Impact of Culture on Workplace Decisions

Executive Summary

This dissertation intends to analyse how national culture impacts an individual’s decision making processes in an organisation. First, an introduction will be provided which will discuss national culture and how it affects a person’s decision making at work based on the arguments by various researchers. Then, the work will outline its objectives and the research questions. These objectives will include analysing various literature on national culture and identifying cultural differences in the context of an organisation and their impact on a person’s decision-making. Another objective will be to analyse national cultural variations and their impact on decision making within an international organisation. The last objective will be to establish how management experts and organisations can achieve harmonisation in individual decision-making based on their cultural differences. This dissertation will attempt to provide answers to issues surrounding the relationship between individual decision-making and national culture. Furthermore, it will try to provide explanations on the impact of national cultural variations on a person’s decision-making within a firm. Lastly, the dissertation will demonstrate if management experts can harmonise a single employee’s decision-making in a firm that has national cultural differences.

Introduction

According to Ejimabo and Zewdu (2017, p.1-11), decision-making, whether by a manager or an ordinary employee influences the direction and ultimately the success of organisational development plans. Furthermore, Dabic, Tipuric, and Podrug (2015, p.275-289) explain that in today’s word, globalisation has largely characterised the operations of a considerable number of companies. The influence of globalisation, as stated by Dabic, Tipuric, and Podrug (2015, p.275-289), comes with issues to do with national cultures, implying that different cultural backgrounds are represented in the modern workplace. However, as this increases diversity of the workplace, and results in many advantages for the firm, it is important to also consider how the different cultures affect individual decision-making. From the rationale above, it is crucial for organisations, management experts, and researchers to investigate the concept of culture (employee’s individual cultural backgrounds), and its influence on individual decision-making. Therefore, this research aims to provide an analysis of the influence of culture on individual decision-making in international organisations. The research focuses on the individual decision-making process, because these decisions significantly influence the organisation’s activities, and that most studies on individual decision-making have always reported inconclusive results. From the rationale above, it is crucial for organisations, management experts, and researchers to investigate the concept of culture (employee’s cultural backgrounds) and its influence on individual decision-making. Therefore, this research aims to provide an analysis of the influence of culture on individual decision-making in international organisations.Blanchard and Peale (1988, p.19) say that ethical values and norms which compete against an altruistic approach rely upon many other factors. However, many cultural factors like religion, upbringing, normative don’ts and dos, education and physical outlook, which are common in almost all societies play a significant role in shaping and influencing an individual’s ethical values. Many firms thus have unique cultures that with other things influence and mould its ethical appearance. Religious values or morals also play a huge role in regulating what is wrong or right in many societies across the world. For example, Blanchard and Peale (1988, p.35) point out that many American conventions on right morals and wrong morals are linked to either the Bible’s Ten Commandments or Judeo-Christian heritage, even when it remains a mostly secular society. The Walden University (2011, p.1) is another literature which quotes the example of many China societies. They claim that in China, the Confucius sayings take the place of Judeo-Christian heritage as the primary yardstick of determining moral wrongs or rights. This university further explains that similarly in many Middle East societies, the Islamic teachings are the main yardstick which is applied in determining what is wrong or right. Giving these religious morals some considerations, a manager in an organisation working in Dubai in a squeezed deliverable schedule may experience ethical dilemma to request an employee to come to work on an extra-time basis particularly on a Muslim holy day or the weekly Muslim day off which is established by the state.

