chapter 9 motivating across cultures managing organizations in a global economy: an intercultural...
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Chapter 9 Motivating Across Cultures
Managing Organizations in a Global Economy: An Intercultural Perspective
First Edition
John Saee
Copyright by South-Western, a division of Thomson Learning. All rights reserved.
Motivation defined:Motivation is an assumed force
operating inside an individual inducing him/her to choose one action or another (Hofstede 1991).
Motivation is process which energizes and directs behavior (Avery & Baker 1990).
Motivation process is universal--all people are motivated to pursue the goals they value. However the content of the process and the goals that are pursued will be influenced by culture.
Applying Anglo Theories of Motivation
How far can a given model be applied outside the Anglo cultural context within which it was designed?
Maslow’s hierarchy of needsLevel 1: physiological (existence)Level 2: safety and security
Level 3: belonging and social
Level 4: esteem, both self- esteem and esteem of others
Level 5: self actualization and achievement
Human needs at workPhysiological needs: salary and wages.Safety needs: medical insurance,
unemployment, and retirement plans.
Social needs: social group contacts at work, friendships, etc.
Esteem needs: promotions; awards; feedback leading to feelings of self-confidence, prestige, and self-importance; titles; company cars; expense accounts.Self-actualization: mastering one’s
environment, setting, and achieving goals.
Identifying Needs in Another Culture
Nevis (1983): Maslow’s hierarchy has to be modified to reflect the needs in the Eastern cultures.Level l : Belonging (social)
Level 2: Physiological
Level 3: Safety
Level 4: Self-actualization in the service of society
Hofstede (1991) on Maslow’s Theory:Meaning of self-actualization in
individualist and collectivist cultures differs.
Safety (security) is likely to prevail over other needs where uncertainty avoidance is strong.
Belonginess (human relationships) will prevail over esteem in feminine cultures.
In masculine culture esteem will prevail over belongingness.
Other needs have to be added (like respect, harmony, face, and duty).
The Two-Factor Theory of Motivation (Herzberg 1959)
Two types of motivational factors, “hygiene” factors and motivators.
If the hygiene factors are absent, the employee will be dissatisfied; but their presence does not guarantee satisfaction. Only motivators lead to satisfaction.
A number of studies attempted to test Herzberg’s theory.
Hofstede (1991): Large power distances: dependence on
more powerful people is a basic need which can be a real motivator.
High uncertainty avoidance: rules may become motivators.
Achievement Motivation Theory (McClelland 1976)
Three types of motives: Achievement
Affiliation (associating with other people)
Power
The profile of high achiever
Hofstede (1980)
The need for achievement is strongly correlated with weak uncertainty avoidance, and even more strongly with the combination of weak uncertainty avoidance and strong masculinity.
Need for achievement can be taught and learned.
In high-achieving societies work goals such as autonomy, challenge, promotions, and earnings are valued.
Employees in different cultures have different needs from their work (England 1986).
Table 3: Comparative Work Goals
Work goals Germany Japan USA
Interesting work 3 2 1
Good pay 1 5 2
Good interpersonal
relations 4 6 7
Good job security 2 4 3
A good match between
You and your job 5 1 4
A lot of autonomy 8 3 8
Opportunity to learn 9 7 5
A lot variety 6 9 6
Convenient work hours 6 8 9
Good physical working
conditions 11 10 11
Promotion 10 11 10
Source: England (1986, P. 181)
The individual’s needs are determined by such factors as:
Early environmental factors
sex
age
educational levels achieved
economic status
experience, including work experience
organizational cultureindustry and sectorial factorseconomic and political structuresnational culture
The total mix has to be taken into account when analyzing needs and designing motivators. The manager has to decide which factors are significant in any one situation.
Because achievement is learned, it is largely determined by the prevailing culture; therefore the changes over time are possible.
Designing motivators for another culture (Hofstede 1984, 1991)
Individualism-collectivism dimension:Opportunities for individual promotion
and growth to be valued more highly where the culture is individualist.
Autonomy to be valued more highly where the culture is individualist.
Opportunities to belong to a supportive group to be valued more highly where the culture is collectivist.
Uncertainty avoidance dimension: Job security to be valued more highly
where needs to avoid uncertainty are greater.
Variety to be valued more highly where needs to avoid uncertainty are lesser.
Femininity-masculinity dimensions.Quality of life and relationships
between people to be valued more highly where the culture is feminine.
Shorter and convenient working hours to be valued more where the culture is feminine.
Power distance dimension.Opportunities to cooperate with peers to
be valued more where power distances are lesser.
Personal loyalty shown by superiors to subordinates to be valued more highly where power distances are greater.
Monetary incentives and alternatives.
Pay raise is not the only possible motivator of effective behavior.
The alternatives to a pay raise:Encouraging promotion and growth
within the organization.
Showing appreciation of the work done.
Giving the employee a feeling of being in on things.
Improving working conditions.
Showing personal loyalty to employees.
Using tact when disciplining.
Improving interpersonal relationships.
Improving job security.
Improving the quality of work.
Giving variety in work.
Giving autonomy in work.
The job enrichment movementJob rotation: involves planning the
employee’s time so that he/she performs a variety of tasks.
Job enlargement: all the tasks required to produce one unit are performed by the individual.
Job DesignJob design will be different for the same
type of work depending on the quality of work life which is in turn determined by cultural profile of the country.
The challenge for international manager is to adjust job design to meet the needs of the country.
Work Centrality Work centrality – importance of work
in the individual’s life relative to other areas of interest.
Performance EvaluationPerformance evaluations are
complicated by different cultural values and attitudes.
The role of feedback in individualist and collectivist societies.
US employees perceive direct feedback better than Japanese or Chinese employees. U.S. workers desire more favorable feedback whereas in contrast Japanese and Chinese desire failure feedback (Bailey et al. 1997).
Negative feedback could prove quite de-motivational to an individualist. But at the same time, this could serve as constructive advice to a collectivist.