UNIT 20 EMERGING TRENDS IN OB

Structure

0.0 Objectives
0.1 Introduction
0.2 Emerging Trends
20.3 Culture and Organisational Behaviour
20.4 Cross-Cultural Management
20.5 Managing Multinational Organisation
20.6 Let Us Sum Up
20.7 Key Words
8.8 Terminal Questions

20.0 OBJECTIVES
After studying this unit, you should be able to:

• describe emerging issues in the field of organisational behaviour;

• explain the changing nature of human management in organisations;
• discuss issues relating to cross-cultural aspect of modern organisation; and
• design behavioural intervention for managing multinational organisations.

20.1 INTRODUCTION

Organisations are witnessing several changes in its structure, operations and people. The emergence of
cross-cultural environment, the influence of multinational corporations, the growing technological oriented
operations, and the increasing concern for total quality management provides different environment to the
organisations. These developments influence the whole range of social, political and cultural environment
of the organisation. People from different cultural backgrounds have been working together for the
achievement of the organisational goal. The different cultural norms and values have led to the emergence of
multiculturalism in the organisation. The study of cross-cultural management may provide good insight for
understanding the behaviour of the people. Moreover, proper understanding of multicultural behaviour may
help the managers to channelise the employee’s energy for the attainment of the organisational goal. The
employees may also coexist and prosper together. In this unit, you will learn the emerging trends in
organisational behaviour and the influence of culture on the organisational behaviour. You will further learn
the cross cultural management and the management of the multinational corporations.

20.2 EMERGING TRENDS

In this century organisations are undergoing rapid changes and many other changes are expected. Such
changes are keeping top management as well as functional managers, constantly busy in making strategies
for having compatibility with internal and external environment.
From the angle of Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management, Organisations are
witnessing many changes. Some of them are:

• Emergence of Multinational Corporations;

• Cross-cultural environment at work place;
• More technically skilled workforce;
• Managing through higher degree of participation;
• Smaller size of workforce;
• Subdued role of seniority, dominant role of specialised skills;
• Flexitime and flexiplace;
• Difficult to maintain jobs for long without constant high-level training;
• Instability in job, making prospect of job security dim;
• Executives may be less committed to job but highly committed to profession;
• More commitment to quality; just “OK” quality won’t do;
• OB scientists are more busy in updating themselves;
• Training on Self-efficacy more in demand; it helps people to get employment and redeployment through
imparting interview skills and exposing participants to models of people who searched for and found a
good job;
• Some hottest career of this century; Information Technology, Education and Training (e.g. cross-cultural
trainers, employee trainers, school administrators), Environmental Consultants, Health Care, Diversity
Managers, Human Resource Managers, Employee Leasing Agents, etc.;
• Computerized Performance Evaluation may open another issue related to employees performance; it was
proved by Aiello & Svec (1993), that performance on a complex task is highest, when it is not monitored,
moderate when it is monitored in person, and still low when performance is monitored by computer;
• Communication in this century through electronic publishing, CD-ROM, wireless;
• Changing faces of managerial power and empowerment schemes; bosses are using more of expert power
than coercive power, bosses are sharing information instead of holding it, bosses are working as internal
consultant in stead of simply telling what to do;
• Workflow automation has saved lot of time wasted on gathering and transferring paper;
• Flat hierarchy and horizontal structure:
• Organisations are being structured around processes instead of tasks;
• Executive positions are being defined in terms of processes, instead of in terms of collection of
people;
• Organisational charts are changing from a collection of boxes, in stead, looking more like a process
map;
• In many cases cost-cut to the extent of one-third reported due to implementation of horizontal design;
• Contingency workforce (Permanent Temporary Employees)
Though permanent employees would remain in demand in future, organisations would be more like
apartments than a home for life; at present about half of the work force in U.S.A. is working on part-time/
freelance basis.
Due to multiple changes taking place simultaneously, Organisations are in search of getting reinvented. The
most widely accepted approach in the last decade, to reinventing organisations is the practice of
reengineering the corporation, designed by Michael Hammer and James Champy. Reengineering means
radically rethinking and redesigning those processes by which we create value (for customers) and do work.
Reengineering involves redefining processes as patterns of relationships connecting organisational members
with people outside the organisation. Hammer and Champy list speed, quality of service, and overhead costs
as important competitive issues that reengineering can address. They argue that the hallmark of a really
successful company is its willingness to abandon what has been successful in the past. There is no such thing
as permanent winning formula.
Increasing Concern for Quality
In the era of competition, survival and excellence are possible only through maintaining high quality of
products and services. Quality in the work place has gone beyond creating a better-than average product at a
good price, and now refers to achieving increasingly better products and services at progressively more
competitive prices. This includes doing the things right at the first time, rather than making and correcting
mistakes.
Concern for quality has brought following changes in the managerial scenario:
• More emphasis on training;
• Autonomy emerging as strong factor of motivation;
• Organisations emphasizing on sound system of indoctrination;
• New recruits are seeking more information about technical issues, performance feedback, referent issues
(what one is expected to do), normative issues, social feedback; such information seeking is a good sign,
as it helps, to build ability to perform jobs, to know expectations about what to do, and to feel fit into
various social groups;
• Effective teams are being built through designing strategies to interact with external environment; in a
study Ancona & Caldwell (1992) identified four such strategies in ascending order of effectiveness; i)
Isolationist, ii) Technical Scouting (searching for ideas about market, competition, technology, and
coordinating this information with team members), iii) Ambassadorial (protecting team from outside
pressure, persuading others to support team and lobbying for resources), iv) Comprehensive
(ambassadorial plus coordinating technical information with non-team members);
• Survey Feedback to improve upward communication;
• Electronic brainstorming as a device for generating ideas; research suggests that electronic brainstorming
produces more number of quality ideas than face-to-face brainstorming;
• Team leaders are shifting their focus according to following comparative chart:
From to
Directing people Inspiring teamwork and building trust
Training individuals Expanding team capabilities
Managing one-on-one Creating team identity
Preventing conflict Making most of team differences
 Reacting to change Foresee and influence change
• Criteria of quality becoming more comprehensive; e.g. Malcom Baldridge Quality Award in U.S.A. is
given early to three types of organisations: manufacturing, small business, and, service; - the award is
given on the basis of following seven criteria (total points: - 1000):
Senior executive leadership : 90 points
Information and analysis : 80 points
Strategic quality planning : 60 points
Human resource development & management : 150 points
Management of process quality : 140 points
Quality and operational results : 180 points
Customer focus and satisfaction : 300 points

