8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 1/35
Developing the International Manager
BA- Concepts and Principles of International Management (CPIM)
Date submitted:
Lecturer:
CONTENTS
1
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 2/35
Title…………………………………………………………………………………………….1
Contents………………………………………………………………………………………..2
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………3
Chapter 1. Theories of Management in Cross Cultural Effectiveness.........…………….....5
Chapter 2. Case Study and Country Profile..........................................……………………15
Chapter 3. Developing Cross Cultural Effectiveness ...........................................................22
Chapter 4. Cross Cultural Communication and Barriers to Cross Cultural
Communication…………..........................................................................................................27
Chapter 5. Ethical Aspects of Cross Cultural Effectiveness....................………………….30
Conclusion……....…………………………………………………………………………….33
References…….…...………………………………………………………………………….34
INTRODUCTION
2
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 3/35
The purpose of this paper is to take a look at international management from a practical point of
view, considering the potential problems and cultural issues that an international manager can
experience in a foreign country. In this report, we are going to consider the case of the French
manager who has been expatriated to Kazakhstan. According to Harzing (2003), many
multinational corporations opt for the parent-company nationals rather than host-country
nationals, and the reasons behind that choice can be the following:
• Transfer of the technical and administrative knowledge to host-country
• Lack of qualified professionals in host countries
• Management development that allows the manager to get international experience
Working abroad is not an easy task, and the manager has to possess certain personal traits and
abilities Not all of the foreign assignments succeed, and the reason for that is poor preparation
and lack of knowledge about the country and the people that would make the process of cultural
adaptation smoother. Not all of the multicultural corporations provide their managers with the
training, and therefore, the manager who is going to work abroad needs to prepare
himself/herself.
The preparation we are going to talk about in this report is based on the three steps suggested by
Browaeys and Price (2008, p.112):
1. Self-awareness
2. Cross-cultural understanding
3. Adapting professional skills to the business culture and culture in general
The above steps are very important for managers who plan to work abroad. Each of these steps is
based on different cultural theories and provides us with the information on the effects of cultural
variables on business and management. The cultural issues that the manager from the west can
come across within an Asian country are very specific. The paper shows the relevance of
preliminary managerial trainings, as well as development of special programs for adaptation of
3
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 4/35
the expats. Following this three step process will help to find the most appropriate method of
adopting business skills across cultures.
Before talking about the case study and its details, I would like to mention that apart from
theoretical underpinnings, most of the information in this case study is primary, i.e. obtained
from the interview. Also, since Kazakhstan and the whole region of Eurasia have not been
explored in research of Hofstede and Trompenaars, the data about cultural dimensions factors is
not accurate and empirically proven. This case study has been researched to show how a
European manager perceives the new settings of Central Asia and what could be done to improve
the adaptation of expats in that region.
Chapter 1
4
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 5/35
Theories of Management in Cross Cultural Effectiveness
The manager has to lead, plan, organize and coordinate the employees. These functions seem to
be very simple, but when it comes to managing across the cultures it can get complicated.
According to Jackson (2002, p. 18), ‘working internationally means that we have to work with
people who have different cultural heritages. Cultural differences should be taken into account
when communicating and interacting with cultures. Although multinational corporations are
supranational in operations and strategy, people do not necessarily share the same values’.
One of the key aspects of relations between a manager and an employee is the trust. Fukuyama
(1995) defines trust as “inherited ethical habit”. Ideas, values and relationship patterns constitute
the ethical codes by which society regulate their peoples’ behavior. Ethical habits are natured by
repetition, tradition and example. Trust can be considered as an expectation that arises within a
community that there will be regular, honest and co-operative behavior amongst its members.
This means that building trust with the employees is to do with culture, and not knowing how to
gain trust of the employees may lead to awkward situations and bad decisions. For this reason
this work will be focused on reviewing and applying different cultural theories to the real
situation.
The theories presented in this chapter are relevant to the research because based on them the
cultural profile of the expatriate manager and the host country will be made.
One of the most significant works in cross cultural management is the book by Geert Hofstede
Culture's Consequences, Comparing Values, Behaviours, Institutions, and
Organizations Across Nations (2001). Hofstede did not just describe different cultures,
what made this work revolutionary is the analysis and comparison of cultures. For this research,
the 5 dimensions theory will be used, these dimensions are crucial to business culture of any
country. This theory will help the manager to understand how his culture differs from the host
culture and act accordingly. According to Hofstede’s 5 dimensions theory, every culture can be
measured by the following 5 main dimensions:
5
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 6/35
High Power Distance vs. Low Power Distance that is the extent to which the less powerful
members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is
distributed unequally. This represents inequality (more versus less), but defined from below, not
from above. It suggests that a society's level of inequality is endorsed by the followers as much
as by the leaders. Power and inequality, of course, are extremely fundamental facts of any
society and anybody with some international experience will be aware that 'all societies are
unequal, but some are more unequal than others'.
Individualism vs. Collectivism on the one side versus its opposite, collectivism, that is the
degree to which individuals are integrated into groups. On the individualist side we find societies
in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after him/herself
and his/her immediate family. On the collectivist side, we find societies in which people from
birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, often extended families (with
uncles, aunts and grandparents) which continue protecting them in exchange for unquestioning
loyalty. The word 'collectivism' in this sense has no political meaning: it refers to the group, not
to the state. Again, the issue addressed by this dimension is an extremely fundamental one,
regarding all societies in the world.
