SEVEN: CROSS-CULTURAL MOTIVATION Fad Dectshon, Cali Se Unieriy Sen Bearing Kamal Fateh, Wichita Sate Universi Introduction En Major Motivatio Content Theor a228 CROSS-CULTURAL MOTIVATION Chapter 7 examines motivation from a cross- cultural perspective. Like domestic companies, global companies rely on motivation as a source of energy to carry out their goals, Companies engaged in international business need to de- velop extra sensitivity to cultural variations in order to satisfy and motivate their employees. Major motivation theories and their validity from a cross-cultural standpoint are examined in this chapter. Furthermore, the success of the Japanese economy in recent years has been al- tributed to its unique management style. Whether what motivates Japanese workers will work in other cultures, including America, is a question worthy of investigation. According 10 some scholars, the removal of the Iron Curtain and major developments in communication technology have fostered a trend toward @ lobal culture. These developments along with the influence of culture on motivation and their implications for ‘examined in this chapter ternational management are Looking at the approaching lights from the commuter train window, Masayoshi Ito pondered about how he would break the news about his promotion to his wife Yoshiko and their five-year-old son, This morning Mr. Ogawa, his supervisor, called Masayoshi to his office and Informed him of his promotion to the position of Associate Sales Director for the US. region. Masayoshi worked for the Tokyo Sun Coast, a member of a new chain of hotels, which catered primarily tw business people and rourists from Asian countries. The persistent ‘occupancy problem that plagued the industry had forced she management 10 ‘consider extending its market to American customers, Masayoshi fet very proud of his long-awaited promotion. fer graduating from college, he started working in his present job, almost since thei hotel had opened. Masayoshi’s boss told him that his promotion included an increase in salary. allowances, and other fringe henefis. ssing next 10 a Coca-Cola sign, he pondered about his last trip to Los Augeles. In recent years. Masayoshi had traveled to the United States several times and was fairly familiar with the American lifestyle. He remembered the velased atmosphere and the colorful scenery in California. He knew thar in America people left work at five in the This could never happen in his hovel. There were always things to finish and someone who needed help after the closing hour. In Tokyo everything looked gray and everyone was in a hurry Masayoshi had heard that his pay was comparable. if not higher. this American counterparts and his fringe benefits, including job security, were ‘more impressive. But the cost of everything seemed to be higher in Tokyo. His family lived in a small two-bedroom apartment one and a half hours away {from his work, The image of large houses in California with gardens flashed in his ‘memory: With his promotion came ‘additional responsibility, which meant spending even more tine at work. afierno Masayoshi also remembered what he had heard fiom his American friend, Jack about the drawbacks of living in Los Angeles. The erime rate was so high that children carried guns to school, ‘and some even used drugs. These could never happen in Japan. Living inCULTURAL AND BEHAVIORAL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT 229) Ainericw contd be very dificult for faniies with children, he thong Masayoshi was very proud of their son, He was also promt of his new position cand how important his work was in the company: ‘The train had come to a stop. Rushing tithe looked ar his watch, and noniced 1 was 10) o'clock. Perhaps it was 100 late fir his son to hear the news. Yoshiko would fee! happy and prow of him after he told her the news. Introduction Masayoshis ease illustrates the complexity and diversity of employees’ motivations, Factors Masayoshi of the effect that motivation has on job satistiac~ surround dilemma remind us tiog as well as on overall life satisfaction Masayeshi. though happy about his promotion, is very much concerned with the effect it will hhave on his family. For most Japanese, motiva- tion, job satisfaction, and job performance are heavily influenced by group alliliation, In eon: trast, in the United States, a person's motivation and satisfaction are more independently and in ividually determined. An American bears the main responsibility for her or his job perform- ance. Americans emphasize individualism, non- conformity, and competition, while Japanese Promote cooperation and conformity. Japanese employees are under more pressure to conform and work long hours, Long hours and job stress ate health-related problems, Recent increases inthe rates of heart attacks and suicides among Japanese employees are attributed to increased job stress. There is even a word for the death from hard work and stress, Aurosti, which