Cross-Cultural Comparison of Organizational Structure in a Multinational Organizational Environment

Abstract

Due to globalization, cross-cultural specifics exploration is of crucial importance for the success of businesses in opening and maintaining new markets. Whilst cultural differences are more obvious and remarkable than similarities and homogeneities, they must be taken into account in management practices being of high importance for understanding organizational behavior. This study investigates the extent to which relationships between context and structure are stable across cultures, it also examines if cultural differences between nations account for variations in their suggested desired structure. The study first analyzes the structure of sample companies and then compares the findings with data on matched analogue companies. The cross-cultural comparison between the resulting structure revealed that a resultant personnel bureaucracy structure for fitted well their high concentration of authority and low structuring of activities, but it did not match the desired full bureaucracy. In response to the analysis of the results obtained, new research directions on the influence of cultural differences and their application in global businesses were identified.