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Considerable evidence exists concerning the reward preferences of blue-collar employees in the United States (Campbell, et al., 1970). The general conclusion that can be drawn from these studies is that blue-collar workers value job security, co-workers, interesting work and opportunities to use their abilities. However, this may not be true for blue-collar workers in other countries. The purpose of this paper was to examine the cultural effects on the need deficiencies of blue-collar employees in two different countries. controlling organizational and technological variables that Porter and Lawler (1965) have found to significantly affect employees need deficiencies in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The personalities and negotiating behaviors of samples of Japanese and American managers are compared in this paper. The Japanese managers were found to be more risk-avoiding, more suspicious, and more oriented towards belief in external or environmental control. In negotiations in a standardized bilateral monopoly context, the Japanese buyers and sellers approached equal profits while the American buyers and sellers moved less towards such an equalization. The most striking differences occurred among those managers bargaining in a reactive (or responding) position versus an initiatory one. Here, the Americans consistently reacted more competitively than the Japanese (that is, they yielded less to their opponents). The Americans reached agreement more quickly, but used more bids to do so. These differences are interpreted within a framework of stereotypical Japanese-American attitudes and behaviors. Speculations also are drawn for Japanese managerial practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the field of cross-cultural management. The author focuses on the development of a strategy that can be employed to direct cross-cultural management research. Strategies that have been used to perform research in the past are evaluated. It is suggested that the motivation behind cross-cultural management research is to track developments in industrial management related to the industrialization of developing nations. The environmental approach to cross-cultural management is linked to economic development, socio-economic factors, and political factors. The behavioral approach to cross-cultural management studies individual and organizational behavior in various cultures. The impact of technological innovations and legal developments on management is also discussed.

Is there any relationship between the differences in perceived deficiencies in need fulfillment and previous international work experience and regional location of the manager's present assignment? This paper investigates this question and, specifically, presents the result of a study designed to extend and enlarge upon the previous research concerned with the need satisfaction of Americans who are assigned to international managerial positions. Data was collected by means of a Porter need satisfaction questionnaire. The sample of respondents consisted of 141 upper middle staff personnel employed by 4 large American multinational companies. The subjects were assigned to foreign subsidiaries located in Europe and Latin America. The results of this study indicate that regional location and prior international work experience influence perceived need satisfactions of overseas managers. In Europe, experienced managers were more satisfied than their inexperienced colleagues. Converse experienced managers in Latin America were less satisfied than their inexperienced counterparts. It is suggested that jobs in different parts of the world may be viewed differently by managers on the basis of their previous international work experience and career aspirations, as well as the control exerted by the parent company over its foreign subsidiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past studies comparing values cross-culturally have sought to relate values and other important variables. The present study seeks to extend cross-cultural investigation of values by comparing value systems of managers from five countries. Comparisons from diverse managerial samples of United States (N = 862), Japanese (N = 301), Korean (N = 161), Indian (N = 484), and Australian (N = 282) were made. Analysis consisted of principal factor analysis with varimax rotation and a comparison between factor structures using the coefficient of congruence. Results indicate some similarity in value structures of United States, Japanese, and Australian managers. Little or no similarity was found between the value structures of Indian and Korean managers and those from the other three countries. Only within the United States managerial sample were as many as half the factors similar to those of managers in other countries. A tentative explanation advanced is that value structures are largely culture-specific and that culture, rather than industrialization, is the dominant determinant of value systems. The role of the United States as an exporter of culture, as well as industrialization, would explain the greater similarity between these managers and those in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the myths of management in multinational corporations. The core of the multinational management mythology is simply this: there are fundamental differences between the methods of management appropriate to a company that operates within a single nation and one that cuts across national boundaries. A discussion is presented about the frequent conflicts between personnel at headquarters and those in the country subsidiaries. Often, the headquarters is located in the home country of the firm and is staffed largely by home country personnel. These conflicts are therefore often attributed to antagonisms between nationalities. Details related to cross-cultural conflicts and difficulties are presented.

Data concerning job satisfaction differences among whites, blacks, and Puerto-Ricans was collected from three organizations. The major purpose of this research was to investigate whether cultural-ethnic differences have any important influence on work attitudes of minority and white workers, and to stratify the sample to assess interaction between demographic factors and job satisfaction among races. With the exception of lower satisfaction with supervision by the minority groups, no consistent differences in job attitudes were found between the white and the minority workers. Stratification by the job level, and other socio-economic variables, did reveal further differences in black and white job attitudes. Job dissatisfaction of minority blue-collar workers stemmed mostly from the extrinsic job factors, while the white-collar blacks were more dissatisfied with intrinsic job factors. The relationship between race and work attitudes is very complex. No broad stereotypic assumptions can be stated for all blacks, Puerto-Ricans, or whites. The intervening variables of occupational level education, job level, sex, age, tenure, and community characteristics must be considered, as well as specific determinants of job satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organization theory was first developed in the context of a single environment. Comparative management developed as a discipline in response to a need for applying the principles of organization theory to varied environments. Initial attempts in this direction were limited by insufficiently developed tools for environmental analysis. The theory of open systems had been developed in a tradition where the interaction between the system and its environment was a crucial factor. Conceptual framework provided by open systems theory is, therefore, appropriate for extension of principles of organization theory to situations that differ significantly from each other. The further development in the field of comparative management would come about essentially by the process of building conceptual, as well as methodological, links between organization theory and systems theory. We have recently undertaken a project in Europe of pulling together various nationalities to develop a unified energy policy. This experience indicates that nationalistic feelings are once again very pronounced in Europe and around the world. It is, therefore, imperative that comparative management theory pay special attention to identifying and researching cross-cultural differences among nation states. Anthropological methodology, which has been very useful in the study of tribal cultures, should provide a valuable way to study management systems in diverse cultures. In order to carry on research in a truly cross-cultural framework utilizing the open systems theory, it is absolutely essential that we create scholarly task forces which, in themselves, are cross-cultural. The international division of the Academy of Management could certainly provide a much needed impetus to bring these scholarly groups together. A second need is to identify actual concerns of multi-national corporations, as well as organizations. A survey feedback methodology will be most appropriate to explore this area. In the final analysis, there is a great need to bring together the realism from the field so that further research, as well as conceptual development efforts, can be directed to the significant problems that multi-national organizations will face in the foreseeable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]