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1010Cultureatermwithmultiplemeanings
termedsubcultureoralternativeculture.However,theuseofthistermmeans
thatthenormsandprinciplesofbehaviourexistinginsuchagroupdifferfrom
thoseofnationalcultureingeneral.Theentitiesofsubculturescanencompass
peergroups,professionalandreligiousgroups,sexualorientationsaswellas
criminalorganizations(e.g.,themafia)[Mikułowski-Pomorski1999,p.44].
Amongculturalentitiestherecanalsobevariousorganizationssuchas
enterprisesandinstitutions.Theyareassociatedwiththetermlorganizational
culture’whichmadeitsfirstappearanceintheliteratureinthe1960sas
asynonymoftheclimatewithinanorganization,andwasfurtherdeveloped
twodecadeslater.G.Hofstededescribedorganizationalcultureasacollective
mindsetwhichseparatesmembersofoneorganizationfromothers[Hofstede1991,
p.180].
Atatimeofprogressinginternationalizationwecantalkmorefrequently
abouttheculturesofcorporationswhichhaveasignificantinfluenceontheir
employees.Manycorporationsintroduceactivitiesaimedattheformation
oftheattitudesandmodesofbehaviourexpectedfromtheiremployees,in
accordancewiththerequiredorganizationalstructuresandcorporatevalues.
ThesignificanceofthisproblemwasnotedbytheheadofIBMT.J.Watson,who
claimedthateveryorganization,inordertosurviveandsucceed,hastohave
itssystemofbeliefsonwhicharebasedallitspoliciesandoperations[Jandt
2001,p.353].Thisisparticularlyvisibleinthecaseoftransnationalcorporations
employingstafffromavarietyofcountries,whosebackgroundislinkedto
differentnationalcultures.
Thereisnodoubteitheraboutthefactthattransnationalcorporationsare
placeswhereinterculturalcommunicationoccurs.Inordertoavoidproblems
withtheirfunctioningtheyplacegreatimportanceontheexistenceofstrong
organizationalcultureswhichcreatestableprinciplessharedbytheiremployees
allowingthemtoachieveasenseofcommunity.Despitethis,nationalcultures
frequentlyexerciseastronginfluenceonstaffbehaviour.Itshouldbepointed
outherethatdefiningtherelationsbetweenorganizationalcultureandnational
culturecanbeaverycomplicatedtask,mainlyduetothecomplexnatureof
culturalphenomena.
Itisalsoworthaddingthatitispossibletoidentifywithincorporateactivities
theexistingcommunicationprocedures.Inthecaseofsuchentitiesitispossible
todistinguishtheirowninternallanguage,theprinciplesoflcorporateidentity’
(e.g.dresscode)andtheirownuniquesystemsofvaluesandoperatingrules.
Thelattertwoelementsareoftencreatedbytheircharismaticleaderssuchas
LeeIacocca(Ford),StevenJobs(Apple)andAkioMorita(Sony).
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