means sudden death by a heart attack or stroke Triggered by overwork. By ‘ore than 10,000 Japanese fall victim annually "© Karoshi,! The intemational expansion of Japanese industries has created additional de- ‘mands on some employees’ time and energy. Job-related overseas travels have strained fam- ily relationships. Mass communication tech- nology and especially, television, has also expanded the reference hase a. person uses to dewermine his or her satisfaction, For Masayoshi, the exposure to the American lifestyle has increased his expectations, This problem is not unique to Japan, Today, compa nies in England, France, Argentina, China, and many other parts of the world have 10 find new ways of motivating a new class of employees who would like to eam an American salary live in an ttalian villa drive an expensive German car, and swear the latest European fashion. Employees’ Motivation Motivation has long been a major concem for ‘management due to is linkage to productivity. creativity. job mover, absenteeism, ete. The word motivation comes from the Latin word ‘movere meaning “to move.” Motivation is de- fined as the process through which behavior is mobilized to reach certain goals, which in turn satisfy individual and/or organizational needs. Motivation is the total ofall forces within indi- viduals that avcounts for the effort he or she ap- plies to the job at hand. Figure 7.1 shows the three main phases a person undergoes during the rneed-satisfaetion process, Although, in their daily activities, managers primacily focus on accomplishing business ob- jectives and satisfying organizational needs, 10 accomplish this, they must also attend to their employees’ need satisfaction, An effective moti- vation program utilizes the individual's needs to generate internal energy and to direct energized behavior toward achieving organizational and individual goals. The individual's satisfaction with the job, and ultimately with his oF her life, plays an important role in Sustaining the desired behavior and achieving the much needed230 CROSS-CULTURAL MOTIVATION Need deprivation (dissaistaction) Les Figure 71 Neo Stisaton Prsess predictability necessary for planning or tional activities, Employee dissatisfaction can lead to absen: teeism, poor quality products, accidents, family problems, and deterioration of mental health Job satisfaction is a part of the ove tion with life, and in turn is affected by it Eff concer for and closely monitor both employee job satisfaction and work performance, They are aware that job satisfaction can lead to a better working rele tionship with superiors, peers, and subordinates. A satisfied employee working in a less distup- tive work environment should be a more pro- ductive worker. For most people of many cul- work attributes are among. the most important motivating factors. Ina survey of more than 8,000 randomly selected employees from Belgium, Great Britain, West Germany, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States, Harpaz found workers place much em. phasis on interesting work, He found that the satisfac 215 show tures, paramount work goal by a wide margin was “in teresting work.” For these workers “good pay” and “good interpersonal relations” were second of importance.” The Universality Assumption ‘and Ethnocentrism One major obstacle for effective motivation of employees in multinational companies is the mniversality” assumption of the available moti vation theories. These theories erroneously as: sume that human needs are universal, Therefor, people will respond similarly to a motivation program. OF course, the assumption that “on: size fits all” is a faulty assumption, There are culturally based differences in people's needs and the ways to satisfy them. Unfortunat cause of the difficulties in understand Idantiication of | says to satsty need Satistaction (equilibrium cultures, and due perhaps to ethnocentric ten- dencies, many. studies on motivation, either explicitly or implicitly. have ignored cultural differences, In fac, until recently most mana jure paid litte attention to the effect of culture on motivation Roots of the universal be traced 10 stereotypin; ceptions or beliefs about others, and ethnocen- assumption can also ‘oversimplified con tris, the belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnic group. When faced with an unfamiliar situation, we rely on stereotypes to simplify our perception of the environment, Stereotypes may be correet or incorrect, When confronted with an unfamiliar culture, people assume similarity with their own culture unless other stereotypes are present, Ethnocentrism leads to the belief that “our way is the best way of doing things Ethnocentrism is an attitude found in almost any culture. Studies have found that people usually think of their country as dispropostionately im- portant in the world, In most counties, maps used in the classrooms usually illustrate that country as the center oF the world, In Chinese the