A Study of Cultural Dimensions in The

Business Organizations

ROLL NO- 91/ANT/121023

REGISTRATION NO- 142-1121-0067-09

EXAMINATION- M.SC. 4thSEMESTER EXAMINATION 2014 IN ANTHROPOLOGY

DEPT. OF ANTHROPOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA

BUSINESS ANTHROPOLOGY

• Is what ?

• What fall in its purview?

Anthropologist

• Dr. Gillian Tett

• Genevieve Bell

• Geert Hofstede

Who Employs Anthropologists?

Intel

Citicorp

AT&T

Kodak

Sapient

Hauser Design

Boeing

Motorola

Walt Disney

Microsoft

General Mills

Hallmark

Travel One

Hanseatic Group

Manchester Memorial

Palisades Pharmaceuticals

Celanese Corporation

Samsung

…and the list goes on

information taken from www.aaanet.org

CULTURE

• Anthropological Origins of “Culture”

• a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems. Edgar Schein (2006,p.17)

• ”Collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.” Greet Hofstede (2001, p.9)

CULTURE • Diagram developed by

Hofstede represents humans as onions. The outer layers (Symbols-Heroes-Rituals) reflect external practices.

• Hofstede discovered that Values and etiquette, on the other hand, are programmed according to one’s own culture.

• Values are at the core and thus internal.

Figure 1 Manifestations of culture: From shallow to deep.

ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

• Definition.

• Models given by

• Edgar Schein

• Greet Hofstede

Defination taken from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/organizational-culture.html

Levels of Organizational Culture

Schein's organizational culture model

Figure 2 Levels of Organizational Culture

HOFSTEDE’S MODEL OF CULTURAL DIMENSIONS

• Long-term vs. short-term orientation

• Femininity vs. masculinity

• Power-distance

• Collectivism vs. individualism

• Uncertainty avoidance

Low/High power distance

Table 1 Extremes of Hofstede’s ‘power distance’ dimension

Power-distance.

Individualism/ Collectivism

Table 2 Extremes of Hofstede’s ‘collectivist/individualist’ dimension

Collectivism vs. individualism.

Femininity vs. Masculinity

Table 3 Extremes of the ‘masculine/feminine’ dimension

Femininity vs. Masculinity

Low/High Uncertainty avoidance

Table 4 Extremes for Hofstede’s ‘uncertainty avoidance’ dimension

Uncertainty avoidance.

Long-term vs. Short-term Orientation

Table 5 Hofstede’s fifth dimension

Long-term vs. Short-term Orientation.

LEADERSHIP

What is Leadership?

•Ability to

persuade others to do things for the good of the organization

make difficult decisions

make unpopular decisions

deliver results

create long-term commitments

Why is the Leader Important?

• Establishes vision

• Develops and implements strategies

• Allocates and controls resources

• Chooses key employees

• Shapes culture

• Affects organizational performance

• Projects image to the public

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

• Where does West Bengal fit in on Hofstede’s cultural

dimensions?

• The main objective of this thesis was to study the degree

to which Organizational Cultures differ in west Bengal?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

• SAMPLING AND ACCESS

• THE STAGES OF DATA COLLECTION

• THE ROLE OF THE RESEARCHER

• LIMITS

• ETHICS

Data Analysis

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Female 25-29

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Male 25-29 Male 30-34 Male 35-39 Male 40-44 Male 45-49 Male 50-54 Male 55 orabove

Distribution Questionnaires by Age and Gender

Table 6 Distribution Questionnaires by Age and Gender

Data Analysis

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Distrubution of samples according age gender and Education

Table 7 Distribution of samples according age gender and Education

Data Analysis

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Distribution According to Designation and Age

Table 8 Distribution According to Designation and age

Data Analysis

• GREET HOFSTEDE CULTURAL DIMENSIONS SCORE OF

PRESENT STUDY

Dimensions Present

Findings

Hofstede’s estimates

on India

PDI 62.45 77

UAI 88.35 40

IDV 35.89 48

MAS 83.05 56

LTO 53.7 -Present Data

Greet Hofstede's Scores

0

20

40

60

80

100

Pdi UAI IDV MAS LTO

Cultural Dimension Index Score

Present Data Greet Hofstede's Scores

Table 9 Cultural Dimensions Index Scores

Data Analysis

• Communication

Power Manupulation

Expression Negotiation

Communication

Figure 3 What effective communication means for Organization

Data Analysis

• Creativity Individual Organization

Ideas Strategy Structure

Behaviour that

encourages

innovation

Productive

Easy to apply

Easy to

comply

Vision and

mission

Purposefulness

- Flexibility

- Freedom:

Autonomy

Empowerment

Decision making

- Cooperative teams

and group

interaction

– Mistake handling

– Idea generating

–Continuous learning

culture

- Risk taking

– Competitiveness

– Support for change

– Conflict handling

Creativity

And

Innovation

Figure 4 Influence of organizational culture on creativity and innovation

Data Analysis

• Flexibility

Flexibility

Handle Rejection

Overcome Obstacles

Ability to Adapt

Confidence

Figure 5 Flexibility Model came out from Data

Data Analysis

• Initiative

• Initiative drive

Data Analysis

• Leadership

Communication Creativity

Flexibility Initiative

Leadership

Figure 6 Leadership model

Data Analysis

• Interview analyses: Symbols – Values –Heroes – Rituals

Present study

Symbols Think Less,

Cheap labour

Values Competitiveness ,

Responsible,

Manipulative

Team work,

Heroes Managers

Directors

Rituals Award ceremony

Durga Puja

Mistakes Egocentric Personality

Bad behaviour

Stealing

Lethargic

Discussion & Conclusion

• Present score differs from Hofstede’s score of India.

• Main factors influencing leadership in the studied organization are communication, initiative, flexibility, creativity.

Communication Initiative Flexibility Creativity

Information Technology(IT)

Marketing Banking Marketing

Marketing Engineering IT IT

Banking IT Marketing Banking

References

• Baba, M. 2006. “Anthropology and Business.” In Encyclopedia of Anthropology, by H. James Birx, 83-117. Thousand

Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

• Hofstede, G. 1980. Culture’s consequences: international differences in work related values. Beverly Hill, CA: Sage.

• Hofstede, G. 1998. Masculinity and Femininity: The Taboo Dimensions of National Cultures. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

• Hofstede, G. 1980. “Motivation, Leadership, and Organization: Do American theories apply abroad? .” Organizational

Dynamics (Hofstede, G. (1980). Motivation, Leadership, and Organization: Do American theories apply abroad?

Organizational Dynamics, 9(1): 42-63. Retrieved May 12, 2011, from Ebsco database.) 42-63.

• Hofstede, G. 1983. “The Cultural Relativity of Organizational Practices and Theories.” Journal of International Business

Studies, 75-89.

• Jones, A. M. 2005. “The Anthropology of Leadership: Culture and Corporate Leadership in the American South.”

Leadership, Vol 1(3) 259–278.

• Schein, E. 1990. “Organizational Culture.” American Psychologist 109-119.

• Yukl, G.A. 1994. Leadership in organizations (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Thank You