Differences In Work Related Values Across Countries

Introductory notes

Nowadays, in the context of the intensified process of globalization, a truly great leader of an international company must posses the following skills: the open-mindedness for the successful identification of the cultural differences, an in-depth understanding of the particularities of the general work-related mentality of a certain country, high flexibility in bringing in and implementing new work standards, values and concepts into a new country without creating a cultural clash.

The best way to illustrate how the multicultural environment in which every single country that embraces in a certain degree the principle of the free movement of workers currently functions, from a labour-related point of view, is the example of an IT software company with these characteristics: the company is based in Romania, Bucharest, its founders have Russian origins and education and professional experience dated in the communist era, the management system is adjusted from an UK model, its shareholders and managers are from Romania, UK, Poland, and the company has on-going projects in several parts of the world, such as Dubai, Morocco, Poland, Serbia, Greece, etc. In such a situation, the best way in which the company’s employees and managers can have harmonized interaction with each other and the outsiders is through the correct understanding of and respect for the differences in work-related values between themselves and their collaborators.

In the following pages I will approach the subject under discussion both from a theoretical point of view, with focus on the concepts introduced by Geert Hofstede, but also by analysing the research conducted by other authors, and from a practical perspective by assessing the available data for the countries that I have chosen to put under scrutiny, meaning France, Romania, Russia and Turkey, taken both individually, but also with the interactions and correlations between them. My main purpose is to offer a general view of the theoretical considerations that have been introduced throughout the years and a thorough examination of the work-related values of each of the four countries taken in corroboration with factors such as: political regimes, historical evolution, economic development and religious beliefs.

Chapter I

Theoretical considerations

1.1. Definitions

Due to the fact that the work-related values are primarily a part of the culture of a specific country and that globalization represents a process with great cultural implications even for those countries that are change resistant and self-sufficient, in order to have a better understanding of the multiple facets of the issues under analysis, I consider necessary to provide a definition of the main concepts that I will be using further on, such as culture, values, labour, globalization.

1.1.1. Culture

The first definition that was accepted on a large scale is the one given by the English anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor in 1871, according to which ‘CULTURE or Civilization, taken in its wide ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.’

1.1.2. Values

From a philosophical point of view and in a wider sense, the term values can be defined as ‘Important and lasting beliefs or ideals shared by the members of a culture about what is good or bad and desirable or undesirable. Values have major influence on a person's behaviour and attitude and serve as broad guidelines in all situations. Some common business values are fairness, innovation and community involvement.’, or in short as ‘Core beliefs that guide and motivate attitudes and actions’.

1.1.3. Labour

The entry provided by the Encyclopaedia Britannica for the term labour is, from an economic perspective, as such: ‘In a more special and technical sense, however, labour means any valuable service rendered by a human agent in the production of wealth, other than accumulating and providing capital or assuming the risks that are a normal part of business undertakings.’

1.1.4. Globalization

From a cultural point of view, globalization means ‘a phenomenon by which the experience of everyday life, as influenced by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, reflects a standardization of cultural expressions around the world. Propelled by the efficiency or appeal of wireless communications, electronic commerce, popular culture, and international travel, globalization has been seen as a trend toward homogeneity that will eventually make human experience everywhere essentially the same.’, and from an economic point of view, globalization is ‘the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale’.

By combining all the above definitions, we can produce a customized definition for the expression differences in work-related values across countries, as follows: The differences between the beliefs, customs and morals that shape the attitude and behaviour of the human agent engaged in a profitable activity, as part of an organization, values which derive from the cultural environment in which its education was conducted, differences that tend to fade away as a direct consequence of the globalization, process that maybe in a distant future will lead to the homogenization of cultures.

1.2. The first emergence of work-related values concepts – Geert Hofstede

1.2.1. About Geert Hofstede

According to the description available on the HofstedeCentre’s presentation website, Geert Hofstede ‘is recognized internationally for having developed the first empirical model of “dimensions“ of national culture, thus establishing a new paradigm for taking account of cultural elements in international economics, communication and cooperation. Later, he also developed a model for organizational cultures.’

In his own words, Geert Hofstede says about himself that he is “a Dutch social psychologist who did a pioneering study of cultures across modern nations’, and according to his resume, he has a technical education, as a mechanical engineer, mixed with an academic background as professor of management and organizational anthropology.

The main reason for which Geert Hofstede is ‘recognized internationally’ is because in the ’60 to ’70, in the period in which he was professor at Maastricht University, he conducted an extensive study focused on the work values, survey that gathered the answers of 88,000 employees from 72 countries. The results of the study were published in 1980 in a book with the title of ‘Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work Related Values’. Besides the fact that Geert Hofstede introduced in his book new concepts with great implications for management and marketing, another important effect of his findings was the emergence of an avalanche of culture studies that appeared in business journals all over the world, totalizing 575 from 1980 to 1990, growing to 1712 from 1991 to 2000, and up to 2212 from 2001 to 2007.

1.2.2. The Hofstede Model – new concepts

The concepts introduced by the Hofstede Model are: power distance (PDI), individualism versus collectivism (IDV), masculinity versus femininity (MAS), uncertainty avoidance (UAI), long-term orientation (LTO), this dimension of the national culture was added at a later date, in 1991, as a result of a study conducted by Michael Bond based on the Confucian dynamism, and the sixth dimension – indulgence versus restraint, that has been added in 2010 having as starting point the survey conducted by Michael Minkov in 93 countries.

The Hofstede Model, due to the fact that this set o values is applicable to all national cultures, even though is considered by others ‘overly reductionist’, helps researches to describe and explain in a simplified manner any culture in the world for the direct benefit of global marketing and management.

As previously stated, Geert Hofstede, ever since the first edition of his book Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work Related Values was published in 1980, became a main stream author and his work was taken as a predominant milestone for the majority of the research conducted in the field of cultural differences as a basis for the decision-making process in global marketing and management, but the concepts he introduced were not entirely new. Prior to Hofstede’s IBM survey, other anthropologists, sociologists and psychologists made reference to similar factors such as individualism, for example, Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck (in 1961), Parsons (in 1937), Hall (in 1966), Triandis (1972) and others.

1.2.2.1. Power Distance (PDI)

This dimension expresses the degree to which the less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. The fundamental issue here is how a society handles inequalities among people. People in societies exhibiting a large degree of power distance accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification. In societies with low power distance, people strive to equalise the distribution of power and demand justification for inequalities of power.

In societies with a low PDI, the differences of wealth and power between its citizens are diminished or inexistent, the main goal in these cultures being equality of opportunities. As compared to the more traditional societies, in the modern cultures, the power and the different levels of social status are not perceived as being something that can be granted, a necessity or an exhaustive normality. The social distribution of power is not reserved to certain individuals, a person’s social background can not directly influence the rights or possibilities of that person to achieve or loose power. Therefore, one’s social status can substantially differ from the one of his/her parents, even in terms of accumulated wealth, prestige and professional occupation.

In a broader vision, the power distance can be reflected even in the subordinate – manager relationship by the interaction between these two individuals with different status (as hierarchy). A high PDI equals a stronger social obedience, meaning subordination to a superior status. This kind of relationship can be identified both within families (child – parent, wife – husband, younger brother – older brother), within organizations (employee – manager), but also at a more general social level (average citizen – celebrity, poor individual – rich individual, etc.). In this case, the management style is autocratic (or dictatorial), meaning that the employees are nurturing their lack of initiative and are letting themselves to be led and the manager’s decisions can not be questioned in a straightforward manner because the ‘boss is always right’. In order to rise on the hierarchic ladder, the main course of action for the subordinates is to ‘get on the good side of’ the direct manager or to use skills such as flattery, praising, strict obedience, sabotaging of colleague, and other activities of this kind. On the other side, in societies with a low PDI, the relationship between subordinate and hierarchic manager is the one established in the job description, compared to the cultures with high PDI, in which a higher rank equals an elevated informal rank, having as effect the over-crossing of the boundaries of one’s authority way beyond one’s job attributes. The ‘boss’ is the beneficiary of a wide range of privileges, most of them unofficial, this fact being an attribute of his/her social status, not of his/her actual position within the organization or society. Such being the case, the subordinate follows any orders, even if they run against the company’s objectives or the job’s attributes. The bottom line is that in cultures with high PDI the individual’s social status is more important than the actual he actual position he/she has in the company.

The questions that can be asked in a survey in order to asses the power distance can be formulated as such:

Do you think that the individuals that know how to ‘cozy up’ to their bosses are favoured by them? Choice of answers: a) usually yes; b) sometimes; c) rarely/never.

If the boss is not right, is it a good idea for a subordinate to contradict him/her? Choice of answers: a) a boss can never be contradicted; b) a boss can be contradicted, but is not wise to do so; c) if the boss is not right, then is O.K. to contradict him/her.

Do you have colleagues that try to ‘cozy up’ to their bosses in order to gain different benefits? Choice of answers: a) many/almost all of them; b) a few; c) very few/none.

During the working hours your boss askes you to go out and buy him a newspaper. What do you do? Choice of answers: a) I say absolutely NO; b) I go even if it bothers me; c) I think it’s natural to go; d) I’m not waiting to be told twice and I ask him/her if he/she needs me to buy him/her something else too.

There is not a very close connection between a high power distance and the economic growth. But still, this connection exists and can be very rationally explained if we take into account the societal effects of the orientation towards position and the one towards individual. Thus, in cultures with high PDI:

getting a promotion is a very difficult task, the employees are highly unmotivated;

the boss is always right, even when he/she is wrong;

managers use the company’s assets as if they were their own, resulting in a great waste of resources, both material and human, but even financial;

the employees with a low professional status can not put to good use their creativity, intelligence, etc.

All these lead to a low economic growth in those companies that belong to a culture with a high PDI, and very often this situation implies a low level of wages.

According to the results of the IBM study conducted by Hofstede, power distance scores are high for Latin, Asian and African countries and smaller for Germanic countries.

1.2.2.2. Individualism vs Collectivism (IDV)

The high side of this dimension, called Individualism, can be defined as a preference for a loosely-knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of themselves and their immediate families only. Its opposite, Collectivism, represents a preference for a tightly-knit framework in society in which individuals can expect their relatives or members of a particular in-group to look after them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. A society's position on this dimension is reflected in whether people’s self-image is defined in terms of “I” or “we.”