The issue of quality is being addressed through an approach known as Total Quality Management (TQM).
TQM is an organisational cultural commitment to satisfying customers through the use of an integral system
of tools, techniques, and training. TQM involves the continuous improvement of organisational processes,
resulting in high- quality products and services. This meaning attempts to capture the essence of W. E.
Deming’s philosophy of quality. It would be appropriate here to introduce the approach of Deming (one of
pioneers of quality movement) towards quality management.

Deming’s fourteen steps of quality management are:

• Create constancy of purpose for improvement of product and service;

• Adopt the new philosophy;
• Cease dependence on mass inspection;
• End the practice of awarding business on price tag alone;
• Constantly and forever improve the system of production and service;
• Institute modern methods of training on the job;
• Institute leadership;
• Drive out fear;
• Break down barriers between staff areas;
• Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the workforce;
• Eliminate numerical quotas;
• Remove barriers to pride of workmanship;
• Institute a vigorous programme of education and training;
• Take action to accomplish the transformation.
Another approach called “Six Sigma” became very popular and effective in the area of quality management.
Six Sigma defines the concept of achieving approximately zero defects (more precisely, 3.4 defects per
million or 99.999% defect-free manufacturing).
Six steps to Six Sigma are:
• Determine the product you make;
• Determine who are your customers ;
• Determine the suppliers you need to make the product;
• Workers map out the process to fulfill mission;
• Evaluating the process and eliminating the non-value-added steps or the sources of error;
• Establishment of measurement criteria and the drive for continuous improvement.

Quality movement is here to stay. However Tom Peters talks in terms of going even beyond quality. He
argues that the only way to survive today is through creativity and imagination, and managers need to go
beyond current thinking. He claims that crazy times call for crazy organisations. Peters asks to go beyond
change through abandonment of everything. His following prescriptions are interesting:
• Beyond Decentralisation: Disorganising to unleash imagination;
• Beyond Empowerment: Turning every job into a business;
• Beyond Loyalty: Learning to think like an independent contractor;
• Beyond Reengineering: Creating a corporate talk show;
• Beyond Learning: Creating the curious corporation;
• Beyond TQM: Toward WOW
• Beyond Change: Toward Perpetual Revolution.

