Cultural Clashes Hrm Essay Example

Spanish managers and employees have a culture with higher power distance, typical of hierarchical organizations with a more paternalistic approach. In terms of uncertainty avoidance, Swedes tend to be more comfortable with higher degrees of flexibility, while Spanish employees prefer situations that are characterized by a high degree of certainty through control, rules, and regulations. Swedes highly value individualism and individual incentives, whereas Spanish culture leans towards collectivism and being part of a cohesive group. However, it should be noted that despite their strong preference for collectivism, Spanish individuals are also proud individualists who may have difficulties with cooperation. According to Hofstede, there are hard masculine values, such as assertiveness and competition, as well as feminine soft values, such as life quality and caring about others.

The text discusses the cultural differences between Swedes and Spanish in terms of masculinity and long-term orientation. Swedes are characterized as having low masculinity, while Spanish emphasize a medium level of masculinity. In 1991, Hofstede introduced a fifth dimension called long-term orientation. IKEA, in its efforts to foster a culture of growth and commitment, has embraced this dimension, which can be confusing for Spanish who prefer short-term targets. Additionally, Swedes value universalism, viewing rules and regulations as superior and applicable to everyone, while in Spain there is a preference for a particularist culture that values relationships. The quote "Why employ someone that you don’t know when you can employ someone that you already know?" exemplifies this perspective (Jackson, 2002).

While Sweden is more achievement oriented, Spain can be seen as more ascription oriented, meaning that their status is achieved through family background or other prior factors. Spanish culture can be defined

as a culture with higher power distance than Sweden while also being less individualistic. Therefore, Swedish managers could provide their Spanish employees with better guidelines, both oral and written, in order to strengthen their understanding.

Both masculinity and uncertainty avoidance are higher in Spain. Clearer descriptions of the importance of soft values as a way to achieve long-term success and prescriptions on how to practice the freedom of flexibility would be desirable to overcome skepticism. Spanish loyalty is primarily aligned towards their families and not towards larger collectives. Managers therefore need to work hard on making employees understand the importance of teamwork, job engagement, and its linkage to better performance. Spanish focus is socially oriented rather than task-oriented, and they highly emphasize quality of life rather than job engagement.

Managers need to understand the cultural preferences of Spanish employees while also ensuring that employee engagement conforms to corporate rules and regulations. It is crucial for Spanish employees to have opportunities for self-expression and advancement, so managers should strive to make them feel valued. Inequality, hierarchy, limited involvement in decision-making, and paternalistic relationships with managers contribute to the sense of certainty that Spanish employees desire. Swedish managers face the challenge of promoting IKEA's culture in order to provide a feeling of security among employees. One way this can be achieved is by offering clearer career paths. If Spanish managers were part of the IKEA group operating in Sweden, they would need to adapt to all the cultural values outlined in section two.

The reason for this is that IKEA culture is firmly based on these "Swedish" core values, which are an essential component of their business strategy and ideology.