This cultural characteristic can not be sufficiently defined only by making reference to the interpersonal relationships, therefore, it must be emphasized that intense, wide and predetermined interpersonal relationships entail a social association to a group (the individual is seen and dealt with as a part of the group with which he is associated, that is why he has to preserve the specific behaviour of that group, to show loyalty towards and look after the other group members), whereas, weak, scarce and self-centred interpersonal relationships generate a social approach with focus on the individual (the individual is perceived as the sum of his personal character traits, he is encouraged to become free and independent from other group members). In cultures with strong interpersonal relationships the focus goes on the group dynamics, as compared to those with weak interpersonal relationships in which the most important thing is the self-development and realization.

Some authors have criticized the individualism-collectivism dimension considering it too imprecise and limited because of the multiple facets, connotations and components that can be part of this concept. For example, Ho and Chiu have identified 18 independent components that could compose a more general construct, such as: uniqueness versus uniformity, self-reliance versus conformity, and economic independence versus interdependence.

Taking into consideration all the meanings that can be given to the word individualism, it is necessary to add a few remarks in order to clarify the exact connotation of this concept that is being discussed here:

Individualism may not be confused with selfishness and other similar concepts. High individualism signifies a lack of concern/care towards the others, meaning that the individual does not help, nor impede his peers to evolve. Whereas, in cultures with high collectivism the group helps its members to grow, but at the same time, restricts their evolution and makes sure that they follow to the letter the strict behavioural rules imposed by the group.

Collectivism may not be confused with communism or socialism. Collectivism is a way of living that can be characterized by very strong social relations. Socialism and communism are political oriented ideologies and administrative systems (they do not encompass all the complex features of life as a whole).

Collectivism must not be identified with harmony or friendliness and individualism with tension and hate. Both types of societies are built on specific ‘cells/units’ which compete with one another and their interaction generates conflict. The difference is that in individualist societies these cells are represented by individuals, whilst in the collectivist ones, by groups. In the case of individualism, the conflict arises between individuals and for collectivism, between groups. The highest score of IDV (71) was registered in Sweden, but the Swedes know how to avoid the topics of conversation that could lead to conflict.

Neither individualism, nor collectivism may be understood as having a negative connotation. None of the two types of society is nor good or bad, each one of them has both advantages and disadvantages.

The questions that can be asked in a survey in order to asses the IDV can be drafted as follows:

You are a student and during an exam/test you see a classmate that cheats. How do you react? Choice of answers: a) I consider the classmate to be a thief and alert the teacher of what is going on. b) I would like the thief to be caught, but I am too embarrassed to tell on him. c) I would never betray a classmate, so I act as if I didn’t see a thing. d) I care a lot about my classmates, so I would probably help him/her cheat easier.

You have 30 subordinates with different age, sex, nationality. How would you divide them into smaller groups? Choice of answers: a) I would include in each group individuals as different as possible. b) I would include in each group individuals that are alike. c) I divide them in alphabetical order or by ballot. d) I would let them group themselves, according to their own preferences.

You are the owner of a small company and you have a free position and your son is unemployed. What would you do? Choice of answers: a) I hire my son, without any test or competition. b) I advertise the position but make sure that my son takes the job. c) I advertise the position and hire the best candidate. d) There is no way that I would hire my own son in my company.

Individualism prevails in developed and Western countries, whereas collectivism prevails in less developed and Eastern countries; Japan takes a middle position on this dimension.

The strong direct correlation between the economic development and the degree of individualism has been demonstrated, explicitly or not, by a wide range of specialists, from Weber to Hofstede, and to those that have deepened his researches. These two variables are mutual supportive: wealth strengthens the feeling of ownership and the independence towards other people and the community in general, and individualism encourages the desire of becoming rich and of utilising in a more efficient way the material resources (including bank deposits), this leads to the growth and expansion of the economic activities and to the enrichment of the society as a whole.

On the other hand, poverty and weak economic development make the need for support from the other members of the society to be higher and, as a result, the interpersonal relationships become stronger, thus creating a collectivist mentality. This type of mentality generates a series of phenomena that give birth to obstacles for the economic growth: egalitarianism, corruption, nepotism, suppression of initiative and creativity, responsibility avoidance, impediments for free competition.

This dimension, IDV, is also reflected in the corporate culture. Thus, the main characteristics of collectivism in a company are:

harmony within the group;

predominance of collective decisions;

risk avoidance, risks can have effects for too many people;

more effective communication, at a superior level;

drawing conclusions based on clichés and stereotypes;

seeing competitors as: too weak to justify any attempt of negotiation and too stupid to become a threat;

presence of the error of judgement according to which all of the group’s actions are moral;

responsibility dilution;

lack of motivation: work is perceived more as a duty and less as means to attain objectives;

the personal relationships prevail over the professional interests, there is a strong tendency towards hiring relatives, especially the ones of the company’s owner;

the clients are dealt with on a very differential scale, before entering a business deal with someone, first of all there must be a feeling of mutual trust;

use of group training and group responsibility, feedback, problem-solving, performance appraisals and rewards;

very rare use of universalistic human resources practices (e.g., selection on the basis of test scores), while particularistic practices (e.g., selection on the basis of recommendations of in-group members) is more common;

control over the expression of unpleasant feelings in the presence of others, such as facial expression, in order not to disturb the relationship;

the qualities of a good leader are: warmness, supportiveness and production-orientation;

On the other hand, in companies with high scores for IDV, the corporate culture is approached in terms of I and the others; the main characterises are:

it is expected for the employee to act according to his own interest, for this reason the degree of motivation is superior;

the employees interests are: personal time, freedom and having options;

family relations are avoided at the workplace;

employees are laid off very easily if proven inefficient;

only the employees with professional achievements are rewarded with bonuses;

the teams are multicultural; including in a team individuals with the same ethnic background is considered dangerous, the opposite is desired;

communication is at a basic level, the employee is being told what to do and is given a feedback once he/she completed his/her tasks, thus, encouraging long-term and high quality negotiation;

the rule is that everybody treats everybody as equals, dealing with clients on a differential scale is considered unethical;

professional duty prevails over personal interest;

competition between colleagues is being encouraged;

use of individual training, responsibility, feedback, problem – solving, performance appraisals, and rewards;

employees exhibit greater tendency to take risks.

1.2.2.3. Masculinity vs Femininity (MAS)

The masculinity side of this dimension represents a preference in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material reward for success. Society at large is more competitive. Its opposite, femininity, stands for a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life. Society at large is more consensus-oriented.

This dimension is very important in the strategic decision-making process within a company. A decision of this kind makes the distinction between the company’s economic development and the environment’s protection and guarding of the employees’ interests. The feminine values emphasize the environment (quality of life) and social cohesion (solidarity and justice) whereas the masculine values focus on economic performance (in terms of wealth and efficiency). But masculinity should not be understood as gender discrimination towards women, and nor femininity as a hypothetical superiority of the woman’s status in society. Masculinity signifies any type of inequality, for this reason in a masculine society even men would be discriminated based on their social status and there would not be just a gender discrimination. Even in the feminine cultures women are discriminated because they tend to have the highest percentage of uninteresting, subordinate and poorly paid jobs.

The feminine values are seen in masculine societies as weakness, and the masculine values are often perceived in feminine cultures as pure aggressiveness. Unfortunately, there is no middle ground, societies are either masculine, either feminine, never neutral, they do not know how to intertwine the both sides in order to destroy the gender discrimination.

Table 1 – Extremes of the ‘masculine/feminine’ dimension

Source: Marie-Joëlle Browaeys and Roger Price, Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, Pearson Education Limited, 2011, p. 28

Whereas the most common descriptions of men – as aggressive, independent, unemotional, objective, dominant, active, competitive, logical, worldly, skilled in business, adventurous, self ‐ confident and ambitious – support the image of men as leaders, the descriptions that have traditionally been used for women – as talkative, gentle, tactful, religious, quiet, empathetic, aesthetic, submissive and expressive – have consistently undermined the image of women as leaders. This is the reason for which in the corporate world women, seeing men’s ways as superior, attempt to think like, act like and lead like their most successful male colleagues. Similarly, men who see women’s approaches as counter productive attempt to minimize the differences by coaching high potential women to act like men, and complimenting them when they succeed. This only proves that, even in the less masculine cultures, the sole reason for which women are promoted in the upper management is not due to their feminine characteristics, such as caring, uprightness and gentleness, but because they imitate the men’s behaviour.

The conclusion that can be drawn from chart 1 is that, even though the women’s presence in the senior management has increased greatly in the past two decades, there still is a strong tendency towards promoting men in the upper management, even in the feminine cultures.

Chart 1 – Percentage of women in senior management

Source: Adapted from http://getdiversity.ch/images/content/medien/WiB_11_06_Krabbenkorb.pdf, Women in Business, June 2011

Masculinity is high in Japan and in some European countries such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and is moderately high in Anglo countries; it is low in Nordic countries and in the Netherlands and is moderately low in some Latin and Asian countries like France, Spain and Thailand.

1.2.2.4. Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI)

The uncertainty avoidance dimension expresses the degree to which the members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. The fundamental issue here is how a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known: should we try to control the future or just let it happen? Countries exhibiting strong UAI maintain rigid codes of belief and behaviour and are intolerant of unorthodox behaviour and ideas. Weak UAI societies maintain a more relaxed attitude in which practice counts more than principles.

Hofstede has identified 3 factors that can be used in order to reduce the degree of uncertainty:

law: through law regulations order is established in society, making the future a little more predictable;

religion: aims to set aside the human restlessness regarding the future by telling him that everything has a purpose and a final destination, making reality and hardship more bearable, and at a more practical level by establishing rules of conduct;

technology: has a more insignificant role – there is not a major difference between cultures with high scores of UAI and those with low UAI, only isolates the ones with very low UAI. In general, all the societies strive to use more advanced technologies in order to shape and control nature, to make it less dangerous and better fit for human life, leading very often to its destruction. But, there are still a very few Asian societies that try to live in harmony with nature, they embrace nature’s rules and react by adapting to it, this societies are the ones governed by philosophies such as Buddhism and religions like Hinduism.

On a more mundane and corporate level, in cultures with high UAI, managers are expected to maintain the rules and regulations of the organization, to have precise answers to questions and to give exact instructions. On the other side, in societies with low UAI, managers are expected to uphold and establish rules only as absolutely necessary (problems tend to find their own resolution), managers cannot be the source of the entire wisdom, that is why they need to engage in the problem-solving process other individuals that are more competent.

