MBA (General) - IV Semester, Information Technology and E-Business, Unit 5.2
Cultural Challenges in Global Business/IT Strategies
Culture is a difficult concept. We can examine organizational structures and process documentation to determine where change is possible and desirable. But the first step is to understand the culture as it exists today and how the team believes it needs to change.
Cultural Challenges in Global Business/IT Strategies
Culture is a difficult concept. We can examine
organizational structures and process documentation to determine where change
is possible and desirable. But the first step is to understand the culture as
it exists today and how the team believes it needs to change.
The myths surrounding cultural change and
provides some responses to those myths. Refer to Figure.
Myth
We can declare to our organizations that we are
standardizing on an iterative process and our teams will happily adapt.
Reality
Such a declaration can be quite threatening,
and is likely to be met with at least some resistance.
There are a number of reasons why teams and
individuals resist change. For instance
➢ Fear of lost power and influence. While the
change may be good for the organization, individuals may believe that they
personally will suffer. Change can mean loss, which instills fear and anxiety.
Fear of change is a powerful resistance factor.
➢ People are satisfied with the status quo.
Members of team may have a compulsion to cling to our past successes, or they
may not even recognize that there is room for improvement. This attitude is
often expressed as “Hey, we’ve been doing it this way for years, why change
now.”
➢ The Law of Unintended Consequences. one
may hear this expressed as “We don’t know what else might happen as a side
effect of making this change.”
The OCAI (Organizational Culture Assessment
Instrument) assessment instrument (which can be quite helpful in assessing IT
professionals posted on global or cross-cultural assignments) includes the
following sections
➢ Dominant Characteristics. What is most
important in our culture? For instance, is building really cool solutions more
important than predictable results?
➢ Organizational Leadership. How do you
characterize the leadership style? Are our managers no-nonsense aggressive
competitors or are they more concerned with driving out inefficiencies?
➢ Management of Employees. How are
employees treated — like cogs in a wheel or as valuable assets to be nurtured
and grown?
➢ Organizational Glue. What holds the organization
together?
➢ Strategic Emphases. What do we value?
High trust? winning?
➢ Criteria for Success. How do we measure
our success? Market share? Teamwork?
Innovation?
