Organisational And National Culture: Understanding Their Relationship And Differences

Defining Organisational and National Culture

Culture plays a major role in understanding the beliefs and ideologies of an enterprise and thereby creates a guiding force in order to undertake the smooth functioning of the workforce. On the other hand, the organizational culture influences the objectives of the business enterprise while operating in the diverse fields. The induction of positive culture among the workforce helps in enhancing their operations while identifying the common goal of business sustenance in an ethical basis. The research will delve into the different factors of corporate culture and the manner in which they might be differentiated from the national culture. It will help in introducing the different aspects of change that might be undertaken by the businesses while operating in inter- cultural markets. On the other hand, the research will also focus on the differences between the organizational and national culture in Ireland and Australia, which will help in understanding the different aspects that supports business growth in the nations. Lastly, the research will include a reflection on the importance of culture in the functioning of the businesses while operating in diverse national cultural situations.

Guiso,   Sapienza  and Zingales (2015) stated that the organizational culture aims at understanding the expectations, experiences, philosophy and the values of the business. The eleme4nts that are incorporated by the organizational culture helps in the smooth functioning of the business through the induction of the elements in the stakeholders and the workforce. Schwartz (2013) added that that the organizational culture specifically influences the behavior of the employees towards their assigned job role and the manner in which they might be executed as per the objectives of the enterprise. The culture of the organizations determines the capabilities and competencies of the organization while conferring a change on the structure and the processes of the business. Ortega-Parra  and Ángel Sastre-Castillo (2013) stated that the organizational culture specifically plays a major role in maintaining the efficacy of the organizational operations through its control over the attitudes, beliefs and written and unwritten ethical considerations. Engelen,   Brettel  and Wiest (2012) noted that the corporate culture helps in understanding the assumptions that might be undertaken by the organizations at different points of time while operating in diverse international markets. Therefore, the organizational culture helps in the development of the specific objectives of the business resulting to the identification of the desired steps that might be undertaken by the same. 

The differences in the national and organizational culture are identified through the understanding of different factors relating to ethical considerations.  Guiso,   Sapienza  and Zingales (2015) stated that national culture is based on the deep rooted ethical values relating to the discrimination between good and bad, normal and abnormal, safe and dangerous. The identification of the different activities that might be taken by the individuals and classifying the same as per the social structure is one of the major factors that influence the national culture. Mueller (2012) stated that national culture makes use of the different aspects of macro environmental considerations, which might  affect the social structure and thereby correlate to the interests of the people. 

Distinguishing between Organisational and National Culture

Changes in the organizational functioning are best posed through the identification of the national culture and incorporation of the same in the organizational structure and processes.  On the other hand, Yap  and Webber (2015) noted that the organizational culture is relevant to is operations, which is undertaken in volatile economic markets. The changes in the organizational performance are based on the identification of the different challenges that are faced by the organizations while operating in diverse international markets. Inabinett  and Ballaro (2014) stated that the organizational culture evolves with the study of the different challenges that are faced by the same while operating in diverse economic conditions. On the other hand, Flamholtz and Randle (2012) stated that the national culture is deep rooted and is noted for slowly changing as per the identification of the judgmental aspects of good and evil. The organizations aspiring to do business in different nations must adhere to the culture that is created by the nationality. However, the national culture is developed without responding to the diverse cultures of the organizations aspiring to grow in the nation.   

Bhasin (2013) stated that the major difference between organizational and national culture is based on the lack of dependence of the national culture on organizational culture whereas the growth of organizations are based  specifically on the adherence to the national culture. National culture plays an important role in the organizational functioning as it helps in understanding the preferences, attitudes and behaviors of the customers in the nation. The development of the organizational culture is largely dependent on the understanding of the preferences and attitudes of the people in the nation and is thereby dependent on the identification of the national cultural paradigms. The identification of the national values and thereby incorporation of the culture in the organizational context helps in enhancing the operations and sustainability of the corporations in diverse economic conditions.

The identification of the national culture is essential for organizations aspiring to make expansion in the different regions of the nationality. Adherence to the different cultural backgrounds while operating in the diverse nations helps the businesses in undertaking a steady growth. This section of the report will be utilizing Hofstede’s dimensions in order to identify the cultural differences that are faced by the businesses in Australia and Ireland. It will helps in understanding the different aspects of national culture and the manner in which the national culture influences the development of corporate culture for sustenance in the respective markets.