Masculinity vs. Femininity, refers to the distribution of roles between the genders which is
another fundamental issue for any society to which a range of solutions are found. The IBM
studies revealed that (a) women's values differ less among societies than men's values; (b) men's
values from one country to another contain a dimension from very assertive and competitive and
maximally different from women's values on the one side, to modest and caring and similar to
women's values on the other. The assertive pole has been called 'masculine' and the modest,
caring pole 'feminine'. The women in feminine countries have the same modest, caring values as
the men; in the masculine countries they are somewhat assertive and competitive, but not as
much as the men, so that these countries show a gap between men's values and women's values.
Uncertainty Avoidance Index deals with a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity; it
ultimately refers to man's search for Truth. It indicates to what extent a culture programs its
members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. Unstructured
situations are novel, unknown, surprising, and different from usual. Uncertainty avoiding
cultures try to minimize the possibility of such situations by strict laws and rules, safety and
6
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 7/35
security measures, and on the philosophical and religious level by a belief in absolute Truth;
'there can only be one Truth and we have it'. People in uncertainty avoiding countries are also
more emotional, and motivated by inner nervous energy. The opposite type, uncertainty
accepting cultures, are more tolerant of opinions different from what they are used to; they try to
have as few rules as possible, and on the philosophical and religious level they are relativist and
allow many currents to flow side by side. People within these cultures are more phlegmatic and
contemplative, and not expected by their environment to express emotions.
Long-Term Orientation vs. Short-term orientation: this fifth dimension was found in a study
among students in 23 countries around the world, using a questionnaire designed by Chinese
scholars. It can be said to deal with Virtue regardless of Truth. Values associated with Long
Term Orientation are thrift and perseverance; values associated with Short Term Orientation are
respect for tradition, fulfilling social obligations, and protecting one's 'face'. Both the positively
and the negatively rated values of this dimension are found in the teachings of Confucius, the
most influential Chinese philosopher who lived around 500 B.C.; however, the dimension also
applies to countries without a Confucian heritage. (Hofstede, 2009)
It should be noted that Hofstede’s theory has been criticized for leading to stereotyping, some
dimensions not being justified, and for the research behind the theory being conducted only
within IBM. Trompenaars' and Hampden-Turner's Cultural Factors is an attempt to fill the
gaps made in the work of Hofstede and focus on different dimensions. I believe that combining
both Hofsted’s 5 dimensions theory and Trompenaars’ and Hampden-Turner’s cultural factors
theory will help to obtain the most complete and accurate information about countries involved
in cross cultural management process.
Factor Description
Universalism vs.
Particularism
Universalism is about finding
broad and general rules. When
no rules fit, it finds the best
rule.
Particularism is about finding
exceptions. When no rules fit,
it judges the case on its own
merits, rather than trying to
7
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 8/35
force-fit an existing rule.
Analyzing vs. Integrating Analyzing decomposes to find
the detail. It assumes that God
is in the details and that
decomposition is the way to
success. It sees people who
look at the big picture as being
out of touch with reality.
Integrating brings things
together to build the big
picture. It assumes that if you
have your head in the weeds
you will miss the true
understanding.
Individualism vs.
Communitarianism
Individualism is about the
rights of the individual. It
seeks to let each person grow
or fail on their own, and sees
group-focus as denuding the
individual of their inalienable
rights.
Communitarianism is about
the rights of the group or
society. It seeks to put the
family, group, company and
country before the individual.
It sees individualism as selfish
and short-sighted.
Inner-directed vs. Outer-
directed
Inner-directed is about
thinking and personal
judgement, ‘in our heads’. It
assumes that thinking is the
most powerful tool and that
considered ideas and intuitive
approaches are the best way.
Outer-directed is seeking data
in the outer world. It assumes
that we live in the 'real world'
and that is where we should
look for our information and
decisions.
Time as sequence vs. Time
as synchronisation
Time as sequence sees events
as separate items in time,
sequence one after another. It
finds order in a serried array
of actions that happen one
after the other.
Time as synchronisation sees
events in parallel,
synchronised together. It finds
order in coordination of
multiple efforts.
Achieved status vs. Ascribed
status
Achieved status is about
gaining status through
Ascribed status is about
gaining status through other
8
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 9/35
performance. It assumes
individuals and organisations
earn and lose their status every
day, and that other approaches
are recipes for failure.
means, such as seniority. It
assumes status is acquired by
right rather than daily
performance, which may be as
much luck as judgement. It
finds order and security in
knowing where status is and
stays.
Equality vs. Hierarchy Equality is about all people
having equal status. It assumes
we all have equal rights,
irrespective of birth or other
gift.
Hierarchy is about people
being superior to others. It
assumes that order happens
when few are in charges and
others obey through the scalar
chain of command.
(ChangingMinds, 2011)
Table 1. Trompenaars' and Hampden-Turner's Cultural Factors
Yet another important theory is Edward T. Hall’s Cultural Factors. These factors are context,
time and space.
Context has to do with how much you have to know before you can communicate effectively.
High-context means that most of the information is either in the physical context or initialized in
the person, while very little is in the coded, explicit, transmitted part of the message. In
comparison to the meaning of low-context communication is the mass of information is vested in
the explicit code (International Business Cultures, 2010).
Highly mobile environments where people come and go need lower-context culture. With a
stable population, however, a higher context culture may develop.
9
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 10/35
Table 2. High-context and low-context culture
Another factor, time, falls in two categories: monochronic and polychronic time. Monochromic
time means doing one thing at a time. It assumes careful planning and scheduling and is a
familiar Western approach that appears in disciplines such as 'time management'. Monochronic
people tend also to be low context. In Polychronic cultures, human interaction is valued over
time and material things, leading to a lesser concern for 'getting things done' -- they do get done,
but more in their own time. Polychronic people tend also to be high context. Western cultures
vary in their focus on monochronic or polychronic time. Americans are strongly monochronic
whilst the French have a much greater polychronic tendency -- thus a French person may turn up
to a meeting late and think nothing of it.
