Cross-cultural leadership in Germanic and Latin societal clusters

Cultural Analysis

Activity 1 - Discuss the two societal cultures that you will use to develop your GLOBE Paper. Why these two? I will discuss the Germanic and Latin European Cultures. Each of these divergent cultural paradigms has had a strong effect upon globalism in the 21st century based on hundreds of years of influence in Europe and the New World as far back as the 1600s, and perhaps before. Both cultures are rich in literature and historical development, and both language groups have had a seminal influence on culture. My husband is in the Army and we now live in Europe, I need to make myself aware of these cultural attributes so that I can be aware of the leadership styles and cultures.

Activity 2 -- The Germanic culture really arose out of the merge between the Ancient Romans and the Germanic peoples during the 3-5th centuries AD. This was primarily based on European cultural ideal that arose from Greece and spread through the Mediterranean, and then were heavily influenced by the rise and development of the Christian Church. In general, Germanic countries focused in middle and northern Europe, the Scandinavian climates, and formed a more orderly, stoic, and organized set of cultural values and political stability. This eventually led to a separation of Catholicism and Protestantism This is also reflected in the language, grammar, philosophy, and way of viewing the world. In contrast, as the Roman Empire dissolved into the North and South, southern Europe became more organized around Catholicism, but linguistically and culturally more lax and open to relationships and communication. The structure of the culture lends itself to longer meals and social gatherings, time off for rest in the afternoons, and the open sharing of information that allows for human individuality as opposed to the strict nature of precision (Stumpf, 2011).

Globe Project Matrix -- Essentially, there are nine generalized attributes researchers have found when dealing with diverse cultures and leadership. First, Power Distance is the way cultures describe their ability to be part of a team, and the equality of that team. In the Germanic culture, power in leadership implies order and a distinct way of structuring and organizing a hierarchy. Information is localized, hoarded, and only managers or those with a "need to know" are privy to sensitive project deatails. In the Latin model, power is often linked to corruption and coercion, yet because there is a more communal atmosphere, information is shared more among employees and leaders understand that there are many paths towards promotion. The second paradigm is called Uncertainty Avoidance, and refers to the way organizations are structured and organized to avoid illogical or uncertain behavior. The Germanic culture does this through formalized policies in which risks are pre-calculated, change is risky, and there is a sense of formality within all interactions. The Latin culture, however, has far more informality, is less orderely, but then also has fewer rewards that are outside of patronage.

Institutional Collectivism forms the way societies encourage collective behavior within organizational settings. For the Latin culture, members are independent of their organization, not defined as much by work, and allow decisions to be made in many levels by others. The Germanic culture holds group loyalty higher than the individual, and uses any and all systems to maximize the status quo of the system for order and efficiency. In-Group collectivism refers to the way organizations express pride, loyalty and remain cohesive. The German model focuses on rationality above all, a faster pace of expectation for production, and the importance of formal functions. Latins still value family and social obligations, often placing that above work and group behavior, and most certainly embrace a slower pace of life. This difference is also reflected when dealing with Gender Egalitarianism, or the role gender plays within the organization. For the Latin culture, fewer women hold positions of power, there is more occupational segregation, and gender differences do play a role in decision making, typically pushing women to the wayside. The Germanic model has less occupational gender, and women can hold positions of power, have the right to advanced schooling, and are equal as political or private leaders.

Assertivness within leadership and organizational behavior is also an important paradigm difference between cultures. Germanic cultures value competition, success and progress, the need to control the internal and external environment as much as possible, and expect subordinates to take the initiative to problem solve. The Latin culture, however, values cooperation, saving face, and while they expect loyalty from subordinates, they build loyalty and trust upon the status quo. This assertiveness also translates into Performance Orientation, which is often defined as the way organizations encourage and allow members to improve their performance and value to the organizztion. Germans value ever increasing training and development, materialism and competitiveness through direct, regular and explicit communication. The Latin cultural values center more on relationships that are harmonious, and even when pushed to give formal feedback, the prefer to be indirect and subtle.

Finally, the last attribute under review, humane orientation, focuses on the way society allows individuals to be fair, caring and kind. For the Germanic way of thinking, the State exists to support itself by providing regulation and economic support for organizations. In the Latin culture, while individuals may be subordinate, their interests and motivations are important to society at a whole. A happy company is one that is filled with happier workers who will then, spend and support the state

(Grove, 2005).

Part 2

Additional Resources and relevance to the paper:

Grove, C. Worldwide Differences in Values and Practices. -- We no longer live in a society that can operate on strict one-sided values. Instead, because of globalism, almost every human activity must take into consideration the cultural and societal values of other cultures. This is required in order to find positive outcomes and manage stakeholder expectations in global society. This is also required when managing a diverse workforce with different ideas and styles about job performance, speed of work, and overall focus upon the job.

Mandle, J. How Political is the Personal? -- Instead of politics being a very strict and stratified set of two to three groups, modern global politics are more shaped through the identity of the self-interests of specialized and self-defined groups. Understanding these groups, from gender to sexual orientation to culture and history to disability, helps one understand that there is value in diversity and value in learning to communicate within diverse cultures. From a leadership perspective, the understanding of these personal identity groups is essential to be able to motivate workers in the modern, 21st century technological world.

Riucci, N. Managing Diversity in Public Sector Workforces -- Just as the world is now more global, the workforce is as well. Persons from divergent cultures respond differently to motivation, organization and communication so that knowing the differences from cultures actually enhances the ability to manage diversity. Changes in style and the development of leadership skills, too, change the way individual workers perceive their managers, and the way managers perceive and can count on, workers.