The Importance of Organisational Culture

Figure 1: Hofstede’s model statistical depictions contrasting Australia and Ireland

(Source: Matzler et al.  2013)

Dimensions from Hofstede’s model	Australia	Ireland
Individualistic/ Collectivistic	Australian businesses have developed individualistic cultures, which required the candidates to be self-reliant and thereby undertake different initiatives as per the needs of the organization. On the other hand, the employees in the business circle are recruited as per the assessment of the capabilities of the individuals to bring forth subtle modifications in the working process of businesses. The Australian businesses have gained 90% of individualism culture during a survey, which portrayed the heightened expectations of the recruiters on self reliance of the employees (Alt?nda?  and Köseda??  2015).	Recruiters in Ireland also expect self reliant employees who might be entrusted with different responsibilities. The initiatives that are planned by the organizations are well supported through the activities of the employees as individuals. The belief that is being infested on the processes helps in maintaining the efficacy of the functions as per the needs of the business while operating in the diverse markets.
Masculine/ Feminine	Australia’s culture is specifically Masculine in nature, which depicts that the society is driven by competition, achievement and success. The sustainable nature of the Australian organizations is based on the continuous innovation that is undertaken by the same in order to gain a competitive edge in the markets. On the other hand, the national masculine culture has brought about changes in the organizational culture, which aims at maintaining their proficiency while performing as per the needs of the people in order to sustain in the highly competitive markets.	Businesses in Ireland are specifically based on the masculine culture of the nation (Hitka et al. 2015). High competitiveness and competitive strategy formation of organizations has helped the businesses in sustaining and achieving their goals in the market. The incorporation of the culture in businesses is dependent on the shared value that is estimated by the same while undertaking the processes.
Uncertainty avoidance	Businesses in Australia are more prone to take up risks in different ventures for making the relevant changes in the organizational functioning (Dempsey  2015). The score that was achieved by Australia during the survey was relatively higher than that of businesses in Ireland.	Uncertainty avoidance is one of the major aspects through which businesses in Ireland facilitates creativity in the functioning and thereby undertake an innovative approach of problem solving. The key elements of change in the organizational performance are based on the identification of the ambiguity that is faced by the organization and the manner in which they might be mitigated through identification of different radical modifications.
Power distance	Hierarchy in the Australian organizations is convenient to the point of collaborative functioning of the managers with the employees. It has helped businesses in maintaining their efficacy while operating in diverse innovative objectives. Most of the enterprise in Australia follows a transformational servant leadership, which has reduced the power distance between the organizational management and the employees.	The power distance is even lower in Ireland than Australia as the management of organizations believes in indiscrimination between the different employees. On the other hand, most of the organizations developed an open door policy in order to maintain the efficacy of the workforce while operating as per the sustainable objectives of the businesses.
Long term orientation	The Australian society follows a normative culture, which is evident through the lack of suitable changes in the society. The Australian businesses seemed to lack the dynamic change in their systems as is enforced by the national culture. The Australians have great respect for traditional ideologies, which is reflected through the operations that are undertaken by the businesses while operating in the Australian markets.	The businesses in Ireland follow normative culture as is enforced by the nation. However, the score that is achieved during the survey portrayed that there is a slight hike in Ireland over Australian markets (von Meding et al. 2013).
Indulgent/ Restraint	The highly impulsive culture in the Australian markets has helped in the development of the businesses. People being impulsive prioritize their leisure, which supports their affordability (Williams  2014). Therefore, the high rate of indulgence of the people in the Australian markets has helped in the growth of different organizations from varied sectors in the economy.	The businesses in Ireland are privileged through the high rate of indulgent culture of the people. The openness of the people to different organizational offerings has helped in the growth of the businesses. However, the score that is received by Ireland’s businesses are relatively lower than the Australians which has created a point of discrimination between the two nations.

Culture plays a major role in framing the organizational functioning as per the ne4eds of the same to sustain in the competitive market structures. Organizational culture helps in enhancing the unity among the employees through efficient controlling measures on their behavior and attitudes towards work. On the other hand, culture of the organization provides a unique identity to the business and helps the same in identifying the different objectives for enhancing the sustainability options.  The positive culture of organizations helps in enhancing the productivity of the employees, which helps in enhancing the profitability of the business while operating in diverse international markets. The cultural dimensions of organizations play a major role in identifying constrains that might be faced by the same while devising the activities. The corporate culture influences the decision making perspectives of management, which helps in enumerating the smooth functioning of the systems of enterprises. Culture is therefore an important phenomenon that influences the management behavior and attitudes of the employees towards work. On the other hand, the sustainable objective of business enterprises is supported through the induction of suitable cultural paradigms in the organizational model.

Conclusion

Therefore, from the above research it can be stated that organizational culture is mainly dependent on the frameworks that are maintained by the social culture. On the other hand, the research also highlights the different aspects of corporate culture and the manner in which they create an impression on the functioning of the sauciness. The report enumerates a clear idea of the cultural differences between Australia and Ireland through the utilization of Hofstede’s model of cultural dimensions. It has helped in understanding the different aspects of change in the organizational functioning as per the study of the culture that is followed by the nations.

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