A similar ethical dilemma can be seen in the US in an organisation when asking an employee to work extra time in a weekend so that they can meet the firm’s deadlines. These forms of dilemma are present without the consideration of the made decision as well as the requirements of a workplace diversity (Walden University, 2011, p.1).Another example as provided by Robertson and Fadil (2011, p.8) is the work ethics of the Puritans or the Protestants that put hard work and values as part of a person’s worldly success or calling as an outcome of individual salvation. This kind of belief influenced their decision-making especially within the 17th century in Europe. These values and beliefs acted as their guiding spirit and helped in expanding commerce and mercantilism. The work ethics of Protestants led to the inclusion of such values like effective practises and hard work as well as self-reliance which acted as a foundation for the western society especially the America’s work ethics.Similarly, values or beliefs like ‘’A gentleman’s word is his bond’’ and ‘’one good deed deserves another,’’ ‘’give the devil his due’’ shaped the western society’s work ethics (Robertson and Fadil, 2011, p.8). For example, a manager of a project having promised employees a bonus after completing the work might find themselves compelled after their verbal commitment to honour such commitments, even when the work ended in enormous losses for the firm, yet there was no contractual or legal basis for such a commitment (Robertson and Fadil, 2011, p.9).As is further put by Robertson and Fadil (2011, p.12), everybody uses ethics, however, values which define ethics like conformity, stability, precision, security, endurance, tradition, reliability and established power rely upon factors like societal norms, situational upbringing and spent time during a person’s formative years. For example, Saddam Hussein similarly used ethical principles as the Americans. However, the variation is that ethics of Americans are centred mainly on core values of the society like liberty, life, and following happiness while for Saddam’s society, their ethical yardstick was based on subservience and loyalty to their Baath party (Robertson and Fadil, 2011, p.4).The effect of culture on a person’s decision-making permeates various other levels as well. An individual’s level of education and worldliness can, for example, shape their skills of decision-making. Those having low awareness and education often fall to lies or scams like frauds such as Ponzi schemes or those related to money-chains. Such individuals on attaining property or becoming owners of businesses usually engage in projects involving high risks (National Defence University, 2011, p.1). In comparison, those with significant education levels and awareness often proceed with moderation and undertakes proper risk analysis then decide to get involved in a project (National Defence University, 2011, p.1).On a similar note, white-collar employees who are educated can understand the relevance of beating deadlines and also become amenable to extra time or overtime while uneducated employees in blue-collar jobs may consider the weekends assigned to them as of very high value (National Defence University, 2011, p.1). The impact on ethics that culture has is essential to the level in which people with varying systems of cultural values remain frustrated, confused and aghast to other people’s decisions. For example, a business partner in the US can find it challenging to come to a common understanding with an Indian partner who may not see a project as valuable as compared to his or her counterpart. Furthermore, Japanese might find it challenging when a US firm changes their policies together with its management.Culture and ethics impact decision making (National Defence University, 2011, p.2).

Therefore, companies which understand such a fact and which attempts to enhance their decision’s qualities through articulating definite policies of ethics and culture towards desired beliefs and values are headed towards a prosperous future (National Defence University, 2011). Understanding decision-making styles across different cultures can generate good insight that can help decrease the gap that international management has on whether to use personalised or common styles of management to a particular culture (Robertson and Fadil, 2011, p.13).

Research objectives

Explore the literature on national cultures according to different authors’ definitions, to identify the cultural differences in an organisational context, and their influence on individual decision-making.

Explore the influence of national cultural differences on individual decision-making in international organisations.

Research questions

What is the relationship between national cultures and individual decision-making?

How do national cultural differences influence individual decision-making in international organisations?

