Development In Globalised World

Introduction

According to Ejimabo and Zewdu (2017), decision-making, whether by a manager or an ordinary employee influences the direction and ultimately the success of organisational development plans. Furthermore, Dabic, Tipuric, and Podrug (2015) explain that in today’s word, globalisation has largely characterised the operations of a considerable number of companies. The influence of globalisation, as stated by Dabic, Tipuric, and Podrug (2015), comes with issues to do with national cultures, implying that different cultural backgrounds are represented in the modern workplace. However, as this increases diversity of the workplace, and results in many advantages for the firm, it is important to also consider how the different cultures affect individual decision-making.

Rationale for the Research

The research focuses on the individual decision-making process, because of the fact that these decisions significantly influence the organisation’s activities, and that most studies on individual decision-making have always reported inconclusive results.

From the rationale above, it is crucial for organisations, management experts, and researchers to investigate the concept of culture (employee’s individual cultural backgrounds), and its influence on individual decision-making. Therefore, this research aims to provide an analysis of the influence of culture on individual decision-making.

Explore the literature on national cultures, to identify the cultural differences in an organisational context, and their influence on individual decision-making. Establish how national cultural differences influence individual decision-making. Establish how organisations and management experts can achieve harmonisation in individual decision-making, while considering their cultural differences.

Research Questions

What is the relationship between national cultures and individual decision-making? How do national cultural differences influence individual decision-making? In what ways can management experts harmonise individual decision-making where there are national cultural differences?

Literature Review

A critical analysis of the existing research on culture and individual decision-making. The review will critique the existing research, explain the literature gaps on national culture, and their influence on individual decision-making, within the organisational context. The various themes to look at will include the following: Globalisation and national cultures, Globalisation and individual decision-making, and National cultural differences and individual decision-making.

Methodology

Explains the specific methods through which the research questions will be answered. Creswell (2013), Hoque (2006), Kothari (2011), and Saunders, et al. (2009) will be extensively referenced in this section. The different sections here include:

Research Design

Both primary and secondary data will be used. Data will be collected through questionnaires (with interviews and surveys).

Non-experimental design will be employed.

In this section, the research findings will be critically analysed, evaluated, and discussed. This will be done while referring to the literature review themes.

This section follows the previous one, and will provide policy recommendations aimed at assisting various organisations and management experts to develop decision-making styles, on the individual level, which will neutralise negative influences of national cultures.

Bibliography

• Becker, C., and Palmer, S., 2009, The effect of culture on managers’ decision-making: A case study of Mexico and Germany (Master’s Thesis), Lulea University of Technology.
• Creswell, J. W., 2013, Steps in Conducting a Scholarly Mixed Methods Study, DBER Speaker Series.
• Dabic, M., Tipuric, D., and Podrug, N., 2015, ‘Cultural differences affecting decision-making style: a comparative study between 4 countries,’ Journal of Business Economics and Management, 16(2), pp.275-289.
• Ejimabo, O.N., and Zewdu, M., 2017, ‘The Influence of Decision Making in Organisation Leadership and Management Activities,’ Journal of Entrepreneurship & Organisation Management, 1(2017), pp.1-11.
• Hoque, Z., 2006, Methodological issues in accounting research: theories, methods and issues, London: Spiramus Press.
• Hutnek, S. M., 2016, The Impact of Cultural Differences on Human Resources Policies of Multinational Companies (Master's thesis). [Online] Available at:
• Kothari, C. R., 2011, Research Methodology, New Delhi: New Age International (P) Limited Publishers.
• Liso, S.O., 2011, The influence of culture on decision-making in a strategic alliance (Master’s Thesis), University of Agder.
• Müller, R., Spang, K., and Özcan, S., 2008, ‘Cultural differences in decision-making among project teams: examples from Swedish and German project teams,’ Paper presented at PMI® Research Conference: Defining the Future of Project Management, Warsaw, Poland. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
• Saunders, M., Lewis, P., and Thornhill, A., 2009, Research Methods for Business, 5th Ed, England: Pearson Education Limited.

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