Activity A

Till now you have noted various changes, which are taking place in modern organisations. The issues
discussed above in this unit are not exhaustive. Through searching current business-magazines list five other
important changes (according to your view) those are taking place in modern organisations. What are the
reasons behind selecting these five issues? How these issues are influencing human side of management?
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20.3 CULTURE AND ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

Various studies suggest that values differ across culture. In this field Geert Hofstede has done one of the
prominent studies. Though the study is more than thirty years old, it is still treated as an authentic study to
find influence of culture on values. After doing survey in fifty countries - India is one of them - he found that
managers and employees vary on five value dimensions of national culture. These five dimensions are
following:
• Power Distance: It is a national culture attribute describing the extent to which a society accepts that
power in institutions and organisations are distributed unequally. This variable may range between
 relatively equal (low power distance) to extremely unequal (high power distance). Countries found to be
having low power distance are: Austria, U.S.A., Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Israel, and New
Zealand etc. Countries having high power distance are : Malaysia, France, Indonesia, Pakistan, Columbia
Venezuela, China, Russia, Hong Kong, Philippines etc. Japan was found to be having moderate power
distance. When fifty countries were ranked along with continuum, from low to high power distance,
India ranked 42nd, meaning India is high on power distance.

• Individualism versus Collectivism: Individualism is a national culture attribute describing the degree to
which people prefer to act as individuals rather than a member of groups. Collectivism is a national
culture attribute that describes a tight social framework in which people expect others in groups of which
they are a part to look after them and protect them. Countries found to be high on individualism are:
U.S.A., U.K., France, Germany, Netherlands, and New Zealand etc. It has been found that Mexico is also
moving towards more degree of individualism. Countries found to be high on collectivism are :
Guatemala, Columbia, Pakistan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia etc. Japan and Russia have been found to
be mid-way between individualism and collectivism. When fifty countries were ranked along with
continuum, from individualism to collectivism, India ranked 30th, meaning India is slightly tilted towards
collectivism, in comparison to other countries studied by Hofstede.

• Masculinity versus Femininity: Masculinity is concerned with quantity of life, and femininity is
concerned with quality of life. Masculinity is a national culture attribute describing the extent to which
societal values are characterised by assertiveness and materialism. Femininity is a national culture
attribute that emphasizes relationships and concern for others. Countries high on masculinity are Japan,
Germany, Hong Kong, U.S.A., Austria, Ireland, New Zealand, and South Africa etc. However, in recent
years U.S.A. has reported to be moving a bit towards femininity. Countries high on femininity are :
Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Chile, Portugal, and Russia etc. Countries mid-way
between masculinity and femininity are China, France, and Indonesia etc. When fifty countries were
ranked along with continuum, from masculinity to femininity, India ranked 30th, meaning India is slightly
tilted towards femininity.

• Uncertainty Avoidance: It is a national culture attribute describing the extent to which a society feels
threatened by uncertain and ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them. Where uncertainty avoidance
is high, society prefers structured to unstructured situations, and people have an increased level of
anxiety, stress, and aggressiveness. Countries high on uncertainty avoidance are : Greece, Portugal,
Japan, Chile, France, and Russia etc. Countries low on uncertainty avoidance : are Singapore, Denmark,
Switzerland, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and U.S.A. etc. Countries
moderate on uncertainty avoidance are : China, Germany, Japan, Netherlands etc. When fifty countries
were ranked along with continuum, from low to high on uncertainty avoidance, India ranked 9th, meaning
India is low on uncertainty avoidance.

• Long-term versus Short-term Orientation: Long-term orientation is a national culture attribute that
emphasizes the future, thrift, and persistence. Short-term orientation is a national culture attribute that
emphasizes the past and present, respect for tradition, and fulfilling social obligation. Countries high on
long-term orientation are : China, Hong Kong etc. Countries high on short-term orientation are: France,
Indonesia, Russia, and U.S.A. etc. The countries on mid-way between the two orientations are Germany,
Netherlands etc.

Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck have given their own framework to categorize the culture of various societies.
They have considered six dimensions, and have analysed the tendencies of various societies on the six
dimensions, which are :
• Relationship to Environment
• Subjugation (e.g., Middle-East)
• Harmony (e.g., Far-East)
• Domination (e.g., Canada, U.S.A.)
• Time Orientation
• Past (e.g. , Italy, Greece)
• Present (e.g., U.S.A.)
• Future (e.g., Japan)

• Nature of People
• Basically good (e.g., Developing Countries)
• Basically evil (e.g., N. Korea)
• Mixed (e.g., U.S.A.)