character for China means the ‘center of the earth.” Ethnocentrism often leads 10 prejudiced be- havior. Many people of industrialized countries uate lack of industrialization with the lack of culture. Equ equate the mi writings, feroneous is the erialism of industrial societies with spiritual corruption. As Kolde puts it advanced AA widely propounded fallacy’ in the Industrial counties holds that all- mations evolve in a series of evolutionary steps in a unilinear path. The Americans, British, and French ate likey top countries a the pinnacle of this path, and look upon all other peoples’ cultures as backward and inferior to theirs, Cultural maturity. hus, s their own respectiveCULTURAL AND BEHAVIORAL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT 231 rationalized 10 be a) vorelate of economic pr members of subindustial societies, who Fe ss the relatively 2 ine considerations in industrial societies as ss. The eli for cultural superiority by evidence of moral and spiritual degeneration is similarly irrational Incorrect ste tudes are often harmful, They can be changed, however. by training and exposure to other cul- tures. To be effective in motivati eolypes and ethnocentric atti- tional workforce, managers need to understand the influence of stereotyping and ethnocentrism, and multinational company (MNC) mana ‘ment development and educational programs should attempt to reduce ethnocentrism and harmful stereotyping. Motivation and Culture Human motivation isthe product of the interac sion between people and the physical und social environment, [is important to recognize, how. gement literature on moti- vation is psychologically oriented and is based fon psychological models developed and tested almost exclusively in the United States. While psychological models of motivation are very useful for the management of U.S. businesses, they are inadequate for international manage- ment. We all accept in principle that there are differences among people of different cultures. In studying human motivation, however, U.S. based researchers have taken a simplistic view by ignoring cultural influences on people’s be- havior, To understand human motivation we to understand not only the people them- selves but their environment and their culture More specifically, as D’Andrade puts it, "to un- derstand why people do what they do, we have ‘o understand the cultural constructs by which ‘hey interpret the world."* Culture plays sn important role in the forma- ‘ion of many of our needs, their relative impor- tance, and the way we attempt to satisy them. Except for the basic needs that have a biological fever, that most man basis, many human needs such as security love and esteem are learned through cultural influs ences. Through socialization with others, people Team acceptable ways of satisiying their needs. In other words, there are cultural norms for sat~ isfying our needs, and we follow these norms in pursuit of need satisfaction. ‘The importance and priorities that people as- sign 1o their needs are also determined by theie cultures. Americans place a particular impor- tance on individual needs, such as personal comfort and. self-actualization, In contrast, Japanese may sucriice individual comfort 10 achieve social acceptance. Middle Easterners often sacrifice personal comfort, and even et ‘counter financial hardship, to offer hospitality to their guests, Cultural values are the foundation of socially acquired needs, and detine the acceptable methods of need satisfaction, Americans, for example, value individualism very much. Individualism is the foundation for many other American values. It is even pressed in the Declaration of Independence’ that speaks of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- ness.” To the Americans, freedor: of choice and expression are the basis for many individual needs and need satisfaction. Very few Americans, for example, would tolerate inter- Terence by others in their choice of a mate. By contrast, in many’ traditional families in India, China, and the Middle Eas, those deeisions are aude by parents, often with little or no con cation for an individual's opinion. Often, the respect for older parents inhibits the children from even expressing their opposition In Chapter $ we learned that culture influ- ‘people's perceptions of time and space, as well as attitudes toward work and authority. In tum, the perception of time, space. and the atti= tudes toward work and authority influence peo- ple’s motivation, Even among. subcultures— various groups of the same culture—these differences are noticeable. Nord, for example, ‘dentitied age, rural versus urban background, ethnicity and sex as important factors that influ ence individual behavior in work organiza-(CROSS-CULTURAL MOTIVATION tions.