National Culture

Schein (2004) defines culture as: “a pattern of shared basic assumptions that was learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaption and internal integration that was worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.” When making decisions in international organisations, individuals need to be considerate of the different beliefs, behaviours, norms, and values amongst the employees. There is also need to be considerate of religion, languages, cultural traditions and history to make decisions that are favourable to all and do not discriminate against anyone. According to Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard (1993, P.5), culture is known as a set of ideas, values, and artefacts or other important symbols which aid people to communicate, evaluate and interpret as society’s members. Hofstede (1991, p.35) on the other hand says that culture is collective programming in people’s mind that differentiates people belonging to different categories of people or groups. Hofstede (1991, p.38) further elaborates that culture is learned and shared and are interrelated compelling group of symbols that have meaning which provide orientations for a society and its members. Terpstra and David (1991, p.18) claim that when these orientations are collected together, they offer solutions to challenges which all societies face and that must be solved to remain viable. Culture is viewed to be consistently and dynamically influenced by alterations that occur in the environment within a social, commercial, political or legal institution as well as in a person’s values. The cultural priorities which are shared in a society aid in shaping economic and social reward contingencies that people must use in institutions where they spend a large part of their time to operate effectively and smoothly (Kagitcibasi, 1997, p. 43). People who belong to certain national cultures are often subject to the compatibilities and conflicts between the structure of their values and the priorities emphasised in their nation’s cultures. In these situations, attitudes and values that are opposed to the nation’s cultures are usually discouraged (Schwartz, 1994, p.19). The differences in national cultures need knowledge concerning adequate characters as well as a thorough understanding of the deeper-level values and assumptions which explain the reason for the appropriateness of such behaviours. In this regard, various cultural frameworks have been proposed to describe and characterise cultures and the dimensions of different values. Of all the proposed structures, the one brought forward by Geert Hofstede is the most preferred in this area (George, Owoyemi, and Onakala, 2012, p.24). This psychologist established an essential cultural dimension which relates to power distance as it concerns itself with the level that a culture reinforces and accepts the notion that power is unevenly distributed within a society. In this regard, people belonging to cultures of high distance usually accept the differences in states and are also expected to respect their bosses or superiors (Mazanec et al., 2015, p.299). Differences in status in the hierarchy of an organisation may also be based on social class, age and family role. It is essential to note that in such a situation, these variations regarding rank are often evident and that a superior or boss in high distance power culture usually treats individuals in lower positions with respect and dignity. Low distance power usually is less comfortable concerning the differences in the company’s social class or positions and are also characterised by an inclusive mode of decision-making where everybody participates as well as people disregard hierarchical levels (Mazanec et al., 2015, p.301). However, the position of a culture in a specific cultural dimension does not provide an evaluation or assessment for if a culture’s members approach circumstances worse or better as compared to those in different cultures. On the contrary, the dimension provided in this framework for cultures show the unique priorities or preferences for the manner in which issues need to be approached (Hofstede, 2017, p.55). Another dimension provided by Hofstede that is seen is collectivism or individualism. Cultures which involve individualism demonstrate a significant preference for an individual instead of a group. Members of this form of culture like the UK often maintain a social structure which is loose with independence, the relevance of personal rights, and recognition of individual achievements and initiatives. In comparison, collective cultures like that found in Venezuela considers the overall good and a person’s loyalty to a group (Hofstede, 2017, p.50). Collective societies and its members usually clearly differentiate between out-groups and in-groups and the members are typically expected to work for the advantage of the whole group and not their interests. In Hofstede's framework, the cultural dimensions provided and power distance is much correlated. This correlation thus means that individualistic cultures prefer a smaller power distance (Rallapalli and Montgomery, 2015, p.73). France is a notable exception as preferences for the differences in status, a significantly more significant power distance, go along with focus on personal achievements and individual rights. Avoidance of uncertainty concerns the level to which members of a culture can deal with and accept risky or ambiguous situations. Cultures having the avoidance of high uncertainty levels prefer predictability and structure thereby causing strict laws or explicit rules. Members of such cultures are often risk-averse towards adopting new approaches, changing employees or even participating in entrepreneurial activities (Rallapalli and Montgomery, 2015, p.77). On the other hand, societies which have low avoidance of uncertainty prefer ambiguity and unstructured situations thus favouring its members to take risks, innovation and different approaches (Faveretto et al., 2016, p.2936). The other dimension mentioned in Hofstede framework is that of Femininity or Masculinity. Cultures which are masculine are believed to show dominance regarding strong values like assertiveness, achievement, material success and competition that are universally linked with the role of the male. On the other hand, cultures which are feminine focus mainly on soft or tender values like personal relationships, the quality of their lives and care for the members. Moreover, feminine cultures have few distinct roles of gender unlike the masculine cultures (Favaretto et al., 2016, p.2938).

Cultural differences

According to Peng (2009, p.12-15) we have diverse approaches of cultural differences in this work that follow to be mentioned: context, cluster, dimension approaches. Through understanding such cultural differences portrayed by different societies, it becomes easier to understand how people’s backgrounds affect their behaviour and way of life, the values and norms. Therefore, organisations can use the information about cultural differences to formulate polices that do not affect their employees negatively regarding their virtues and those of their working environment (Peng, 2009, p.12-15).

Context

These general terms ‘’low context’’ and ‘’high context’’ which were popularized by an individual known as Edward (2000, P.14) are often used to define the cultural differences that exist between societies. Low context culture is used to describe societies in which people usually have various connections for a short time or specific reasons. A high context culture refers to groups or societies in which there are close connections between people over long periods

Low Context Culture

In such societies, beliefs and cultural behaviour sometimes are explicitly spelled out so that individuals who arrive in such cultural environments understand the required behaviour (Ukpabi et al., 2017, p.3). This kind of culture is rule-oriented, and its members are expected to conduct themselves according to the external rules. Further, more knowledge is public, accessible, codified and external. In this culture, there is separation-of-time, sequencing, separation of activities, relationships and space. There are also short-term interpersonal connections with more transferable knowledge. The culture is also task-centered where actions and decisions are more focused on pending activities and division of duties (Ukpabi et al., 2017, p.4).