Table 3. Monochronic and polychromic action
10
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 11/35
The third factor is space. Hall was concerned about space and our relationships within it. He
called the study of such space Proxemics. We have concerns about space in many situations,
from personal body space to space in the office, parking space, space at home. Some people need
more space in all areas. People who encroach into that space are seen as a threat. Personal space
is an example of a mobile form of territory and people need less or greater distances between
them and others. A Japanese person who needs less space thus will stand closer to an American,
inadvertently making the American uncomfortable. Some people need bigger homes, bigger cars,
bigger offices and so on. This may be driven by cultural factors, for example the space in
America needs to greater use of space, whilst Japanese need less space (partly as a result of
limited useful space in Japan).
Some people are more territorial than others with greater concern for ownership. They seek to
mark out the areas which are theirs and perhaps having boundary wars with neighbors. This
happens right down to desk-level, where co-workers may do battle over a piece of paper which
overlaps from one person's area to another. At national level, many wars have been fought over
boundaries. Territoriality also extends to anything that is 'mine' and ownership concerns extend
to material things. Security thus becomes a subject of great concern for people with a high need
for ownership. People with high territoriality tend also to be low context.
People with lower territoriality have less ownership of space and boundaries are less important to
them. They will share territory and ownership with little thought. They also have less concern for
material ownership and their sense of 'stealing' is less developed (this is more important for
highly territorial people). People with low territoriality tend also to be high context.
Understanding these cultural factors can help cross-cultural management in many ways. When a
manager accumulates sufficient knowledge about the way the organizations in a host country
work, the cultural factors and dimensions he/she will be able to evaluate the situation more
objectively, for example if people are late for meetings it may be because they are polychronic,not because they are disrespectful or lazy.
It is crucial for the international manager to understand the company’s policy on managing
international subsidiaries. Permutter (1969) distinguishes between four approaches:
11
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 12/35
Table 4. International strategy
(Jackson, 2002)
The knowledge of the international strategy of the company allows the manager to see the bigger
picture, understand the processes within the company and make more accurate decisions. Each of
the approaches has a range of advantages and disadvantages in terms of managing international
workforce, for example ethnocentric approach brings the company more money but it doesn’t
allow opening many managerial positions for the local workers in a host country.
Another important aspect of working abroad is choosing the right management style. Different
styles were needed for different culture and each leader needs to know when to exhibit a
particular approach.
Four of the most basic leadership styles are:
- Autocratic
-Bureaucratic
12
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 13/35
-Laissez-faire
-Democratic
Autocratic leadership style is often considered the classical approach. It is one in which the
manager retains as much power and decision-making authority as possible. The manager does
not consult employees, nor are they allowed to give any input. Employees are expected to obey
orders without receiving any explanations. The motivation environment is produced by creating
a structured set of rewards and punishments. This leadership style has been greatly criticized
during the past 30 years. Some studies say that organizations with many autocratic leaders have
higher turnover and absenteeism than other organizations. These studies say that autocratic
leaders rely on threats and punishment to influence employees, do not trust employees and do not
allow for employee input.
Bureaucratic leadership style is the style whereby the manager manages “by the book¨
Everything must be done according to procedure or policy. If it isn’t covered by the book, the
manager refers to the next level above him or her. This manager is really more of a police officer
than a leader. He or she enforces the rules.
Democratic leadership style is also called the participative style as it encourages employees to
be a part of the decision making. The democratic manager keeps his or her employees informed
about everything that affects their work and shares decision making and problem solving
responsibilities. This style requires the leader to be a coach who has the final say, but gathers
information from staff members before making a decision. Democratic leadership can produce
high quality and high quantity work for long periods of time. Many employees like the trust they
receive and respond with cooperation, team spirit, and high morale. Typically the democratic
leader develops plans to help employees evaluate their own performance, allows employees to
establish goals, encourages employees to grow on the job and be promoted, recognizes and
encourages achievement. It is most successful when used with highly skilled or experienced
employees or when implementing operational changes or resolving individual or group
problems.
Laissez-faire leadership style is the style in which the manager provides little or no direction
and gives employees as much freedom as possible. All authority or power is given to the
13
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 14/35
employees and they must determine goals, make decisions, and resolve problems on their own
(Essortment, 2002).
The notion of leadership is also related to the motivation. Motivation has been defined as the
individual, internal process that energizes, directs and sustains behavior. In other words,
motivation is the force that causes people to behave in a particular way, whether positive or
negative. A very important aspect associated with motivation is the employee’s morale, which is
the attitude or feeling about the job, about superiors and about the firm itself. This means that an
employee with a high morale will be more dedicated and loyal to the job. High morality of the
employee results from different positive aspects to the job and the firm, for example, being
recognized in the workplace and being financially secured. Motivation is the process of
providing reasons for people to work in the best interests of the organization.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is the theory based on the concept that people act to fulfil five
levels of needs, which are personal requirements from the most important to the least important.