• Activity Orientation
• Doing (e.g., U.S.A.)
• Being (e.g., Mexico)
• Controlling (e.g., France)

• Focus of Responsibility
• Individualistic (e.g., U.S.A.)
• Group (e.g. , Malaysia, Israel)
• Hierarchical (e.g., U.K., France)

• Conception of Space
• Public (e.g., Japan)
• Private (e.g., U.S.A.)
• Mixed (Most of the societies).

Check Your Progress A

1) Whether emerging trends have made a work place more interesting or more tense?
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2) How far do you agree with the findings of Hofstede about work place related culture of India?
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20.4 CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT

The last decade has witnessed emergence of multiculturalism at organisations. Multiculturalism, as applied
to the workplace, is the view that there are many different cultural backgrounds and factors that are
important in organisations, and that people from different backgrounds can coexist and flourish within an
organisation. As far as findings of cross-cultural studies are concerned, they are more indicative than
deterministic, at a particular point of time.
Following issues are worth considering for comprehensive understanding of managing in a cross-cultural
environment:

Cross-Cultural Differences in Sex Role Stereotyping

• Schein & Muller (1992) did a study to find sex role stereotyping in three countries, Germany, U.K., and,
U.S.A. Correlation was computed between successful managers and men, and between successful
managers and women. In all three countries, both men and women perceived higher correlation between
successful managers and men than that between successful managers and women. However in U.S.A.,
women perceived women as more similar to successful managers than in U.K., and in U.K. women
perceived women as more similar to successful managers than in Germany (please note that number of
women managers are more in U.S.A. than in U.K., and number of women managers are more in U.K.
than in Germany). It indicates that opportunity of men coming in contact with women managers is not
significantly reducing the stereotyping against women managers, but opportunity for women managers
coming in contact with more number of women managers is improving the perception of women
managers about women managers.

Cross-Cultural Differences in Achievement Motivation

• McClelland (1925 & 1950) found that there is high degree of correlation between need for achievement
and degree of industrialisation (based on criteria of per capita income and per capita electricity
generation);

• Kizen (ongoing improvement for everyone in the organisation; - originated in Japan by an American
W.E.Deming who was responsible for development of Japan after World War II) which is a substitute of
need for achievement as resulted in total quality improvement in Japan;
• Following tips have been identified for achievement orientation/Kaizen:

Set moderately difficult goal;

Give lots of feedback;
Let people take responsibility for their work;
Encourage an action orientation.

Cross-Cultural Differences in Work Values / Motivating factors

• In a study, Elizur, Borg, Hunt & Beck (1991) surveyed people in eight countries (U.S.A., Netherlands,
Hungary, Israel, Germany, Taiwan, China, and S. Korea). They were asked to rank 24 work values e.g.,
Achievement, Interesting Job, Advancement, Meaningful Work, Use of Ability, Esteem, Security,
Supervisor, Co-workers, Pay, etc. According to the study, Achievement and Interesting Job are two most
highly rated work values across various cultures. In all the countries Pay is not highly rated. The study
indicates that basic work values are not very different across culture.

• However various motivation theories (mostly developed in U.S.A.) may be interpreted differently in
different cultures. Maslow suggests that people start with physiological need, and then move to security
need, social need, esteem need, and self-actualized need. However in countries where uncertainty
avoidance is high (e.g. Japan, Greece, Mexico), security need may be more dominant than other needs. In
other culture where femininity is high (e.g. Scandinavian Countries), social needs may be on top priority.
In countries having tendency to take moderate risk (e.g. U.S.A., U.K., Canada), achievement motivation
 may be high, whereas in countries having high degree of uncertainty avoidance (e.g., Chile, Portugal),
achievement motivation may be low.

Cross-Cultural Differences in Social Loafing

• A study by Early (1993) suggests that there is less degree of social loafing in collectivistic culture
(e.g. in China, Israel) and more in individualistic culture (e.g. in U.S.A.). It implies that in collectivistic
culture performance improves in group, whereas it goes down in group activities in individualistic culture.

Cross-Cultural Differences in Decision Making

• In individualistic culture (e.g. U.S.A.) quick decision by individual is emphasized, and a situation is
perceived as problem earlier. In Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, a situation is not quickly perceived as
a problem, hence decision is relatively delayed. In Japan decision is taken through gaining
acceptance of immediate colleagues. In Sweden, decision is taken involving all that may be affected,
whereas in India, consulting subordinate is a sign of weakness. In Egypt, more time is expected to be
taken on deciding over important issues. Throughout Middle East, quick decision is perceived as an
action in haste.

