Cultures,Compatibilities and Conflicts

Abstract

M anagement, in particular Personnel management, is concerned with values underlying organisational systems, structures and incentives. The philosophy concepts and skills required by organisations in one country are not necessarily transferable, or easily translatable to another when there are disparate value systems. International comparisions of national values are difficult to arrive at. It is for this reason that a study made by Geert Hofstede, published in Asia Pacific Journal of Management in 1984, is of considerable interest to Australian readers.

There are clearly compatible and conflicting values underlying management systems in various countries. These may affect business relationships between managements in bi-lateral trade, or in the case of Australia, may affect the acceptability and the assimilative process of migrant groups in organisations, issues which are glossed over respectively in terms of 'better understanding' and 'multiclturalism'.