The five categories of needs from the most important are: Physiological needs (the need to attain
basic human needs, for example food, shelter), Safety needs (the need for physical and emotional
security, for example job security, health insurance), Social needs (the need for a sense of
belonging), Esteem needs (the need for respect and recognition of others) and Self actualization
(the need to grow, develop and become all that he/she is capable of). However, needs at one level
do not have to be fully satisfied before the next need. This means that one does not have to
satisfy his/her basic needs before trying to attain feeling of safety in the job or firm itself. This
theory holds that motivation to work arises from a variety of social, psychological and economic
forces. People need income to pay their bills, feel that they have a role in society and also feel a
sense of achievement. As it may seem to some people, the more a worker gets paid, the more
encouragement that worker has to work more hours and produce more output. However, not
everyone works for money. A large percentage of workers say they would continue to work even
if they had enough money to live comfortably without working. Another aspect of happiness
from labor is the non-monetary incentives the environment that is being worked in. People prefer
to work in a safe, pleasantly colorful environment. In short, there are many different reasons why
people get up and go to work each morning and the levels of satisfaction differs from one person
to another.
14
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 15/35
Herbezrg’s motivation-hygiene theory
Another theory was the Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene theory holds the idea that satisfaction
and dissatisfaction are completely separate issues. In other words, not that low pay can cause an
employee to feel bad, a high pay will make him happy. Herzberg believes that there are two
factors with regard to his theory. Motivation factors are the job factors that if present increase
motivation but whose absence does not necessarily result in dissatisfaction. They include
achievement, recognition, growth etc. These aspects are called satisfiers if present. On the other
hand, Hygiene factors are the job factors that decrease dissatisfaction when present. They include
supervision, working conditions, job security. Herzberg believes that there is no dissatisfaction
because at any time there must be an employee who is not happy (Motivation Proposal, 2010).
Chapter 2. Case study and country profile
The case study is meant to review and research the socio cultural background of the host country
that the expatriate manager needs to know to succeed. The report is based on the real situation,
most of the information was taken from the interview with the French manager of a French and
Kazakh joint venture Katco. For ethical reasons, the real name of the manager will not be
mentioned; instead the pseudonym Jean Girardet will be used. Jean kindly shared with me hisexperience of working abroad in a country with very different culture and traditions. Jean was
sent to Kazakhstan for 3 years to work as a maintenance manager of the uranium station. He was
very happy with this experience, as he said, it gave him better understanding of communication
across cultures and definitely improved his managerial skills. To give the readers better
15
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 16/35
understanding of the host country of this research, the country profile that also includes cultural
aspects will be made.
Country Profile
This country profile is based on the information of Foreign and Commonwealth Office (2010).
Geographical location:
Table 5. Map of Kazakhstan
Full name: Republic of Kazakhstan
Population: 15.6 million (UN, 2009)
60.5% Kazakh, 24.5% Russian,2.9% Uzbek, 2.7% Ukrainian, 1.5% Uighur 1.4% German, , 1.4% Tartar,
1.3% Korean, other groups less than 1%
Capital: Astana
Largest city: Almaty
Area: 2.7 million sq km (1 million sq miles)
Major languages: Kazakh, Russian
Major religions: Muslim 65%, Russian Orthodox 30%, Protestant 1.3%, Other 3.7%
Monetary unit: 1 Kazakh tenge = 100 tiyn
16
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 17/35
Main exports: Oil, uranium, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery, chemicals, grain, wool, meat,
coal
Economy: GDP in 2010 7% (Central Asia, 2011)
Head of State: President Nursultan Nazarbayev
Prime Minister/Premier: Karim Masimov
Foreign Minister: Kanat Saudabayev
Cultural Profile
To create an appropriate cultural profile of Kazakhstan, I have decided to combine the two points
of view: one based observations of foreign researchers, and one based on my observations. This
approach has been taken because my perception of Kazakh culture may be subjective since it’s
my homeland. Comparison of my conclusions and conclusions made by investigators of
Communicaid (2007) allowed to make quite comprehensive cultural profile of Kazakhstan. In
the profile both general information about historical backgrounds and information about business
culture will be presented.
Kazakhstan has a long and rich history, having evolved from a nomad civilisation
dating back to the first millennium BC through various periods of expansion and
occupation by the Soviet Union to its current position as a modern nation state. Its
diverse ethnic composition combines the native Kazakh people and a lar ge
population of Russians, who r emain separated by language and religion. The
convergence of these two distinct populations has created a unique culture. Anunderstanding of this distinctive K azak h culture is essential for any organisation
or individual who want to do business in K azak hstan.
Cultural Values
There are 3 most distinct cultural values in Kazakh culture. Those are
17
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 18/35
hospitality, tradition and religion.
Hospitality – hospitality has always been an important part of Kazakh culture.
Displays of generosity and welcoming behaviour are common in both social and
business Kazakh spheres. An invitation to the traditional Kazakh feast is the most
popular form of Kazakh hospitality. Sharing food and drink with family, f r iends and
acquaintances is an essential part of Kazakh culture and should be respected and
shar ed.
Tradition – Kazakh traditions and culture have been passed on from one
generation to another by traditional Kazakh tribal leaders and elders. Much of the
traditional Kazakh culture was lost under Soviet rule but strong elements remain
today and are celebrated among family, a central part of Kazakh society. While the
country is becoming increasingly modernised, Kazakhs hold on strongly to their
traditions and culture.
Religion – Before the introduction of the Sunni branch of Islam in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries, Kazaks held strong animist and shamanist beliefs.
Since Soviet r ule when many Russians came to live in Kazakhstan, the Russian
Orthodox religion has had an important presence in Kazakh society. These two
religions generally have an equal presence in K azak h society. Visiting Kazakhstan
or doing business with Kazakhs, it is important to be aware of these cultural
differences and sensitivities, as well as the unique traditions and customs of each
and how they influence Kazakh culture and business etiquette.
However, it should be mentioned that due to globalization these values are gettingweaker, and also these 3 values may be the first thing that a person from Westnotices, but after some time it will be obvious that the system of cultural values ismuch more complex.