Uncertainty avoidance scores are higher in Latin countries, in Japan, and in German-speaking countries, and they are lower in Anglo, Nordic and Chinese-culture countries.

1.2.2.5. Long-Term Orientation (LTO)

The long-term orientation dimension can be interpreted as dealing with society’s search for virtue. Societies with a short-term orientation generally have a strong concern with establishing the absolute Truth. They are normative in their thinking. They exhibit great respect for traditions, a relatively small propensity to save for the future, and a focus on achieving quick results. In societies with a long-term orientation, people believe that truth depends very much on situation, context and time. They show an ability to adapt traditions to changed conditions, a strong propensity to save and invest, thriftiness, and perseverance in achieving results.

This dimension, also known as Confucian dynamism, was introduced in 1991 having as starting point a study – called Chinese Values Survey, developed by Michael Bond, that was initially applied in 23 countries and was later (2010) extended by Michael Minkov to cover 93 countries.

The principles of the Confucian philosophy are, in Hofstede’s view, as follows:

The stability of society is based on unequal relationships between people.

The family is the prototype for all social organizations. A person is not primarily an individual; rather she or he is a member of a family.

Virtuous behaviour towards others consists of not treating others as one would not like to be treated oneself.

Virtue with regard to one’s tasks in life consists of trying to acquire skills and education, working hard, not spending more than necessary, being patient and persevering.

A short-term orientation refers to respect for tradition, preservation of face, self-control and fulfilment of social obligations, whereas a long-term orientation refers to virtues such as perseverance and moderation, utilizing a status scale for relationships and fostering the sense of shame.

In the corporate culture context, short-term orientation can be characterized as such: need for achievement, self-determination; loyalty towards others varies according to the needs of business; people are rewarded according to their achievements and abilities; main focus on short-term profits; there is a strict line of demarcation between subordinates and supervisors. Meanwhile, in a long-term oriented company: there is a need for accountability and self-discipline; lifelong personal networks are developed and preserved; zero toleration policy for large social and economic differences; stress is on future market position; all the employees regardless of their rank share the same aspirations.

1.2.2.6. Indulgence vs Restraint

Indulgence stands for a society that allows relatively free gratification of basic and natural human drives related to enjoying life and having fun. Restraint stands for a society that suppresses gratification of needs and regulates it by means of strict social norms.

This dimension was born in 2010 out of an analysis made by Michael Minkov on the World Values Survey that gathered data for 93 countries.

At the workplace, indulgence and restraint can be described as in table 2.

Table 2 – Indulgence vs Restraint

Source: Adapted from http://www.binschedler.com/2012/02/indulgence-restraint/ and Kristin Piepenburg, Critical analysis of Hofstede’s model of cultural dimensions, Grin Verlag, 2011.

1.3. Other researchers and current research trends

Although Hofstede’s Model has been for such a long time, ever since 1980, a landmark for the research conducted in the field of culture as a factor that can asses and predict tendencies in areas such as: consumer behaviour, economic development, decision-making, etc., with implications for marketing and management, the growth and wide spread of globalization leads to a homogenization of cultures, thus making Hofstede’s system a little too narrow and even in danger of becoming obsolete as a consequence of its limitations (such as: national culture seen as static and homogeneous; survey of work, not culture, values and all in one company).

Other business researches have agreed that even though Hofstede has managed to put culture into the spotlight, his perspective shouldn’t be the only one given importance, other studies, ideas and views should be taken under consideration and not rejected simply because they do not follow Hofstede’s framework.

1.3.1.1. The GLOBE project

GLOBE is both a research program and a social entity. The GLOBE social entity is a network of 170 social scientists and management scholars from 61 cultures throughout the world, working in a coordinated long-term effort to examine the interrelationships between societal culture, organizational culture and practices and organizational leadership. The meta-goal of the Global Leadership and Organizational Behaviour Effectiveness (GLOBE) Research Program is to develop an empirically based theory to describe, understand and predict the impact of cultural variables on leadership and organizational processes and the effectiveness of these processes.

During the first phase of the project, nine dimensions were developed and used to asses the practices/values at industrial level, organizational and societal. These dimensions are:

Power distance: the degree to which members of a collective expect power to be distributed equally;

Uncertainty avoidance: the extent to which a society, organization or group relies on social norms, rules and procedure to alleviate the unpredictability of future events;

Humane orientation: the degree to which a collective encourages and rewards individuals for being fair, altruistic, generous, caring and kind to others;

Collectivism 1 (institutional collectivism): the degree to which organizational and societal institutional practices encourage and reward collective distribution of resources and collective action;

Collectivism 2 (in-group collectivism): the degree to which individuals express pride, loyalty and cohesiveness in their organizations or families;

Assertiveness: the degree to which individuals are assertive, confrontational and aggressive in their relationships with others;

Gender egalitarianism: the degree to which a collective minimizes gender inequality;

Future orientation: the extent to which individuals engage in future-oriented behaviours such as delaying gratification, planning and investing in the future;

Performance orientation: the degree to which a collective encourages and rewards group members for performance improvement and excellence.

At the initial stage of the survey, the respondents were asked questions formulated in terms of ‘is’ and ‘are’, in order to asses the current state of things, and, at a later stage, the respondents were asked the same questions which now were formulated in terms of ‘should be’, in order to evaluate the desired way of action. The gap between ‘is’ and ‘should be’ shows the discrepancy between reality and the degree to which individuals accept and embrace the societal or organizational norms and rules.

The GLOBE research program is directed toward filling a substantial knowledge gap concerning the cross-cultural forces relevant to effective leadership and organizational practices. However, the practical relevance of the project consists in clarifying how culture influences leadership and organizational practices with positive implications for the leadership training and career development programs and for the adjustment and effective interaction of individuals who work with others from the cultures studied, for strategy and policy formulation, organizational improvement interventions, human resource management practices and the design of organization structures and incentive and control systems.

The GLOBE project has been recognized for being able to successfully generate a universal framework of an organizational behaviour theory.

1.3.1.2. Edward Hall and the theory of culture as communication

According to this theory, developed by Edward Hall in 1959, culture is an adaptive system – linking groups of people and their adapted behavioural patterns to the ecological setting in which they live. Therefore, culture is captured in communication, which is based upon the context in which it is presented, thus the high-low context dimension was created. The components of the conceptualization of culture as communication are: communication style, the contexts of interpersonal relationships, time and space. The communication style relates to the conversational directness and indirectness but also to the kind of context people attend to and how people rely upon cues within that context to convey meaning. In the corporate world, this theory is useful because, with the deepening of research, a clearly specified framework will allow researchers to identify more precisely the value antecedents of high- or low-context communication and its influence on misunderstanding and conflict between work team members, planning behaviour and the role of relationships, status, or social norms in the workplace.

1.3.2. Current research trends

The current trend is to abandon the value-based system and to focus on new directions of research, on developing new theories, methods and concepts. Further on we will be making a brief presentation of a few of these incipient concepts and of the on-going research.

1.3.2.1. Cultural intelligence

A group of researchers, among them P. Christopher Earley, Soon Ang, Kok-Ye Ng, David Thomas and Kerr Inkson, have re-oriented their study of cultural difference towards a different approach by which they explore the capacity of an individual to adapt to varying cultural settings based on facets of cognitive and metacognitive processing, motivational mechanisms and behavioural adaptation. Cultural intelligence focuses on an individual’s capabilities to adapt in a cultural setting as a driver of behaviour.

1.3.2.2. Global work culture

Some researchers, among them prof. Miriam Erez, state that in global companies, there are similarities of structure, functioning and practices that are universal, and that individual employees should be analysed in these terms. In this respect, all employees, regardless of national origins, share the same core features such as: competitive performance orientation, quality emphasis, customer orientation and innovation and change. This approach has great potential of development taking into consideration the increased mobility of employees at a global level.

1.3.2.3. Consumer Culture Theory

This theory, developed by Eric Arnould and Craig Thompson in 2005, explores the heterogeneous distribution of meanings and the multiplicity of overlapping cultural groupings that exist within the broader socio-historic frame of globalization and market capitalism.

1.3.2.4. Linguistic Distance

Language is an important aspect of culture and has direct implications for the management style. The concept of linguistic distance, that can prove to be another useful metric for cultural differences, is based on the fact that languages belong to ‘family trees’ and distances between them can be measured on these linguistic trees. As an example, if we assume English to be the starting point, German is one branch away, Danish two, Spanish three, Japanese four, Arabic five, Chinese six, and Thai seven. The result is that as linguistic distance from English increases, Hofstede’s individualism decreases (correlation coefficient r = .71, p < 0.05), power distance increases (r = .56, p < 0.05) and corruption increases (r =.58, p < 0.05).

1.3.2.5. The context framework

Each culture (and subculture) exists within a context, and the context helps shape the culture. Different aspects of context may influence the nature of a culture. In comparative studies, this can introduce a confounding effect, in that observed differences between consumer values and attitudes or consumption may be the result of context rather than culture. The analysis of the contextual factors is relevant both for cross-cultural consumer research and cross-cultural management studies. The contextual variables that can be submitted to analysis are: the affluence of a society or cultural grouping, level of education, degree of urbanization, the topographical or climatic context, religion, population density, ecology, economy, mass-media and the political system.

1.3.2.6. The Horizontal/Vertical Distinction

This theory states that within each individualist/collectivist culture, some societies are horizontal (valuing equality), whereas others are vertical (emphasizing hierarchy). In vertical, individualist societies (e.g., USA, Great Britain, France), people tend to be concerned with improving their individual status and standing out-distinguishing themselves from others via competition, achievement and power. In contrast, in horizontal, individualist societies (e.g., Sweden, Denmark), people prefer to view themselves as equal to others in status. The focus is on expressing one’s uniqueness and establishing one’s capability to be successfully self-reliant. In vertical, collectivist societies (e.g., Korea, Japan, India), people focus on complying with authorities and on enhancing the cohesion and status of their in-groups, even when that entails sacrificing their own personal goals. In horizontal, collectivist societies, the focus is on sociability and interdependence with others within an egalitarian framework.

1.3.2.7. The mental models framework

A mental model refers to the processes that facilitate an individual’s ability to sort out information in his/her environment and use that information to further understanding. Culture can be considered a mental model because it has influence on individuals’ way of thinking and organizing information and knowledge, their communication and comprehension. The mental models approach can be used in international business in areas such as: communication, conflict management, negotiation, organizational identity, partnerships and multicultural work groups.

