How Do Organisations Reconcile and Harmonise The Two

PEOPLE COME FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATION
CAN RESULT IN CONFLICT. DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS HAVE DIFFERENT

CULTURES. HOW DO ORGANIZATIONS RECONCILE AND HARMONIZE THE TWO?
1
People Come from Different Cultures and Working in Organization Can Result in Conflict.
Different Organizations Have Different Cultures. How do Organizations reconcile and
Harmonize the Two?

2
People Come from Different Cultures and Working in Organization Can Result in Conflict.
Different Organizations Have Different Cultures. How do Organizations reconcile and
Harmonize the Two?
Introduction
An effective organization is the one that achieves success in the targeted area. It is
conditioned by the organizational structure, people involved, and the way information is
being used within this organization. Information is the key concept in the success. However,
information even transformed into knowledge is useless itself if not properly managed and
delivered. Knowledge management and the appropriately organized organizational
communications play crucial role in the effectiveness of any organization. However,
organizational communications can damage knowledge management within organization if
they prevail over the knowledge management. In other words, when decisions start to be
made based on unmanaged information, knowledge management within organization can be
severely damaged.
Knowledge management is fundamentally a systematic approach for optimizing the
access, for individuals and teams within an organization, to relevant actionable advice,
knowledge and experience from elsewhere. According to Dueas (2011), Knowledge
management is about providing the right knowledge to the right people at the right time, and
helping them apply it in ways that improve organizational performance. Actionable is the
critical element for the KM practice. If knowledge cannot be used, it does not have
measurable value (CommGAP, 2010).
Organizations which are not yet applying knowledge management may be aware that
they do not capture and reuse good or best practices, that they risk repeating the same
mistakes, and that they are likely to lose what employees learn, but never share, about
suppliers, customers, or competitors. The primary business problem that knowledge

3
management is designed to solve is that teams and individuals are performing sub-optimally,
because they do not have access to knowledge acquired through experience elsewhere. In
addition, new endeavors and innovations may be impeded from lack of access to knowledge
via knowledge management practices and tools.
Knowledge Management
Knowledge management however, is nothing without the properly organized
organizational structure of communications. It is very important to deliver knowledge to the
right people and in the right time. Dueas (2011) defines communications as follows:
Communications involve the who, why, when, where, and how of conveying that
knowledge. In this case, the concept of knowledge communication gets new value within
organization. It is the (deliberate) activity of interactively conveying and co-constructing
insights, assessments, experiences, or skills through verbal and non-verbal means. (Eppler,
2006).
In terms of management practice, only non-verbal means can be managed to the
particular extent (Anaeto, 2010). Non-verbal communication usually presupposes utilization
of various technical advancements of information technology era. Therefore, the
communication process can be if not controlled but at least monitored via logs review or
other means. Verbal communication however, cannot be managed anyhow (CommGAP,
2010). Thus, organizational communication process based on verbal communication mostly
can be a threat to the knowledge management process within such organization. It could
happen because information becomes knowledge being transferred from mouth to mouth
without any analysis and control from the appropriate specialists (CommGAP, 2010; Anaeto,
2010).
It is rather easy to illustrate this issue: an employee gives some kind of unconfirmed
information to the colleague and this worker does something (calls customer, orders

4
production, etc.) using inaccurate data. It could lead to unnecessary expenses at least, not to
mention other more severe consequences. Therefore, it is very important to create such
culture within organization that would promote incentives for participating in knowledge
management (Anaeto, 2010).
The problem of today is that modern communication means facilitate unorganized
communications within organization and it can substantially influence knowledge
management within organization. However, information technology speeds up and facilitates
the controlled spread and delivery of information for the knowledge management procedure
as well. It means that information technology has unique meaning for both communication
and knowledge management at the same time.
Effective Communication
Considering the summary, it is easy to realize that knowledge management can be
affected by inappropriately organized organizational communications. Therefore, the process
of communications within organization should be controlled and organized according to the
culture of this organization. The effective communication and efficient functioning of a
company depends on knowledge management.
According to Anaeto (2010), having utilized the necessary strategy for the planning
of a better organizations culture management, it is expected that effective communication
will be evolved. An effective communication invariably means goal-directed communication,
which should ensure the realization of the organizational goals and objective. It means that
communication is utterly important within organization but it has to be based on the proper
principles that do not damage knowledge management.
Management is hard work. It involves strategy and drudgery, fame and fear of
exposure. As many a human-resources chieftain has said, much of it is less than glamorous.
Managers have to deal with people, and people are much more difficult to understand and

