Managing Culturally Influenced Behaviour, Benefits of Being Ethical and

Corporately Socially Responsible, and Understanding Workplace Behaviours to

Realise High-Performance Organisations

Miguel Alvaro Gabriel Cuaresma

20220003
micu0004@ess.ais.ac.nz
2944 words
Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction...................................................................................................................3

1.1 Managing Cultural Differences............................................................................................3

1.2 Benefits of Being Ethical and Corporately Socially Responsible..................................3

1.3 Understanding Workplace Behaviours to Realise High-Performance Organisations 3

2.0 Analysis..........................................................................................................................4

2.1 Managing Culturally Influenced Behaviour.......................................................................4

2.2 Ethical Testing........................................................................................................................7

Figure 3. Carroll’s Pyramid of CSR...............................................................................................................9

2.3 Understanding Workplace Behaviours to Realise High-Performance Organisations

......................................................................................................................................................10
Figure 4 Tuckman’s Model (2012)...............................................................................................................11

3.0 Conclusions & Recommendation............................................................................12

3.1 Managing Culturally Influenced Behaviour.....................................................................12

3.2 Benefits of Being Ethical and Corporately Socially Responsible................................13

3.3 Understanding Workplace Behaviours to Realise High-Performance Organisations

......................................................................................................................................................14

References:........................................................................................................................16

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1.0 Introduction

1.1 Managing Cultural Differences

The study will focus on the importance of employees’ cultural awareness and
competency, especially for “born-global” companies and their leaders. This section will
also discuss managing culturally influenced behaviours, focusing on people from New
Zealand, Indonesia and Japan.

1.2 Benefits of Being Ethical and Corporately Socially Responsible

This section will discuss the Volkswagen (VW) "scandal” in 2015 and the theories about
organisational ethics that transpired in the incident. The study will also talk about the
effects of unethical practices on societal, reputational, ethical, and business impact and
why companies should consider becoming more ethical and Corporately Socially
Responsible (CSR).

1.3 Understanding Workplace Behaviours to Realise High-Performance

Organisations

This part will explore the challenges high-performance organisations (HPO) face in
promoting effective teamwork within diverse, highly educated, and large teams. Using
Kat’z’s study, Tuckman’s model, and Social Capital, the study will tackle these
challenges and suggest ways to enhance collaboration and development within these
teams.

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2.0 Analysis

2.1 Managing Culturally Influenced Behaviour

Trompenaar’s Cultural Dimensions model (2012) states that culture is a culmination of a

group of people’s experiences. It is what they value, how they behave, and all the
norms that have been formed within that group. The model comprises the following
seven dimensions to improve communication:

 Universalism vs. Particularism

 Individualism vs. Communitarianism
 Neutral vs. Emotional
 Specific vs. Diffuse
 Achievement vs. Ascription
 Sequential vs. Synchronic
 Internal Direction vs. Outer Direction

Two dimensions from Trompenaar’s Cultural Dimensions model (2012) will be used to
describe and analyse the cultural factors that influenced the Indonesian context,
Sequential versus Synchronic followed by Specific versus Diffuse.

The cultural difference in the perception of time orientations played a significant role in
the Indonesian context. Trompenaars' (2012) model categorises time orientation into
two primary categories, sequential and synchronic. A culture of sequential time
orientation perceives time as a linear progression from the past to the present and
future. Punctuality and adherence to schedules are taken seriously in this culture
(Trompenaars, 2012). As such, conversations and meetings are direct and concise,
minimising small talk. In the Indonesian example, the senior manager from New
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Zealand belongs to the sequential time culture. He is not used to attending meetings
that start late as meetings that begin late in sequential time culture is not tolerated and
is considered impolite. Indeed, the senior manager felt that the 1 hour and 20 minutes
were just put to waste and expected that their meeting would start at the time that was
agreed on.

In comparison, others view time as more fluid and less rigidly structured, wherein being
late is typically tolerated, and building relationships is more important. Trompenaars
(2012) categorises such culture as synchronic. In a synchronic culture, flexibility and
relationship-building often precede strict schedule adherence and a more relaxed
approach to time management. In the Indonesian example, Mr Abdulla, bearing the
synchronic time culture, came into the meeting late as he is used to meetings not
starting on time in Indonesia, which is normal and is not taken negatively in their
country.