* Research in the United Sates has found that younger employees are more motivated by money. while for older employees job security and fringe benefits are more important. Ina comparative study of attitudes toward work in China and Taiwan, Derakhshan and Khan found 4 generation gap. in both cultures, between Younger and older workers that influenced their work attitudes, There was also a difference be- ‘oveen the attitudes of the two samples, with the Taiwanese sample reflecting attitudes closer 10 Western values,” Ina case study. Whyte and Braun identified a troup of patterns in socialization and education that appear in ess developed economies. Autocratie teuchers, glorification of military he- roes, and disrespect for businesspersons were among the factors that led to the lack of inde- pendence training and, therefore, the lack of motivation."® However. ina study of similarities among 14 countries, Haire, Ghiselli, and Porter discovered that countries cluster along ethnic rather than industrial lines."" Black and Porter Studied managerial behaviors and job perfor mance of US. Hong Kong Chinese, and American expatriates in Hong Kong. They found that those managerial behaviors that were Significantly related to job performance in the United States did not seem to be relevant to job performance in Fong Kong." The effect of cul ture on behavior is complex and eannot be dis counted, Cultural Influences on Motivation Organizational performance is a function of em- ployees’ work contributions to organizational goals. The efforts exerted by employees at work are influenced by their motivation. A motivated worker is a more productive worker. If we con- sider motivation 2 psychological state that com pels @ person to expend a certain amount of ef fort in accomplishing a job, we are dealing with two main concepts. The wo concepts that are central to the understanding of motivation are work” and the person. or “self In studying cross-cultural motivation, care should be exer. cised not 10 assume that these concepts have anings. There is a growing body of research that indicates people of different cul- tures have different views about these to con- cepts. The perception of “sell” is a product of cultural upbringing, so is the meaning of work, Cultural Definition of Work Throughout the history of Wester civilization, work has been regarded variously as drudgery, a necessary evil, an obligation, a duty, and a way to salvation. To engage in physical work has been considered undignified and demeaning in fone extreme, and honorable, glorified, and ex- cemplifying piety on the other extreme, fo Max Weber a contributing factor nce of modern capitalism, charac terized by large organizations, was the value and importance that the Protestant religion accorded to work and the accumulation of wealth Perhaps because of our Puritan work ethic and the basic belief in cause and effect, we take pride in our work; we conduct business at social Functions and we take work home with us. Work gives us identity: we often’ define our selves and others by what we do: elsewhere identity often stems from religion, famity and village.""" Thus. personal introductions. vary among Americans and the Japanese. In. the United States. individuals will typically talk about what they do, the content of their work: i.e..“I'm a doctor” or “I'ma machinist.” In con- trast, in Japan, people identify themseives by @ reference to their employer such as “Morio of Mitsubishi” or “Tanaka of Toyota.” Regardless of the kind of work in which a Person is engaged, Americans expect the person to be willing to do whatever it takes to do the job. A common expression indicating such an amtitude is that “we must be willing to get our hands diety.” OF course, the positive attitudes that many Americans have toward work is not tuniversal, To some cultures, a negative meaning aCELTURAL AND BEHAVIORAL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT 233 of work is more pervasive, In some South American cultures. involvement in physical work is regarded ay demeaning and beneath a well-respected person, Various kinds of work are considered low or high status. In extreme cases, college-educated people will not concem themselves with the problems on the shop floot. They consider that type of work degradin, Their college degree should raise them above such fow status jobs." The same is true in some Middle Eastern countries, Even in Australia, as we feared in Chapter 3, people admire ‘sludgers.” those who appear to work hard but ‘actually do very litte."