5
deal with than machines (though many management theories attempt to model people simply
as machines). Managers will succeed and they will also fail.
Some managers might think that they will be able to comprehend a complex situation
by reducing their analysis into a few, simple rules. However, simplification can be dangerous
and costly. Instead, as these authors describe, managers can address complex situations with
certain appropriate, and sometimes counterintuitive, practices - and a hefty dose of humility.
It is not necessary to introduce the notion of complex adaptive systems to businesses
(Cawley, 2003).
They are complex adaptive systems and always have been. It is also not necessary to
introduce applied complexity to the business world. It is there already. Science says that
complexity cannot be controlled in the way we would like, but it can be influenced. The
question is how this notion can be put to use (Gharajedaghi, 1999; Eisner, 2005).
There are predecessors to complexity science: systems theory and chaos theory, which
try to understand the complexity of the world. Complexity builds on them and incorporates
aspects of them but is richer in two specific ways. It recognizes that these systems can exist
or fluctuate between three states or zones: a stable state, a chaotic state, and a state in
between, which is more creative and fluctuating (Byrnes, 2005; Gharajedaghi, 1999; Eisner,
2005).
It is also different in that there is the phenomenon of emergence: much arising from
little; the whole being richer than the sum of the parts. If you think of organizations in these
terms, think first of a stable zone where you are doing something in a very rigid way and the
environment is not changing. You are not forced to change. Everybody agrees to do what you
are doing. It works (Gharajedaghi, 1999; Eisner, 2005). This is akin to mechanistic
management. The second, chaotic zone is the place to be if you want to break out from a

6
crisis situation to explore possibilities for going to someplace new. It is not a stage you
should be in all the time, because you will go out of business (Cawley, 2003).
In complexity science, the third, middle zone is called the edge of chaos, but we call
it the zone of adaptive creativity. This is a zone in which you have a great deal of
innovation, adaptability, and creativity, and it is a good place to be. In terms of being a
manager, you have the job of knowing which state is appropriate for which situation and how
to operate within the different states (Byrnes, 2005). Management guided by complexity
research is not, as many people seem to think, merely sitting back and waiting for good things
to emerge. That will not work. You do have to supply a structure within which creativity can
develop around your people.
The contemporary situation in the worlds economy has made risks assessment one of
the most important stages in terms of planning stages. It is conditioned by the growing need
in the appropriate evaluation of the projects value during the entire process of development
and execution (Ireland; Philips). Thus, a project manager became a more important figure for
any company that struggles for success. Projects themselves and related activities, however,
are not the most important parts of the duties of a modern project manager. Building of the
appropriate relationships within a team or unit is vital for a project these days. It means that
the project manager has to have deep psychological skills to be an effective team manager
(Ireland; Philips).
Industrial and Organizational (I/O) Psychology
Industrial and organizational (I/O) psychology is a discipline that applies psychology
to organizations and explores it within workplaces. A professional in this area (Phillips, 2003)
defines I/O psychology as the scientific study of the relationship between man and the world
of work in the process of making a living. As we can see, this area of psychology explores

7
utterly important interaction between a worker and working environment that influence
performance rather substantially (Ireland, 2006; Phillips, 2003).
I/O psychology has two broad areas of study that have roots in social psychology and
organizational management of a workplace. Specialists in this area of psychology work as
scientists-practitioners. They apply theoretical knowledge in particular situations in order to
improve performance and provide help to human resources managers as researchers and
consultants (Ireland; Philips).
Historically, the need in industrial psychology has emerged during World War I in
response to the need in providing duty stations with new troops in timely manner. I/O
psychology is the product of diligent work and commitment of such outstanding researches of
that time as Dill Scott, James McKeen Cattell, and Hugo Mnsterberg. After World War II
Kurt Lewin and Muzafer Sheriff influenced further development of I/O psychology as the
scientific discipline (Ireland, 2006; Phillips, 2003).
Research methods, used in I/O psychology utilize both qualitative and quantitative
approaches. Descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, logistic regression, multivariate
analysis of variance, structural equation modeling, and hierarchical linear modeling are
addressed to quantitative methods. Qualitative methods include content analysis, focus
groups, interviews, case studies, and some other relevant observation techniques (Ireland,
2006; Phillips, 2003).
Typically, I/O psychologists work on such topics as job analysis, personnel
recruitment and selection, performance appraisal/management, individual assessment and
psychometrics, remuneration and compensation, training and training evaluation, motivation
in the workplace, organizational culture, group behavior, job satisfaction and commitment,
productive behavior, job performance, organizational citizenship behavior, innovation,
counterproductive work behavior, leadership, and others. They investigate such problems as

