National vs. Organizational Cultures

National and organizational models, when existing within a managerial system of any enterprise, should not exist in isolation from one another. There exists a distinct causal link between the preference towards either national or organizational culture. According to Matijević, Vrdoljak Raguž, and Filipovıć (2015), international companies, while taking into account cultural specifics of a subsidiary, place major emphasis on an efficient organizational culture that may be later adjusted according to the local management preferences. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that while the size and global reach of the enterprise motivate it to create a more adjustable organizational cultural framework, under no circumstances should the national culture be abandoned (Nazarian, Atkinson, and Foroudi, 2017). As Hamza (2018) notes, the correlation between national culture and performance is especially relevant for private sector enterprises compared to public institutions. However, prior to formulating a preference for one specific culture, it is of crucial importance to compare the values specific to one’s national culture and organizational peculiarities.

One of the most widespread cultural models used in the research was proposed by Hofstede, who managed to outline dimensions for both national and organizational cultures (Erthal and Marques, 2018). For example, a multi-national company, which is based in France yet obtains a subsidiary in Indonesia, should accentuate the importance of the national aspect of Individualism in both countries in order to define a working organizational culture in headquarters and in the local Indonesian office (Purwohedi, 2017). On the other hand, as far as small and medium enterprises in Slovakia are concerned, Graham (2014) indicates that lack of multinationalism within enterprises places a major impact on the organizational culture, as national culture is perceived automatically by the management.

The research also recognizes the significance of leadership as a driving force of embracing a culture. Paying attention to such factors as Hofstede’s national culture dimension of power distance is crucial in terms of developing a working organization culture model for every local department across a multi-national enterprise (Schedlitzki and Edwards, 2018). Moreover, as Buşe et al. (2017) note, large enterprises, instead of prioritizing separate national cultures, should create a dominant organizational culture that is later divided into subsequent subcultures relevant to the individual factors of each subgroup of employees. Thus, it may be concluded that while the size and global reach of a company influence its preference towards organizational or national cultures, none of them could exist separately within an enterprise.

Reference List

Buşe, F., Mangu, D.S.I., Buşe, G.F. and Tiuzbaian, I.N. (2017) ‘Analysis of organizational culture and impact of decision results on the efficiency of large energy enterprises,’ International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference: SGEM, 17(1.3), pp.77-84. Web.

Erthal, A. and Marques, L. (2018) ‘National culture and organisational culture in lean organisations: a systematic review,’ Production Planning & Control, 29(8), pp.668-687. Web.

Graham, J. (2014) ‘The influence of national culture on SME management practices.’ In: Management Challenges in the 21st Century Conference. Web.

Hamza, S.H.k. (2018) ‘The influence of national culture on organizational culture in private and public sector organizations in Iraqi Kurdistan, a cross–sectorial comparison,’ Zanco Journal of Humanity Sciences, 22(4), pp.323-346. Web.

Matijević, S., Vrdoljak Raguž, I. and Filipovıć, D. (2015) ‘The role of national culture in contemporary business environment.’ In DIEM: Dubrovnik International Economic Meeting (Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 457-469).

Nazarian, A., Atkinson, P., and Foroudi, P. (2017) ‘Influence of national culture and balanced organizational culture on the hotel industry’s performance,’ International Journal of Hospitality Management, 63, pp.22-32. Web.

Purwohedi, U. (2017) ‘National and organizational culture, performance evaluation and trust: evidence from multi-national company subsidiary in Indonesia,’ Signifikan: Jurnal Ilmu Ekonomi, 6(2), pp.319-344. Web.

Schedlitzki, D. and Edwards, G. (2018) Studying leadership (2nd Edition). London: Routledge.