The best way to conclude our chapter and to summarize is by using chart 2 below.

Chart 2 – A culture‐based model of motivation and work behaviour

Source: Marton J. Gannon and Karen L. Newman, The Blackwell handbook of cross-cultural management, p. 203.

Chapter II

Case studies: Romania, France, Russia and Turkey

2.1. Romania

The analysis of the work-related values presented here is based on the findings of the study developed by Interact – Gallup Romania that was conducted in 2005, taken in comparison with Hofstede’s estimations for Romania.

2.1.1. Overall results

Table 3 – The scores registered by using Hofstede’s Model

Source : http ://www.training.ro/docs/studiu2.pdf, p. 2

For Romania Geert Hofstede has estimated very high scores for power distance (90) and uncertainty avoidance (90) and low scores for individualism, meaning high collectivism (30), and a moderate degree of masculinity (42). Even though he has provided no value for LTO, we may consider that for Romania, as in all of Europe, there is a short term orientation.

2.1.2. Interpretation of the results

A. Power complex

Because of the low score of the PDI (29), Interact-Gallup survey was repeated in order to see if the results were correct or not, but the score was about the same (33). The conclusion that was drawn by the people that conducted the survey was that the Romanian respondents weren’t that honest while answering the questionnaire and that the actual level of power distance is even higher than 70, or at least the same with the one registered for France. The score estimated by Hofstede for Romania seems closer to reality considering Romanian citizens’ behaviour which do not want to intervene in the exercise of power by the public authorities and prefer to obey orders. It can concluded that, as a consequence of this behaviour, the average person needs powerful and authoritative leaders, centralized decision-making and that the population wishes to comply by the instructions given by this kind of leaders.

According to Hofstede, Romania scores high on this dimension (score of 90) which means that people accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification. Hierarchy in an organization is seen as reflecting inherent inequalities, centralization is popular, subordinates expect to be told what to do and the ideal boss is a benevolent autocrat.

A different interpretation of a high score indicates that the Romanian employees prefer to have a close relationship with only one supervisor, in order to gain his/her protection and to avoid the responsibility of having an opposite opinion. The employees from companies that belong to such cultures never contradict their superiors and they never question the orders given by their managers.

These results take us back to the method advocated by the researchers behind the GLOBE project, in the case of Romania, we have an obvious gap between how things are and how we want them to be or think they should be. The big discrepancy between reality and the respondents’ answers tells us that the Romanian employees abide by the supervisor’s orders, fair or not, but they are very reluctant to admit in front of others that they feel uncomfortable at their workplace or that their sole contribution is to follow orders and to ‘get on the good side’ of their hierarchic manager, thus leading to a power complex. Even though the desired style of management is the one with focus on cooperation and participation, similar to the American one in which there is a low power distance between the superior management and the average employee, the actual management system in Romania is still the one that we have inherited from the communist era with very strict hierarchic order.

The research shows that in Romania the management is still very discretionary and that favouritism occupies an important place in the corporate world. Despite the lack of reaction towards the abuses of power committed by the employees with superior rank, Romanians are often cynical with regards to those that represent the management and like to ridicule authority and their bosses. Moreover, the Romanian companies are characterized by a high degree of priggishness, meaning that, for example, subordinates are seldom allowed to address their superiors by their first name.

B. Romanian Collectivism

The score of IDV is 49 on a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 equals elevated individualism and scores lower that 50 indicate collectivist societies. The good news is that the majority of the world’s population lives in collectivist societies and only a small number of countries have high scores of individualism, among them USA. The bad news is that a nation’s collectivist values are in direct correlation with the country’s economic development because of the fact that individualism encourages self-achievement and financial independence towards other members of the community.

Holfstede’s estimation of the IDV for Romania is 30, this is a rational value taking into consideration that a high PDI is always associated with collectivism. In the collectivist countries, individuals obey the rules of their in-group, and society is divided into several of this type of groups, glued together by common interests. The collectivist societies emulate an agrarian mentality, in which the primary resource – land – is limited in surface and therefore whoever wants more of it has to obtain it by bereaving his neighbour of it.

According to Hofstede, Romania, with a score of 30 is considered a collectivistic society. This is manifest in a close long-term commitment to the member 'group', be that a family, extended family, or extended relationships. Loyalty in a collectivist culture is paramount, and over-rides most other societal rules and regulations. The society fosters strong relationships where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group. In collectivist societies offence leads to shame and loss of face, employer/employee relationships are perceived in moral terms (like a family link), hiring and promotion decisions take account of the employee’s in-group, management is the management of groups.

As stated in the previous chapter, the level of corruption in the collectivist countries with a high PDI is higher than in the individualist states. According to the Transparency International’s annual report for the year 2012, the score of corruption registered in the Romanian administrative system is 44 on a scale from 0 (perceived as very corrupt) to 100 (perceived as no corruption at all), placing our country on the 66th position. The degree of corruption in the public system has repercussions also on the level of corruption in the private companies, because this phenomenon is widely accepted, in some companies there are practices of offering gifts, financial or not, as bribery in order to obtain a better salary, a better position or even a job, or some other advantages in the case of clients. Even though the globalization has put the Romanian companies in contact with the policy of the international companies where bribery is considered unethical, it is still hard to suppress it mainly because its proliferation is not stopped in a straightforward and effective way.

C. Romanian Femininity

Romania is a feminine country, meaning that the primary aim of the society is to create an environment characterized by cooperation and support for each of its members regardless of their contribution. Furthermore, there is less competitiveness and less orientation towards performance and gain. The score of 39 places Romania in the group of countries in which the roles of males and females are not predetermined, men can easily take up the household’s chores. Therefore, there is no need for special activities for the promotion of women in the upper management or in the political structures because they are free to decide on their own if they wish to do so, without coming across any impediments from their male partners because supposedly they do not discriminate on a gender basis. But, on a more negative note, the feminine values determine a low level of competitiveness of the local companies compared to the ones on the external market and the Romanian employees are less likely to improve this situation. Because of the feminine values, employees treasure leisure and personal time, cooperation and not the achieving of high performance, hence, there is the risk that the Romanian companies will be taken out of the race by the foreign corporations without even putting up a good fight.

A possible explanation of the feminine values can be given by the religious belief, in Romania primarily orthodox, which favours the gender complementarity, without subordinating women to men.

According to Hofstede, Romania scores 42 on this dimension and is thus considered a relatively feminine society. In feminine countries the focus is on “working in order to live”, managers strive for consensus, people value equality, solidarity and quality in their working lives. Conflicts are resolved by compromise and negotiation. Incentives such as free time and flexibility are favoured. Focus is on well-being, status is not shown.

D. Uncertainty avoidance

Both in the Interact-Gallup surveys and in Hofstede’s estimation, the UAI scores are quite high – 61 and 90, meaning that, in Romania, there is a great degree of future-related anxiety. This kind of society can not strategically plan on the long run because thinking about the future triggers, more or less, defensive mechanisms. Some Romanians encounter difficulties in dealing with confusing situations and contrary opinions. If we correlate this with the low individualism, we can conclude that society can not tolerate minority opinions. In general, in this type of cultures, individuals feel more at ease in situations of consensus. In times of anxiety, such as elections, threats against national security or when it is necessary to accept novelty, advanced technology or the existence of a minority party, the population reacts on an emotional level and opposes the change. In the corporate world, a high level of anxiety makes the employees to favour the quick fixes, the actions with impact only for today and no implications for tomorrow. The high level of stress and pressure generates actions under the impulse, rush, negative expression of out of control emotions. The high score of UAI could be explained also by: the prevalence of elders in Romania’s population, the military conflicts that the country went through, the political turnarounds and the profound economic changes. Hence, Romanians suffer from a fierce fear of the unknown. Moreover, a feature of a country with high UAI is that its citizens are critical towards their own nation. Romania’s population is never satisfied with Romania’s achievements, always finding a reason to emphasize the negative aspects of an accomplishment instead of the positive ones. In a study conducted by the sociologist Bogdan Voicu in 2000, it is stated that Romanians have a general tendency of adversity towards risk, corroborated with the faith in religious-based explanations and in direct correlation with the state’s protective authority and with low participation at the civic life, all these aspects create a perfect picture called by the author the ‘pseudo-modern Romania’.

According to Hofstede, Romania scores 90 on this dimension and thus has a very high preference for avoiding uncertainty. Countries exhibiting high uncertainty avoidance maintain rigid codes of belief and behaviour and are intolerant of unorthodox behaviour and ideas. In these cultures there is an emotional need for rules (even if the rules never seem to work) time is money, people have an inner urge to be busy and work hard, precision and punctuality are the norm, innovation may be resisted, security is an important element in individual motivation.

E. Short-term orientation

LTO – 42 in the Interact-Gallup surveys, at such a low level is a good indicator of the tendency of orientation towards present and past, to the detriment of investing in an insecure future, as well as a low level of financial saving for the future. Short-term oriented societies use bank loans on a larger scale.

The Romanian society has minimal inclinations towards strategic planning because of the level of anxiety and the tendency towards quick and operative actions with immediate feedback. Employees will leave planning in the hands of specialists and consultants and will hardly identify the relevant information for the anticipation of future.

In conclusion, Romanians find it hard to plan on a longer run and prefer to make use of the same solutions that they have used in the past in order to solve the current problems. Short-term orientation is the main factor that influences the low level of reinvested capital gains and the need of quick enrichment.

To summarize, the characteristics of the Romanian employee, seen from the perspective of Hofstede’s value system, are: short-term oriented, critical in what concerns the higher authority but incapable of confrontations, change resistant, less competitive, wants to climb the ladder without real effort, less risk oriented, loves consensus, likes cordial relationships.

2.1.3. The management style in Romania

The work-related values along with other organizational and cultural factors compound the Romanian management and negotiation style which can be describe as follows:

stress on nurturing the sense of affiliation and conformity to the in-group values;

entering into business with people they like and spend leisure time with; focus on long-term interpersonal relationships;

business relationships are not necessarily between companies, but more between individuals which can create strong business networks;

respect towards another person is influenced by age and social status;

the communication style is characterized by a low tone of the voice, initial preference of an indirect communication followed by a relaxed attitude, extensive body language and gestures;

a competitive negotiation style but with openness to a win-win outcome;

reluctance towards sharing additional information;

negotiators can use manipulative tactics such as dissimulation and sending false non-verbal messages, as well as emotional and defensive tactics, but avoid using extreme techniques like aggressiveness;

the decision-making follows a rigid hierarchy and can be a process that takes a lot of time;

tendency towards the specificity of a situation rather than focus on laws and regulations;

the outcome of a negotiation consists in the signing of a contract which most of the times is quite long.

