How Might Different Cultural Perspectives on Time Influence International Organisational Practices - Assignment Example

How Might Different Cultural Perspectives on Time Influence International Organisational Practices and Communication Student’s Name Grade Course Tutor’s Name Date How Might Different Cultural Perspectives on Time Influence International Organisational Practices and Communication Cultural perspectives on time have been investigated both in organisational behaviour and social psychology. As Brislin and Kim (2003, p. 364) note, however, few organisational behaviour theorists have investigated the cross-cultural temporal differences in time. The absence of research does not, however, mean that the different perspectives of time in different cultures are less important. If anything, some theorist (Cushner & Brislin 1996, p. 11; Triandis 2006, p. 21) has already established that the temporal cultural perspectives have lasting effects on cross-cultural communication and in the era of globalisation, on international business. This essay will draw from existing literature to discuss how perspectives of time in different cultures affect communication and practices with an international organisation. The essay acknowledges that within an international organisation, employees are recruited from different geographical regions, societies, religions and, therefore, culture. As a result, such employees have different perspectives about time and work. To be culturally sensitive, therefore, the management of the international organisation must recognise the different perspectives represented in the workforce, but should set policies to guide internal communication and practices to create an understanding in the workplace and, therefore, avoid confusion. Time assumes different meanings that are shared by people from the same socio-cultural groups (Ancona, Okhuysen & Perlow 2001, p. 513). People from other cultures may not necessarily understand the dimensions of time from another culture, but as cultural relativism suggests, they need to understand and (perhaps) respect other cultures sense of time. The most pronounced cultural perspective of time relates to clock versus event time (Brislin & Kim 2003, p. 365). Some cultures organise their practices and communication at specific times, which according to Brislin and Kim (2003, p. 365) is clock-time. Clock-time is specific and observes strict schedules meaning that people have to complete specific duties by a specific time and move on to others, which they must attend to for a given duration. Other cultures, on the other hand, organise their time around specific events, which Lo and Houkamau (2012, p. 108) call “the natural flow of events”. On his part, Levine (1997, p. 91) defines event time as a product of different aspects in a culture that include environmental, social and economic cures as well as cultural values. People that uphold the event time perspective proceed to the next event or process after conclusively finishing another. Time demand is a foreign concept to them because they understand the demands requirements of an event or a process better and will, therefore, work on it for as long as it takes. Several authors observe that industrialised cultures in South America, Europe and the Pacific uphold the clock time perspective (Brislin & Kim 2003, p. 366; Lo & Houkamau 2012, p. 108). Less industrialised cultures in Asia, South America and Africa were found to uphold event time. An international organisation that has recruited employees from the industrialised and the less industrialised countries would, therefore, need to find a middle ground between cultures that have upheld both perspectives. When communicating to its employees, for example, the management need to be specific about the importance of working within timelines. However, the management would need to create a balance between rushing through time to beat strict deadlines and producing quality work. The organisation of tasks is also critical to the performance of an internal organisation where different perspectives of time are held by the workers. Plocher, Goonetilleke, Yan and Liang (2002, p. 24) indicate that some employees from specific cultures portray polychromic behaviour, through the preference to juggle several activities (e.g. working on one project for one hour and proceeding to the next). Others, on the other hand, portray monochronic behaviour by preferring to complete a single project before taking up another. Unless an international organisation acknowledges the differences in people who prefer doing one thing at a time and those who do not, putting such workers on the same work team can create tension and inefficiencies thus leading to underperformance in the firm. Another time perspective that differs across cultures is punctuality. Schriber and Gutek (1987, p. 642) defines punctuality as the rigidity through which people adhere to specific schedules or set deadlines. According to Brislin and Kim (2003, p.367) the punctuality perspective determines how people perceive tardiness. In some cultures, going late to an appointment is perceived as rudeness or lack of courtesy. In some other cultures, however, it is normal for people to walk to an appointment an hour later and still be considered for whatever it was they were going to do. Interestingly, how time is communicated may bring confusion to some people. Lebedko (2001, p. 13), for example, narrates a story where a Russian working in an American company almost missed a flight that was scheduled to take off in the morning. To the Russian, who obviously understood the term ‘morning’ based on his home culture, mornings started at 4 am and lasted till noon. To the Americans however, mornings started at midnight and lasted until noon. From the preceding story, it is, therefore, obvious that international organisations need to be more specific in their communication. Instead of using words like ‘morning’, for example, the organisation should specifically state the time (e.g. 12 midnight or 12 noon). Another time aspect that may affect communication and practices in an international organisation is how people in different cultures perceive the past, present and future. Klickhohn and Strodtbeck (1961 cited by Lo & Haukamau 2012, p. 110) were the first authors to suggest that cross-cultural differentiation could have different perceptions of the present, past and future. Brislin & Kim (2003, p. 