Managing organizational cultures in a global world

The central question in this article is how we can deal with cultural differences in a global world in our organizations. A current view of culture highlights the identity of the organization. This identity is about the purpose and social significance of an organization, the values, unique competences and the strategic choice. With culture as identity, organizational culture disappears as a specific management viewpoint to the background. It is an illusion that an organizational culture is always shared by all people in an organization and that there is unanimity about the cultural values and norms that guide behavior. There are cultural differences between organizations, departments and professional groups. And there are differences in the cultural backgrounds of employees. Groups in organizations also compete among themselves for the significance of the organization. Also, the traditional approach of international management is under pressure because it is no longer enough to understand the influence of national cultures on business development. Understanding these cultural differences is only a first step. Acting internationally means interacting and communicating across national borders, adopting new habits and assessing and understanding unknown things.