2.2. France

The analysis of the work-related values in the case of France has as starting point Hofstede’s survey, but we are taking into account other aspects such as the management style, the negotiation behaviour and the general atmosphere in a French organization.

2.2.1. Overall results

Table 4 – The scores for France according to Hofstede

2.2.2. Interpretation of the results

A. Power distance

In Hofstede’s interpretation, with a score of 68, France scores high on the scale of the PDI. It is therefore a society in which inequalities are accepted. Hierarchy is needed if not existential; the superiors may have privileges and are often inaccessible. The power is highly centralized in France, as well as Paris centralizes administrations, transports etc. In management, the attitude towards managers is more formal, the information flow is hierarchical. The way information is controlled is even associated with power, therefore unequally distributed.

The power distance at this high level means that in France, the manager/leader is alone at the top. Such power involves not only fulfilling contractual obligations but also preserving the status of the position. If he is not moderate when enacting his power, if he looses his authority in front of his subordinates or is seen as mean or narrow minded, then he is perceived as a small fish trying to swim with the sharks. Due to the fact that the French nation is founded upon cultural diversity, taking into account the fact that it was formed by a wide range of peoples such as Celts, Romans and Germans (the Franks) and that at the present time they encompass not only French individuals of pure blood, but also a great number of Muslims, for example, it is hard to talk of one culture for one people. Nevertheless, the term 'culture' in France’s applied to the description of customs relating to certain professional, social or regional categories. Even the French talk, for example, of 'French-style' bureaucracy when describing the friction between two professional categories within a state-owned enterprise.

Consequently, the respect for authority is high among the French managers, this entails that the employee finds it difficult to express his/her worries and concerns in front of the upper management, the hierarchic relationships are quite rigid and formal, both within and outside the company’s premises, and the managers strive to gain the respect of their subordinates. In France, respect is age-related (experience is considered very important). When it comes to dealing with problems, the typical reaction of a French employee is to pass it on to someone with a higher rank in order to avoid responsibility and conflicts at his/her level of decision-making.

B. Individualism

According to Hofstede, at 71 France scores high on the individualistic index. This means that the French favour individual and private opinions, taking care of themselves and immediate family rather than belonging to a group. In the work environment, the relationship with work is contract based, the focus is on the task and autonomy is favoured. The communication is direct and everyone is allowed to speak up, voice out their opinions even more if they do not agree. The management is the management of individuals and the recognition of one‘s work is expected.

A consequence of the high individualism is the lack of consideration for others. However, in terms of consideration for family, the French individuals show greater loyalty and cohesiveness to their family. As stated in the previous chapter, at 1.3.2.6, French individualism is of the vertical type, meaning that the French managers/employees tend to be concerned with improving their individual status and standing out-distinguishing themselves from others via competition, achievement and power.

C. Femininity

With 43, France is a relatively Feminine country. With its famous welfare system (securité sociale), their 35 working hours/week and 5 weeks holidays per year, France cares for its quality of life and focuses more on work in order to live than the reverse. Competition amongst work colleagues is usually not favoured as feminine societies have more sympathy for the underdog. And material signs of success, especially flashy ones, should not be too visible. The management should be supportive and dialogue should help resolve conflicts.

D. High uncertainty

At 86 France has one of the highest scores on the UAI Index. Certainty is often reached through academic work and concepts that can respond for the need of detail, context, and background. Teachings and trainings are more deductive. In management structure, rules and security are welcome and if lacking, it creates stress. Therefore planning is favoured, some level of expertise welcome, when change policies on the other hand are considered stressful.

The French employees and managers have the tendency of avoiding uncertainty as much as possible, they prefer the safe solutions and elude solving the difficult problems by removing them from the meeting’s agenda or by postponing their decision.

E. Short-term oriented

At 39 France is a short term oriented society. This means a great respect for tradition as well as a need for norms and absolute truth as guidelines.

In terms of business this short term orientation focuses on quick results i.e. companies are driven by quarterly results. Consumption is driven by immediate gratification, sensitivity to social trends and rituals. There’s not much focus on saving. Management is based on self reliance, personal achievement, hard work and managers are judged on short term results.

2.2.3. The management style in France

The influence of culture upon the work-related values can be seen in the management style that is prevalent in the companies based in a certain country or region. In the case of France, the management style, the negotiation techniques and the overall business behaviour can be depicted in brief as follows:

Both in politics and business, the French like to be independent, fact that can be quite frustrating for Americans, Japanese and other people. The French consider themselves quite unique due to their contribution to the universal culture in areas such as democracy, law, philosophy, military strategy, agriculture, literature, etc. and this is the reason why they are self-absorbed and don’t pay much attention to other peoples’ culture, history and geography. Their attitude towards foreigners is friendly enough, neither positive, nor negative, but a bit superior. Those who do not speak French are perceived as anglophiles and do not make a good impression. While negotiating with a French individual, a foreigner has two options either become a little more talkative or behave as usual, in which case he/she will be seen as rigid and non-communicative thus jeopardizing the whole deal.

The French believe that life’s fundamental truths are born out of universal principles and laws. The dictum ‘Liberty, equality, fraternity’ is more important than anything else. For this reason, even though they are a bit individualistic and find it hard to cope with the hardships of everyday life, they still manage to abide by this principle that was the main drive of the French Revolution, having such ideals deeply rooted in their being.

Social status is very important for the French. In France, social relationships are influenced by stereotypes such as class appurtenance. Even supported by a brilliant career, an average French individual can not climb the social ladder in his lifetime more than a step or two.

In general, the French are not very competitive, they see competitive individuals as a threat and they can even refuse to negotiate with such people. Competitiveness is basically reserved for sports. The French are friendly, they like to make jokes, have a good sense of humour, sometimes they are ironical, but usually feel the need to be admired by others. The French are very hard to impress and get annoyed by those who try to get under their skin; they rather prefer those people that don’t have the same opinion as they do. When a French individual is interested in another person, he/she tries to uncover as much as possible of the other person’s qualities and personality, but praising is seen as a sign of weakness and immaturity. A contradictory conversation can be seen as an incentive while for other people can see nothing more than an argument. It is not unusual to see two French people arguing violently but parting on friendly terms.

The French managers communicate in a straightforward manner; they don’t like to be ambiguous. The French language is seen as a ‘verbal dance’, rational, precise and clear. In the French culture the art of speaking is an indicator of great intelligence.

The attitude of the French towards labour depends on the sector in which they work: public or private. In the public sector, because of the bureaucracy, there is a slim chance of being very productive. On the other hand, in the private sector, they tend to be quite productive and focus on the quality of the work that is being done.

Although they are hard-workers, submissive, devoted and loyal to their company, qualities much appreciated in the French corporate culture, for the French, leisure time and the quality of life are more important; they don’t like to sacrifice their spare time or to put in extra hours.

In France, most of the companies are founded by families, such as Peugeot, Michelin or L’Oreal, where the line between the manager and the owner is not very strict. The bad side of this situation is that the promotions are no longer based on personal merits and professional skills. In France, being a professional manager without being the company’s owner is a situation far more recent than in other countries, like England for example.

The management style is autocratic, meaning that the French manager thinks that he is the only one fit to find all the best possible solutions. He is in control of all the facets of the business that he manages, but is not capable of analysing other activities and areas such as production, corporate procedures, marketing strategy, accounting and monitoring of the employees.

The high level of education required for being in the upper management, in ‘les grandes écoles’, has as a consequence the fact that usually the top managers prefer to act as indicated by other professionals with the same level of education as themselves, be they government officials or bank clerks, rather than trust the judgement of their colleagues with an inferior rank, simply because they don’t have the same level of education.

One of the basic principles of the French planning system is that the lack of competitors equals poor investments in research and development. Thus, the public servants, because of the planning system, brought about the forming of cartels in several areas of activity, which caused the extinction of many companies, in order to enable the surviving companies to make profits sufficient enough to invest them in R&D. Consequently, the French managers are not big risk takers, preferring the safe solutions.

The French are very accustomed to conflicts and are not bothered by them but rather amused.

The French perceive the negotiation process as an extensive debate. They are very fond of protocol rules, due respect and punctuality. For a business meeting, they like to dress formal and during a negotiation they put a lot of stress on etiquette and stiff behaviour.

In what the negotiation of contracts is concerned, the French prefer initially to reach an agreement on the general terms, and afterwards they discuss and analyse in detail the specific terms of the contract.

According to a study carried out in five different European and African countries, including France, developed by The Research and Development Unit of Euro-African Management Research Centre (E-AMARC), using Hofstede’s methodology and system in order to asses the main motivation factors of regular employees and managers, the French respondents ranked ‘have challenging task, live in desirable area, freedom of approach to tasks, cooperation with others and good working relations with superior’ as the five top motivation value factors. They ranked ‘serve your country, have little tension and stress on the job, work in a prestigious and successful organization, have security of employment and well-defined clear job situations’ as the five least motivation value factors.

2.3. Russia

Our analysis of Russia, from the perspective of work-related values and management style, takes us on somewhat different paths than the ones taken in the cases of France and Romania considering Russia’s history, from the era of communism until present times as a market-oriented country, the political regimes and the economic sufferings that the average Russians have undergone in the post-USSR era, Russia’s huge oil and gas resources and its authoritative and discretionary leaders which envision Russia as the world’s greatest super-power. However, our main focus will be still on Hofstede’s Model, but also on the on-going search of the Russian managers of a business identity that should differentiate them from the bureaucratic stereotype.

2.3.1. Overall results

Table 5 – The scores for Russia according to Hofstede

2.3.2. Interpretation of the results

A. Power distance

According to Hofstede, Russia, scoring 93, is among the 10% of the most power distant societies in the world. This is underlined by the fact that the largest country in the world is extremely centralized: 2/3 of all foreign investments go into Moscow where also 80% of all financial potential is concentrated. The huge discrepancy between the less and the more powerful people leads to a great importance of status symbols. Behaviour has to reflect and represent the status roles in all areas of business interactions: be it visits, negotiations or cooperation; the approach should be top-down and provide clear mandates for any task.