8
employee selection and evaluation, training and development, and satisfaction in the
workplace (Ireland, 2006; Phillips, 2003).
All these problems and issues are connected with the area of employee behavior that
cannot be directly influenced by a team leader. Therefore, psychologists evaluate the
situation, provide appropriate feedback, and propose adequate solutions to a team manager
that could solve issues colleagues and improve performance of a unit (Ireland, 2006; Phillips,
2003). Interpersonal relationships between colleagues and superiors, evaluation of the overall
mental condition of an employee, and deep understanding of their mutual influences are the
main areas of exploration for any I/O psychologist (Ireland, 2006; Phillips, 2003).
Modern I/O psychologists are valuable by their ability to influence the situation on a
workplace form the inside. They are able to motivate people and solve issues that are usually
beyond the competence of a regular team manager. Therefore, a good project manager should
either have I/O psychologist as a member of a team or have such own skills and knowledge,
and that is far more preferable in terms of modern project management.
Management theory is undergoing a Kuhnian paradigm shift from the old linear,
mechanical model or organization to a model built on the principles of complexity theory. In
an organization built on this new model, the job of the manager shifts from controlling
employees to encouraging their creativity (Cawley, 2003). To do so, managers must generate
an environment in which people can have genuine relationships, built on authenticity and
care, in the context of supportive structures that enable them to connect with each other
(Gharajedaghi, 1999; Eisner, 2005).
Until recently, our view of nature was very mechanistic. It had its roots in Newtons
insights into the movements of planets around the Sun: that their paths were predictable; that
actions and reactions were equal and opposite (Gharajedaghi, 1999; Eisner, 2005). That is
Newtons clockwork universe. In biology for much of the twentieth century, the perspective

9
was similar: the systems were much more complex, but the view was that if you broke the
systems into bits and pieces and found out what those bits and pieces did, you would know
how the whole functioned. This is the reductionistic approach, and it has indeed been very
successful in terms of learning a great deal about our world (Cawley, 2003).
People sometimes wonder how complexity theory differs from other endeavors, such
as systems theory or traditional science. In the 1950s and 1960s, systems theory introduced
the notion that phenomena that appear to have simple causes, such as unemployment, in fact
have a variety of complex causes: complex in the sense that the causes are interrelated,
nonlinear, and difficult to determine (Gharajedaghi, 1999; Eisner, 2005). Systems theorists
adopted a holistic approach, which, in its most radical form, argued that everything is
complex, that everything affects everything else, and that any given phenomenon, such as
unemployment, cannot be studied without looking at the entire context in which it is
embedded (Byrnes, 2005).
What if human organizations were complicated rather than complex? The simple
answer to this question is that the possibility of an all-embracing Theory of Management
would almost certainly exist. This would make management very easy indeed as there would
be a book of theory that would tell the practicing manager what to do in any given context
(Cawley, 2003).
The means of achieving effective and efficient organizational management would no
longer be a mystery. But what is it about the concept of 'complicated' that makes this scenario
plausible? Why has the possibility of a final management theory not been realized yet, given
the millions of man-hours and published pages devoted to the search? Why does approaching
organizations as 'complex' rather than 'complicated' deny us of this possibility?
A very common (but incomplete) description of a complex system is that such
systems are made up of a large number of nonlinearly interacting parts. By this definition, the

10
modern computer would be a complex system (Gharajedaghi, 1999; Eisner, 2005). A modern
computer is crammed full of transistors, which all respond nonlinearly to their input(s).
Despite this complexity the average PC does not show signs of emergence or selforganization; it simply processes (in a linear fashion) the instruction list (i.e., a program)
given to it by its programmer. Even the language in which it is programmed is rather
uninteresting (Byrnes, 2005).
Although there are many programming languages, they can all be translated into each
other with relative ease. Technically this is to say that computer languages are
commensurable with each other. A line of code in C# can be translated into Visual Basic very
easily-the one line of C# code may require more lines of VB code to achieve the same
functionality, but it can be done. The universal language into which all such languages can be
translated without loss is called 'logic' (more accurately, 'Boolean logic').
More often though, if a programmer wants to use a language very close to the
universal language of computing, assembly is used as this at least contains concepts that are
more readily used in writing programs (although the domain knowledge-microelectronicsneeded to program in assembly is a major requirement (Cawley, P. 2003).
The need in the physical presence of specialists in certain places in order to solve
some issues disappeared in most of the cases. Thus, the travel and other expenses became
unnecessary. Companies got an opportunity to invite professionals in different areas from all
over the world without time and extra money expenses. The overall effectiveness of business
has substantially increased under such circumstances. In this light, the idea of creating groups
of specialists that can cooperate and solve tasks as a team on a distance became very
attractive for the business world.
Virtual Teams