Business Culture
Kazakhstan was under Soviet rule until it gained independence in 1991. During the
1990s, Kazakhstan went through a period of economic decline. Since then a series of
economic r ef or ms and privatisation have lead to tremendous growth and
development of new sector s including oil and gas. An abundance of natural
resources and agricultural products helped Kazak hstan’s economy a lot. Today
Kazakhstan still struggles to maintain a balance between its industr ial and
agricultural sectors and the amount of foreign investment and influence. Many
p e o p l e are investing large sums in nearby countries and establishing extensive
international networks. As Kazakhstan str ives to open its economy and borders to
the rest of the world, those wishing to invest or do business with Kazakhs should be
18
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 19/35
aware of the unique business culture and etiquette of K azak hstan.
Business in Kazakhstan tends to take longer than in most Western societies, so
patience and taking time to establish relationships with Kazakh colleagues is
essential. Many people in Kazakhstan are Muslim so it is not uncommon for
them to tak e breaks from work during the day for prayer. Still, compared to
other Muslim countries, Kazakhstan is more secular.
Kazakh business culture dictates a strict hierarchical structu re where leaders
se par ate themselves from the group and power is distributed from the to p. There is
generally only one key decision maker, a position occupied by the most senior person
in the company. Those in a more subordinate position represent the business during
meetings but do not have the authority to make decisions. The formality and
structure of greetings in Kazakhstan reflect the position a per son has in society.
Normally the less senior person would extend their hand first to show respect.
Establishing close personal contacts is key to all business dealings in K azak hstan.
Kazakhs prefer to get to know a person before entering into business with them andcommitting themselves to business decisions. Kazakhs tend to have an indirect style of
communication which mak es understanding and getting to know them a little morechallenging and time- consuming. Spending the time talking and getting to know each
other will help the business relationship and ensure more efficient decision-mak ing.
Business Etiquette
• In Kazakh business etiquette, initial introductions tend to be relatively inf or mal.
Shaking hands and using first names is common, especially in more
informal settings outside of business.
• Generally speaking, business meetings in Kazakhstan are somewhat
unstructu red and open to variation. Kazakhs are very traditionally oriented but
recognise that in order to progress they must be open to new ideas. Meetings areoften a place f or discuss ion and new ideas.
• The negotiation process inKazakhstan can often become very lively andinvolved. Kazakhs are known for their love of argument and debate, but be sure
that you never openly contradict someone who is more senior than you.
• The exchanging of business cards is common practice. Business cards
19
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 20/35
should be translated into English and Russian. When receiving a card it is polite
to take a minute to look at it carefully before putt ing it away.
• It is necessary to accept an invitation to a traditional Kazakh meal, as
hospitality is one of the most important parts of Kazakh culture and getting to know
your business counterparts on a more personal level is paramount for successful
business inter actions.
• It is recommended to show respect towards your Kazakh business
partners by taking a sensitive a ppr oach to proper behaviour and cultural gestures.
For example, a number of Kazakhs are Muslim and therefore, using the left hand to
pass something to them, for example, could bring shame to the individual and
should be avoided.
• It is recommended to dress suitably and in a conservative manner.
This is especially important f or businesswomen, who should wear modest
clothing.
• Negotiations are not always conducted in Russian, the pr edominant language
of use in Kazakh business. The issue of which language to use is a hot political topic
and one which is frequently debated in Kazakh society. I t i s b e t te r t o check in
advance the language of negotiations and have the documents translated and an
interpreter r eady.
• Many contracts and agreements are not documented, so often a handshake is
enough to make a deal .
20
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 21/35
Chapter 3. Developing Cross Cultural Effectiveness
The company that sent Jean abroad is called Areva. Areva is a French public multinational
industrial corporation that works in two fields: production of nuclear energy and production of
renewable energy. It was created on 3 September 2001, by the merger of Framatome (now
AREVA NP), Cogema (now AREVA NC) and Technicatome (now AREVA TA). Areva works
in 42 countries, its sales network includes over 100 countries. By the end of December 2009, TheAREVA group had 79,444 employees worldwide. On 28 April, 2004 Areva acquired control of
Katco in Kazakhstan (uranium ore mining) (Annual report, 2010).
‘The Katco joint venture was originally formed by Cogema and the Kazakhstan State
Corporation for Atomic Power and Industry (KATEP) in 1996 to work on the development of
uranium resources in Kazakhstan. In 1999, the company received a licence to explore and mine
the Muyunkum site located in the south of the country. After three years of successful operation
of a pilot production plant at Muyunkum, Areva and KazAtomProm signed an agreement in
April 2004 to start the industrial phase of a joint production project. (WNN, 2008). International
strategy of Areva in Kazakhstan is ethnocentric with most of management positions being held
by French people. The ethnic mix is the following: 20% French, 80% locals out of who the
21
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 22/35
majority are Kazakhs. The corporation has a good reputation with managing diversity in different
countries, and Jean had to prepare himself very good for the new cultural settings.