367) however indicate that it is almost impossible for people in a single culture to emphasise on one aspect of time while neglecting the remaining two. For example, people in one culture can be future-oriented (e.g. through emphasising the need for conservation and environment-friendly practices) but they cannot neglect to do what they can in the present thus suggesting that the culture has an aspect of present orientation. A different culture can draw vital lessons from its past practices, but the people cannot deny that what they do in the present also forms some traditions for future generations. Past/present/future cultural orientations are also reflected in the perceptions of synchronic or sequential nature time as observed by Alstrom and Bruton (2009, p.56) and Wuher & Bilgin (2014, p. 285). The authors argue that people whose cultural perceptions imply that time is a sequential ‘commodity’ are guided by the notion that one can waste, save or spend time. On the flipside, people whose cultural orientations indicate that time is synchronic believe that time is infinite and that what was not done today, can always be accomplished tomorrow or the day after. To communicate effectively in an international organisation where different past, present and future time orientations are represented, the management must be deliberate on what it wants to achieve. Is the communication, for example, meant to encourage people to be timelier in their schedule? If so, how would the management make such kind of communication more decipherable to people from the synchronic cultural orientation who do not necessarily subscribe to the notion of abiding by strict deadlines? Answering such questions would make the organisation more strategic in formulating its communication policies and procedures, with the intention of accommodating people from different cultures who are represented in its workforce. The organisation would also need to consider adopting practices that accommodate all the cultures represented. Failure to accommodate different time perspectives could lead to rifts in the organisation, which can be costly to manage and remedy. The organisation could, therefore, be better off describing the rules to be followed by all employees regardless of their cultural convictions. In some cultures, time is perceived as a function to achieve efficiency or effectiveness (Brislin & Kim 2003, p. 367). According to Bartuševičienė and Šakalytė (2013, p. 47) people from cultures where efficiency is upheld give more weight to the optimal use of time to achieve specific goals and objectives. Such people are more inclined to work within schedules and set deadlines. There are some cultures who on the other hand perceive time not as a scarce resource, but as a necessity in achieving the goals, vision and mission of the organisation they work for. Instead of rushing through activities, therefore, people from the latter cultural orientation would rather work at a pace they are comfortable with since such freedom in time management allows them to work effectively (Plantenga & Remery 2009, p. 21). Arguably, it might seem that cultures that perceive time as a necessity for attaining effectiveness think more in terms of quality of results as opposed to the quantity. Those who perceive time as a scarce resource, on the other hand, may be more interested in quantity. Undoubtedly, the effectiveness vs. efficiency time concepts as held by employees working in the same international organization would affect the communication and processes therein. On one hand, the organization cannot afford to compromise its quality for the sake of mass producing goods or services. On the other hand, however, the organization cannot afford to spend too much time attending to a single process because that would affect the timely delivery of output. To strike a balance, therefore, it would be advisable for the organization to determine which people perform well in specific departments. Since they seemingly pay attention to details, people from cultures that perceive time as a tool for attaining effectiveness could be organized to work in the research and development department. Those who perceive time as a resource for attaining optimal results could, on the other hand, be organized to work in departments that would benefit from quantitative results. Such include the production department. The ‘pace of life’ is according to Macey (2013, p. 150) another cultural perspective of time. According to the author, some cultures are very time conscious and hence live a very fast paced life. Others are less time conscious hence making their lives relatively slow paced. In a study cited by Macey (2013, p. 150), Japan was ranked as the country with the fastest pace of life. The Japanese culture is characterised by speed and precision, and predictability of actions. Macey (2013, p. 150) indicate that people in Japan go to and from work at specific times of the day, eat at specific times and sleep or rest for specific hours. In other cultures especially in the developing world, the speed through which people do things is much slower, meaning that people are more liberal regarding when they go to and from work among other things. An international organization that has recruited workers from the fast- and slow-paced cultures would have to find a middle ground that does not under-utilize workers who are used to the fast-paced life or over work those who come from slow-paced cultures. One possible compromise is adopting a liberal work environment where workers do not have to abide by strict times to arrive at work, but are given performance benchmarks. They would then be free to do their work at whichever time they prefer. Understandably, however, and considering other cultural aspects that affect how people prefer the work environment to be, the liberal work environment may not be ideal for everyone. The preceding realization thus necessitates the need for an international organization to evaluate its workforce and identify how best to communicate or schedule processes. Temporal orientation is also another time-related perspective, which according to Bhagat and Vickrey (2012, p. 18) is shaped by one’s cultural values and beliefs. By definition, temporal orientation is the manner in which a person relates to time by unconsciously giving coherence and order to events in everyday life. According to Zimbardo and Boyd (1999, p. 1272), temporal orientation