High power distance is reflected in Russian managers’ difficulties in accepting that they might learn from employees at lower levels of the organisation. This is well expressed in their resistance and dissatisfaction when they have to work in a group with people from hierarchically lower levels, for example, in the context of management education and training programmes.

The current democratic reforms may lead to the elimination of political power over economic behaviour, thus providing the society with an elevated level of economic freedom and competition. Due to improvements and new developments in areas such as education, skills, experience, and the increased number of opportunities that people have access to nowadays, may have the effect of diminishing in importance the political connections. This in turn should modify behaviour of people, management styles and social norms.

B. Collectivism

According to Hofstede, if Russians plan to go out with their friends they would literally say “We with friends” instead of “I and my friends”, if they talk about brothers and sisters it may well be cousins, so a lower score of 39 even finds its manifestations in the language. Family, friends and not seldom the neighbourhood are extremely important to get along with everyday life’s challenges. Relationships are crucial in obtaining information, getting introduced or successful negotiations. They need to be personal, authentic and trustful before one can focus on tasks and build on a careful to the recipient, rather implicit communication style.

Russians are stereotyped to be very collectivist. Historically Russians lived on large open spaces, working together. Being an agrarian country for centuries, with low geographic mobility of peasants within the serf system, Russia was known for its collective type of behaviour. The Russian Orthodox Church supported strong family ties, and inter-group mutual support. Social frame did not allow too much of freedom for the average citizen, and the individual competitiveness had quite strict boundaries of expression (winning was not always appreciated). And, because of the tsarist or communist regime, throughout history, in many cases Russian collectivism was formal, prescribed by the social institutions. During the communist era, the Party allowed no manifestation of individual freedom, this being translated into artificial loyalty and obedience to the Party, controlled behaviour and general conformity of the population. After the fall of the Soviet Union, because of the political turmoil and economic crisis, the incessant hardships of the average individual made the need for moral support from his peers even greater than ever. For all the above reasons, Russia continues to display a high level of collectivism, even though in more modern times individualism and social fragmentation are beginning to be more widely accepted and understood.

Naumov and Puffer suggest it is debatable whether Russians are group oriented or actually extreme individualists. The Russian expression „don’t live worse than your neighbour‟ combines hostility towards, and envy of, those who have more than oneself.

C. Femininity

According to Hofstede, Russia’s relatively low score of 36 may surprise with regard to its preference for status symbols, but these are in Russia related to the high Power Distance. At second glance one can see, that Russians at workplace as well as when meeting a stranger rather understate their personal achievements, contributions or capacities. They talk modestly about themselves and scientists, researchers or doctors are most often expected to live on a very modest standard of living. Dominant behaviour might be accepted when it comes from the boss, but is not appreciated among peers.

During the Soviet period, gender egalitarianism was indoctrinated by the state. This doctrine resulted in equal access of men and women to education and jobs. The Party even forcefully managed the “right” balance of men and women in the political and government bodies. Stalin’s repressions and the Second World War have visibly decreased the male population and enabled women to take over different men’s activities in such industries as textile, education, health care, turning them into women’s professions.

D. High uncertainty

According to Hofstede, scoring 95 Russians feel very much threatened by ambiguous situations, as well as they have established one of the most complex bureaucracies in the world. Presentations are either not prepared, e.g. when negotiations are being started and the focus is on the relationship building, or extremely detailed and well prepared. Also detailed planning and briefing is very common. Russians prefer to have context and background information. As long as Russians interact with people considered to be strangers they appear very formal and distant. At the same time formality is used as a sign of respect.

Because of the post-soviet disastrous economic situation, most of the population has lost clear sense of direction, not knowing what outcomes to expect, not knowing if tomorrow will bring fall or rise. This is the reason for which many realities of the communist era that secured people and supported tolerance of uncertainty (respect for age, tradition, rule orientation, social order) became outdated. However, in contemporary Russia, due to the so-called phenomenon of ‘creative survival’, people tend to adjust more quickly and creatively to the current situation that metaphorically can be described as trying to build a solid foundation on shifting sands. Because of this situation, both managers and average individuals must posses or develop skills such as quick reaction, multi-scenario thinking, networking and risk-sharing. Many new Russian entrepreneurs work successfully in networks, often relying not just on formal agreements, but on friendship and social interaction. On top of all that, the influence of the international organisations, in particular IMF and the World Bank, had catastrophic results for the Russian economy. Thus, by following the recommendations of these institutions, the government has managed to trigger in August 1998 an economic crisis that became the source of new risks in society.

2.3.3. The management style in Russia

In the modern time, the Russian managers are striving to find their own set of business values in order to gain more access to the global market and to improve the economic situation of their own country/market. Values such as competitiveness, assertiveness, individualism, self-realization, long-term planning, and others, are still a far dream for the Russian managers especially because of the great influence of the bureaucratic way of dealing with things that remained the legacy of the communist period. However, with the emergence of privatization, the intensification of democracy and the wide spread of values that are specific to a market-oriented economy, the Russian managers are looking at other types of management style, finding inspiration in particular in the Western ones. Therefore, in Russia, even though the process of modelling a real corporate culture is at an incipient phase, the management style can be characterized as follows:

Living in the present, the Russian employees/managers tend to focus more on what is happening around them than on the larger picture or the long-term ramifications of their actions. Hence, they are very good at monitoring current conditions but not as good at developing and working steadily towards long-term objectives. They like to break larger projects into smaller parts. Ambiguous situations are familiar to them and they are good at taking whatever uncertainty exists and twisting things so that the situation portrays the picture they find most useful. They can also be hard workers but intense activity is normally followed by idle periods. The group is the traditional building block of the society, which means Russians prefer to work together in groups rather than individually.

Strong centralism and collective participation based on consensus not majority. Management is resistant to job cuts, and exclusion of outsiders and retention of information are common features in all organisational structures.

Russians see themselves working collectively or with a community spirit and are more accepting of authoritarianism, as long as the human side is manifested. The manager must likewise be paternalistic and egalitarian, since the Russian organisation by tradition is seen as a democratic institution where everyone is entitled to have his or her voice heard.

One-to-one relationships are highly valued, but not impersonal group meetings. Very often business laws and contracts do not mean as much in Russia as they do in the West. Russians tend to put their trust more in relationships than in contracts. Detailed contracts come after friendship, not before.

Because of high uncertainty avoidance, Russian employees attempt to avoid any conflict that may result from acting on personal initiative outside the strict guidelines of the hierarchy. This results in the average employee being reluctant to take initiative, which combined with enormous respect for hierarchy, often results in an absence of empowerment.

The average employee exhibits specific traits such as: caution, calculation, resoluteness, stoicism, endurance and, above all, an emphasis on survival.

Stability and risk avoidance are favoured over innovation and progress.

Salary is viewed as being attached to position, not to performance. Within the workplace such values as friendship, social contacts, entertainment and equality are much more important for Russians than the work itself.

According to the findings of the GLOBE project, the administratively competent Russian manager must encompass qualities such as strategic-thinking, ability to make serious decisions and inspire his followers to meet performance targets. To a certain extent he/she relies on teams and through diplomatic and collaborative moves succeeds in integrating efforts of their members. However, in his/her actions there is not much interest in humane orientation to the others and modesty in personal behaviour. He/she may sacrifice a lot and does not take much care of saving face. Status is not important to the modern Russian leader.

2.4. Turkey

Turkey is often seen as the bridge or crossroads between Europe and Asia. Its largest and most populated part, together with its capital Ankara, lies in Asia; its smaller western part in Europe. The country's largest city, Istanbul, straddles the Bosphorus, the traditional border between Europe and Asia. The GLOBE project places Turkey in the Middle East cluster, but its cultural profile displays both Eastern and Western values. At the same time, Turkish business is very competitive and places great emphasis on efficiency and performance. Furthermore, in ideological terms, although the vast majority of its inhabitants practice Islam, they live in a state that has been a secular democracy since 1923.

2.4.1. Overall results

Table 6 – The scores for Turkey according to Hofstede

2.4.2. Interpretation of the results

A. Power distance

According to Hofstede, Turkey scores high on this dimension (score of 66) which means that the following characterises the Turkish style: dependent, hierarchical, superiors often inaccessible and the ideal boss is a father figure. Power is centralized and managers rely on their bosses and on rules. Employees expect to be told what to do. Control is expected and attitude towards managers is formal. Communication is indirect and the information flow is selective. The same structure can be observed in the family unit, where the father is a kind of patriarch to whom others submit.

Given the high power distance in Turkish culture, performance evaluations tend to be one way, i.e. from the superiors to the subordinates. Self-assessment exercises are generally ineffective as Turkish employees tended to rate themselves considerably lower than their superiors. This information suggests that the use of 360 degree feedback processes may have limited relevance in Turkish work environments. Giving negative feedback in a direct manner may create conflict as saving face and maintaining group harmony are important in Turkish culture. Overall, the tendency is to be more accommodative towards one's superiors (respect for authority); suppressing/and or avoiding competition between peers (focus on collectivism and group harmony); and imposing solutions on subordinates (analogous to a parent-child relationship).

B. Collectivism

According to Hofstede, Turkey, with a score of 37 is a collectivistic society. This means that the “We” is important, people belong to in-groups (families, clans or organisations) who look after each other in exchange for loyalty. Communication is indirect and the harmony of the group has to be maintained, open conflicts are avoided. The relationship has a moral base and this always has priority over task fulfilment. Time must be invested initially to establish a relationship of trust. Nepotism may be found more often. Feedback is always indirect, also in the business environment.

The most essential social unit in Turkish culture is the family. A Turk’s personal life is dependent on and revolves around family, friends and other community groups. These, in turn, command one’s opinions and decisions. Family loyalty is a vital aspect of Turkish society and one that has a major impact on Turkish business practices. Many businesses in Turkey are still family owned and run and the concept of family connections and influence is apparent during business exchanges in Turkey.

C. Femininity

According to Hofstede, Turkey scores 45 and is in the “middle” of the scale but more on the feminine side. This means that the softer aspects of culture such as levelling with others, consensus and sympathy for the underdog are valued and encouraged. Conflicts are avoided in private and work life and consensus at the end is important. Leisure time is important for Turks, it is the time when the whole family, clan and friends come together to enjoy life. Status is shown, but this comes more out of the high PDI.