Cross-Cultural Differences in Conflict Handling

• A study by Ting Toomey suggests that in individualistic culture (e.g. U.S.A), there is more use of
dominating style and less of avoiding style. In such culture desire to be obliging is low. In China there is
preference for obliging (accommodating) style. In Taiwan, preference is for avoiding style.

Cross-Cultural Differences in Leadership Behaviour

• In all the cultures the two basic ingredients of leadership behaviour are: concern for people and
concern for work;

• People in different cultures show concern for people differently

U.K.: showing employees how to use new equipment and helping to accept change;

U.S.A.: not sending written memos, not talking about work-related problems;

Hong Kong: spending social time together;

Japan: speaking about subordinates’ problems with others in their absence, and by teaching new job
skills;

• People in different cultures show concern for work differently

U.K.: voicing dissatisfaction;

U.S.A.: addressing superiors using formal language;

Hong Kong: meeting with subordinates and encouraging communication;

Japan: checking work quality and helping people complete their work.
Cross-Cultural Differences in Managing Change

• In cultures where people believe that they can dominate their environment, individuals will take a
proactive view of change e.g. in U.S.A., Canada etc.; where people see themselves as subjugated to their
environment, there would be passive approach towards change e.g. in Iran, Saudi Arabia etc.;
• In culture having long-term orientation of time, people would wait patiently for change to occur e.g. in
Japan; in culture having short-term orientation, people would expect fast result e.g. in U.S.A. and
Canada;
• Culture emphasizing more on past, and on tradition, would put more resistance to change e.g. Italy;
culture emphasizing on present would put less resistance to change e.g. U.S.A.;
• In high-power-distance cultures, such as the Philippines or Venezuela, change efforts will tend to be
autocratically implemented. In contras in low-power-distance cultures such as Denmark and Israel,
change efforts will be implemented through greater use of participation.

Cross-Cultural Differences in Personality

• The prevalence of Type A personalities (high intensity for goal orientation) may be more in capitalistic
countries (e.g. North America), where achievement and material success are highly valued. Such
countries have high emphasis on time management and efficiency. On the other hand, in cultures such as
Sweden and France, where materialism is less revered, we would predict a smaller proportion of Type A
personalities.

While communicating with people from different cultures, you can take certain measures to minimize
misperceptions, misinterpretations, and misevaluation. These measures are:

• Try to assess the cultural context;

• Assume differences until similarity is proven;
• Emphasize description rather than interpretation or evaluation;
• Practice empathy;
• Treat your interpretations as a working hypothesis.

Managing Cultural Diversity

The whole world is shrinking into a single global village and hence multi-national business and social
interactions require the integration of various diverse cultures into organisational philosophy and operations.
Managing cultural diversity can improve organisational performance.

Taylor Cox and Stacy Blake have suggested six arguments for managing cultural diversity. These are:

• Cost Argument: Managing cost would lead to more advantages in diverse environment;
• Resource-Acquisition Argument: Those with the best reputations of managing diversity will win the
competition for the best personnel;
• Marketing Argument: The insight and cultural sensitivity that members with roots in other countries
bring to the marketing effort should improve these efforts in important ways;
• Creativity Argument: Diversity of perspectives and less emphasis on conformity to norms of the past
should improve the level of creativity;
• Problem-solving Argument: Wider range of perspectives lead to potentially better decisions and critical
analysis of issues;
• System Flexibility Argument: Multicultural model suggest that system will become less determinant, less
standardized, and therefore more fluid; the increased fluidity should create greater flexibility to react to
environmental changes.
Cox and Blake have suggested following spheres of activities for managing cultural diversity:

• Organisation Culture: Valuing differences and cultural inclusion;

• Mind-set about Diversity: Creating supportive environment;
• Cultural Differences: Promoting acceptance and reaping benefits of diversity;
• Education Problems: Educate management on valuing differences;
• Human Resource Management Systems: Have bias free approach in the areas of recruitment, training
and development, performance appraisal, compensation and benefits, promotion etc.;
• Impartiality: Promote impartiality on the issues of gender, race, ethnicity, and nationality.
Thomas suggests that there are several guidelines for managing diversity, but he proposes one test
emphatically that he calls Special Consideration Test. The test consists of one question: Does this
programme, policy, or principle gives special consideration to one group? Will it contribute to everyone’s
success, or will it only produce an advantage for selected group? Is it designed for them as opposed to us?
Whenever the answer is yes, the management is not yet on the road to manage diversity.