As it has been previously mentioned, we are going to divide the preparation in three steps:
1. Self-awareness – creating profile of French culture
2. Cross-cultural understanding – comparing and contrasting Kazakh and French cultures
3. Adapting professional skills to the business culture and culture in general – combining
cultural knowledge with basic skills of a manager
1. Self-awareness
Indicators of France are based on Hofstede’s research (2010) and are available online and will be
discussed in the next section. The most significant values of Trompenaar’s model are presented in the
following table:
Parameter Value=1 Value=5 Score France
Time focus
Time orientation
Space
Power
Structure
Competition
Communication
Action
Monochromic
past
private
equality
individualism
co-operative
low-context
being
polychromic
future
public
hierarchy
collectivism
competitive
high-context
doing
4
3
1
2
2
3
1
4
Table 6. Self-awareness: France
22
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 23/35
Table 7. Self-awareness: France
2. Cross-cultural understanding
Parameter Value=1 Value=5 Score
Kazakhstan
Score France
Time focus
Time orientation
Space
Power
Structure
Competition
Communication
Action
Monochromic
past
private
equality
individualism
co-operative
low-context
being
polychromic
future
public
hierarchy
collectivism
competitive
high-context
doing
5
2
4
5
4
3
4
2
4
3
1
2
2
3
1
4
Table 8. Cross-cultural understanding: France and Kazakhstan
23
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 24/35
Table 8. Cross-cultural understanding: France and Kazakhstan
The cultural profiles of both countries consist of the parameters that are crucial to management. All those
variables are influencing manager’s functions. As it can be seen from the graph above, the cultural
indicators of the two countries are not very different. In fact, the biggest gap can be seen in the
way the power is distributed in the society and in the context of communication. We can see that
the two cultures have similar indicators of time focus and time orientation. For example, time focus
demonstrates what kind of behaviour can be expected when dealing with projects, deadlines and time
management in general. Time orientation shows the attitude to future and the connection with the past,
this can be important to implementation of long-term strategies, and we can see that the two cultures are
similar in this index. Space shows the extent to which individuals separate their personal life from work,
and we can see that French people do compartmentalise their work and private lives. This means that the
employees in Kazakhstan may expect to see the manager spend a lot of personal time at work. Power
distance demonstrates that the French people treat the employees like equals, while in Kazakhstan this
may look like the manager is giving too much power to the employees. France has a more individualist
society, while Kazakhstan – more collectivist, which means that the employees in Kazakhstan probably
would enjoy team work. Both Kazakhstan and France have the same indicators of competitiveness.
Kazakhstan and France belong to high context a culture, which means that there may be fewer barriers to
cross-cultural communication and overcoming them will take less time and effort.
24
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 25/35
3. Adapting Professional Skills
Based on the facts from cultural profile of Kazakhstan from the previous chapter and Hofstede’s findings
on France (2010), we can make the following conclusions:
• Power distance index in Kazakhstan in high, while in France it is low.
• Individualism predominates in France, while in Kazakhstan predominates collectivism
• Masculinity index in Kazakhstan is much higher than in France
• Uncertainty Avoidance Index in France is high, while in Kazakhstan it is low
• Long/short-term orientation. Short-term orientation in France, long-term orientation in
Kazakhstan
Now I would like to show how these dimension and their analysis can help choosing the right managerial
practices.
Planning – Long/short-term orientation can be used to identify the approach to long-term and
short-term strategies on a corporate level and to decide whether the team or the employee with
long-term orientation is capable or accomplishing short-term target.
Leading - Power distance shows us what leadership style can be chosen. Taking into
consideration that in France the power distance is medium and in Kazakhstan it is very high, the
preferable leadership style would be not participative but rather paternalistic or autocratic
because that is what the employees are expecting from the manager. Choosing this leadership
style the manager will have to gain respect through setting SMART objectives and making
autocratic decisions.
Co-ordinating – Uncertainty avoidance demonstrates the degree of control and rules needed over the employees. In the country like Kazakhstan, where uncertainty avoidance is low, it would be
more appropriate to apply hard HRM, which greatly differs from France.
Organizing – Individualism/collectivism indicators can assist in decision whether the employees
would work more efficiently in a team or individually, it also helps to appraise the results of their
25
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 26/35
work. In Kazakhstan, the French manager would probably be right to organize teams within
departments to improve the performance.
Given the cultural profile and situation in Kazakhstan, Jean has chosen to use Herzberg and
Maslow motivational theory as well as several other techniques for increasing employee
motivation. These techniques included building free swimming pool for the workers, library and
providing them with free tickets to gym. Also, Jean was a good leader of his team and has always
joined them for parties and holidays, which also contributed to the communication between him
and employees and increased their motivation because in Kazakhstan having a dinner with a
manager is considered to be a sign of respect from the side of manager.
Chapter 4. Cross Cultural Communication and barriers to Cross Cultural
Communication
Both France and Kazakhstan are culturally diverse countries. However, compared to France,
population of Kazakhstan is more homogenous. In France you will encounter individuals
from different races, religions, and nationalities on a daily basis. In Kazakhstan, people have
a special attitude to foreigners. Because of the Iron curtain in Soviet times it was impossible
to meet someone who is not from USSR, people have always been very curious about
representatives of other cultures and countries. After the regime fell, more foreigners started
to come to Kazakhstan and people were very excited about meeting them and asking about
the life abroad. This trend is still there, having a friend who is a foreigner is considered to be
very prestigious; work at a foreign corporation or abroad is also thought to be very
impressive.
Even though the attitude in general is friendly, there are issues and barriers to effective crosscultural communication. There is often anxiety and stereotyping surrounding unfamiliar
cultures, so there is no wonder that the employees may not react in the way the manager
expects. There is no doubt that the issues in cross cultural communication need to be
addressed. In order to overcome barriers to effective cross cultural communication and not
offend a person from a different background, it is important to know how cross cultural
26
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 27/35
communication works and develop intercultural communicative competence. Intercultural
communicative competence is def ined by Kim (1991, pp. 259-275) as ‘…the overall internal
ability of an individual to manage key challenging features of intercultural communication:
namely cultural differences and unfamiliarity, inter-group posture, and the accompanying
experience of stress’. As it can be seen from the statement above, intercultural
communicative competence is something everyone who works abroad should know. To
develop this kind of competence it is necessary to overcome cross-cultural communication
barriers.
