La culture d'entreprise face aux différences nationales (document en anglais)

Cultural diversity within multinational companies:

Corporate culture face to national differences

BARABAN Chloé, BOBEE Floriane, MOULANIER Yanaël.

Abstract

Today, multiculturalism and the respect of cultures are at the core of many socio-political debates, all around the world. This issue also concerns the multinational companies, because they are directly confronted with the cohabitation of cultures. They seem to face a dilemma between the necessity to preserve the internal coherence of the company, which is necessary to their economic objectives, and the cultural diversity of their organization.

The literature on intercultural communication and intercultural management keeps flourishing in order to provide guidance on the possible ways to approach cultural differences in the business world.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the principle strategies that a multinational firm can adopt in order to achieve its economic objectives while facing cultural challenges.

Key words: Internal coherence – Corporate culture – Diversity - Cultural conflicts – Innovation – Intercultural management.

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Glossary

Corporate culture : Culture d’entreprise

Headquarters / Head office: Siège social

Subsidiaries: Filiales

C.E.O. (Chief Executive Officer): Highest level in the hierarchy. In a multinational firm, there is a C.E.O for each subsidiary, and a global C.E.O.

Table of contents

INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................................................3

I. CULTURAL CONFLICTS, A TEMPTATION FOR THE MULTINATIONAL FIRMS TO IMPOSE A SINGLE CORPORATE CULTURE........................................................................................................................................................4

II.

1.1. Cultural conflicts within a firm: a major threat to the coherence of a multinational firm......................................................................................................................................................................................4 1.2. The management of cultural risks: imposition of a single corporate culture.......................6

CULTURAL DIVERSITY, A RESOURCE WHEN IT IS CORRECTLY MANAGED .......................................................8

2.1. Cultural diversity: a resource rather than a risk ...............................................................................8

2.2. Intercultural management: how to harvest cultural diversity within a firm? .................. 11

CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................................. 15

BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................................................. 16

APPENDICES .................................................................................................................................................. 18

1- REPARTITION OF THE BIGGEST MULTINATIONAL FIRMS IN THE WORLD ........................ 18

2- INTERVIEW WITH MR ROSARIO ESPOSITO, COO OF CORPORATE LIFE GENERALI (EMPLOYEE BENEFITS DIVISION) .......................................................................................................... 19

3- INTERVIEW WITH MRS DOMINIQUE B., DATA MANAGER, ZURICH GLOBAL CORPORATE FRANCE ........................................................................................................................................................... 21

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Introduction

Since a few years, the concept of corporate culture has been considered as a real asset for the economic development of the companies, regardless of their size. In “The Corporate Culture, Survival Guide”, Edgar Schein defines culture as “a pattern of shared tacit assumptions that was learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems”.1 This definition has several implications that Edgar Schein develops in his book. Corporate culture has a strong symbolic activity, which enables the different workers to identify to a group. Moreover, it creates a strong internal coherence for a firm. Indeed, the aim of a corporate culture is also to define an “organisational culture”, which creates homogeneity of the work organization. As a consequence, it allows rapidity and efficiency of business.

However, in a multinational firm, several national cultures are implicated in the organization of the same company. The local subsidiaries all have their national culture, which does not necessarily match the corporate culture.

The challenge for the multinational companies is to determine to what extent cultural diversity can be compatible with the coherence of their organization. How do multinational firms deal with cultural differences? Do they have to make a choice between the coherence of their organization and the respect of national cultures, or can the corporate culture be compatible with the respect of cultural differences?

Basically, the behaviour of multinational firms will rely on the vision that they have of cultural differences. There are two main approaches of cultural differences, which lead to two different types of reactions from the

1 Edgar H.Schein, The corporate culture, Survival Guide, Jossey Bass Editions, 2009, p.27

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multinational firms.

On the one hand, cultural differences can be considered as a source of conflicts; therefore the firms see them as a risk for their internal coherence, and choose to impose a standardized corporate culture for all their subsidiaries (I).

On the other hand, some firms consider cultural diversity as a resource that they will try to harvest, trying to make corporate culture and different national cultures work

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