well as people take responsibility of others. Hofstede (2011) notes that
it relates to how people can be integrated into primary groups.
In the masculinity versus femininity dimension, Hofstede (2011) notes that it is related to
how emotional roles between men and women are divided. Feminine and masculine societies
have got different ways of how roles between the different gender are distributed. There is less
overlapping in the roles of women and men in masculine societies. Men are anticipated to behave
assertively. Roles of males and females overlap more in feminine societies. There is virtue of
modesty. The dimension of long-term versus short-term orientation is associated with how
people focus their efforts. In cultures with long-term orientation, people are thrifty, modest and
pragmatic. Short-term orientation culture has people being nationalistic and place more emphasis
on truth, consistency, principles and such.
Similarly, indulgence and restraint are associated with control versus gratification of
basic desires that human haves to life enjoyment such as fun. Some countries allow free
gratification of emotions and drives whereas in some, strict social norms become restrictive.
Lastly, Hofstede’s (2011) dimension of uncertainty avoidance is associated with the stress levels
in the society when confronting uncertainty. With high uncertainty avoidance scores, societies
tend to make life as controllable and predictable as possible and are likely to give up. Societies
with low uncertainty avoidance scores tend to be inclusive, open and relaxed.
Comparing Germany, China and India using Hofstede's model
Germany
Ibrahim (2015) indicates that Germans tend to be detailed, respect position and power,
demand order, closely follow schedules and sensitive about time. Characterised by a strong
middle class and being highly decentralised, Germany has a culture of participative
communication. People dislike control with leadership characterised by expertise and
competence. It is also an individualist society. Self-actualisation attracts strong belief.
Communication is more direct and honest (Hofstede Insights 2018). Germany is a masculine
society. High value is assigned to performance and people derive self-esteem from their roles.
Managers and leaders in Germany are expected to be assertive and decisive. Status is also highly
valued. Germany is one of the uncertainty avoidant societies. When complemented by
Germany’s characteristic of power distance (where bosses’ responsibilities do not cover too
much of subordinates’ own decisions certainty), the society opts to use competence and expertise
to compensate for high uncertainty. The society in Germany is pragmatic (Hofstede Insights
2018). People demonstrate ability to embrace traditions easily to altered conditions. Regarding
indulgence, German culture is somehow restrained. Social norms have some control on people’s
indulgence.
China
China scores highly in power distance. As such, inequalities between people is believed
and accepted by the society. Sanctions and formal authority are common in a polarised superior-
subordinate relationship (Hofstede Insights 2018). It is a collectivist country where individuals
act in the interests of groups. In this case, several challenges are noted. There is low employee
commitment to the organisation as people focus more on personal relationships. Just like
Germany, it is a masculine society. An example is the students in china caring so much for their
exams as a measure of success. Most Chinese people can sacrifice leisure and family priorities in
order to work. Additionally, in uncertainty avoidance, Chinese are comfortable with ambiguity.
They are entrepreneurial and adaptable. They are not much threatened by uncertainty. The
Chinese culture is also pragmatic. They believe that truth is dependent on time, context and
situation. People also show thriftiness. Lastly, regarding indulgence, Chinese people are
restrained. There is pessimism and cynicism. Leisure time is to so much emphasised.
India
In power distance, India appreciates top-down structures in organisations (Hofstede
Insights 2018). Managers rely on compliance from their employees and there is centralisation of
real power. Employees need to be given directions, communication is top-down and there is
control. India can be said to boast both individualist and collectivist characteristics. People can
work well in groups. There is employee loyalty and employers offer near familial protections.
Decisions for promotion and hiring are made based on relationships. People are also individually
responsible on how they live their lives. In terms of power and success, India is largely
masculine. Work is central to people’s lives. Regarding uncertainty avoidance, people in India
can accept imperfection. There is high tolerance for the unexpected. Unlike western societies,
time in India is not much important. There is also restraint in Indian culture in terms of
indulgence. People believe social norms restrain them.
How the opportunities/challenges fit into your underlying scenario
Employee motivation
The motivation of the employees in this organisation is a crucial aspect impacting
productivity and how they contribute to the success of the organisation (Afuye et al. 2016; Zhao
& Pan 2017). As such, the cultural differences between China, India and Germany noted above
impact on how people in such countries can be motivated. Zhao and Pan (2017) argue that
employees from different cultures have similar needs; but with different degrees of satisfaction.