A number of different factors contribute to cross-cultural communication barriers. On the
corporate level, this can be inappropriate company culture or the lack of investment in cross
cultural training. Apart from that, all the components of communication, such as language,
body language, etiquette, culture and social habits can become barriers to successful cross-
cultural communication. However, in the case of Kazakhstan and France, it’s possible to
learn and adopt local etiquette, traditions and social habits. In the second chapter a lot of
useful recommendations on this topic have been given. Language problems can either relate
to misinterpreting of the language or lack of knowledge of foreign language. To overcome
this problem, the manager has to try to choose the best interpreter and to be extremely careful
when talking to people whose level of the language of communication is unknown of not so
good.
Above all, in order to develop intercultural communicative competence, it is required to
move beyond ethnocentrism and be willing to discover the new culture without being
focused solely on the values of one’s own culture. This concerns both the manager and the
employees. Ethnocentrism leads to stereotyping and stereotyping in its turn, to prejudices and
wrong conclusions about people and situations. Stereotyping is probably the biggest barrier
to cross-cultural effectiveness because it’s often the most influential and dangerous power
behind perceiving representatives of other countries. In Kazakhstan, French people are
stereotyped mostly positively: they are considered to have a good sense of humour, best
27
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 28/35
cuisine in the world and to be very polite and romantic. On the other hand, they are thought
to be arrogant and greedy. Kazakhstan used to be unknown country in the West, till it has
recently come under stereotyping due to the British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's character
Borat in Ali G Show and the movie called Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make
Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006). Borat is shown to be a backward and
misogynist person who hates all kinds of national and sexual minorities. How to deal with
this situation? Both for the manager and the employees it is crucial to develop empathy.
Empathy is the ability to identify with the feelings and behaviour of people from different
cultural backgrounds. Cultural empathy can help to scan and analyze other cultures. People
who develop cultural empathy are able to understand different cultures better than people
who don’t. When a person starts to get to know another culture, he or she begins to see how
the stereotyping is superficial and how the reality differs from preconceived notions. In order
to develop empathy the managers should communicate with his or her team. In our case, the
French manager started to accept invitations to weddings, parties and national holidays where
he got the opportunity to communicate with colleagues and discovered a lot of new facts
about Kazakh culture and found the new ways of connecting with employees.
As a result, the relationship between the French manager and Kazakh employees became
much better, and this special relationship was based on mutual respect to both cultures. This
kind of relationship can be referred to as the third-culture. Casrnir (1999) suggests that ‘third-
culture building would allow a shared system of values to emerge... Third culture is a
framework designed to ensure better adaptation... through the shared value systems and
increasing interdependence’ (Browaeys, Price, 2008, p.323). I can suppose that the third-
culture is be the result of high cultural awareness, acceptance of different values, cultural
pluralism and hard work of both parties
28
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 29/35
Chapter 5. Ethical Aspects of Cross Cultural Effectiveness
Ethics comes from the Greek word 'éthiké' meaning the ways and habits of a group of people.
Ethics is to do with establishing norms, evaluating when a moral act is right or wrong as well as
helping one to make moral decisions when confronted with a moral dilemma. We can also say
that ethics is largely based on morality. Culture and ethics are interconnected in such a way that
it’s hard to say which factor is the most influential. Ethical vision is something very individual
and therefore highly subjective. What is very interesting is that according to Trompenaar's
research, cultures with more emphasis on human relationships and loyalty (particularists,
Kazakhstan) show lower ethical scores than those that emphasized obeying rules (universalists,
France). (Philodialogue.com).
Ethical aspects are probably the hardest thing to understand about another culture, and at the
same time without possessing the appropriate knowledge about them it’s easy to make wrong
decisions, misinterpret actions of other people and lose the respect of employees. Acceptance of
other cultures pushes the international managers to create skills that have ethical components for
managing people.
Gudykunst and Kim (1997) distinguish between two approaches:
29
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 30/35
– an analytical one (being committed to a specific view of what morality is) : does
not allow ethical judgements
– a normative one (i.e. knowing what should be done): allows ethical judgements on
behaviour itself and/or on the person(s) displaying the behaviour
If normative approach used, making payments to company officials to ensure that a tender is
accepted may well be regarded as unacceptable. If analytical approach taken: those paying
gratuities may see it as a ‘necessary evil’ since those expecting gratuities are seen as not knowing
any better. Gudykunst and Kim (1997) argue that we should withhold any ethical judgements
when interacting with those from another culture until we have clearly described their behaviour
and examined various interpretations (Moodle, 2011), and I suppose that this point of view could
be the most appropriate for managing across cultures.
Jean Girardet admitted that he experienced many issues that have to do with ethical aspects. As it
has been previously mentioned, in Kazakh culture family plays a very important role. Family
business is one the most common forms of entrepreneurship, and family connections are the
force that pushes the business forward. It is very common for the relatives and family members
to ask their friends and colleagues to find a job for someone’s son, brother or sister. Quite often
the influence of connections is so big that the qualities of the candidate are not even considered,
and as a result the person who does not have the required education and experience manages
other people, what eventually leads to worse performance and provokes anger in employees who
worked in the company for many years without being promoted. Jean got trapped in the same
situation, and basing his decision on the norm theory, he decided to hire incompetent employee
rather than starting with the co-worker the kind of conflict in which few people would be on hisside.
Another example of business ethics being connected with culture is the respect to the elder and
superior. The Asian tradition of respecting any decision made by the older person may seem to
30
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 31/35
be unreasonable to the Westerners, and this is difficult to choose between advocating the
appropriate decision and pitting the employees against oneself. Since the power distance in
Kazakh society is very high, this also created issues, misunderstanding and results in poor
communication between different levels of management.