Check Your Progress B

1) What are those work values, which have shown consistency across cultures?

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2) How can cultural diversity be managed more effectively?

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20.5 MANAGING MULTINATIONAL ORGANISATION

Multinational organisation or multinational corporation (MNC) is a large corporation with operations and
divisions spread over several countries but controlled by a central headquarters.
Following are the features of MNCs from perspective of human resource management:
• They have to work in a different legal, political, and economic system;
• They have to face more tough competitions from other MNCs and local industries;
• They need to be flexible people should be able to stretch their potential;
• Their organisational structure need to be less tall and more flat;
• People selected should have global view;
• Recruitment and selection need to be hauled up to meet international challenges;
• People need training in multi-skilling;
• People selected need special training in cross-cultural values, socialization, languages etc.;
• There is need to strike balance between autonomy and control;
• There is need to strike balance within and between countries, for working as a single system.

Rhinesmith has suggested six guidelines that assist in creating a global culture within organisations. These
are:

• Create a clear and simple mission statement. A shared mission could unite individuals from diverse
cultural backgrounds.
• Create systems that ensure an effective flow of information. Information flow should be consistent
throughout the geographically dispersed organisation.
• Broaden managers’ minds to allow them to think globally.
• Develop global career paths.
• Use cultural differences as a major asset.
• Implement worldwide education and team development programmes. Unified training efforts that
emphasize corporate values can help establish a shared identity among employees.

Activity B

Meet a manager working in a multinational with headquarters outside India and having an unit in India.
Discuss the challenges in managing diversified work force coming from various cultures and working at one
place.
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20.6 LET US SUM UP
Organisations are witnessing constant changes in modern era. The emergence of cross-cultural environment,
technological oriented work place, increasing participation of employees, continuous upgradation and
increasing role of multinational corporation requires new ways of managing them. Moreover, in an era of the
competitive environment, survival and excellence are possible through maintaining high quality of products
and services. The total quality management which involves the continuous improvement of organisational
process and operations has become very important for the organisation . The six sigma approach of quality
management has been also gaining importance which focuses on zero defects. These changes influence the
behaviour of the organisation. The behaviour requires to be dealt in a cross-cultural environment as well.

The multiculturalism has been emerging in the organisation. The issues related to comprehensive
understanding of managing in a cross cultural environment include : cross-cultural differences in sex role
stereotyping, achievement motivation, work values or motivating factors, social loafing, decision-making,
conflict handling, leadership behavior, managing change and personality. Managing cultural diversity may
improve the organisational performance. Therefore, the operations of multinational corporations must be
managed to suit the requirements of cultural diversity.

20.7 KEY WORDS

Collectivism: A national culture attribute that describes a tight social framework in which people expect
others in groups of which they are a part to look after them and protect them.

Femininity: A national culture attribute that emphasizes relationships and concern for others.

Individualism: A national culture attribute describing the degree to which people prefer to act as individuals
rather than a member of groups.

Kizen: Ongoing improvement for everyone in the organisation.

Masculinity: A national culture attribute describing the extent to which societal values are characterised by
assertiveness and materialism.

Multinational Corporation (MNC): A large corporation with operations and divisions spread over several
countries but controlled by a central headquarters.

Power Distance: A national culture attribute describing the extent to which a society accepts that power in
institutions and organisations which are distributed unequally.

Reengineering: Radically rethinking and redesigning those processes by which we create value (for
customers) and do work.

Six Sigma: Defines the concept of achieving approximately zero defects.

Total Quality Management (TQM): An organisational cultural commitment to satisfying customers

through the use of an integral system of tools, techniques, and training.

Uncertainty Avoidance: It is a national culture attribute describing the extent to which a society feels
threatened by uncertain and ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them.
20.8 TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1) Explain some of the emerging trends in the fields of organisations and Organisational Behaviour.
How these changes influence the organisation ?
2) Describe Total Quality Management and Business Process Reengineering. How are they important
for the organisation ?
3) What are dimensions of cross-cultural study done by Hofstede? How national culture influence work
culture in organisations?
4) Suggest measures for managing cultural diversity. How multinational organisations can be managed
more effectively.

Note : These questions will help you to understand the unit better. Try to write answers for them. Do
not submit your answers to the university for assessment. These are for your practice only.