High Context Culture

Some aspects of people’s cultural behaviour are not explicit as most of such a society’s members understand what they are needed to do as well as think as early as their first interactions with one another in early years (Khalique, Parimoo and Hasan, 2018, p.7). High-context cultures are characterized by communications that are not very verbally explicit and have less formal or written information. It also has a significant internalized understanding of the type of communication to be done. Furthermore, it has several cross-cutting intersections with one another. There are also long-term relationships in this kind of culture. Moreover, it has strong boundaries where there are people considered either as belonging or outsiders. Knowledge is also relational and situational. Activities and decisions are also focused on face-to-face personal relationships usually around one central person with authority (Khalique, Parimoo and Hasan, 2018, p.15).

Cluster

Studies have demonstrated that nations have clusters of distinct cultures. Each cluster of culture portrays a shared religion, history, regional proximity, and economic development. In every cluster, nations have similar characteristics on about three or four cultural orientation values. The cultural value patterning found in one culture differentiates it from another culture in a society. Clustering is an effective method of understanding the cultural differences as compared to concentrating on each society (Monnot, 2018, p.675). Clustering also provides a means of cultural diversity management. Information which is cluster-based can help evaluate the possible success of moving or transferring managerial practices, human resources, consumer products or training across societies. Clustering nations in a similar group culturally is also crucial as it helps to summarise the differences and similarities among societies (Monnot, 2018, p.670). Although the states in every cluster share a common emphasis on some cultural values, they can as well differ regarding other values. The differences in each cluster must also be appreciated. In each nation, people vary in the level of adopting dominant cultures in their nation. Various cultural clusters exist today. For instance, the Anglo cluster which puts focus on individualism, doing orientation, indulgence, and assertiveness. There is also the West Europe culture which focuses on being orientation and individualism. The West Europe cluster also de-emphasises relatively on power distance (Moon, 2018, p.308). Another cluster is the Germanic Europe culture that underwent a 40-year communist rule. In this Germanic Europe culture, traditional values are still integral in this society. East Germany and West Germany are close cultures. They thus have a shared history, language, and traditions. The Germanic East culture has high individualism, doing orientation, uncertainty avoidance, assertiveness, future orientation, high-score power distance, and human orientation. Moreover, there is the Latin Europe cluster which comprises of regions influenced by the Roman way of life which was often rejected by the Protestants (Yang, Zhang and Qu, 2016, p.30). Nordic Europe is another cultural cluster which shares some similarities with Germanic Europe and has strong uncertainty avoidance scores, high individualism, and future orientation. The Nordic Europe culture cluster on the other hand has weak scores for assertiveness and power distance. Another cluster is the East Europe culture which refers to states which were dominated by the Soviet Communism (Yang, Zhang and Qu, 2016, p.30). This culture has a high gender egalitarianism score as well as high collectivism, restraint, and future orientation scores. The East Europe cluster has however low uncertainty avoidance scores. There is also the Latin America cluster which has low uncertainty avoidance, doing orientation and future orientation scores (Moon, 2018, p.320). The Middle East and Africa cluster on the other hand entails a focus on doing orientation, short-term orientation, and collectivism. The profile of their cultural values define societies that struggle with overcoming poverty. This struggle eventually legitimises active exploitation and change of the environment. The struggle also reinforces or enhances group solidarity as compared to individual uniqueness. The Sub-Saharan African cluster is another group which includes communities that have a history of efforts of the Christian missionary and slavery as well as have common humaneness philosophy. They have higher humane orientation scores (Yang, Zhang and Qu, 2016, p.30). Further, there is the Middle East cluster which has low uncertainty avoidance scores and low gender egalitarianism and future orientation scores. However, the Middle East cluster has high restraint and collectivism scores. Besides, there is the Southern Asia cluster where they have diversity due to external influences as well as have the desire to assimilate modern and external influences into their original way of life. They have shown throughout history an interactive and peaceful diversity coexistence (Moon, 2018, pp.308-333). The societies found in the Southern Asia cluster put a lot of emphasis on fulfilling their responsibilities in a systematic hierarchical manner and has strong community orientation. Lastly, there is the Confucian Asia cluster which emphasises future orientation, collectivism, power distance and doing orientation. The goals of this cluster are family and collective orientated (Moon, 2018, pp.308-333).

Globalisation of Culture

This is related to the transmission of meanings, ideas, and values so that social interactions can be extended. Common consumption of culture that has been diffused by the internet, international travel and popular culture media marks this concept. Global culture refers to a group of individuals who identify one another based on distinctiveness which is measured by various cultural, religious, biological and linguistic traits (Crane, Kawashima and Kawasaki, 2016, p.11).