This can be related to the various challenges and opportunities seen in the above three countries.
Opportunities
As noted earlier, self-actualisation, self-esteem and status attract strong belief. Germans
seek personal growth through expertise and competence. As such, high performance brings
satisfaction. In this regard, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model can be very useful in Germany’s
case where employees are motivated towards self-actualisation (Zhao & Pan 2017). In china,
motivation is more sensitive to differences in culture. Chinese people pay more attention to
overall needs of the society rather than individual needs. Motivating employees collectively can
work well as people care much about each other. Similarly, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model
can be very useful in Chinese employees. As noted earlier, there is employee loyalty and
employers offer near familial protections. Decisions for promotion and hiring are made based on
relationships. Managers can motivate employees individually as well as in groups to win their
loyalty.
Challenges
Motivation is not always offered to employees through monetary terms (Burton 2012).
As noted earlier, German culture is somehow restrained. People perceive social norms as
restraining them from indulgence. It thus becomes difficult to motivate employees through fun as
they do not see it as a way of motivation. With China being a highly collective society,
evaluating and measuring individual needs of Chinese people is difficult. There is low employee
commitment to the organisation as people focus more on personal relationships. Low employee
commitment to the organisation is in itself a challenge to motivation. Indian culture is restrained.
People do not find indulgence very important as they perceive that social norms limit them. This
limits the ways of motivation that can be used, bearing in mind that India is both a collectivist
and an individualist society.
Involvement
Looking at the three different cultures, the involvement strategy employed needs to view
employees as unique human beings. Different participation programs can be used to enhance the
involvement and commitment of employees to the organisation. Examples can be financial and
representative participation programs as well as participative management programs.
Opportunities
Financial participation programs can be used to enhance loyalty and organisational
commitment in German employees. The employees can also be potentially involved in
participative decision-making. In china, it can also be seen that the high power distance can
potentially be an avenue for enhancing string commitment. The loyalty of Chinese people
towards their leaders implies that the employees are less likely to challenge the strategies put in
place (Ibrahim 2015). The same case applies for employee loyalty in India’s case. The
involvement strategies can be applied in India without much challenges as Indian employees are
also flexible.
Challenges
In China’s case, people care so much about each other. Employees are committed to
increase their loyalty to family rather than commitment to the organisation. In the involvement
strategies, there is likelihood of workplace nepotism. Unlike Germany, Chinese employees are
not highly skilled hence continuous improvement and quality becomes a challenge (Ibrahim
2015). Participative management programs will thus depend on more support by the
management. Being a masculine society, ensuring equal participative involvement in a country
like India becomes a challenge. Roles of males and females are more distinct and any attempts to
apply equality (in terms of equal participation) tends to challenge such cultures.
Team work
When the efforts of employees are coordinated, such results into a positive strategy
through team work. This can be achieved through structuring work processes. Performance
objectives and clear directions can be provided to teams. Using needed skills, members in cross-
cultural teams can be carefully selected. Trust can also be the basis of team relationships.
Rewarding team performance can also be useful.
Opportunities
Employees in Germany value time so much hence can work well with direct assignments.
They adhere to schedules thus leading to on-time delivery, work ownership, higher quality hence
productivity and profitability. The collectivist nature of Chinese employees encourages
teamwork and compliance to group norms. This leads to individual contribution being surpassed
by teamwork performance. Loyalty and commitment in Indian employees can be resourceful in
teams encouraged by management.
Challenges
According to Ibrahim (2015), the culture in Germany is associated with low-
communication context. Therefore, employees coming from different cultures are prone to
misunderstandings. As also noted earlier, German culture is more individualistic than
collectivist. Group harmony becomes a challenge. Rather than prioritising the objectives and
needs of groups, employees prioritise individual needs. Working with employees from a
collectivist subsidiary in China is a further challenge. Chinese culture is high-context (Ibrahim
2015). Communication is understated, harmonious, ambiguous and indirect. This is a challenge
to teamwork. Indian culture is individualistic and collectivist at the same time; finding a balance
between teams due to opposing views is a challenge.
Work performance
As noted earlier, individualist and collectivist cultures work differently. Work
performance can be supported through several strategies. To enhance work process productivity
and lead-time, lean principles can be implemented (Amin & Karim 2011). Cross-cultural training
can be done to improve employee motivation, increase expertise and competence as well as self-
awareness levels (Ibrahim 2015). Appraisal systems can also be useful.