enables people to categorise, encode, store and recall experiences based on specific time frames. The authors also note that temporal orientation influences most of the judgments that individuals make, their decisions, and how they chose to act (Zimbardo & Boyd 1999, p. 1272). Bhagat and Vickrey (2012, p. 18) further observe that temporal orientations are responsible for the differences observed between present- and future-oriented people. Specifically, the effects of temporal orientation can be seen among people who dwell in the present (i.e. people who attach little or no significance to future possibilities) and the future-oriented people who believe the present acts as a foundation for the future. Hofstede (2001, cited by Billing et al. 2011, p. 211) terms the present and future temporal orientations as short-term and long-term orientation. People from a culture where short-term temporal orientation is dominant will most likely be spontaneous and willing to use the current time optimally. People from a culture where long-term temporal orientation is prevalent will are, on the other hand, more likely to emphasize planning and scheduling. The communication in an international firm where different temporal orientations are represented would have to be cognizant that some people need to receive communication in advance to allow them to make the necessary mental preparations. Still, others may find short-notice communications acceptable. To be on the safe side, however, the international organization may need to strike a balance where any changes or policies are communicated within a specific time to interest workers who relate to time differently. Time perspectives regarding periods of silence also differ across cultures as observed by Brislin and Kim (2003, p. 365). Periods of silence are also referred to as dead time in some cultures (e.g. in the American culture) and are regarded as a failure to communication (Clair 2003, p. 2). Dead time is also perceived as awkward moments in such cultures. In other cultures (like Japan for example), periods of silence are perceived as a way of communication. Clair (2003, p. 3) notes that in the Japanese culture, non-verbal communication is given as much weight as verbal communication, and when people go silent, it is not perceived as a waste of time. Rather, it is interpreted that the silence was meant to communicate something. The management of an international firm where people are drawn from different cultures are represented, needs to understand that people communicate and interpret silence differently. Some use it to portray passive resistance, disagreement or defiance. Silence from the management may be interpreted by people from a specific culture as portraying dissatisfaction in performance while others may perceive it as indicative of satisfaction by the management (Clair 2003, p. 4). To reduce room for confusion in how periods of silence are interpreted, an international organization should ideally provide guidelines on how its management should communicate to the employees and how employees should communicate their concerns, worries or ideas to the management. Such guidelines would make communication understandable for everyone, therefore reducing the chances of miscommunication, conflict and the resulting underperformance in the workplace. Cultural effects were also found to have an impact on how different people perceived work and leisure (Brislin & Kim 2003, p. 366; Chick & Shen 2007, p. 25). Hypothetically, societal development is supposed to have an implication on the quantity of time that people spend on leisure. Empirical evidence cited by Chick and Shen (2007, p. 25) however indicate that developed societies spend more time at work and less in leisure while the opposite is true for less developed society. Developed societies are more culturally complex and managing survival takes quite a significant amount of the adult’s time living them with less leisure time. Managing survival involves catering for the basics needs such as food, clothes, housing, education and transport. As Pieper (1965, p. 43) explains, leisure is more than a state of not working; it is an attitude, which takes shape depending on the culture that shaped one's values. In some cultures, people have a sense of incompleteness if they are not busy. People in such cultures are therefore encouraged to work hard. In other cultures, however, people have been socialized to let things happen and not to push them too much, because after all, some things cannot be forced (Pieper 1965, p. 44). A workplace that contains people who perceive leisure and work time differently would need to provide guidelines on how much time should be spent at work. For example, the international company should communicate to all its employees about when to arrive and leave the workplace. The firm could even go a step further to encourage its employees to have a work-life balance hence striking a middle ground between people who prefer working too much and those who prefer having as much fun and working just because they have to. In conclusion, this essay has discussed how some cultural perspectives of time can affect the communication and processes in an international company. The essay assumes that an international company would recruit a diverse workforce that is representative of different cultures. Although there are different cultural perspectives of time as indicated in the essay, the effect of the same on an international company appear to be contained in the need accommodate all cultures. For the sake of uniformity, this essay has indicated severally that an international organization would need to develop its own policy guidelines that would be part of the organizational culture, and which would act as a guideline for people of all cultures to communicate or act in a manner that would be beneficial to the mission and objectives of the organisation. In some cases, however, an international company would be required to strategize on how best the different time perspectives held by people from different cultures can benefit the organization. As observed in the essay, people from an event time cultural perspective would arguably be more suited to work in the research and development department, while those who come from a culture that observes clock time can work in production or other departments that work on strict schedules. 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