p3form09

POSTGRADUATE MODULAR SCHEME

DISSERTATION PROPOSAL FORM P3
August 2009

Type or print clearly. See notes at end of document.

1. Indicate if this is the first or revised (following referral), proposal: First


Revised P
2. Student number: s0910704

3. Student name: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

4. Contact address and phone number for period of study: a YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

07877289349
5. Course: Msc Computing with IT

6. Staff consulted in the preparation of this proposal: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

You must sign and date this form to signal your adherence to the Principles in Research Ethics: A
Handbook of Principles and Procedures. b

Signature: Date: 14/02/2010

Tick box if any external body’s ethical clearance must be obtained, and give details 

Now submit the form to the Dissertation Module Tutor or other named contact.

DISSERTATION APPROVAL PANEL DECISION: To be completed by Chair of the panel.

Acceptance ACCEPTED 
Referral (attach details, including approval provisions) 
Dissertation Advisor assigned:
Date of P3 panel approving dissertation proposal:

Final Dissertation submission date:

Specify the Dissertation submission deadline one year plus one ‘round’ from the date of the panel meeting
(see PMS Handbook Section 9).
Signature of Dissertation Advisor to confirm awareness of the Principles in the University’s document
Research Ethics: A Handbook of Principles and Procedures, and their agreement to abide by it:

Copies: student, Dissertation module tutor, allocated Dissertation Advisor, Student Records

7. Objectives of the proposed study (including provisional title): c

Provisional Title: “Evaluation Of International Managerial Performance In Cross Cultural
Environment Of India & UK”

1. Introduction
With the business growing global and the world is getting smaller suggesting the companies to develop
globalization strategies is an indication of how the world is changing everyday and we are players in the
global market with bigger challenges and responsibilities for any international manager. Success in these
activities necessitates a well researched understanding of the process of cross-cultural management.
Maximizing the performance of individual managers in organizations is accepted by HR managers.
(Baruch, 2000) This approach for evaluating has evolve from different disciplines, likes, attitude, beliefs,
sociology and psychology etc. (Tayeb, 2003)

2. Managerial Performance
The rapid growth of international business has led to an urgent requirement for a firm to handle diverse
cross-border activities, whereby the success requires a through understanding of process of cross cultural
management. So the performance pf managers Performance management is a process which is designed to
improve organisational, team and individual performance and which is owned and driven by line managers.
Performance management helps in the integration of corporate and individual and team objectives, in
communicating these objectives, and in underpinning the core values of the organisation. (Sloma, 2002)

2.1 Culture
“Culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and
often a disaster.” (Hofstede, 2008)

Hofstede’s (1980) “Culture is the collective programming of mind which distinguishes the members of one
human group from another … the interactive aggregate of common characteristics that influences a human
group’s response to its environment.” Hofstede (2001) refers to culture as the ‘software of the mind’.
Management scholar Schein defines culture as “a set of basic assumptions – shared solutions to universal
problems of external adaptation (how to survive) and internal integration (how to stay together) – which
have evolved over time and are handed down from one generation to the next.” (Schneider & Barsoux,
2003)

2.2 Cross Culture Management

Neelankavil et all (2000) posit that the cornerstone of successful cross-cultural management, is “ knowing
thyself ”, particularly understanding the relative importance of three self-motives:
1. Self-enhancement, which means the desire to maintain a positive self-image without feeling inferiority
complex
2. Self-growth, the confidence to handle the challenges in faces of trouble
3. Self-consistency, a desire to balance in all aspects of life.
CCM emerged from a simple focus on cultural adaptation of pre-existing management skills to a new
definition which requires unique skills, developed goals and adaptation of business processes. (Tayeb,
2003) Cross cultural management is the skill to value and utilize the cultural differences to get more
success. It is also considered to be connected with international human resource management according to
Tung (2000).
3.1 Key concepts and values in UK

Figure 2. UK Hofstede Dimension (adapted from www.geert-hofstede.com, 2010)

UK is well aware of Indian culture and ruled India for a long time and helped the country to have better
road and train system and have influenced so much that English is the national language of India.

i) Indirectness: As English are famous for their politeness and courtesy, the
direct questions in K receive evasive responses and more attention should be paid to tone of
voice & facial expressions, to get the true meaning of the conversation.
ii) Stiff upper lip: In British culture open displays of emotion either +ve or –ve
should be avoided. So the businessmen in UK will approach with formality and detachment.
iii) Humour: A vital element of British life & culture is British sense of humour. It
is used as a defense mechanism or irony.

