Europe: so diverse, so united
For this module of the subject it was my task to prepare the exposition with two other classmates, Alejandro Herrera and Laura Palacio. We composed the text below in order to fulfill with the wiki table of contents (by wiki I mean an online book we are doing during the entire semester for the subject). The themes are basically based on European culture and its organizations.
The changing contours of European 'space' and human movement, European management style
Europe is a very diverse continent and that diversity is reflected in the culture and also in the management styles of the different regions.
Japanese management, for example, is recognized for the reduction of costs, especially in the production area, and showed that high quality and lower costs can go together. The American management is characterized by managers' self-perceptions which are more internalized, and less shaped by the reactions of colleagues.
But when talking about a European management, it is important to have into account the main different regions and each culture that gives as a result a different management style
Being success on Europe depends on the knowledge of these differences. Because what works in one region may not work in another.
European managers have to face different business environments, different cultures and also different legal systems, corporate governance issues, market orientations and perception of competition.
One of the most important difference is in the legal systems; civil or common law which vary depending on the country.
France, Germany and Nordic countries use civil law and the Anglo-Saxon region, the common law. There are also significant differences in corporate governance codes.
”Some European countries emphasize on cooperative relationships and consensus, while other countries focus on competition and market processes in their corporate governance frameworks”
Anglo-Saxon countries have a market and shareholders orientation with a high value of competition while countries like Germany and Austria are stakeholder oriented and have more concern for co-operation and consensus.
When talking about the cultural differences is important to take into account Hofstede's and Trompenaar’s research on cultural differences. They propose to analyze cultures with different parameters which vary depending on the region or country. (European cultures and management styles. International Journal of Asian Management. 01-DEC-04)
The constructions of communities and identities in Europe
The changing contours of European 'space' and human movement, European management style
Europe is a very diverse continent and that diversity is reflected in the culture and also in the management styles of the different regions.
Japanese management, for example, is recognized for the reduction of costs, especially in the production area, and showed that high quality and lower costs can go together. The American management is characterized by managers' self-perceptions which are more internalized, and less shaped by the reactions of colleagues.
But when talking about a European management, it is important to have into account the main different regions and each culture that gives as a result a different management style
Being success on Europe depends on the knowledge of these differences. Because what works in one region may not work in another.
European managers have to face different business environments, different cultures and also different legal systems, corporate governance issues, market orientations and perception of competition.
One of the most important difference is in the legal systems; civil or common law which vary depending on the country.
France, Germany and Nordic countries use civil law and the Anglo-Saxon region, the common law. There are also significant differences in corporate governance codes.
”Some European countries emphasize on cooperative relationships and consensus, while other countries focus on competition and market processes in their corporate governance frameworks”
Anglo-Saxon countries have a market and shareholders orientation with a high value of competition while countries like Germany and Austria are stakeholder oriented and have more concern for co-operation and consensus.
When talking about the cultural differences is important to take into account Hofstede's and Trompenaar’s research on cultural differences. They propose to analyze cultures with different parameters which vary depending on the region or country. (European cultures and management styles. International Journal of Asian Management. 01-DEC-04)
The constructions of communities and identities in Europe
We based our culture research on Hofstede, he analyzes four criteria which are: Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity and Avoidance of Uncertainty.
“Power distance Index measures the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally”
“Individualism is 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.”
“Masculinity versus its opposite, 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”
“Uncertainty avoidance 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.”
“Power distance Index measures the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally”
“Individualism is 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.”
“Masculinity versus its opposite, 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”
“Uncertainty avoidance 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.”
There is also another research made by Trompenaar. It shows other 6 criteria important to differentiate cultures, they are: Universalism vs. Particularism, Individualism vs. Communitarianism, Specificity vs. Diffuseness, Achieved vs. Ascribed Status, inner vs. Outer Direction and Sequential vs. Synchronous Time.
Universalism is the application of certain rules everywhere while particularism means the avoidance of formalisms or rigid norms. Individualistic cultures are concerned for themselves while collectivism shows concern for group and all its members.
Specificity and diffuseness refers to how individuals are comfortable in relationships with other individuals and the degree of involvement. Achievement refers to how status is achieved through work and abstraction means status depending on age, gender... Inner dimension means that virtues are inside each individual and outer dimension consider virtues in the external environment.
Sequential and synchronous refers to the perception of time and activities to do in that time, one by one or simultaneously.
Universalism is the application of certain rules everywhere while particularism means the avoidance of formalisms or rigid norms. Individualistic cultures are concerned for themselves while collectivism shows concern for group and all its members.
Specificity and diffuseness refers to how individuals are comfortable in relationships with other individuals and the degree of involvement. Achievement refers to how status is achieved through work and abstraction means status depending on age, gender... Inner dimension means that virtues are inside each individual and outer dimension consider virtues in the external environment.
Sequential and synchronous refers to the perception of time and activities to do in that time, one by one or simultaneously.
European organizations
“The new configuration of the EU brings great expectations and considerable anxiety for organizations and their members. On the one hand, it can be seen as an opportunity to develop a powerful economic entity with a strong cultural heritage, similar values, and enough diversity to foster creativity and innovation. On the other hand, it brings the fear of diluting national identities, clashing cultural norms, religious strife, and incompatibility of leadership styles and work practices.” (The future of European business leadership pg. 38.)
“Cultural industries are high on the European Union’s policy agenda. To unleash the ‘Lisbon potential’ of the cultural industries, the establishment of a customized European cultural industries policy is required.”
“A future European cultural industries policy can be summarized as a policy towards small, media and digitalized service industries. The evident lack of coherence in description approaches and applied regulations of the EU institutions will pose serious problems for such a policy-in-the-making.” (DIVERSITY UNITED Towards a European cultural industries policy)
According to similar characteristics patterns, how can we group cultures in Europe?
Taking into account these main variables or criteria to identify cultures, one can identify five main regions or cultures grouped for its similar characteristics:
- Anglo-Saxon culture (Ireland, UK)
- Nordic culture (Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Sweden, and Finland)
- Germanic culture (Austria, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland)
- Frankophile culture (France, Greece, Portugal, and Spain)
- Italian culture
But although this groups have similar characteristics and similar ways to deal management, one can find significant differences inside one country depending on the regions inside it, for example inside Spain there are a lot of “sub regions” that are important to consider because they have not a common identity or idiosyncrasy which represents their common characteristics, interest or styles.
Europe is a very diverse continent and thanks to that diversity is very hard, or maybe impossible, to establish or determine a unique European management style, assuming that there is not a cultural unit that identifies the whole continent.
“Despite growing unification and standardization in Europe, vast cultural, political and educational differences still exist. It is impossible to apply a universal set of principles to European leadership.” (The future of European business leadership pg. 39.)
References
Perlitz, M & Seger. F 2004. European cultures and management styles. International Journal of Asian Management. 3: 1-26.
Kets, M,INSEAD, and Konstantin Korotov. The future of european business leadership. European School of Management and Technology. 37-42
PABLO VALLEJO MEJIA docente tiempo completo Universidad EAFIT Medellín
Departamento negocios internacionales. Entrevista. Septiembre 2009
Ellen Huijgh. Diversity united?. Towards a European cultural industries policy
209-220
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