Cultural Aspect in International Organisations

Culture is viewed to be consistently and dynamically influenced by alterations that occur in the environment within a social, commercial, political or legal institution as well as in a person’s values. The cultural priorities which are shared in a society aid in shaping economic and social reward contingencies that people must use in institutions where they spend a large part of their time to operate effectively and smoothly (Kagitcibasi, 1997, p.49).

Organisational culture

A commonly used definition for organisational culture according to Kreitner and Kinicki (2008) is: “The set of shared, taken-for-granted, implicit assumptions that a group holds and that determine how it perceives, thinks about, and reacts to its various environments.’’ When individuals join a firm, they come with their beliefs and values which they were taught previously. But, these beliefs and values are often insufficient to aid in helping the workers succeed in the new organisation. They thus have to learn the manner in which that new firm operates and adapt appropriately. Organisational culture has various vital features such as they observe behaviour control when the members of the organisation interact with each other. These members use one language and share rituals that are related to demeanour and difference — further, the standard behaviour norms including guidelines on the amount of work to be done. These are significant values that the organization advocates and expects the participants to share. Some of the example includes high product quality, low absenteeism, and high efficiency (Elsmore, 2017, p.1). The organisational cultures also comprise philosophies which include policies including organisational beliefs on how customers and employees should be treated. The rules in the organisation offer strict guidelines were newcomers have to learn to be fully fledged and accepted members. The organisational climate, on the other hand, comprises of the overall feeling which is passed through the firm's physical layout as well as how its members interact and the way the firm interact with customers and outsiders (Elsmore, 2017, p.5).

Diversity of Organisational culture

International organisations are characterised by people from almost all the corners of the world. These people usually have different values, beliefs, religions, and traditions. All decisions made must be sensitive of this as no one individual is familiar with their meanings in the different cultures. It is essential though for individuals to have basic knowledge of all these elements of a common culture. In this way, people can interact and adapt easily (Ritzer, 2017, p.20). Diversity can be regarded as a concept which encompasses respect and acceptance. It refers to a way of understanding every person as unique as well as recognizing everyone’s differences. These understanding can be based on racial dimensions, the aspects of sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, status, religious beliefs, physical abilities and political beliefs among other ideologies. It involves the exploration of the differences in a positive, nurturing and safe environment. It is also about understanding one another and going beyond tolerance to celebrating and embracing the various diversity dimensions in each person (Ritzer, 2017, p.25).

Richness of Culture

The many different cultures of employees from different countries bring different ideas which a manager can embrace and apply in an organisation and thus this diversity can lead to better performance. The main reason behind cultural diversity is the changing demographics (Chhokar, Brodbeck and House, 2013, p.3). Older workers, women, physically challenged individuals and minorities, as well as those who are having more education, are currently entering the job market in large numbers. Other factors are also responsible for the occurrence of diversity. These factors can help firms meet their competitive pressures faced globally. The speed at which international business firms are growing is also another factor that is causing diversity. Diversity helps firms or businesses to recognize and work to acquire diverse decision-making viewpoints (Chhokar, Brodbeck and House, 2013, p.14).Diverse cultures within the workplace mean the business can use employees from a large background array including race, ethnicity, religion, and gender. However, some other minor or less common distinguishing traits contribute to a way of life or culture where workers operate with others who are not necessarily their appropriate mirror images. Diversity also leads to improved morale in the firm where employees are well-managed and trained in cultural awareness and sensitivity. As a result, the ideal outcome is an environment in which everybody is considered essential and is validated regardless of each employee’s differences (Chhokar, Brodbeck and House, 2013, p.16). This value affirmation improves or enhances each employee’s collective positivity and morale in the work environment. Another benefit which emerges from increased workplace cultural diversity is a broader perspective. This advantage, which is usually pointed out, also includes deeper ideas. Some people with different life experiences and backgrounds are likely to share their unique perspectives about a challenge they experienced at the workplace. These workers are also likely to discuss and present various ideas. By improving the number of ideas and perspectives, the final decision quality or solutions developed for a problem are typically optimised (Kisand and Wikner, 2003, p.3607). Additionally, concerning the global influence in a world economy, a firm having many workers from a diverse country and cultural perspective can aid such a firm to establish its roots as well as develop their business in new foreign markets. Besides, the ability of employees to communicate effectively in a market of global business and establishing a robust relationship with suppliers and partners in markets which are non-domestic as well as to know the cultural diversity implications of conducting business in various parts of the globe are also significant benefits. As the community becomes diverse, it is essential that firms become diverse too for both psychological and functional reasons. Functionality refers to companies in which employees understand and speak customer languages (Kisand and Wikner, 2003, p.3612). Psychologically, customers and communities prefer to conduct businesses with firms who recruit employees from their backgrounds. Therefore, firms in diverse societies usually make hiring and managing a culture which is diverse an essential strategic element (Kisand and Wikner, 2003, p.3615). Culture matters in global businesses because effective handling of this cross-culture interface is a vital source of a business’ competitive advantage. Furthermore, managers should develop tolerance and empathy towards the differences in culture but also obtain a significant level of factual information regarding the values and beliefs of their foreign co-workers (Kim and Yu, 2004, p.340). Cross-cultural proficiency is critical in many management duties such as developing services and products, interacting and communicating with foreign partners in the business, selecting and screening of other partners and distributors, structuring and negotiating global business ventures, interacting with potential and current foreign customers, preparing for exhibitions and trade fairs internationally and preparing promotional and advertising materials (Kim and Yu, 2004, p.355).

