Does national and local culture affect management practices

Solution

Yes, national and local culture affects the management practices of a firm. Local culture is adapted since childhood. The perceptions and the way we take decisions are based on the local culture because it is based on the literature, lifestyle, history, school, parents, etc. In national culture, the entire nation is made up of a diverse of cultural norms and they do not pertain to one single culture and its practices. Management needs to keep in mind the local culture and the national culture while marketing their products. Organizations have specific management practices with the national and local culture in mind. For example, the management practice is such that careful attention is provided when exercising authority and interaction with the Middle Eastern citizens who give importance to customary prayers rather than be in the workplace. Employees from the western culture prefer intrinsically set goals and would love to be empowered. However, employees from the Asian countries would prefer to have goals set by the managers (extrinsically) and would love to achieve these extrinsic goals.

It is pertinent to say that it is not a good practice to set international standards of appropriate management practices. This is because the globalization has led to varied culture in the workplace which requires different style of leadership. Any standards set might affect the entire workforce. As mentioned above, the employees from different cultures need to be managed based on their values, beliefs, preferences etc. Any stereotype management practice to be practiced as a whole would affect the way the people are managed. Management is an art. It is not science to apply the local management practice globally.

Conclusion- It is pertinent that managers understand the diverse cultural values and their norms so that they could lead and direct the employees from a diverse culture effectively.