ASSESMENT 3: ESSAY

A group of people have and compensate certain emotions, thoughts and behaviour is called the
culture. Where else company culture comes when the people in the organization compensate the
behaviour and thinking by working together. Company culture is widely practiced by the employee of
the company.While, national culture is influenced by the people of the nation by sharing the same kind
of thinking and behaviour (Witchall, 2012). These dimensions will be used as a form of criteria to
compare the diverse cultural values between the selected two organisation. This paper focuses on the
organisational culture of two organisations, which are Hong Kong company HSBC and the Malaysian
company CIMB. The objective of this paper is to compare and contrast the differences between the
two organisations in regards to the influence of national culture on organisational culture, in particular,
on leadership, organisational structure and organisational strategy

1. How does national culture influence the company culture in the two organisations? What are the
similarities and differences? Critically assess the key issues and justify your arguments.

Upon discussing about cross-cultural, culture and nation come into the discussion. These two are
identified differently. A group of people have and compensate certain emotions, thoughts and
behaviour is called the culture. (Browaeys & Price 2015). Employers are the internal organisation.
Government bodies, social and economic which engaging with an organization is call external
organisation (Browaeys & Price 2015). National culture is which already existed in the nation and
distinguishes them from other nations by sharing the same kind of thinking and behaviour (Witchall,
2012).

There are four major dimensions of a national culture which based on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions.
Which is power distance that explains power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism or
collectivism and masculinity or feminity. HSBC has a moderately high power distance score with a
fairly strong uncertainty avoidance compared to CIMB. In CIMB the power distance does not show
much difference like in HSBC. For example, in CIMB, the top management and the employees wears
the same type of t-shirt on Fridays but then in HSBC they do wear t-shirts on Fridays but HSBC t-shirts
has their name and position printed on it.

So, the employees in HSBC are basically resistance to change and they feel formal rules and regulation
are necessary. In addition, HSBC exemplifies a strong collective culture and a masculine cultural
orientation. For example, the organization culture of HSBC would be more focusing on the quantity of
life which means the company is always stress on competition or performance. Whereas in CIMB, they
are committed to long-term orientation. That is in CIMB, their employees are rewarded annually based
on their performance but in HSBC once the employee has completed his given project, he will be
rewarded regardless of time period.

2. How does national culture influence leadership in the two organisations? What are the similarities
and differences? Critically assess the key issues and justify your arguments

Leadership is the ability to influence a group towards the achievement of a vision or sets of goals
(Robbins, Stephen P, 2010). Leadership helps shape culture. Culture in turn shapes leadership. They
both drive performance. Effective leadership is based on leader style and characteristics of the
situation. Two basic leader styles that; relationship and task oriented are used in different companies
based on their characteristics of the situation such as leader-member relations, task structure and
position power. Leadership is categorised into two which are transformational and transactional
leadership. Transformational leadership is defined as a leadership approach that causes change in
individuals and social systems (Odumeru & Ogbonna 2013). It creates significant change in the life of
people and organizations (Odumeru & Ogbonna 2013). It remodels perceptions and values, and
changes expectations and aspirations of employees (Odumeru & Ogbonna 2013). They basically inspire
change and innovation (Browaeys & Price 2015). Unlike the transactional leadership, it is not based on
a give and take relationship, but on the leader’s personality, traits and ability to make a change through
example, organizational policies, values and vision (Odumeru & Ogbonna 2013). They basically are less
people focused and more task oriented (Odumeru & Ogbonna 2013).

There are numbers of cultural dimensions that can predict these two types of leadership. Since
transactional leadership is more task oriented, they are high in performance orientation (Browaeys &
Price 2015). Meanwhile, charismatic or value-based relationship (transformational) leadership is high
in-group collectivism, more humane orientation and low uncertainty avoidance (Browaeys & Price
2015).