Opportunities
For German employees, work-team members in individualistic setups are more likely to
perform highly in tasks that are individualised than shared ones. Work performance can also be
enhanced by the appraisal system based on promotion and payments associated with their task
accomplishment and achievement (Ibrahim 2015). In china, shared tasks can increase
performance due to the collectivist nature. As a result of training and effective quality circles
(participative management), improvement in quality can be achieved. Higher organisational
commitment and moral motivation can be ensured through appraisal system which promotes
intrinsic rewards related to achievements in collective tasks. In India, both collective and
individualistic tasks can work well with incorporation of inclusive decision-making.
Challenges
In the case of china, work-team members are collective rather than individualistic. They
record low performance in individualised tasks when compared to employees in Germany.
Additional training leads to increased costs. In individualistic cultures like Germany, low work
performance is associated with increased social loafing when the employees are assigned with
shared tasks (Ibrahim 2015). It is important to realise that some tasks will require employees to
work in groups for efficiency. Employees believe that personal inputs are not important in group
achievements or are not easily identifiable. This becomes a challenge.
Cross-cultural communication
In business that involve cross-cultural teams such as the subsidiaries in China, India and
Germany, communication between employees as well as with management is different. This
often results in misunderstandings. Different communication styles also lead to
misunderstandings across cross-cultural teams. Further, the collectivism and individualistic
cultures, history and country traditions as well as societal factors also influence communication.
In all the cases involving the three cultures, top-down communication alone is not enough
(Conrad 2014). Bottom-up communication can be used to facilitate employee involvement and
participative decision-making. The voices of employees need to be heard regardless of the
culture. Irrespective of being individualistic or collectivist, each employee has got their own
needs and objectives hence will require some degree of satisfaction. Finding a balance of
communication between management and employees is thus crucial. In facilitating upward and
downward communication, active listening is essential (Jahromi, Tabatabaee, Abdar & Rajabi
2016). This is important as employees need to be guided, given directions and instructions to
work. Additionally, they also require feedback hence the need for active listening and active
participation. It is important for managers to learn about the different cultures. Managers have to
practice effective communication skills and ensure that they are culturally aware. What might
appear normal in Germany might not be normal in China or India.
When communicating with employees from the different cultures and when employees
are conducting cross-cultural communication, virtual channels can be used. The modern world is
bringing people closer through technology. This is very useful in forming and managing virtual
teams (Duran & Popescu 2014; Olariu & Aldea 2014). Employees can interact virtually at any
time and share ideas, learn about one another and improve overall organisational performance.
However, as the three countries are in different time-zones, virtual communication that allows
near face-to-face interactions such as video-conferencing can be arranged in a manner that fits
each country’s convenient timings.
Recommendations
To improve employee loyalty and commitment, multiple programs for participation can
be used. Such programs must be considerate of cultural differences as part of effective
involvement strategies. Other than Maslow’s motivation model, other techniques can be applied
depending on culture to ensure productivity and workforce performance. The organisation can
also restructure its work process with teamwork. This brings synergy as employee efforts are
coordinated. Additionally, cultural awareness between employees and managers can be ensured
through training hence increasing overall competence (Ibrahim 2015). Cohesion and high work
performance between teams and individuals can help confront cultural communication
challenges. Actively involving upward and downward communication with participative
decision-making can help in bringing a sense of belonging to employees regardless of culture.
Participative decision-making improves productivity, commitment and quality. Managers and
leaders should take into consideration collectivism versus individualistic dimensions when
assigning tasks to employees; whether collectively or individually. The aim is to optimise
productivity.
Conclusion
The workforce in modern business environment is becoming increasingly important. As
such, employee involvement by managers and leaders in organisations is being employed as a
strategy to get the best of employees. One scenario involved in this report is employee
involvement in employees of subsidiaries in China, Germany and India; a perfect cross-cultural
scenario. Using Hofstede's Six Dimensions of Culture model, these cultures can be analysed and
differences and similarities identified. Such inform the team work, motivation, involvement and
work performance that are part of employee involvement strategies used. The report sought to
illustrate the opportunities and challenges in the employee involvement in the different cultures
involving India, China and Germany. Preferred communication involving both upward and
downward communication in equal measure is also recommended. Virtual communication, more
teamwork, learning about different culture by employees and managers as well as active
participation by employees are highly recommended.
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