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The concept of the virtual teams has emerged in order to satisfy the interest of the
business community to the cooperation of a distance. A virtual team can be defined as a
team whose members use the Intranet, Intranets, Extranets and other networks to
communicate, coordinate and collaborate with each other on tasks and projects even though
they may work in different geographical locations and for different organizations. according
to Casey and Richardson (2006). In other words, this is a group of people that use their
knowledge and experience in order to achieve common goals, physically being in different
geographical locations.
It is easy to notice that virtual teams do not differ much from the concept of a
traditional team. We all know that a traditional team can be defined as a social group of
individuals who are collocated and interdependent in their tasks. They undertake and
coordinate their activities to achieve common goals and share responsibility for the
outcomes. (Casey & Richardson, 2006). As we can see, the only difference is in the
geographical location of the team members, since virtual teams work on the same tasks and
have the same goals and objectives as the traditional ones.
According to the needs in implementation of new team building concepts,
organizations should be ready to make some changes in their organizational and technical
structure. At first, of course, it is necessary to change technical equipment if needed. The
bandwidth and speed of communicational channels play a crucial role in the efficiency of the
virtual team collaboration, coordination, and correlation of activities (Beise, 2004; Kimball,
1997). Time coordination of different time zones, in which different team members could be
located, is also necessary to consider.
Thus, the work hours and overall scheduler of companys activities need to be
corrected accordingly. The social structure of the virtual teams should be taken into
consideration as well, because lack of face-to-face contact and limited interpersonal informal

12
communication can create certain difficulties in the developing of good relationships between
the virtual teams members (Beise, 2004; Kimball, 1997).
In case of implementing these changes, there is an opportunity to avoid main reasons
of poor performance of such kind of teams. These reasons are communication and technical
preparedness. Only communication can make a virtual teamwork efficiently. At the same
time, if different team members are not able to work with the technical equipment of the same
or at least similar level, the results of the collaboration could be poor. A company needs to
provide the team members with the most convenient tools for communication so they could
be able to discuss any situation or issue at any time. In addition, a company must provide the
team members with the same equipment to eliminate the above-mentioned difficulties
(Powell et al., 2004).
Personal Experience
In my experience of an IT specialist, I had an opportunity to work on the project,
where the virtual team was involved. I was the one, who had to manage the work of the team
and provide the superiors with adequate results. At that time, my working experience as the
IT manager was not that substantial so I can look back now and conclude that I could have
done some things better. Anyway, the objective of the project was to create an online shop.
This shop was supposed to sell mobile devices, gadgets, accessories, etc. The goal was to
create a comprehensive tool that would allow providing the full cycle service for the
customers and maintenance personnel (Kimball, 1997; Ocker & Fjermestad, 2008).
I have found programmers, web designers, product managers, all the personnel that
were needed in such case. It was the people from different countries, with different language
and professional skills. The first challenge that I had experienced was the inability to gather
the team members in one particular time to discuss the overall concept, work out the scheme

13
of work, and solve the procedural issues. The thing was in the difference of their geographical
location and time zones.
After a couple of tries I understood that simple please did not work, so I reminded
all of them the term of contract and it worked. Some team members were not too happy to
hear that, the video meeting over the Internet went not so well, we had not worked out the
work plan. It was the lesson for me it was necessary to give the assignments for the each
segment of the team to create the comprehensive plan of actions. Only then, it was reasonable
to call the meeting and try to decide what to do (Kimball, 1997; Ocker & Fjermestad, 2008).
Another substantial issue was the inability to work as the team. People with different
cultural background, professionalism, and approaches to the work process tried to solve the
difficulties. I was in the middle of these difficulties and understood that one universal
approach to each member of the team was not working. I had to create new, various
approaches and work with each team member as with an individual. Then we discussed the
motivational issues, I managed to find the right words for every personality in our
multicultural and multinational team. After a while, we worked out the procedure that
allowed all team members working asynchronously, but we all were able to use the results of
each other.
In the middle of the project, the problem with motivation occurred. The problem was
in the amount of the reward for different members of the team. Some members were from the
Far East, some from the Eastern Europe, some from the USA, others from Europe. The
reward levels were rather different; our project required different specialists and had a
particular budget. People started to communicate with each other and found out these
differences, despite the fact that they had signed the contract already and agreed for the
proposed salary. It was a very serious challenge for me. I had to motivate very different