Managers of HSBC have the primary role to make specific identifications of all the possible sources of
evaluation information which includes observable employee behaviours. This is because aside from
the observations of the immediate supervisor, performance evaluation information can still come from
a variety of other sources, including the employees, subordinates, and work products. HSBC leadership
are more to behavioural theories. In HSBC, they also practises adhocracy. (L. Bolman & T. Deal,2008)

The seniors and juniors are also given the freedom to complete their work neither at office or at home
before they meet the deadline. Besides, the juniors are given training and they learn their company
culture from their seniors. In HBC, their leadership culture are more related to Michigan studies.
Leaders in HSBC are more to production-oriented leaders. Their main concern is to accomplish their
tasks.

On the other hand, leaders in CIMB are more to humane orientation. The leaders are concern about
their employees and their feelings. It’s unique and effective for the organisation as part of its strategic
management. In CIMB they also practises administrative support which means the administrative team
plays an important role to complete a given task. (R. Daft, 2010) It can be said that the CIMB had a
unique strengths in terms of its management system. CIMB bank has a democratic leadership style.
This type of style involves the leader including one or more employees in on the decision making
process (determining what to do and how to do it). However, the leader maintains the final decision
making authority. Using this style is not a sign of weakness; rather it's a sign of strength that your
employees will respect.

The managers of both HSBC and CIMB were also given extensive development and training. One of the
known practices within the HSBC and CIMB leadership culture is its high regard for work-ethic
endorsement. This practice involves the careful screening of employees with the necessary skills and
high potentials for improvement. Through this culture, both HSBC and CIMB are able to create an
effective workforce that is determined to succeed and is highly committed to work, family and to the
company.

3. How does national culture influence how change is managed in the two organisations? What are the
similarities and differences? Critically assess the key issues and justify your arguments.

Mapping corporate culture change

The organizational culture of the company also influences on the the competing values framework
based on figure above. Both HSBC and CIMB have the similar competing values framework which is
the hierarchy and adhocracy.

Hierarchy the characteristic is meant by having values traditions, rationalisations and regulation.
Emphasize on ‘command and control’ and it will work efficiently if the work condition is ‘stable and
simple’ (Cameron & Quinn, 1999).The characteristic of CV hierarchy quardrants is applicable to CIMB
and HSBC as culture promotes the sharing of a common goal between the top management and the
employees, the organization and its multidisciplinary teams naturally works in a more harmonious
relationship. As the managers and employees work together, the focus of the employees is no longer
concentrated on satisfying their immediate supervisors. Rather, they work to satisfy the needs of the
other teams in the process. This dynamic motion within the organization gives a more defined role and
purpose for each team.

Adhocracy culture is focuses on external factor, flexibility, adaptability and innovation (Cameron &
Quinn, 1999). Since the teams are held together, their actions are more coordinated. In the
organizational culture, the managers and the employees of HSBC and CIMB are able to work
harmoniously to enhance the competitive advantage of the company. Herein, the management
structure involved an impact which is similar to that of a chain reaction where in the common goal of
the organisation is to enhance the current situation of HSBC and CIMB. Furthermore, both HSBC and
CIMB culture increases the employees’ sense of pride and self-worth. Thus the company positively
influences the organizational behaviour, which makes work teams perform more in accordance with
the strategy of the company. Another significant importance of organizational culture in HSBC’s and
CIMB’s strategy is its ability to have flexibility by enabling the acquisition of new skills. It also promotes
employee familiarization with the overall operation of the business. In other words, organizational
culture facilitates the generation of well-rounded employees who are well-equipped and capable of
providing newer or better business solutions. The involvement and participation of the employees help
in creating team orientation and organizational efficacy. (Broweays Marie-Joelle., Roger P. 2015).

Conclusion

In conclusion, organizations and businesses operate effectively through a number of significant

elements. In a business for instance, the organization would need the capital, strategies, and market
to function. Thus, it can be seen that national culture has a great influence on organisational culture,
leadership style, organisational strategy, structure, and change management. In this case, both HSBC’s
and CIMB’s strategic management, effective national and organisational culture and strong structure
are critical not only to its leadership but also in its survival. The results of the report carried out on the
national culture and organisational structure of HSBC and CIMB indicated very significant importance
as part of its strategy. Therefore, we could conclude that having efficient and effective national culture
and structure is an important aspect of an organisation to ensure success and competitive advantage.
Therefore, in every company now they should focus more on cross-cultural management.