Cross cultural management sense

*Cultural Impact on Management Styles: A* cross-cultural study between managers of Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic
*Antonio Lebró*n, MBA, DBA
Juan Carlos Sosa Varela, MBA, PhD
*Keywords: Cross Cultural Studies, *National Culture, Leadership Styles, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cultural Dimensions
ABSTRACT
This cross-cultural study utilized the frameworks developed byFleishman and Hofstedes’ cultural dimensions to examine if there is any relationship between management styles and culture. The objectives of this study were the following: 1) to identify the management styles in Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic; 2) to determine if there are differences, if any, of the management styles in Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic and 3) to determine if the differentmanagement styles are different according with the different cultural values in each country.
Previous studies established that people from Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic differ in terms of individualism/collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power of distance and masculinity/femininity (Matos-Diaz, 2001; Franchi, 2003; Kovacheva, 2004; Niedzolek, 2005; & Amador, 2005).
A questionnaire wasdistributed to 195 managers from Puerto Rico and 173 managers of Dominican Republic in education, service, manufacturing, tourism and other industries. The results and the statistical analysis supported that there are differences in management styles between Puertorican managers and Dominican managers and that Hofstede’s dimensions of Power Distance and Masculinity/Femininity can explain thesedifferences. Specifically, the study found that Puerto Ricans managers have a democratic style and the Dominican managers have a paternalistic style.
The results of this study proved a great range of data and information that indicate differences in leadership styles and the relationship with culture due exists. Leaders in different cultures reflect different leadership styles. Based on this research,differences in leadership styles are found and influence the way to manage their people. Managers who have learned about the culture of a country where they are going to work are more likely to develop successful, long term business relationship.
INTRODUCTION
Multicultural team performance in global and transnational organizations has been a catch-all idiom for studies of cultural diversity inorganizational settings. Understanding how to enhance the performance of culturally diverse teams is a central goal of contemporary organizational research. The national culture orientations of multicultural team members influence the choice of communicative behavior, which, in turn, impacts on management approaches and leadership styles. According to Hofstede (2001) and Trompenaars &Hampden-Turner (2001), certain leadership behaviors show higher effectiveness in specific cultures, as they meet the respective expectations of local followers. Cultural differences will affect any managerial process. Laroche suggests that in-depth understanding of the cultural backgrounds of the people one is dealing with can increase the probability of business success among investors and workers operatingin foreign cultures. Cultural integration is a top management responsibility (Hoppe, 2004), but firms appear not to be doing enough to prepare managers for international business environment (Apud et al., 2003).
National culture is a central organizing principle of employee understands of work, their approach to it, and the way in which they expect to be treated. National culture implies thatone way of acting or one set of outcomes is preferable to another. When management styles are inconsistent with these deeply held values, employees are likely to feel dissatisfied, distracted, uncomfortable, and uncommitted. As a result, they may be less able or willing to perform well. Management styles that reinforce national cultural values are more likely to yield predictable behavior, self...