Yet another example is bribery. Even though the Kazakh government is fighting against
corruption, it is hard to say if anything changes, because over the communist regime bribery
became some kind of a tradition. Paying and accepting a bribe is not even thought to be unethical
or immoral, it’s just the way the business is done in most ex-USSR countries. In fact, the
multinational corporations that enter the Kazakhstan market have to accept this tradition,
otherwise that will be impossible to make business. Also, the Kazakh hospitality and the tradition
to invite business partners and co-workers to national style barbeque may seem to be misleading,
it can also be considered as some kind of bribery. Transparency list on Transparency.org (2010)
demonstrates us the difference between France and Kazakhstan. France (6.8) has obviously been
more successful in eliminating corruption than Kazakhstan (2.9). For a person who comes from a
developed European country with transparency index exceeding that of the host country, that
would probably take some time to get used to the new settings and what’s more important, to
find the balance between representing the company the way it should be done and the way the
local authorities expect it to be done.
This may not be easy for the Westerner to comprehend all these cultural specificities that are to
do with local business ethics and culture, and perhaps the best way to do it is to have the local
assistant who would explain all the details and will help to avoid awkward situations.
31
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 32/35
CONCLUSION
This case study has shown the process of cultural and professional adaptation of the French
manager Jean Girardet to the new environment of a host country. Kazakhstan is country that is
mostly unknown in the West, and going to the place about which finding the accurate
information must be quite a challenging experience.
This work demonstrated how a person from a completely different cultural background can
prepare himself or herself and be successful in adaptation and in achieving company’s goals.
Following the process of 3 steps, namely self-awareness, cross-cultural understanding and
adapting cross-cultural skills can help to reduce stereotyping of both managers and employees,
increase cross-cultural effectiveness and eliminate cross-cultural communication barriers.
32
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 33/35
REFERENCES
1. Areva (2010) Annual report [Online]. Available at: http://www.areva.com/EN/group-
57/global-leader-in-nuclear-energy-and-renewable-energy-solutions.html (Accessed 20
January 2011).
2. Browaeys, M.J. and Price, R. (2008) Understanding Cross-cultural Management.
Harlow, Edinburgh Gate: Pearson Education Limited.
3. Central Asia Newswire (2011), Kazakhstan GDP outperforms expectations [Online].
Available at: http://centralasianewswire.com/Energy/Kazakh-2010-GDP-outperforms-expectations/viewstory.aspx?id=2924 (Accessed: 12 January 2011).
4. ChangingMinds (2011) Trompenaars' and Hampden-Turner's cultural factors [Online].
Available at: http://changingminds.org/explanations/culture/trompenaars_culture.htm
(Accessed: 2 January 2011).
5. ChangingMinds (2011) Hall's cultural factors [Online]. Available at:
http://changingminds.org/explanations/culture/hall_culture.htm (Accessed: 2 January
2011).
6. Communicaid, Culture and Communication Skills Consultancy (2007), Doing Business
in Kazakhstan [Online]. Available at: http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-
q=kazakhstan&sp-a=sp1002e642&sp-p=all&sp-f=ISO-8859-1&Search.x=0&Search.y=0
(Accessed 13 January 2011).
33
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 34/35
7. Essortment (2002), Leadership styles [Online]. Available at:
http://www.essortment.com/all/leadershipstyle_rrnq.htm (Accesses 09 January 2011).
8. Foreign and Commonwealth Office (2010), Kazakhstan [Online]. Available at:
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-
profile/asia-oceania/kazakhstan (Accessed: 12 January 2011).
9. Gudykunst, W. B., and Y. Y. Kim. (1997) Communicating with Strangers: An Approach
to Intercultural Communication. 3rd ed. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill, Concepts and
Principles of International Management [Online]. Available at:
http://courses.praguecollege.cz/mod/resource/view.php?id=29189 (Accessed 10 January
2011)
10.Hofstede, G. (2009) Geert Hofstede Cultural dimensions [Online]. Available at:
http://www.geert-hofstede.com/index.shtml (Accessed 01 January 2011).
11.Hofstede, G. (2009) Geert Hofstede Cultural dimensions, France [Online]. Available at:
http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_france.shtml (Accessed 01 January 2011).
12.International Business Cultures (2010), High Context vs. Low Context [Online].Available at: http://www.via-web.de/high-context-vs-low-context/ (Accessed 10 January
2011).
13.Jackson, T. (2002) International HRM: A Cross-cultural Approach, London: Sage
Publications Ltd.
14. Kim, Y.Y. (1991), Intercultural Communication Competence: A systems-theoretic view.
In Ting-Toomey, S., and Korzenny, F. (Eds.). Cross-cultural interpersonal
communication. California: Sage Publications.
15.Research Proposal on Motivation (2010) [Online]. Available at
http://www.mastersthesiswriting.com/blog/sample-research-proposals/research-proposal-
on-motivation.html (Accessed 03 January 2011).
34
8/3/2019 CPIM Sample Project
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cpim-sample-project 35/35
16.Transparency International – The global coalition against corruption (2010) Corruption
Perceptions Index 2010 Results [Online]. Available at:
http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results
(Accessed: 19 January 2011).
17.Wil Harzing, A., Van Ruysseveldt, J. eds., (2003) International Human Resource
Management , 2nd edition, London: Sage Publications Ltd.
18.WNN (2008), KazAtomProm and Areva sign strategic agreement [Online]. Available at:
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/C-
KazAtomProm_and_Areva_sign_strategic_agreement-1106084.html (Accessed: 12
January 2011).