(www.communicaid.com, 2010)

8. The Context(s):d

The success of any organization depends on the managers and with the growing economy of the eastern and
the western countries, it is important for any management to have a good understanding about the various
skills that are pertinent for any manager working in international teams. With the globalization and
movement of manpower in different countries, it is very essential for any project comprising of
international team members and maturity of the manager to handle those teams. So the managers have
added responsibility and challenges in the so called global market. (Boddewyn at al, 2004)
Good communication is the backbone of success in any relationship, so it become more important to
understand the critical success factors which can facilitate better communication across different cultures.
So it is very important to understand the potential problems of cross cultural communication and a serious
effort is required to over come these problems.(CRC, 2008)
8.1. Research Objectives
 To identify the national and organizational culture of multinational organizations and find out
issues
involved in cross-cultural managerial performances.
 To evaluate, how culture might affect in international managerial performance.
  To find out the importance of cross cultural communication and barriers in developing good
working
relationships.
 To explore the relationship between influence tactics and culture.

8.2. Research Questions

 How do national culture values and organizational culture values influence each other?
 What are the critical factors that affect to evaluate managerial performance in cross cultural
environment?
 What are the motivating factors for improving managerial performance in cross culture?
 How different cultures influence to evaluate managerial decision making in cross cultural
environment?
 What are the different forms of tactics and how are they related to culture?
 Why the cross cultural communication is important for the success of any organization?

8.3 Hypothesis

Hypothesis 1
H0: The managerial performance is affected by the financial rewards
H1: The managerial performance is not affected by the financial rewards.

Hypothesis 2
H0: The managerial performance is affected by motivation and positive talks.
H1: The managerial performance is not greatly affected by positive talks and motivation.

9. Research design (including methods) or critical approach: e

Research methodology is simply known to be the methods used for collecting and analyzing data in a
research (Kervin, 1992). The analysis is drawn with the help of specific instruments, structured or semi-
structured interviews, the company’s financial reports, books, or by the observation of participants Two
main approaches can be used for research in data collection. Theses are qualitative and quantitative. As the
name explains qualitative approach focuses on quality rather than quantity. Quantitative approach deals
with numeric values. The aim is to collect numeric data, test it, and apply it on a situation. It involves less
time as it focuses on numeric. Both of these approaches have their own importance. Qualitative data is of
no or less use without quantitative data. (Bryman and Bell, 2003).

1. Primary Research: In order to generate freshness from already researched topic, theory building from
case study is most suitable in early stages (Kervin, 1992). The data for the research would be collected
through quantitative research methods in the form of questionnaire survey of HR Managers & senior
managers working in different companies in UK. Is it not known at this stage how many respondents will
answer the questionnaire, however the study is aiming to focus only on UK. Due to limitation of resources,
online method will be used for the distribution ofthe questionnaires.

2. Secondary Research: Secondary data would be collected from

textbooks, journals, online resources available free resources and also from different national and
international journals to achieve objectives 1-3. Review of existing literature would be done to identify the
critical factors that affect the managerial performance and the role of cross cultural communication in
building successful working relationships within the company spread across the globe.

The thesis will use SPSS software to perform the Chi-Square test to prove or disapprove the hypothesis.