Another cultural difference that affected the meeting, according to Trompenaars' (2012)
model, is people’s behaviour on how people separate their professional and personal
lives and if interwork relationships are vital to work objectives. First is the specific
culture. People under specific cultures tend to separate their personal and work lives.
They also tend to be schedule-focused and direct to the point in their communications.
Since the meeting had already started late, the senior manager, who is classified under
a specific culture, expected that they would at the least talk directly about their business
and that the meeting would be focused on professional matters.

Some individuals see building rapport as essential and only conduct business with
people they trust. Trompenaars (2012) stated that people from diffusive cultures tend to
see their personal and work lives as interconnected. They tend to build good
relationships with their colleagues as they believe that it would be beneficial in achieving
their objectives. The high-ranking official from Indonesia, belonging to this culture,

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initially engaged in small talk despite being late to the meeting call time, believing it was
essential before discussing the deal.

Asians are known for their close family ties; fathers in the family have the highest
authority in the house and are treated with the highest respect. Wianto et al. (2021)
reported that filial piety is a culture in Indonesia wherein the elderly who act as parents
are treated with the utmost respect and are usually articulated as the sense of obligation
to obey, be courteous, and respect and care for parents as they age as a way of
reciprocating their parent's sacrifice. In an attempt to build a personal relationship, Mr
Abdullah asked about the senior manager’s father, and he shared that his father is
getting older and dealing with health issues, which led them to take him to a nursing
home in Auckland. Mr Abdullah, having strong filial piety values, took things differently
upon hearing the story, and caused the meeting to end abruptly.

In the Japanese context, the situation is shaped by cultural norms:

Japanese business culture is known to place a high emphasis on hierarchical respect

called the power distance index, as stated by Hofstede et al. (2010). Asian countries are
widely known for their hierarchical order, where subordinates are obliged to adhere to
their superior, and challenges to the higher-ups are generally met with disapproval
(Dissanayake et al., 2015). In China, Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan, younger people
are expected to respect, obey, and care for the elderly (North & Fiske, 2015). The
presence of Hashimoto-San is the reason behind Tatsuya-San's silence with respect for
his predecessor in adherence to their high power distance culture as a sign of respect to
the former CEO, who is also 40 years older. The senior manager, accustomed to a
culture with a lower power index, was disappointed with the new CEO's silence despite
their fruitful meetings.

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One factor in achieving business success is effective communication. Identifying and
addressing communication noises, barriers, and bridges are keys to achieving effective
communication. Hall (1976) argued that "Two significant challenges to understanding
intercultural communication are the language's linearity and the ingrained cultural
biases" (p. 69). The Japanese language is complex, nuanced, and heavily reliant on
context, translating a challenging task even for experts, which is the challenge the
Japanese Interpreter encountered during the meeting.

2.2 Ethical Testing

Being ethical and Corporately Socially Responsible (CSR) plays a vital role in
companies’ longevity and success whilst having a positive impact on society. The lack of
importance for ethical and CSR practices may be pardonable in the short term;
however, over time, the lack of such may drive more harm not only to the company but
also to society and the environment. An example is the Volkswagen scandal. Toyota
regained the top spot for global sales from Volkswagen (VW) and is expected to
continue for an extended period due to the significant impact of the emissions-rigging
scandal (Farrell, 2015). VW’s engineers, unable to come up with a solution to make
their vehicles emission-compliant in the US, were put into a tricky spot and had their
ethics tested. This resulted in six VW employees being charged due to emissions
cheating and incurring the company a total of $4.3 billion penalty. Examining the VW
case from an ethical perspective reveals multiple implications:

Utilitarianism and Ethical Egoism:

Utilitarianism’s attempt to achieve the greater good, not considering the stakeholders,
led to severe repercussions:

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  Environmental Impact: VW’s deceiving actions resulted in massive nitrogen
oxide emissions from 2008 to 2015, causing health hazards and an estimated 60
premature deaths, according to researchers (Dura, 2017).
 Social Responsibility: While VW enjoyed increased sales, it failed socially by
breaking customer trust, damaging its reputation, and compromising public
health (Dura, 2017).
 Global Impact: The cheating disadvantaged the competitors and harmed
communities globally, showcasing that corporate actions could impact society on
a global scale (Dura, 2017).

Ethical Egoism, prioritising self-interest, VW installed cheat devices to meet

emission standards, similar to the "Bhopal Gas Tragedy" (Kumar & Pandey, 2019),
where greed led to catastrophic consequences and immense human suffering.