Individual Decision Making

Individual decision making involves both rationality where a person applies analysis and facts as well as a step-wise process of coming up with a decision. Individual decision making also involves irrationality which is connected directly to decision making and is a concept of which is regarded to increase the motivation levels as well as dedication in a firm (Brunsson, 1982, p.29).

Rationality

There is no particular acceptable rationality definition. However, according to Eisenhauer (2010, p.4), there are two forms of rationality. These are procedural and consistency. To be rational in decision making is when a person applies analysis and facts as well as a step-wise process of coming up with a decision. The rational process of decision-making is usually precise and analytical. It is often applied in coming up with decisions that are fact-based. A person using this process of rationality in decision-making often has to find the best way forward for a particular solution (Eisenhauer (2010, p.8). We can look at the rationality concept through procedural rationality and consistency.

Procedural Rationality

It is claimed that behaviour is procedurally rational when it is the result of deliberation that is appropriate (Riedi et al., 2013, p. 24). The procedural rationality of a behaviour relies on the process which has generated it. When psychologists use the term rational, what they usually have in mind is procedural rationality. Rationality is also synonymous with reasoning. Conversely, some psychologists tend to describe the behaviour as irrational especially when it stands for an automatic response to effective mechanisms with no sufficient intervention or application of thought. The process of procedural rationality involves defining the problem appropriately, effort investment, understanding the expectations as well as the power of preferences and objectives (Riedi et al., 2013, p. 35).

Defining the problem

The process of decision-making starts when a person identifies the actual problem. An accurate or actual problem definition has a lot of impact on all steps which follow. For instance, if a problem is defined inaccurately, each step in the process of decision-making will become based on the wrong starting point. One way which a manager or a leader in a firm can help find the real problem under certain situations is through identifying a problem and its symptoms separately (Ackermann, 2012, p.652). Those situations which are most troubling in a firm can often be regarded as symptoms of problems which are underlying. Such symptoms show that there is a problem in the organization. However, these symptoms do not show the root causes of the problems. A successful leader or manager thus not only attacks the symptoms but also uncovers the underlying factors behind those symptoms. All managers or leaders in a firm often wish to make decisions that are the best. To come up with such decisions require ideal resources like time, information, supplies, equipment, and personnel as well as identifying any possible limiting factors (Ackermann, 2012, p.652). Managers realistically work in environments which generally do not offer ideal resources (Ackermann, 2012, p.655). For instance, they may not have enough or a proper budget, accurate information or extra time. Therefore, they need to make excellent decisions using the resources, information and time they have. Time pressure mostly causes people to move quickly after considering the most obvious or easily available answers. Successfully solving a problem, however, needs a thorough assessment of the problem. A prompt answer may not lead to a solution that is permanent. Therefore, a person needs to investigate and think through various alternative solutions for one problem instead of making quick decisions (Ackermann, 2012, p.658).

Effort Investment

An effort is defined as a mental or strenuous physical exertion commonly with the objective of attaining a desired goal or outcome. An effort is typically experienced like a burden yet people usually expend effort to achieve their desired goals. Many contemporary and classical researchers have examined the impact of effort investment on particular response rate through varying parameters that are experimental like the rate of turns required to produce a unit reward (Friedrich and Zentall, 2004, p.405). Effort investment is thus not often considered a nuisance as the investment sometimes enhances the value of an outcome. Effort investment also enhances likability and the propensity to use an effortful option that was previously used (Friedrich and Zentall, 2004, p.405). Eisenberger et al. (1989, p.34) claim that it is surprising that effort investment usually biases a person’s future choice on their effortful actions.

