Chap 14

Griffin and Pustay Third Edition
INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS
A MANAGERIAL PERSPECTIVE
Chapter 14
Managing Behavior and Interpersonal Relations
1
Prentice
Prentice
Hall ©Hall
2002©International
2002 International
Business
Business
3e 3e
Chapter Objectives
After studying this chapter you should be able to:
• Identify and discuss the basic perspectives on individual
differences in different cultures.
• Evaluate basic views of employee motivation in international
business.
• Identify basic view of managerial leadership in international
business.
• Discuss the nature of managerial decision making in
international business.
• Describe group dynamics and discuss how teams are
managed across cultures.
2
Prentice Hall © 2002 International Business 3e
A Leadership Storm at
Firestone
• In 1988, Bridgestone (a Japanese company)
purchased Firestone, a major U.S. tire company.
Firestone’s CEO, John Nevin, was persuaded to stay
and run the operation. Nevin’s leadership style was
blunt and straightforward, with little time wasted on
subtleties.
• Both Nevin and his new bosses soon realized that his
leadership style simply did not fit the profile of what
Japanese leaders are expected to do.
• Masatoshi Ono assumed the leadership position in
1993.
3
A Leadership Storm at
Firestone (cont.)
• For the rest of the 1990s, Ono’s quiet and reserved style worked
wonders at Firestone.
• During the crisis in 2000, in which Firestone tires apparently had
a manufacturing flaw, Ono remained stoic. He never appeared
to get angry or frustrated. He did not offer apology either.
• Meanwhile, his counterpart at Ford assumed personal
responsibility, met with the press regularly and generally publicly
addressed the problem.
• Bridgestone began to realize the magnitude of the public
relations nightmare, and appointed senior Firestone Executive
John Lampe to take over. Lampe immediately held a news
conference in which he apologized on behalf of the company
and pledged to fix the problems as soon as possible.
4
Individual Behavior in
International Business
• Individual behavior in organizations is strongly
influenced by a variety of individual differences—
specific dimensions or characteristics of a person that
influence that person. Most patterns of individual
differences are, in turn, based on personality.
• Other important dimensions that relate to individual
behavior are:
– Attitudes
– Perception
– Creativity
– Stress
5
Personality Differences across
Cultures
• Personality is the relatively stable set of
psychological attributes that distinguishes one
person from another.
• Psychologists have identified five fundamental
personality traits that are especially relevant to
organizations:
– Agreeableness
– Conscientiousness
– Emotional stability
– Extroversion
– Openness
6
Other Personality Traits at
Work
• Besides the “big five”, there are also

several other personality traits that
influence behavior in organizations:
– Locus of control
– Self-efficacy
– Authoritarianism
– Self-esteem
7
Work (cont.)
• Locus of control is the extent to which people believe
that their behavior has a real effect on what happens
to them. People who maintain that individuals are in
control of their lives are said to have an internal locus
of control. People who think that forces beyond their
control dictate what happens to them are said to have
an external locus of control.
• Self-efficacy indicates a person’s beliefs about his or
her capabilities to perform a task. People with high
self-efficacy believe that they can perform well on a
specific task, while people with low self-efficacy tend
to doubt their ability to perform that task.
8
Work (cont.)
• Another important personality characteristic is
authoritarianism, the extent to which an individual
believes that power and status differences are
appropriate within hierarchical social systems like
business organizations. A person who is highly
authoritarian may accept directives or orders from
someone with more authority. A person who is not
highly authoritarian may still carry out appropriate and
reasonable directives from the boss, but he/she is
also more likely to question things and express
disagreement with the boss.
9
Work (conc.)
• Self-esteem is the extent to which a person
believes that he or she is a worthwhile and
deserving individual. A person with high self-
esteem is more likely to seek higher status
jobs, and derive greater intrinsic satisfaction
from her accomplishments. In contrast, a
person with less self-esteem may be more
content to remain in a lower-level job, and
focus more on extrinsic rewards.
10
Attitudes across Cultures
• Another dimension of individuals within

organizations is their attitudes. Attitudes are
complexes of beliefs and feelings that people
have about specific ideas, situations, or other
people. While some attitudes are deeply
rooted and long-lasting, others can be formed
or changed quickly.
• Attitudes are important because they provide
a way for most people to express their
feelings.
11
(cont.)
• Job satisfaction or dissatisfaction is an
attitude that reflects the extent to which an
individual is gratified by or fulfilled in his or
her work.
• Research has shown, at least in some
settings, that expatriates who are dissatisfied
with their jobs and foreign assignments are
more likely to leave their employers than are
more satisfied managers.
12
(conc.)
• Another important job-related attitude is

organizational commitment, which
reflects an individual’s identification with
and loyalty to the organization.
13
Perception across Cultures
• One important determinant of an attitude is the

individual’s perception of the object about which
the attitude is formed. Perception is the set of
processes by which an individual becomes aware
of and interprets information about the
environment.
• Stereotyping is one common perceptual process
that affects international business. Stereotyping
occurs when we make inferences about someone
because of one or more characteristics he/she
possesses.
14
Stress across Cultures
• Stress is an individual’s response to a strong

