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chapter_14_powerpoint.pptxTeam, organizational, and international culture
Chapter 14
Team, organizational, and international culture
The shared values, beliefs, and norms of a team, organization, or nation are known as its culture
A team’s culture affects how team members communicate and coordinate work
The success of work teams depends on the level of support they receive from their organization, which in turn depends on the organization’s culture
The use of teams changes an organization’s culture as well
Team culture
A team’s culture is the shared perception of how the team should operate to accomplish its goals
Team norms, member roles, and patterns of interaction are included in the team culture
Teams do not develop their culture from scratch, they incorporate cultural norms and values from their organization and society
Agreement about the team’s culture reduces anxiety and improves communication in a team
Team culture
Behavior patterns that emerge early in a team’s life define how the team will operate in the future
The leader also plays a key role in the development of a team’s culture
Leaders should try to establish an appropriate culture early in the team’s life, because it is easier to start a culture than it is to change an existing one
Team culture
A collaborative team culture includes mutual trust, leniency in judging others, courage to state opinions, and willingness to help
When a collaborative culture exists, the team is better able to use the resources of its members
Teams that are group oriented and less status oriented provide more team support
The level of team support relates to the leader’s behavior and the team culture
Team culture
Team culture has an impact on whether or not training is used by a team
Team culture relates to the degree to which the team expects and supports attempts to try newly learned skills
Culture does not affect what is learned in training but does affect whether the newly learned skills are applied
Defining organizational culture
Organizational culture refers to the shared values, beliefs, and norms of an organization
All members of an organization share its organizational culture
Culture provides structural stability for the organization because its influence is pervasive and slow to change
The varied aspects of culture are integrated and form a consistent pattern
Defining organizational culture
Culture reflects the shared learning by organization members that contain cognitive, behavioral, and emotional elements
Organizational culture affects both the internal operations of the organization and how it relates to the external environment
The use of teams changes the ways people work with and relate to one another, which changes the organizational culture
Organizational culture and teamwork
An organizational culture that encourages employee involvement and participation is a necessary support for teamwork
Organizational culture is one of the largest predictors of the successful use of teams by companies
Organizational culture and teamwork
Walton and Hackman identify two distinct types of organizational cultures that affect the use of teams:
Control cultures (status and power drive this strategy, relations among people are untrusting)
Commitment cultures (reduces the number of organizational levels of authority, focuses on quality, and adopts methods to encourage open communication and participation, uses teams and gives them the authority to operate successfully)
Organizational culture and teamwork
Most organizations fall somewhere between these two approaches
Teams operate better in a commitment-oriented culture because they are given the resources, training, and power they need to succeed
Dimensions of international culture
Individualism versus Collectivism
In an individualist culture, people have loose ties with one another and expect to be responsible only for themselves and their immediate family
People seek individual achievement and recognition and might have trouble committing to team goals
In a collectivist culture, people value the ties between people
People are expected to look after one another
Dimensions of international culture
Collectivists value compliance because the harmony of the team is considered vital
Conformity is expected and open conflict is discouraged
Individualists often enjoy conflict, competition, and open controversy
They seek argument for its own sake
Dimensions of international culture
Power and Status
The power dimension is the degree to which people in a culture accept unequal power
High power cultures are status oriented, low power cultures are more egalitarian
In high power cultures, large power and status differences are acceptable
Dimensions of international culture
In low-power cultures, people are less willing to accept the authority of others on the basis of the positions they hold in an organization
Team members take initiative and do not automatically accept management directives
Dimensions of international culture
Uncertainty and Risk Avoidance
People want to have rules and norms that define appropriate behavior, and they prefer things to stay the same so they know what is expected of them
Comparing the united states and japan
US organizations tend to display individualism, low power, and risk taking
Japanese organizations tend to display collectivism, high power, and risk avoidance
There is less use of teamwork in the US than in other industrialized countries
Japanese teams are viewed as less creative and less willing to take risks than US teams
International differences in teamwork
Differences among cultures are likely to cause communication errors
People communicating in a second language are more likely to make spelling and grammar errors
Cultures have different communication norms that can lead to misinterpretation (how emails are written)
International differences in teamwork
Communication problems can also occur because of differences about the expression of emotions
Cultural display rules for emotions make it acceptable for Western, individualistic cultures to amplify emotional expressions
Eastern, collectivist cultures tend to limit or suppress the expression of emotions, especially negative emotions
International differences in teamwork
Team decision-making practices are impacted by culture
In collectivist cultures, team members are more cooperative, more likely to support the opinion of the leader, and more likely to use equal allocation to resolve dilemmas
Individualist cultures may make higher quality decisions because they are more willing to tolerate and be influenced by minority opinions during a group discussion
Transnational teams
Transnational teams are composed of individuals from different cultures working on activities that span national borders
They are formed in a global company or through alliances among companies in different geographic areas
The main challenge for such teams is to learn how to integrate this cultural diversity into a functioning team
Transnational teams
These teams must deal with cultural differences that affect communication and power dynamics while relying on technology for communication
Successful transnational teams tend to spend more time initially developing social relations and team practices