® People work for many reasons. The first rea- son that immediately comes to mind is the in. sirumentality of work, a term which means that to live a comfortable and dignified lite, most of ws need t0 work. Therefore, work is an impor- ‘ant vehicle for obtaining what we need for our iving. To have a comfo ble life, we are moti- Yated 10 work, Taking only this meaning of ‘work into account, organizations devise a vat ‘ty of techniques, such as pay and fringe bene fits, for motivating their employees. However, work has other meanings, In addi- tion to being a necessity, work ean be an attrac- tive activity in and of itself. It may also provide People with an opportunity to socialize and in- teract with others, and to satisfy their gregari- usness. Many people will continue 10 work even if they are financially secure. It is the in- ‘cresting activity itself that draws them to work For others, work is a very important aspect of their life. Without work they feel something is ‘missing in their lives. It assumes a very central Position in their ives. We have leamed that the centrality of work (its importance) in people's lives varies from culture to culture. In a sevens country study of the meaning of work, for ex- ample, researchers found a wide range of work centrality among the counteies studied. They oe = Americans’ Faith in Hard Work William Hl. Newman has suggested that anyone conten TREN Practices to ether cultures should understand the premises ofthese prations te A transfer of U.S. manage- “erica ah in fewards for persistent hal work and the val of hard werk for scone | le. is nota universal beliet Both our toe and our experience underscore are to be achieved, Even among those who do not ace the necesity for hard work if objectives the Puritan ethic that hard ‘work i virtue in itself, there isa strong belief that persistent, purposeful effon ie | necessary to ach for sueeess: wisdom and luck are also neede fut hard work a person is: nei achieve, his objectives. goals. Hard work isnot considered ta be the only requisite =, Nevertheless, the feeling is that with- tr Tikely 10 achieve. nor justified in expecting to ‘Tis belie in the efficacy of hard work is by no means worldwide. Sometimes a Fatalistie vie Point makes hard work seem futile. In other instances, iis mone on, Portant fo curry the favor ofthe right man; and instil other situations, hard eet ‘considered usa, sia itm H. Newnan. “ural Assinption Undeing US. Management Concepts" L we amt and NW Hazes. Momienent ian nro Cone ee Wek ees and Row, 1972). 387 =234 CROSS-CULTURAL MOTIVATION found work centrality t0 be highest for Japan and lowest for the United Kingdom. The se- uence of rank ordering was Japan, Yugoslavia, Israel, United States, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany. and the United Kingdom." Jyyji Misumi’s research has confirmed that the Japanese consider work highly important in their lives. Among the four countries, Misumi found that work importance was highest among the Japanese, followed by Americans, Germans, and Belgians."” ‘The cultural differences in the meaning of work have practical implications for interna- tional managers. Variations in the meaning that the people of different cultures attach to work requires the application of differentiated moti- vational programs. To motivate those who con- sider physical work undignified, for example, Wwe may have to rely more on the monetary out- comes of the work. For others, making the work ‘more interesting or socially rewarding may be a better choice, Although there are cultural differences in the meaning of work, cross-cultural research also Suiggests that there is substantial commonality among cultures about certain facts of work. Among the major features of work that people of many cultures agree about are “good pay’ and “interesting work.”'* The implication for international management is that if pay is good and if the jobs are interesting, managers will have an easier time motivating people of diverse cultural backgrounds, Cultural Definition of Self Many consider individualism as the most sal- fent feature of the American culture. Individ ualism is a value to which other American ideals, such as equality and objectivity in teat ing people based on their own merits and not on their social standing or political connections, are anchored. Describing Americans as individual- istic does not fully explain cultural differences between the Americans and people of the other nations. Individualism only tells us about the so- sietal and extemal view of an “individual” the ‘view that the society holds in regard 0 person and his or her relationship with the other mem. bers ofthe society. To fully comprehend the dif. ference between Americans and the people of other cultures, we need to explore the concept of individualism” from the personal aspect of sell.” The concept of “self” has many facets, Westerners view the individual as a. self. contained, autonomous, and independent entity Based on this understanding, the individual comprises a unigue configuration of atributes such a8 tits, abilities, motives, and val ues, These attributes are the basis forthe ind Yidual’s behavior.” Three major facets of self are physiological-ecological” inner-private, and public-relational®" We assume that people everywhere are likely to develop an understand ing of themselves as physically distinct and sep- arate from others. This is the ecological self the self that i referred to as “L." The innervate self isthe sense of awareness that each person has about internal aspects such as dreams, feel ings, and the continuous