According to the data of Turkish Statistical Institute, percentage of employed population in Turkey as administrative and managerial workers for the year 2000 was 2 % for male and 0.4 % for female. Women in Turkey have been working outside the home in paid jobs since the 1950s, but their jobs have been mainly in the areas of education, health and secretarial work, relevant to the gender role stereotype. Women also have had opportunities to work in middle and top managerial positions. Better yet, in Turkey, both males and females have a negative attitude toward women managers and women show even more negative attitudes than men. For this reason, females find it more appropriate “to think like men” and suppress their “feminist” attitudes in order to gain acceptance in male dominated organizational environment. All of these show that in the Turkish society, even though characterized by femininity, in a male dominant corporate culture, women still occupy a disgraceful position.

D. High uncertainty

According to Hofstede, Turkey scores 85 on this dimension and thus there is a huge need for laws and rules. In order to minimize anxiety, people make use of a lot of rituals. For foreigners they might seem religious, with the many references to “Allah”, but often they are just traditional social patterns, used in specific situations to ease tension.

High uncertainty avoidance shows that the Turkish business people avoid acting and taking responsibility in uncertain situations and are not tolerant to ambiguity.

2.4.3. The management style in Turkey

In the case of Turkey, the management style, the influence of Islam upon the work-related daily routine and the general business behaviour can be described in short as follows:

Given the influence of Islam on Turkish society, daily routines, appointments and meetings are fitted around each of the five daily prayer times.

Always business appointments with foreigners are scheduled in advance in order to avoid Turkish holidays, most important of them is the Ramadan (the fasting period), while in July and August, Turkish business people usually take their annual holiday.

In all business contexts, not respecting punctuality is taken as an offence.

Rank, education and authority are highly valued in the Turkish business environment. Most of the times, the individuals who portray the Turkish upper management are only met once trust has been established by those below them.

Decision-making is reserved for the senior management, but usually, due to the strong sense of collectivism that underlines Turkish business culture, the decision maker will often consider the group involved in that decision.

In Turkey, age is a sign of wisdom and consequently demands respect in all aspects of society.

In Turkish business culture, the distinctions between the professional and personal domains of life are not clearly defined and may overlap. Consequently, personal relationships play a significant role at all levels.

Turkish leaders are characterized by paternalistic attributes, meaning that Turkish managers and leaders show parental consideration towards their subordinates.

The managerial style of the Turkish leaders is characterized by centralised control, authoritarianism, paternalism, lack of delegation, lack of autonomy, solving business problems through political links with the state officialdom, short-termism, uncertainty avoidance, avoiding interpersonal directness, and low performance orientation.

Amongst the Turkish employees there is a lack of disagreement, assertiveness and challenging.

2.5. Comparative analysis between the four countries

2.5.1. GDP and other type of indicators

As stated previously, some of the work-related values have a direct impact upon the economic development of a certain country or may help explain why a certain country is not able to further develop itself or why it is change resistant and reluctant to receive outside help. For example, the higher the level of individualism is the more competitive are the companies that originate in that country on the global market, or the higher the level of femininity is the higher the level of social protection is. Therefore, in order to properly correlate the work-related values with the overall economic situation of the four countries that we have analysed above, we need to put forward some of the main economic and other type of indicators in parallel with four of Hofstede’s dimensions.

Table 7 – Economic and other type of indicators correlated with Hofstede’s dimensions

2.5.2. Interpretation of the indicators

The conclusions that can be drawn from table 7 above are the following:

Of the four countries, the highest level of power distance is registered in Russia, closely followed by Romania, while France and Turkey have a lower PDI, at 68 and 66, respectively. According to Transparency International, France is perceived as the least corrupt country, followed at an important distance by Turkey and Romania, while Russia is seen as the most corrupt of the four states. These indicators can be interpreted as such: the higher the PDI is, the more corrupted the country is perceived as, which in the cases of France and Russia, the two extremes, this seems to hold truth.

Of the four countries, France has the highest level of individualism, thus has the biggest GDP and is placed on the 16th position in the ranking of global competitiveness. On the other hand, Romania has the lowest GDP and IDV, being a collectivist country, and ranking 68 at global competitiveness. Thus, the correlation between economic development and the degree of individualism is demonstrated, mainly because individualism helps the population to be more orientated on wealth and improvement of the financial situation, making individuals more competitive and more motivated. Of the four countries, France is the only individualist one, as can be seen in chart 3 below.

In what masculinity versus femininity dimension is concerned, the correlation between the level of MAS and the official number of working hours per week is not demonstrated in the case of the four countries, mainly because the official number of hours seldom equals the real number of hours that the average employee spends at the workplace in a week. But, the current tendency of the world is towards the more feminine values, this can be seen in the global concern and the world wide campaigns for the protection of the environment, for eradicating hunger and poverty, for helping those in need, etc.

The two countries with the highest scores of UAI are Russia and Romania, in both of them the official religion is Orthodox Christianity, for this reason, the average person copes better with anxieties about the future by turning to Church for rules and guidance. The high level of UAI in all of the four countries tells us about a wide spread of fear for what tomorrow may bring, a high level of bureaucracy, a great tendency of living in the present, a high degree of formalism and respect for the elders, a negative attitude towards risk-taking and adversity towards innovation.

Chart 3 – Overall comparison between the four countries

Chapter III

Religion, Globalization and Consumer Behaviour

3.1. Religion and work values

Religion plays an important role in a person’s life mainly because it influences one’s general behaviour both in society and in the work environment. In the past three decades, researchers have managed to make a correlation between religion and key variables such as: economic attitudes of individuals, enterprise, volunteering behaviours and ethics. According to the research that has been carried out, some religions are encouraging hard-work, capitalism and economic prosperity, and are reflected in the pursuit of autonomy, growth, creativity and the use of initiative at work, having thus an impact on productivity and even sales.

Considering the fact that 3 of the 4 countries that we are analysing hold Christianity as official religion, while the other one, Turkey, is mainly an Islamic country, we are further addressing in brief the influence of Christianity and Islam on the work-related values.

3.1.1. Christianity

All forms of Christianity seem to encourage economic success and capitalism, and they all see work very similarly. In general, Christian religious views support private property and freedom to accumulate wealth. The Christian work ethics consist in diligence, punctuality, deferment of gratification, and primacy of the work domain. However, materialism in itself is not meaningful to Christians, thus wealth is used primarily to support the plan of God. Therefore, Christians are expected to satisfy their spiritual aspiration through work and to fulfil their responsibility to contribute to society.

3.1.2. Islam

The Islamic work ethic argues that engagement in economic activities is an obligation. Work is thus the source of independence and the means to achieve a fulfilled life. In fact, Islam encourages prosperity through the appropriate use of the resources given by God. Such resources are seen as important to provide for basic survival and physical needs as well as accumulation of wealth.

3.2. Globalization and culture, homogenization or own identity

In this age of globalization, cultures are traversing national borders, co-mingling, hybridizing, morphing, and clashing through media, migration, telecommunications, international trade, information technology and supranational organizations. With interdependencies created through globalization, such as interlocking financial and banking systems, people – the carriers and possessors of culture – are interacting, confronting, and exchanging their diverse ways of life across geographies as well as in social and institutional settings at unprecedented rates and levels.

Multinational firms, with their increased expansion on the global market, due to the interaction with so many cultures, are facing two many issues (adaptation versus standardization) that they currently have to address in order to stay competitive. The first major issue refers to the fact that, because of the stereotypes regarding the work-related values of a certain country, the managers of the MNC (multinational company) think they know everything about the market they try to penetrate, but when faced with the actual social, political and work environment of that country they realise the plan has to change and that a more in-depth analysis of that culture is needed in order to survive on that market. The second problem refers to the fact that most of the MNCs are entering a certain market with the main goal of transposing the structure of the parent company without adjusting it to the country’s peculiarities, forcing the local employees to work and abide by rules and procedures they are not familiar with. This strategy, utilizing the same global model irrespective of the local market and ignoring the cultural identity, has a high chance of backfiring and creating a cultural clash.

On the other hand, globalization, as stated in the case of the Russia, may help the local managers find inspiration in the management style of the Western world, creating thus a better identity for them and encouraging them to embrace work values and ethics that could make their companies more competitive either on the global market, either on the local market when they face foreign competitors.

Therefore, globalization has both positive and negative implications, but is a process that can not be stopped, the basic issue being how much of our own cultural identity do we keep and in what degree do we embrace other peoples’ values.

3.3. Culture, work-related values and consumer behaviour

An understanding of the differences in the norms and values that predominate across societies can provide important theoretical and practical insights to those that study consumer behaviour, thus helping them create marketing strategies and processes (such as perceptions of prices, responses to advertising themes, quality signals, decision-making styles, tipping decisions and innovativeness) better fitted for a certain country/culture.

In order to illustrate the implications of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions on the marketing strategies, we are using the example of the individualism – collectivism dimension. Thus, consumers from countries that view the individual as interconnected with the larger group (collectivistic, interdependent) evaluate more positively advertisements that emphasize the popularity of the target brand, appeal to consumers’ desires to assimilate others, focus on family cohesion and harmony, and emphasize conformity rather than uniqueness. The research in the field of consumer behaviour, from the perspective of cultural differences, has helped in the increase in quality of the marketing constructs, mainly because when an association between a certain value dimension and a particular behaviour has been established then the predominant behaviour in any given society has been inferred based on its score on that dimension.

However, the approach of using cultural values as a global starting point for the marketing instruments and advertisements has its limitations, mainly because Hofstede’s dimensions may have multiple facets that can make impossible the assessment and prediction of consumer behaviour, but also because the extent to which an individual embraces a particular value can change.

All in all, cultural influence upon the consumer/social behaviour exists and therefore it is important for all of us to understand all the facets of culture and not only the stereotypes, to keep an open mind and see the global picture as well as the uniqueness of each of us.

Concluding remarks

Cultural diversity makes the world a more fun and interesting place to live in. Even though globalization, triggered by huge corporations that in time have conquered at a more faster pace the global market and by the wide spread of the principle of free movement of persons, thus leading to an intensified mobility of the workforce, has managed to put into the spotlight the cultural interactions and mutual exchanges, nobody and no one will ever be able to erase our cultural identity and uniqueness because they are embedded in our DNA.