Expectations

Researchers have demonstrated the impact that a firm’s environment, as well as the expectations of an organization’s leadership, has on decision-making in the places of work. It has been suggested that when the perceived company and perceived expectations of the management are not in line with the preferences of an employee concerning moral decision-making, conflicting feelings will rise. An extensive range of interpersonal advantages has been seen when there is a match between a work environment, the employees and their work. Sims and Kroeck (1994, p.939) discovered that an environment with good ethics matches positively with an effective as well as a continued commitment. Meglino et al. (1989, p.424) suggested that the employees or workers with values which are in line with their organisation’s leaders often have significantly positive effects. Morse (1975) also found similar outcomes. He concluded that workers who were having an individual-job congruence felt more self-competence. Further, Posner et al. (1985, p.293) discovered that organisational managers reporting a match in favourable person-firm were also significantly likely to have personal success feelings. Posner and colleagues (1985, p.294) further found that when there is a match between organisational values and the employees, the employees become self-confident in the awareness and understanding of the firm’s values. It is argued that employee match is hugely linked with their feelings. Therefore, there is a relationship between the process of decision-making and employee-organisation match. Liedtka (1991. P.553) found that managers usually show difficulty in making decisions when there are contentions about their organisational values. In her research, Liedtka (1991, p.554) demonstrated that those managers who had no conflict with their organisational values made decisions which most likely met their firm’s expectations. Liedtka (1991, p. 556) also demonstrated that organisational values that were conflicting or ambiguous led to the production of responses which were non-rational. Additionally, this researcher found out from managers that circumstances that were challenging were because of the gap between practice and rhetoric as well as following their superior’s self-interests. In organisations having written policies which conflict the unwritten firm practises or policies, there are often difficulties in processes of decision-making. This researcher’s outcomes support the notion that when a person is faced with expectations that are conflicting, they are usually likely to show challenges in their processes of decision-making. However, when a worker is provided with a non-conflicting and clear guideline, the decisions they make are likely to meet their organisational expectations (Liedtka, 1991, pp,543-557). Guy (1990, p.10) claim that decision-makers having insufficient ethical guidelines experience challenges in making decisions that coincide with the values of their firms. Additionally, Blakes and Caroll (1989, p.10) argue that conflicts which are unresolved particular between an employee preference and organisational expectations usually interfere with that worker’s process of ethical decision-making. In workplace environments that match the characteristics of employees who are also decision-makers, these individuals usually find it less conflicting when they are making their decisions as compared to the working environments which fail to match their characteristics. The match between organisational and individual characteristics has often been associated with positive intrapersonal and organisational outcomes. Employees that experience unconflicting and clear expectations concerning moral decision-making are also less likely to undergo intrapersonal conflict in their processes of decision-making (Sims and Keon, 2000, p.219). Research demonstrates that expectations which are conflicting result in difficulty and dissension in the process of decision-making. Role conflict that is because of the conflict between an employee’s values and organisational expectations is referred to as ‘intrapersonal role conflict.’ The challenge in the process of decision-making is often estimated as demonstrated discomfort with the process of decision-making and the expressed intrapersonal role conflict feelings. As proposed by Sims and Keon (2000, p.221), written/formal policies, and the unwritten/informal policies, as well as the supervisor expectations, are types of organisational expectation for decision-making by the employees.

Power of Objectives and Preferences

For an organisation and its employees, objectives are essential in both identifying as well as evaluating other alternative solutions to a problem (Roy, 1990, p.325). Assessing various alternatives need that the objective of a decision-maker is demonstrated as a criterion which portrays the features of the other relevant choice. The systematic analysis of decision-making offers a method for selecting the best course of action even in very complex circumstances that are conflict-ridden and uncertain. The various possible action choices, as well as the prospective or expected outcomes, come from a thorough and logical examination of the prevailing decision situation. On the other hand, preference refers to an attitude that s comparative where a person compares the available options regarding how worthy or desirable the choices are (Roy, 1990, p.331).

