A company’s cultural journey
Overview
For this interview, the person we interviewed has professional background in identity management and application security. In this interview, the cultural differences within the company are being shared and explained. The company being examined is a big international French company.
The interviewee gave insights on where the cultural aspect is listed. In the interview it is explained that there is a great cultural diversity within the company. Whether it is in the team works in or the company in general.
Furthermore, examples of inhibitive and prohibitive situations on the work floor are mentioned (Hofstede et al., 2002). It is inhibitive within the company to talk your own language with a fellow co-worker because this makes the other co-workers of a different background not understand you. It is prohibitive to give unfriendly comments to other co-workers. Since there are so many cultures inside and outside the company this is considered as prohibitive. The company also has points on which it could improve itself.
Hofstede Dimensions
When having an international business, it is necessary to adapt to the different cultures that this company experiences. The company originated from two French tech companies that merged together. After that, the company started working together with a Dutch company and it works with 70 different countries. In 2014 the company managed to buy the IT outsourcing activities from an American company so it has a lot of coworkers operating in the United States. Therefore we choose to compare France, The United States and also The Netherlands with each other in the Hofstede cultural bridges tool.
Power distance index
The different cultures are all equal with each other appearing on the interview and on the reviews given by the employee. The employees get to a group project to solve an issue, with that they have to make reports to the managers on the progress. Even though there is a hierarchy environment the employee can still talk directly with the managers that give the project and also learn new skills for example. There is a higher power distance business due the characteristics of having a hierarchy operating business. But the ideas that get exchanged could come from people at any organization level.
Individualism vs collectivism
In the interview it was noted that there is culture diversity in the company, but with that everybody is being treated the same. There are also no rules applied with the diversity, also there are no courses given regarding multicultural inclusion. This has to do with the high individualism where the same value standards are supposed to apply to everyone. Every customer should get the same treatment. (Universalism).
Uncertainty avoidance index
Our interviewee stated in the interview that the people from different cultures all work together and, after work they perform social activities. With the comfortableness of all the coworkers being together even though they are all from different cultural backgrounds means that the company scores high in uncertainty avoidance. This shows that the high Uncertainty avoidance of France (86) is also noticeable in the business culture.
Masculinity vs femininity
One of the issues asked during the interview was about how the company views equality. When we raised this question, we were told that everyone receives personal gratitude and that all coworkers get along well. Management assists employees in improving their working talents in order to provide them with greater opportunities. The low masculinity of the French, who are more concerned with the quality of life, highlights these themes.
Long-term orientation vs short-term orientation
The company believes it is critical to adapt and evolve, and one of the strategies it has used over the years has been to develop ties with other businesses. This is due to the company’s desire to gain a larger global market share. Co-workers have a flexible schedule and are assigned to various positions inside the firm. This suggests that the company is a firm focused on the long term, where personal adaptability, market position, and relationships are more essential than leisure time (Davis, 2021).
Outcome
As the company has great diversity it also has some issues that need to be solved. As our interview noted the company often organizes coffee meetings and football matches to allow everyone to meet with each other and to let everyone feel included into the company. The company provides adequate resources for different cultures by talking a lot to each other and everyone gets the resources they need. As our interview adds: ‘’Diversity brings strength to the company, in the sense that we work with different clients from different countries. They have a different point of view and internally we have that too and it is also interesting to show that no matter which culture of background we have, we all do the same job, and we are all equal.’’
It is clear that the company has co-workers of different cultures and backgrounds. It also ensures meetings to get to know each other better. But despite this there are still some issues that should be solved and considered.
- The interviewee stated that there is a problem of gender equality in engineering, there are few women in this field. This is something the company can work on.
- On the level of religion, the food that is offered is not adapted to all beliefs. Unfortunately, there is no consideration of religious differences.
- Language barrier is an issue that still happens in a lot of companies, The company is also included here. Because people of different origins and cultures work together, it can happen that people speak in their own language and this is not understood by other co-workers.
- Glass ceiling for people of different origins. It is often the same people who are in high positions, it’s harder for a person from another culture to get a position with more responsibility. This is also in terms of gender. This prevents people from working in ICT services
- Another concerning point is a meeting after work, there is often alcohol offered in a bar but many people don’t drink alcohol, so they don’t go there. This ensures that fewer people get to know each other
Possible solutions
First, girls are discouraged from studying science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) topics, according to colleagues who work with schools through the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) ‘People Like Me’ initiative or our ‘Class of Your Own’ program. To combat these limiting/harmful gender preconceptions and encourage girls into the industry, we must engage sooner (Five ways to boost gender equality in engineering, 2022). This could be during their study, to motivate women and remove unconscious biases about gender roles. Companies like the one we interviewed can encourage engineering by hiring more women in the engineering industry. This may pave the way for a trend in which women are less hesitant to work in this industry.
Furthermore, in order to address the issue of religious disparities in food, the corporation must consider these distinctions and ensure that there are more options that complement these religions. The corporation can purchase more broad items like salads, pasta, fruit, and vegetables for lunch so that everyone can enjoy them. It would be even better if the company offered halal or seafood options to give everyone a sense of variety.
Next, a remedy to the language barrier problem would be to state upfront that speaking foreign languages is impolite. Managers can also state that it is not permitted so that everyone understands each other and no one feels left out of dialogues.
In addition, to solve the issue of glass ceiling for people of different origins, the company can use blind CV’s that exclude background information such as gender, age, origin, experience and more. This creates more diversity and will surely improve it. Lastly, to solve the problem that some employees drink and some do not, it would be wonderful to have after work outings with the team to go to a restaurant or coffee shops where everyone can drink. This will create more closeness and team bonding, as everyone can choose something instead of some employees drinking alcohol and some not.
Conclusion
The interview with went well. We learned a lot about the company and we both came to the conclusion that the company could possibly consider some changes within the company to make everyone even more included. To conclude, the company we interviewed is a high dynamic international company with clients all over the world that stimulates diversity. Based on the interview, we now know that the company has good sides with organizing events and showing themselves to their co-workers. But also, sides that should be solved by considering the ideas of co-workers.
A business like this should hire more women in the engineering business to address these difficulties. It is also critical that they broaden its food offerings so that individuals of many faiths can enjoy the food. Then, in order to overcome the language barrier, different languages should be accepted. Finally, to address the issue of some employees drinking alcohol while others do not, the organization should organize work outings to restaurants or coffee shops where everyone may enjoy each other’s company.
References:
Five ways to boost gender equality in engineering. (2022, 1 juni). Infrastructure Intelligence. Geraadpleegd op 5 juni 2022, van http://www.infrastructure-intelligence.com/article/mar-2017/beboldforchange-five-ways-boost-gender-equality-engineering
Hofstede, G., & Hofstede, G. J. (2002). Exploring Culture: Exercises, Stories and Synthetic Cultures (2de editie). Amsterdam University Press.
Davis, J. D. (2021, 8 december). Long Term Orientation Vs Short Term Orientation, and How To Be a Long-termist. Fosburit.Com. Geraadpleegd op 5 juni 2022, van https://fosburit.com/culture/long-term-orientation-vs-short-term-orientation/
Authors
Student: Cagla Koc (LinkedIn)
Faculty Business and Economics, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Block 4, Semester 2. 2022
Student: Janice Gerding (LinkedIn)
International Business, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Block 4, Semester 2. 2022
Student: Arnold Baker
Faculty Business and Economics (linkedin)
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Block 4, Semester 2. 2022