The document discusses organization development in global settings. It explores how cultural values impact the application of OD in other cultures. Some key cultural values discussed are power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and individualism. The document also examines the different strategic orientations organizations can take when operating globally, such as international, global, multinational, and transnational orientations. Finally, it discusses the application of OD in global social change organizations.

1. Organization Development and Change
Thomas G. Cummings
Christopher G. Worley
Organization Development in
Global Settings

2. Cummings & Worley, 8e
(c)2005 Thomson/South-Western
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Learning Objectives
for Chapter Twenty One
• To explore the differences in OD
applications in a cross-cultural context.
• To understand the cultural values that might
impact OD applications in other cultures
• To examine how OD can best be applied in
worldwide firms and global social change
organizations

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Growth of OD in Global Settings
• The rapid development of foreign
economies
• The increasing worldwide availability of
technical and financial resources
• The emergence of a global economy

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Cultural Values
• Context
• Power Distance
• Uncertainty Avoidance
• Achievement Orientation
• Individualism

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Context
• The extent to which meaning in
communication is carried in the words
• Organizations in high context cultures tend
to value ceremony and ritual, the structure
is less formal, there are fewer written
policies, and people are often late for
appointments

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Power Distance
• Extent to which members of a society
accept that status and power are distributed
unequally in an organization
• Organizations in these cultures tend to be
autocratic, possess clear status differences,
and have little employee participation

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Uncertainty Avoidance
• The extent to which members of a society
tolerate the unfamiliar and unpredictable
• Organizations in these cultures tend to
value experts, prefer clear roles, avoid
conflict, and resist change

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Achievement Orientation
• The extent to which people in a society
value assertiveness and the acquisition of
material goods
• Organizations in these cultures tend to
associate achievement with wealth and
recognition, value decisiveness, and support
clear sex roles

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Individualism
• The extent to which people in a society
believe they should be responsible for
themselves and their immediate family
• Organizations in these cultures tend to
encourage personal initiative, value time
and autonomy, and accept competition

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Cultural and Economic Contexts
of International OD Practice
Cultural Fit with OD Practice
HighLow
Moderate
High
LevelofEconomic
Development
India
South Africa
United Kingdom
Scandinavia
USA
Central America
Eastern Europe
Asia
South Pacific
South America
Middle East

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Worldwide Organizations
• Offer products or services worldwide
• Balance product and functional concerns
with geographic issues
• Coordination must address complex
personnel and cross-cultural issues
• Its competitive position in one national
market is affected by its global integration
and local responsiveness

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The Integrative-Responsiveness
Framework
Global
Orientation
Transnational
Orientation
International
Orientation
Multinational
Orientation
High
Need for Global
Integration
Low
Low Need for Local Responsiveness High

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Worldwide Strategic Orientations
• Offer products/services in more than one
country
• Balance product and functional concerns
with geographic issues of distance, time,
and culture
• Carry out coordinated activities across
cultural boundaries using a wide variety of
personnel

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Worldwide Strategic
Orientations
• The International
• The Global Orientation
• The Multinational Orientation
• The Transnational Orientation

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International Strategic Orientation
• Characteristics of the International Design
– Sell existing products/services to nondomestic
markets
– Goals of increased foreign revenues
• Implementing the International Orientation
– OD facilitates extending the existing strategy
into the new market
– Cross-cultural training and strategic planning

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The Global Strategic Orientation
• Characteristics of the Global Design
– Centralized with a global product structure
– Goals of efficiency through volume
• Implementing the Global Orientation
– OD supports career planning, role clarification,
employee involvement, conflict management
and senior management team building to help
achieve improved operational efficiency
– OD helps the organization transition to global
integration from local responsiveness

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The Multinational
Strategic Orientation
• Characteristics of the Multinational Design
– Operate a decentralized organization
– Goals of local responsiveness through
specialization
• Implementing the Multinational Orientation
– OD helps with intergroup relations, local
management selection and team building
– OD facilitates management development,
reward systems, and strategic alliances

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Transnational Strategic
Orientation
• Characteristics of the Transnational Design
– Tailored products
– Goals of learning and responsiveness through
integrations
• Implementing the Transnational Orientation
– Extensive selection and rotation
– Acquire cultural knowledge and develop intergroup
relations
– Build corporate vision

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Global Social Change Organizations
• Their primary task is a commitment to serve as an agent of
change in the creation of environmentally and socially
sustainable world futures
• They have discovered and mobilized innovative social-
organizational architectures
• They hold values of empowerment in the accomplishment
of their global change mission
• They are globally-locally linked in structure, membership,
or partnership and thereby exist as entities beyond the
nation-state
• They are multi-organizational and often cross-sectoral

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Application Stages of
Global Social Change Organizations
• Build the local organization
– Using values to create the vision
– Recognizing that internal conflict is often a function of
external conditions
– Understanding the problems of success
• Create horizontal linkages
– Build a network of local organizations with similar views
and objectives
• Develop vertical linkages
– Create channels of communication and influence upward to
governmental and policy-level, decision-making processes

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Global Social Change Organizations
OD Roles and Skills
• Bridging Role
• Stewardship Role
• Communication Skills
• Negotiation Skills
• Networking Skills