stimulus. This stimulus is called a stressor.
An optimal level of stress can result in
motivation and excitement; too much stress,
however, can have negative consequences.
• Managers must recognize that people in
different cultures may experience different
forms of stress and then handle that stress in
different ways.
15
Motivation in International
Business
• Motivation is the overall set of forces that
causes people to choose certain behaviors
from a set of available behaviors. Yet the
factors that influence an individual’s behavior
at work differ across cultures. An appreciation
of these individual differences is an important
first step in understanding how managers can
better motivate their employees to promote
the organization’s goals.
16
Needs and Values across
Cultures
• The starting point in understanding

motivation is to consider needs and
values. Needs are what an individual
must have or wants to have. Values,
meanwhile, are what people believe to
be important.
17
Motivational Processes across
Cultures
• Most modern theoretical approaches to

motivation fall into one of three
categories:
– Need-based models of motivation
– Process-based models of motivation
– Reinforcement models of motivation
18
Need-Based Models across
Cultures
• Common needs incorporated in most models of
motivation include the needs for security, for
being part of a social network, and for having
opportunities to grow and develop.
• Conflicts can easily arise when an international
firm’s mechanisms for motivating workers clash
with cultural attitudes.
• Managers and employees in uncertainty-
avoiding cultures may be highly motivated by
opportunities to maintain or increase their
perceived levels of job security and job stability.
19
Need-Based Models across
Cultures (cont.)
• Frederick Herzberg’s two-factor theory

is another popular need-based theory of
motivation. This theory suggests that
one set of factors affects dissatisfaction
and another set affects satisfaction.
This theory has been tested cross-
culturally with varied results.
20
Process-Based Models across
Cultures
• In contrast to need-based theories,
expectancy theory takes a process view of
motivation. The theory suggests that people
are motivated to behave in certain ways to
the extent that they perceive that such
behaviors will lead to outcomes they find
personally attractive.
• Relatively little research has explicitly tested
expectancy theory in countries other than the
United States.
21
The Reinforcement Model
across Cultures
• Like expectancy theory, the reinforcement
model has undergone relatively few tests in
different cultures. This model says that
behavior that results in a positive outcome
(reinforcement) will likely be repeated under
the same circumstances in the future.
Behavioral choice that results in negative
consequences (punishment) will result in a
different choice under the same
circumstances in the future.
22
Leadership
Leadership is the use of

noncoercive influence to shape the
goals of a group or organization, to
motivate behavior toward reaching
those goals, and to help determine
the group or organizational culture.
23
Leadership in International
Business
• Some people mistakenly equate management and
leadership. Management tends to rely on formal power
and authority and to focus on administration and
decision making. Leadership, in contrast, relies more
on personal power and focuses more on motivation
and communication.
• Cultural factors will affect appropriate leader behavior,
and the way in which managers spend their workday
will vary among cultures.
• Several implications for leaders in international
settings can be drawn from the cultural factors
identified in Hofstede’s work.
24
Decision Making
Decision making is the process

of choosing one alternative
from among a set of
alternatives in order to promote
the decision maker’s objectives.
25
Models of Decision Making
• The normative model of decision

making suggests that managers apply
logic and rationality in making the best
decisions.
• The descriptive model of decision
making argues that behavioral
processes limit a manager’s ability to
always be logical and rational.
26
The Nature of Group Dynamics
• A mature team in a firm generally has

certain characteristics:
– It develops a well-defined role structure
– It establishes norms for its members
– It is cohesive
– Some teams identify informal leaders
among their members
27
Managing Cross-Cultural
Teams
• Managers charged with building teams in different
cultures need to assess the nature of the task to
be performed and, as much as possible, match
the composition of the team to the type of task.
• Matching business behavior with cultural values
of the work force is a key ingredient to promoting
organizational performance. Much of the
competitive strength of Japanese firms, for
example, is due to their incorporation of
Japanese cultural norms into the workplace.
28
Chapter Review
• Behavioral and interpersonal processes are vitally

important in any organization. Both their importance
and their complexity are magnified in international
firms.
• Motivation is the overall set of forces that causes
people to choose certain behaviors from a set of
available behaviors.
• Leadership is the use of noncoercive influence to
shape the goals of a group or organization, to
motivate behavior toward reaching those goals, and
to help determine the group or organizational
culture.
29
Chapter Review (cont.)
• Decision making is the process of

choosing an alternative from among a
set of alternatives designed to promote
the decision maker’s objective.
• Groups and teams are part of all
organizations. A team’s role structure,
cohesiveness, norms, and informal
leadership all contribute to its success or
failure.
30

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Griffin and Pustay Third Edition

• Besides the “big five”, there are also

• Another dimension of individuals within

• Another important job-related attitude is

• One important determinant of an attitude is the

• Stress is an individual’s response to a strong

• The starting point in understanding

• Most modern theoretical approaches to

• Frederick Herzberg’s two-factor theory

Leadership is the use of

Decision making is the process

• The normative model of decision

• A mature team in a firm generally has

• Behavioral and interpersonal processes are vitally

• Decision making is the process of

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