Discussion question

Posted by Winnie Melda on October 25th, 2018

I do not think that organizations are doing enough to recruit multicultural candidates at the senior executive level. Organizations need to realize that multicultural managers can have a huge and positive difference to the success of the organization. Working with people from different cultures tends to bring both benefits and challenges. The key to turning the challenges to benefits is increasing the cultural awareness of employees and also recruiting more multicultural candidates at the senior executive level (Hong & Doz 2013). Multicultural managers can be able to know the skills that are valuable to employees. A strategy that organization can use to ensure multicultural candidates is through deploying professionals with a multicultural background in different departments of the organization (Zennie & Muna 2010). Organizations should consider recruiting and building teams around an individual manager who through their experience have familiarity with the behaviors and norms of multiple cultures and may switch easily between them. 

Today, more people tend to be turning to their Smartphone’s when they are deciding to buy something or to look for information. According to Wang et al. (2015), they found that the number of orders placed per year increased as customers adopted mobile shopping. M-shopping tends to allow customers to make purchases from anywhere they are as long as they have an internet connection. Customers tend to use mobile devices because the technology offers them convenient access, leading them to incorporate mobile shopping into their habitual routines. Wang et al. (2015), state that for low spenders, mobile shopping tends to disrupt how they purchase grocery, and it helps form habitual interaction with retailers. On the other hand, for high-spenders, mobile shopping does not disrupt their daily routines, but it enhances their current behavior and also extends their existing habits.

It is important that organizations should adopt Hofstede framework when they are deciding on motivational influences (Chiang, 2005). Culture is becoming an important subject and with the globalization of the labor force, emphasis on culture is important. Hofstede considers culture as the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes members of one human group from another. Hofstede framework includes power distance, masculinity vs. femininity, Confucian dynamism, uncertainty avoidance, and individualism vs. collectivism (Chiang, 2005). It is important to consider his framework when deciding on motivation because the understanding the different cultures will help to determine what motivation influence is best for a particular culture. The cultural differences may affect the ability to build connections and motivating people (Coppage et al. 2008). Thus, it is important to understand Hofstede’s framework and how it can be useful in motivating multicultural employees. 

I do not believe that multicultural barriers are the root problem of the organizational performance. The multinational organizations that are performing in the different cultural context are becoming very sensitive to the potential impact of the host country culture on the organizational performance. Although multicultural barriers affect the performance of the organization, there are other factors that are at work in affecting organizational performance. Factors such as technology, economy, and the political climate all influence the organizational performance (Aluko, 2003). An aspect of multicultural barriers that can affect the performance of the organization is communication. Because of lack of understanding among employees from different cultures, it can result in misunderstanding or miscommunication that affecting the way employees performance in the organization (Chaney & Martin 2011). However, multicultural barriers cannot be considered as the root problem of the organization performance.

Reference

Aluko, M (2003). The impact of culture on the organizational performance in the selected textile firms in Nigeria. Nordic Journal of African Studies 12(2)

Chaney, H., & Martin, S. (2011). Intercultural business communication. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall

Chiang, F.  (2005). A Critical Examination of Hofstede’s Thesis and its Applications to International Reward Management: Int. J. of Human Resource   Management, 16(9), 1545 – 1563

Hong, H & Doz, Y (2013). L’oreal masters multiculturalism. Harvard business review

Miles. A Sledge, S & Coppage, S (2008). What role does culture play? A look at motivation and job satisfaction among hotel workers in Brazil. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 19(9)

Wang R Malthouse, E & Krishnamurthi, L (2015). On The Go: How Mobile Shopping Affects Customer Purchase Behavior. Journal of Retailing, 91(2)

Zennie, Z & Muna, F (2010). Developing multicultural leaders. Palgrave Macmillan

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