14
people and it was difficult, because the communication was totally impersonal (Ocker &
Fjermestad, 2008).
We completed the project with delays and glitches in the system. I had a lot of things
to think about. The work in such virtual team on the position of the manager have taught me
several things: It is very important to have the clear plan of actions; it is necessary to create
the personal approach to each team member; the motivation should be built on the deep
understanding of the personality, which is impossible without the previous exploration of the
team members character; and it is utterly important to show who the boss is in the team and
why all team members must work as one team.
Conclusion
To sum up the above-said, the following can be concluded: organizational
communications are vital for the appropriate functioning and effective work of any
organization; knowledge management is the key to the organizations success; organizational
communications can be a threat to knowledge management if inappropriately organized; it
can affect the success of the entire organization and its effective work; information
technologies influence both organizational communications and knowledge management
procedures; this influence can be positive and negative at the same time.
As we can see, the key issue in the successful virtual team creation and management
is based on technological achievements of our time. Communication across the whole world
is possible if the technology is at the appropriate level. The coordination and appropriate
control of the work process, results, and appropriate team management can be performed via
the information technology usage only. Thus, the information technology makes team
members and their superiors interdependent with each other. All team members are connected
in the virtual team more than usual, because only full cooperation can be beneficial for the
team and can make it efficient (Ocker & Fjermestad, 2008).

15
Such level of interdependency is created by the technology. According to the abovementioned reasons, the communication between the team members must be organized at the
most efficient level. The communication technology plays a crucial role in the created
interdependencies. If the used technology solutions are at the high level, the communication
is easy and simple, and then a virtual team will be solid and efficient. Deficits in the
technology will created difficulties, misunderstandings, and eventually could break a virtual
team (Ocker & Fjermestad, 2008).

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References
Anaeto, S. G. (2010). Managing Organizational Culture for Effective Communication. The
Social Sciences, 5(2), 70-75. Retrieved from
http://www.medwelljournals.com/fulltext/?doi=sscience.2010.70.75
Byrnes, J. (2005). Learning to Manage Complexity. Retrieved from:
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/5079.html
Carr, G. (2003). Why IT Doesn't Matter Anymore. Retrieved from:
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/3520.html
Cawley, P. (2003). The Fine Art of Complexity Management. Retrieved from:
http://www.bofh.org.uk/2003/08/01/the-fine-art-of-complexity-management
Communication for Governance and Accountability Program (CommGAP) (2010).
Organizational Communication. Washington DC: World Bank. Retrieved on from:
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTGOVACC/Resources/OrganizationalCommwe
b.pdf
Computer Associates (2006). Cost of Losing Information: A Framework for Information
Management Planning. White Paper. Retrieved from:
http://www.ca.com/files/whitepapers/30690_cost_losing_info_whitepaper.pdf
Dueas, M. C. (2011). Communication Tools for Knowledge Management and Learning.
Presentation to the Asian Development Bank. Retrieved from:
http://www.adb.org/documents/presentations/knowledge-management-andlearning/communication-tools-for-knowledge-management-and-learning.pdf
Eppler, M. J. (2006). The Concept of Knowledge Communication and Its Relevance to
Management . USI Research Note, Version 2.2. Retrieved from:
http://www.knowledge-communication.org/pdf/research-note-knowledgecommunication.pdf

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Eisner, H. (2005). Managing Complex Systems: Thinking Outside the Box, WileyInterscience.
Gharajedaghi, J. (1999). Systems Thinking: Managing Chaos and Complexity: A Platform for
Designing Business Architecture, Butterworth-Heinemann.
Ireland, L. R. (2006). Project Management. Chicago: McGraw-Hill Professional.
Kimball, L. (1997). Team Strategies Conference: Managing Virtual Teams. Toronto, Canada.
Ocker, R. J., & Fjermestad, J. (2008). Communication Differences in Virtual Design Teams:
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Phillips, J. (2003). PMP Project Management Professional Study Guide. Chicago: McGrawHill Professional.
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PEOPLE COME FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATION

CAN RESULT IN CONFLICT. DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS HAVE DIFFERENT

PEOPLE COME FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATION

PEOPLE COME FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATION

PEOPLE COME FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATION

PEOPLE COME FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATION

PEOPLE COME FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATION

PEOPLE COME FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATION

PEOPLE COME FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATION

PEOPLE COME FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATION

PEOPLE COME FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATION

PEOPLE COME FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATION

PEOPLE COME FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATION

PEOPLE COME FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATION

PEOPLE COME FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATION

PEOPLE COME FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATION

PEOPLE COME FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATION

PEOPLE COME FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES AND WORKING IN ORGANIZATION

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