flow of thoughts, Which are private and cannot be directly known by others. Some aspects of the inner-private self ane probably universal, but many other aspects of the self may be culturally determined, As we relate to others, we develop an understanding of the public-elational self tha is defined by so- cial relationships, People of different cultures see the public- relational self as either separate and indepen- dent from others, oF as connected and interdepen dent with others. Many Westerners, including Americans, believe in inherent separateness of distinct persons. Its the norm, and people ae expected to become independent from others, and discover and express their unique attributes Markus and Kitayama describe the astempt at developing such a self as follows: Achieving the cultural goal of independence requires constructing oneself as an individualOM CULTURAL AND BEHAVIORAL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT ‘whose behavior fs organized and made mean primarily by reference to one’s own in- temal repertoize of thoughts, feeling, and ac- tion, rather than hy reference to the thoughts Feelings. and actions of others. . This view the self derives from a belie inthe whole ness an uniqueness of each person's configu- ration of internal aribues.* ‘The independent view of the self gives rise to soncepts such as “self-actualization,” “self esteem,” “realizing one’s. potentials,” ~bein ttue tothe self." and many other expressions de- scribing and canonizing self and self-centered activities and concepts, In contrast to the Western view, many Eastern cultures have maintained an interdepen- dent view of self. These cultures believe in the fundamental connectedness of humans to each other. While the American common expressions of independent self could be “stand up and be ‘counted and “do your own thing,” the Japanese saying that “the nail that stands up gets ham- ‘meted down” represents the concept of interde Pendent self. To experience “interdependent self” requires “seeing oneself as part of an en- ‘compassing social relationship and recognizing that one’s behavior is determined, contingent fon, and, to large extent organized by what the actor perceives to be the thot actions of others in the relationship." An in- terdependent self is not separate from the social context, It is more connected to and less differ- entiated from others, Such a connectedness mo- tivates people to fit and to become a pat of the Social context and to fulfill the obligation of be- ongingness with relevant others ‘The intemal attributes of an interdependent Self are less fixed and conerete and more situa tion specific, and are sometimes elusive and wn ‘eliable. in such a case, the attitudes witl not di- fectly regulate overt behavior, especially if the behavior implicates significant others. In many Social contexts, the interdependent self must ‘onstantly control and regulate his or her opin- ion, abilities, and characteristics to come 10 terms with the primary task of interdependence: In an interdependent, collectivist culture, an in dependent behavior, such as expressing an opin- ion. is likely tobe influenced and somewhat de termined by the forces of interdependence. Such behavior has a different significance than the one exhibited by an independent self in an inde- pendent culture. The contrast between the ex- femal source of what Westerners consider inner attributes, such as conscience, and an external source of such attributes for the Japanese is de- scribed by Dore The Christian who believes tha his conscience isthe voive of Gd within him Feels that iis & ‘dt to God to obey its dictates and that he has sinned in the sight of the Lond if he fails to do so. The Japanese who conceives ofthe voice of his conscience as the voice of is parents and teachers fels it ro be a duty towards them to ‘obey it and ihe fais to do soit is they whom hehas let down, Even alter thei death hs fel- ings of guilt may take the form of imagining hhow ispleased these honored parents and teachers would be. Parsons, Shils, and Olds have suggested that self-orientation (independent self) versus col- lectvty orientation i an important variable that determines human action. Giving. priority 10 one’s own “private interests, independently of their bearings on the interests oF values of a given collectivity” is self-oriemation. Taking into account the values and interests of collec- tivity before any action is collectivity orienta- tion? Inerdependent cultures assume that a person is mostly defined by situations and by the pres- ence of others. Therefore, a person is insepara- ble from the situations of others. This intercon nectedness, for example, is the basis for the Chinese culture's emphasis on synthesizing the ‘constituent parts of any situation or problem into a harmonious whole. The Japanese jibun, for self, more accurately describes “one’s share of the shared fife space.”®” For the Japanese, according to Hamaguchi “a sense of iden