In order to achieve harmony and mutual understanding, some researchers and practitioners in the field of international management and global marketing have emphasized the cultural differences between a foreign company/product and the local market, while others have focused on the similarities. Both of these two approaches are correct because both of them have helped regular people and managers to better relate to those that are different, not better, nor worse, just different. Interpersonal relationships revolve around the idea that the next person may have something valuable to offer to us, and that through mutual respect and support any interaction, either social, either business-related, can help us improve ourselves and the world in which we live.

In another train of thoughts, I believe that the similarities between the four countries that I have analysed in chapter 2, Romania, France, Russia and Turkey, are significant and I think this is because of the intense exchanges, economic, cultural, religious, and others, that took place throughout history between them.

All in all, I believe we can not ignore the cultural differences because they help us see things from another perspective, they offer solutions to our own problems that we never thought of and help us shape a better society by embracing diversity, therefore we must be open-minded while discussing about or with others.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alexashin, Y. and Blenkinsopp, J., Changes in Russian managerial values: a test of the convergence hypothesis?, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 16 (3), 2005;

Arnould, E. and Thompson, C., Consumer Culture Theory (CCT): Twenty Years of Research, Journal of Consumer Research, 2005;

Aycan, Z., Human resource management in Turkey – Current issues and future challenges. International Journal of Manpower, 2001;

Brătianu, C., Antimanagement, in Management și Inginerie Economică, no 4/2003;

Browaeys, M. J. and Price, R., Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, Pearson Education Limited, 2011;

Çakmakçı, U. M. and Karabatı, S., Exploring managerial values in the changing Turkish business context, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 27, No. 7, 2008;

Fey, C. F., Nordahl, C. and Zatterstrom, H., Organisational Culture in Russia: The Secret to Success. Business Horizons, November 1999;

Fikret Pașa, S., Kabasakal, H. and Bodur, M., Society, Organisations and Leadership in Turkey, Applied Psychology: An International Review, Oxford, UK, 2001;

Gannon, M. J. and Newman, K. L., The Blackwell handbook of cross-cultural management, Oxford, UK, Malden, MA: Blackwell Business; 2002;

Grachev, M. V., Rogovsky, N. G., and Rakitski, B. V., Leadership and culture in Russia: the case of transitional economy, in Chhokar, J. S., Brodbeck, F. R. and House, R. J. (ads), Culture and Leadership Across the World: The GLOBE Book of In-Depth Study of 25 Societies, New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2008;

Güney, S., Gohar, R., Kılıç Akıncı, S. and Mutlu Akıncı, M., Attitudes toward Women Managers in Turkey and Pakistan, Journal of International Women’s Studies, Vol. 8, November 2006;

Ho, D. Y. F. and Chiu, C. Y., Component Ideas of Individualism, Collectivism and Social Organization: An Application in the Study of Chinese Culture, in U. Kim, C. Kagitcibasi, S. C. Choi, & G. Yoon (eds.), Individualism and Collectivism: Theory, Method, and Applications. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1994;

Holden, N., Cooper, G. and Carr, J., Management Cultures in Collision: Dealing with the New Russia. Whiley, 1998;

Hofstede, G. Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations, 2001

Iguisi, O., Motivation-related values across cultures, African Journal of Business Management, Vol. 3(4), April, 2009;

Mihuț, I. and Lungescu, D., Dimensiuni culturale în managementul românesc, Revista “Management & Marketing”, no 1/2006;

Nakata, C., Beyond Hofstede: Culture Frameworks for Global Marketing and Management, Palgrave MacMillan, London, 2009;

Naumov, A. I. and Puffer, S. M., Measuring Russian Culture using Hofstede‟s Dimensions. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 49(4), 2000;

Parboteeah, K. P., Paik, Y. and Cullen, J. B., Religious Groups and Work Values – A Focus on Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam, International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, Vol. 9(1), 2009;

Rugman, A. M. and Brewer, T. L., The Oxford Handbook of International Business, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 2001;

Shavitt, S., Lalwani, A. K., Zhang, J., and Torelli, C. J., The Horizontal/Vertical Distinction in Cross-Cultural Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2006;

Tylor, E. B., PRIMITIVE CULTURE, RESEARCHES INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MYTHOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, LANGUAGE, ART AND CUSTOM, London, John Murray, Albemarle Street, (eds.) 1920;

Voicu, B., România pseudo-modernă, in Revista “Sociologie Românească”, 2000;

Web links:

http://geert-hofstede.com/dimensions.html;

http://geert-hofstede.com/france.html;

http://geert-hofstede.com/geert-hofstede.html;

http://geert-hofstede.com/national-culture.html;

http://geert-hofstede.com/romania.html;

http://geert-hofstede.com/russia.html;

http://geert-hofstede.com/turkey.html;

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/globalization?q=globalization;

http://www.academicjournals.org/AJBM;

http://www.allcountries.org/ranks/global_competitiveness_index_2008-2009.html;

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1357503/cultural-globalization;

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/326796/labour;

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/values.html#ixzz2NbfmgexK;

http://www.communicaid.com/access/pdf/library/culture/doing-business-in/Doing%20Business%20in%20Turkey.pdf;

http://www.ethics.org/resource/definitions-values;

http://www.geerthofstede.nl/;

http://www.geerthofstede.nl/geert;

http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/n/x/nxy906/COMPS/indivdualismandcollectivism/culture%20lit/verticalhorizontal/Shavittthehorizontal2006.pdf;

http://www.thunderbird.edu/wwwfiles/sites/globe/pdf/process.pdf

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/;

http://www.training.ro/docs/studiu2.pdf;

http://www.transparency.org.ro/politici_si_studii/indici/ipc/2012/CPI2012_Press%20_Release_PresentationRO.pdf;

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alexashin, Y. and Blenkinsopp, J., Changes in Russian managerial values: a test of the convergence hypothesis?, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 16 (3), 2005;

Arnould, E. and Thompson, C., Consumer Culture Theory (CCT): Twenty Years of Research, Journal of Consumer Research, 2005;

Aycan, Z., Human resource management in Turkey – Current issues and future challenges. International Journal of Manpower, 2001;

Brătianu, C., Antimanagement, in Management și Inginerie Economică, no 4/2003;

Browaeys, M. J. and Price, R., Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, Pearson Education Limited, 2011;

Çakmakçı, U. M. and Karabatı, S., Exploring managerial values in the changing Turkish business context, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 27, No. 7, 2008;

Fey, C. F., Nordahl, C. and Zatterstrom, H., Organisational Culture in Russia: The Secret to Success. Business Horizons, November 1999;

Fikret Pașa, S., Kabasakal, H. and Bodur, M., Society, Organisations and Leadership in Turkey, Applied Psychology: An International Review, Oxford, UK, 2001;

Gannon, M. J. and Newman, K. L., The Blackwell handbook of cross-cultural management, Oxford, UK, Malden, MA: Blackwell Business; 2002;

Grachev, M. V., Rogovsky, N. G., and Rakitski, B. V., Leadership and culture in Russia: the case of transitional economy, in Chhokar, J. S., Brodbeck, F. R. and House, R. J. (ads), Culture and Leadership Across the World: The GLOBE Book of In-Depth Study of 25 Societies, New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2008;

Güney, S., Gohar, R., Kılıç Akıncı, S. and Mutlu Akıncı, M., Attitudes toward Women Managers in Turkey and Pakistan, Journal of International Women’s Studies, Vol. 8, November 2006;

Ho, D. Y. F. and Chiu, C. Y., Component Ideas of Individualism, Collectivism and Social Organization: An Application in the Study of Chinese Culture, in U. Kim, C. Kagitcibasi, S. C. Choi, & G. Yoon (eds.), Individualism and Collectivism: Theory, Method, and Applications. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1994;

Holden, N., Cooper, G. and Carr, J., Management Cultures in Collision: Dealing with the New Russia. Whiley, 1998;

Hofstede, G. Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations, 2001

Iguisi, O., Motivation-related values across cultures, African Journal of Business Management, Vol. 3(4), April, 2009;

Mihuț, I. and Lungescu, D., Dimensiuni culturale în managementul românesc, Revista “Management & Marketing”, no 1/2006;

Nakata, C., Beyond Hofstede: Culture Frameworks for Global Marketing and Management, Palgrave MacMillan, London, 2009;

Naumov, A. I. and Puffer, S. M., Measuring Russian Culture using Hofstede‟s Dimensions. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 49(4), 2000;

Parboteeah, K. P., Paik, Y. and Cullen, J. B., Religious Groups and Work Values – A Focus on Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam, International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, Vol. 9(1), 2009;

Rugman, A. M. and Brewer, T. L., The Oxford Handbook of International Business, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 2001;

Shavitt, S., Lalwani, A. K., Zhang, J., and Torelli, C. J., The Horizontal/Vertical Distinction in Cross-Cultural Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2006;

Tylor, E. B., PRIMITIVE CULTURE, RESEARCHES INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MYTHOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, LANGUAGE, ART AND CUSTOM, London, John Murray, Albemarle Street, (eds.) 1920;

Voicu, B., România pseudo-modernă, in Revista “Sociologie Românească”, 2000;

Web links:

http://geert-hofstede.com/dimensions.html;

http://geert-hofstede.com/france.html;

http://geert-hofstede.com/geert-hofstede.html;

http://geert-hofstede.com/national-culture.html;

http://geert-hofstede.com/romania.html;

http://geert-hofstede.com/russia.html;

http://geert-hofstede.com/turkey.html;

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/globalization?q=globalization;

http://www.academicjournals.org/AJBM;

http://www.allcountries.org/ranks/global_competitiveness_index_2008-2009.html;

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1357503/cultural-globalization;

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/326796/labour;

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/values.html#ixzz2NbfmgexK;

http://www.communicaid.com/access/pdf/library/culture/doing-business-in/Doing%20Business%20in%20Turkey.pdf;

http://www.ethics.org/resource/definitions-values;

http://www.geerthofstede.nl/;

http://www.geerthofstede.nl/geert;

http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/n/x/nxy906/COMPS/indivdualismandcollectivism/culture%20lit/verticalhorizontal/Shavittthehorizontal2006.pdf;

http://www.thunderbird.edu/wwwfiles/sites/globe/pdf/process.pdf

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/;

http://www.training.ro/docs/studiu2.pdf;

http://www.transparency.org.ro/politici_si_studii/indici/ipc/2012/CPI2012_Press%20_Release_PresentationRO.pdf;