Cross-Cultural Management Relativism Global Business Research Proposal

(Hofstede, 2005, 232)

Background of Relativism Dimension

A was previously mentioned the idea of cultural relativism in the modern world is based on the fact that colonialism, often seen as an insidious attempt to overrule one culture over another is fundamentally destructive to culture and therefore cannot be applied to business. Individuals and organizations must in the modern world learn to see differences as an opportunity, and overcome the obstacles they place in from of the individual expatriate manager to manage his or her workforce effectively to an organizational standard. Changes must be negotiated and balanced within the context of the foreign culture and must only be made when they prove productive to the common goal.

The east-west cultural differences are some that have been most pervasive in business as so much business transverses the east-west cultural divide. The differences between these two cultures can be staggering, especially with regard to developing systems that are culturally mutable. One example can be found in the system of Guanxi, which is a fundamental social and personal standards in the East that pervades business and allows it to work as a system of exchanges, which are internal and external. In the Western mind some of the conciliations made through this system can be seen as unethical while in the East these standards are accepted and considered ethical even if they are personal in nature. While in the west managers might see the negative aspects of the exchanges the East see them as a necessary part of paying forward to have a new need met in another area at a later time. (Hofstede, 2005, 221) In this system so pervasive in the eastern cultures interconnected family, friend and business connections interact to allow the whole system to work on a needs exchange basis and slights are paid for in kind later. Managers from the west might find that they inadvertently slighted someone in this system by making insularly decisions. Ultimately it might get explained away via ignorance or it might simply result in no future favors being delivered in some of the most surprising areas later.

Ultimately the differences between the east and west cultures are those that are core to culture, individualism (west) vs. collectivism (east) where the western cultures are based on individual goal setting and completion as the ultimate manner of productivity the eastern cultures see this as selfish and idealistically work toward a collective goal, where each part of that collective is more or less important. (Adler and, Gundersen, 2008, 28) Because these ideologies are often so ingrained that they are unconscious the challenges to recognizing when they are coming into play and causing conflict may be the essential first job of the expatriate manger entering into either the east or the west to lead a group of employees. The individual vs. collective ideal is a part of the individuals' world view, which can not necessarily be altered and must therefore be looked to for flexibility. This is often thought of as the synergy of a new global world view, where individual managers and others are collectively looking for a standard of flexibility that allows divergent cultural standards to intermingle and interact and work together to form a workable relationship from which the whole can function most effectively. (Adler and, Gundersen, 2008, 121)

Cultural relativism is a concept that dominates the global business world, as it seems to be one of the only ways in which a culturally specific individual can enter and effectively work within a culture that previously might have been seen to have divergent standards and ethics. Mangers and others are forced in this environment to put their own cultural assumptions to the side, view the host culture as not negative or positive but neutral and then work within it, or negotiate for some changes, but only where they are really needed to improve productivity and goal meeting.

Works Cited

Adler, Nacy J., Allison Gundersen, 2008. International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior 5th edition. Mason, OH: Thomson Higher…