Deontological Theories
Volkswagen’s actions disregarded the law and their fundamental duties, resulting in
alarming effects:

 Environmental Impact: Volkswagen disregarded its duty to protect the

environment by deceiving the emission test, damaging ecosystems and risking
public health.
 Social Responsibility: Volkswagen's action suggested its lack of concern for
societal well-being and contradicted its duty to operate ethically and responsibly.
 Global Impact: Should other companies follow similar unethical practices, it
would pose a global environmental and health crisis, highlighting the importance
of adhering to the ethical duty to promote global welfare.

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Figure 1. Carroll’s Pyramid of CSR

(Carroll,2016)

Aligning with Carroll’s Pyramid of CSR (Figure 3), Volkswagen failed across all pyramid
levels: economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic. However, there could be an argument
that they at least passed the economic responsibilities level. The short-term gains are at
the cost of violating their environmental, social, and global responsibilities, resulting in a
damaged reputation and hefty fines.

Importance of Being an Ethical and Corporately Socially Responsible Company:

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  Long-term Sustainability: Ethical practices build long-term relationships and
stakeholder trust, promoting long-term sustainable growth.
 Risk Mitigation: Ethical behaviour reduces legal and reputational risks,
protecting against scandals and fines like those faced by Volkswagen.
 Promotes Brand Image: A good CSR reputation is essential to profitability and
can help maintain and attract customers, shareholders, and employees (Williams
et al., 2007).
 Global Impact: Addressing global issues requires collective efforts, and
companies adopting ethical and corporately socially responsible practices would
be pivotal in environmental conservation and promoting social well-being.

2.3 Understanding Workplace Behaviours to Realise High-Performance

Organisations

The high-performance organisation (HPO) framework is a unique framework that

delivers a unique and lasting result. It has been proven that every organisation
implementing this with the proper discipline has achieved improved organisational
outcomes.

Large teams dominated by highly educated people and experts in organisations facing
challenges in achieving HPO can be attributed to the following:
 Communication Barriers: Highly educated individuals with expertise in distinct
subjects could lead to information overload, making it harder to reach a consensus.
 Focus: Larger groups often need help aligning towards common goals, as a more
significant number of people means more complexity.
 Leadership: A good, accountable leader is often required to enable such teams
towards collaboration to shared objectives.

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Tuckman’s (1965) model described how teams move in different stages: forming,
storming, norming, performing, and adjourning (See Figure 4). Incorporating this model
with Katz’s (1991), great leaders should possess three essential skills:

 Technical Skills: Highly educated individuals with expertise in distinct subject

matter could lead to information overload and make it harder to reach a consensus.
Teams must establish initial connections vital in delegating roles and responsibilities
to use each other’s technical skills to the team’s advantage (Forming stage).
 Human Skills: During the norming and storming stages, human skills are pivotal to
managing conflicts and building trust in diverse teams to avoid and minimise
communication challenges due to varying styles, communication noises, and cultural
backgrounds. This phase fosters constructive conflict, forming a leadership core,
roles, and relationships, shaping later stages of team development (Morita and
Burns, 2014).
 Conceptual Skills: Conceptual skills are pivotal in the performing stage, requiring a
rigid company structure and being one step ahead in all aspects to keep the
employees involved and self-directing while aligning with the company's vision and
mission. Effective leadership maintains team performance and harmony. While the
adjourning stage is inevitable, top-quality management can guide the team back to a
performing state.

Figure 2 Tuckman’s Model (2012)

Adjourning Forming

Performing Storming

11 Norming
The issue with the Tuckman model is that it would only sometimes work as predicted,
and teams may never progress out of storming or possibly transition to norming and
proceed back to storming (Alvares, 2019). A concept called Social Capital can be
utilised to address this problem. Social capital is defined as the features of social
organisation, like networks, norms and trust, that promote collaboration for mutual
advantage. He views social capital as a quality that can facilitate interpersonal
cooperation. Active involvement in a group is a good indication of social capital,
fostering shared norms and trust and resulting in good relationships and collective well-
being. Proper communication and collaboration are highly influenced by trust. Teams
need it to function effectively as it is an integral part of successful team performance
and has been declared a crucial component of effective and successful teams (Morita &
Burns, 2014).

Microsoft is one example that values collaboration and diversity to achieve trust-
building, conflict resolution, and effective leadership. Microsoft’s diversity and inclusion
report (2023) quoted that diversity and inclusion are central to their ambition to
empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more.

3.0 Conclusions & Recommendation

3.1 Managing Culturally Influenced Behaviour

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The management of culturally influenced behaviour poses significant challenges in
global business meetings. Had both groups known about their cultural differences, the
two meetings could have transpired positively. The situations in Indonesia and Japan
showed how these differences can affect how people see time, balance personal and
work life, show respect in hierarchies, and communicate.