References:
Boddewyn, J., Toyne,B., Martinez,Z., 2004, The meaning of international management, Management
international review, 44 (2), 195-212

Bryman A and Bell E (2003). Business Research Methods, New York: Oxford University Press. 232-233

CRC, 2008, Cross Cultural Communication strategies [available at]

http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/treatment/xcolcomm.htm [Accessed on 5th June 2010]

Communicaid, 2010, Doing Business in the UK [Available at]

http://www.communicaid.com/cross-cultural-training/culture-for-business-and-management/doing-
business-in/British-business-and-social-culture.php [Accessed on 5th June 2010]

Hofstede,G, 2001,1980, Culture's consequences: comparing values, behaviours, institutions and

organizations across nations, 2nd ed London: Sage, 2001 Pg 50, 78

Kervin, J. B. 1992, Methods for Business Research, New York. Harper Collins Publishers. Pg 60

Neelankavil, JP., Mathur, A., Zhang, Y, 2000, Determinants of Managerial performance [Available at]
http://www.jstor.org/pss/155624 [Accessed on 5 June 2010] Pg 1, 2

Schneider, S.C. and Barsoux,J-L. “Managing across Cultures.” Pearson Education. 2003. Pg: 150-155

Sloma, R.S, 2002 How to measure managerial performance, Macmillan Publishing 10-12

Tayeb, M. (2003). “International Management: Theories and Practice”, Prentice Hall. Pg 35, 52

Tung, R. L. (2000). “International Encyclopedia of Business and Management”, (IEBM): The Handbook of
International Business. International Thomson Business Press.

10.
Ethical issues:

10.1 Practical Issues

Since the respondents of the questionnaire would be the international managers working across oceans
and has to be filled up using the internet only, this might cause some practical issues during the
research:

 Online distribution of questionnaire can be a hassle.

 Employees of multinational firms might be reluctant to share their honest views concerned
about being held liable by the company for any negative response
 Getting adequate number of employees to respond would be a challenge.
 Responses could be inadequate.
 There could be scarce relevant secondary date available related to the previous research
done on this topic.
10.2 Ethical Issues
Following would be kept in mind to ensure that the research is carried out in an ethical manner:
 Un biased and Equitable selection of respondents for questionnaire
 Letting respondents give unbiased views by not telling them the final objective of the
research
 Ensure security and confidentiality of respondents’ views and their personal information
so that the research doesn’t cause any liability to them.
 Properly following conventions of referencing, citations and bibliography while using
other people’s work and ideas to credit them fairly.
 Acknowledge other people’s work wherever used to avoid plagiarism completely so that
the dissertation is author’s original work.

11. Special resources required: g No

12.
Timetable of main stages of the study: h

Secondary Data Analysis

Prime Literature
Review
Detailed Literature Review
Writing the literature
Designing the questionnaire
Generating leads to approach
managers
Survey- Questionnaire and
Interviews
Analyzing data
and findings of
questionnaire
Week
Week 1 Week 2 3 Week 4 Week 5-6

NOTES

a. Student Records will be updated with this information. Note that we will continue to use your University email address
and you should check your account regularly.

b. The University document Research Ethics: A Handbook of Principles and Procedures can be found via the University’s
Postgraduate internet pages.

c. Summary of proposed study should indicate the topic to be covered, and the study objectives or intended outcomes.
Indicate here if your Dissertation is likely to include confidential material (eg commercially-sensitive information), so that a procedure
for dealing with it can be agreed.

d. This section should summarise the context(s) to your study. You should clarify the academic context by indicating some
of the principal themes, issues or problems identified by current or previous scholarship/research/practice. Include a short bibliography.
You may also indicate any relevant social, professional and institutional/organizational contexts relating to the study. Your analysis of
this context should make it clear why you consider the study to be worthwhile.
 e. This section should describe how you plan to approach your topic and indicate briefly why you think this approach is
appropriate. Any fieldwork elements should be described here. If the proposed study raises any health and safety issues you should
identify them here, and attach securely to the form a statement signed by yourself declaring how these have been addressed.

f. Highlight any ethical issues raised by your study. If required, attach further information on how these have been
addressed. Indicate on front page whether you need to seek ethical clearance from any external body.

g. Indicate here the location and availability of any resources, such as library or archive material or data sets, beyond those
which are readily available in the University. Equipment to be used, and its availability, must be listed.

h. Take into account any seasonal constraints, for instance the school year for school-based projects, or natural constraints
for work in the field.
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