In the Indonesian scenario, the conflict between sequential and synchronic time
orientations and specific and diffuse cultural tendencies led to misunderstandings in
punctuality, meeting focus, and respect for the elderly. On the other hand, shaped by
the power distance index, the Japanese context exhibited the significance of
hierarchical respect, leading to significant misunderstanding and the deal being
cancelled.

Cultural awareness plays a significant role when communicating with people from
diverse cultures. People perceive, interpret, and assess things differently. What is
acceptable in one culture may be deemed unacceptable in another (Quappe &
Cantatore, 2015). Understanding and dealing with these differences are crucial for
effective cross-cultural collaboration and successful business dealings.

Companies should implement cultural understanding and sensitivity programs for

employees and encourage continuous learning and improvement regarding cross-
cultural interactions.

3.2 Benefits of Being Ethical and Corporately Socially Responsible

This report demonstrates the importance of being ethical and corporate social
responsibility in businesses. Volkswagen’s decision to cheat the emission standards
has done more damage financially and reputation-wise that will have a lingering effect
indefinitely. Unethical behavior can result to serious consequences. Not only does it hurt

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sales and damage trust with the public, but it also leads to environmental harm,
especially with things like substandard diesel emissions that can cause irreversible
damage. And it's not just about business or the environment—there's a real threat to
people's health, which can have some really severe implications, even leading to
fatalities. Making decisions to operate ethically and corporately socially responsibly
benefits companies sustainability-wise, mitigates risks, promotes a good brand image
and leaves a positive global impact.

GGI Insights (2023) states that social responsibility is not merely a moral obligation but
also a means for sustainable, ethically driven, successful business. The study suggests
that companies should have a robust ethical culture wherein the leaders are committed
to a comprehensive code of conduct that outlines ethical standards for all employees.
Incorporating corporate social responsibily into business strategy and keeping
stakeholders informed to ensure real needs and concerns are addressed. Be
environmentally responsible by engaging in sustainable practices, and lastly, become
involved in the community through volunteer programs or philanthropic initiatives.

3.3 Understanding Workplace Behaviours to Realise High-Performance

Organisations

When executed correctly, the High-Performance Organization (HPO) framework is

practical and produces lasting, significant outcomes for organisations. However,
complexities within large teams dominated by experts and highly educated people may
hinder the realisation of HPO. These challenges are mainly communication barriers due
to information overload, difficulties aligning diverse teams in reaching common goals,
and the crucial need for leadership to facilitate collaboration.

Utilising Tuckman’s model and Katz’s essential leadership skills identifies the critical
aspects needed for team success. Technical skills help in bringing out the expertise of
highly educated individuals. In contrast, human skills are vital in managing conflicts by

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communicating effectively with each other, building trust to achieve harmony and
delegating authority and roles accordingly among large, diverse teams. Incorporating
the social capital model with human skills is helpful to help employees strengthen
collaboration, intradepartmental and interdepartmental by organising activities that
promote active engagement, making a team that cohesively works together towards a
common goal.

Lastly, conceptual skills steer teams in the performing stage by having a top-quality
proactive leader foreseeing potential areas of concern before they manifest.
Additionally, ensuring a framework is in place to keep employees motivated and
engaged. A leader's conceptualisation ability is crucial for maintaining team momentum
and productivity during the performing stage.

To address these challenges and foster HPO within large teams, organisations should
implement strategies derived from Tuckman's, Katz's, and Social Capital principles. It is
vital to have people with diverse expertise and cultures, a collaborative culture that
promotes effective communication, a team that trusts each other, and a visionary leader
who keeps employees motivated and involved. Emulating Microsoft's emphasis on
diversity and inclusion can further support trust-building, conflict resolution, and
proficient leadership within highly diversified teams.

A visionary leader who oversees that employees are involved and contended is vital to
anchor largely diverse experts in a team. Promoting a collaborative culture, effective
communication, and occasional outside work activities that force employees from
different departments to work together to build trust is recommended to achieve high-
performance outcomes. Taking inspiration from Microsoft’s approach in their campaign
to promoting diversity and inclusion can further support building trust, resolving conflicts,
and top-notch leadership within highly diversified teams.

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Continuous monitoring and adaptation of these strategies are vital for sustained growth
and development. Timely assessments within teams and continuous efforts to improve
current policies and procedures are suggested to achieve high-performance outcomes
in this dynamic organisational landscape.

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