Consistency

Consistency in decision-making is often achieved with an environment of trust at the workplace (Rosanas and Velilla, 2003, p.49). This environment of trust needs functional trust that relates to a trustor’s examination of the operational abilities and knowledge of the trustee as well as personal trust that relates to a trustor’s examination of a trustee’s motive qualities (Rosanas and Velilla, 2003, p.56). The latter concerns assessing if a trustee’s decisions depend on external motives or are for the good in others. Therefore, it is argued that consistency results in trust. It has been demonstrated that a firm’s decisions need to be minimally efficient and effective to maintain the employees’ incentives as well as to continue working together for intrinsic and extrinsic motives. A firm need to know that any rise in intrinsic or extrinsic motivation in some of its members does not result in a decrease in other members’ motivation. Therefore, all employees need to have at least some motivation such as to have consideration for other member’s needs and not just because of the repercussions it may have on an active agent’s utility but because of the impact it might have on another person (Rosanas and Velilla, 2003, p.53). It is assumed that such agents can assess the effect of their actions on themselves, for instance, their action’s efficiency and effectiveness as well as on other people’s action’s consistency. However, it is not feasible to analyse a wide range of human actions based on the assumption that they are able to determine the consequence of their actions accurately. This determination cannot happen as the last outcome of a person’s actions can only be seen externally after the decision-maker has experienced the impact of his or her actions (Perez Lopez, 1993, p8-9). People can also pursue consistency actively in their decision-making as they can assess the outcomes of their actions in all aspects ethically through forming moral virtues. The actual challenge of morality is thus about developing the ability to always come up with good decisions such as acting consistently in the entire life of a person (Perez Lopez, 1993, p8-9). Under the ethical rules, every organisational member is free to apply their ability to enact an optimal or standard action plan. If a person acts relevantly to this optimal plan, his or her actions will remain consistent thus contributing to the firm’s optimal plan. This outcome is only possible and can only be operational if other members act in a similar manner (Perez Lopez, 1991, p.99). When all employees operate in the same way, they will help one another to act consistently thereby making the entire organisation to be more united and consistent. Ethics thus helps firms to utilise feasible interactions efficiently (Perez Lopez, 1990, p.181). The method which helps employees to make their decisions which lead to their individual development such as those which are consistent is one which is classically termed as the moral virtues. Through practising such virtues, an individual learns to behave ethically by becoming ethical. Decision-making thus is a mixture of motives as well as some spontaneousrationality. Immediate decisions are demanded by spontaneous motives based on effective extrinsic outcomes which are expected. In consistency’s and efficiency’s interests, a person can make rational decisions as they resist the spontaneous motives. Moral virtues thus strengthen an individual’s ability to have self-control or self-govern. This ability is usually demonstrated in basic things like selecting an alternative which will lead to more benefits economically as compared to the choice which could have been previously chosen (Perez Lopez, 1991, p.3).

Prospective Orientation

Regarding decision-making, prospective orientation refers to some straightforward outcomes. For instance, when there is a large number of outcomes, extra editing of operations can be done to simplify the evaluation process (Maule, 1993, p.1). Further, the process involves situations where complex options like compound prospects become reduced to those which are more straightforward to allow a direct investigation. This approach is applicable readily to those choices that involve attributes like life quality or the number of people whose lives can be saved or lost because of particular policy decision (Maule, 1993, p.2). This concept of prospective orientation is usually applied in common circumstances of choice especially where the possible outcomes are often not given explicitly. In such a situation, the weights of decisions are usually attached to a specific event instead of a stated probability. However, they are often expected to have the essential properties which were given to the applied weighting functions. The decision weight linked to a particular event will rely fundamentally on the viewed possibility of the same event that could also be affected by biases. Furthermore, decision weights can be adversely impacted by other different considerations like vagueness or ambiguity. (Ellsberg and Fellner, 1961, p.643). These two researchers further claim that vagueness decreases decision weights. Therefore, sub-certainty need to become more conspicuous or pronounced for probabilities that are vague than the clear ones.

Transitivity

Transitivity is often regarded as essential for rationality. The approach of transitivity was applied as a dependent measure especially in pairwise decisions or choices. Transitivity is a primary rationality principle which is the foundation of the formation of the decision theory (Birnbaum et al., 2016, p.75). The principle alludes that for at least three alternatives namely A, B and C, when A is considered better as compared to B and B better as compared to C then the first choice A is also considered better as compared to C. If people are prone to mistakes or are inconsistent in terms of decision-making, they are likely to commit numerous transitivity violations. In comparison, if the mistake rate is significantly low and if people consistently assess the various options, there will be fewer transitivity violations. It is claimed that with more consistency and when people’s thinking mode is in line or matches with the task at hand, the likelihood of committing many transitivity violations becomes reduced significantly (Birnbaum et al., 2016, p.80).

Invariance

Invariance is a vital choice theory which claims that the normative status is an invariance principle where differing representations of a single choice problem can produce a similar preference. This explanation is to say that the preference between choices or options needs to be independent of their description. Two characterisations which a decision maker, after reflection, would look at as an alternative description of a similar problem should result in a similar choice even when such a reflection has no benefit. This invariance principle which is also known as extensionality developed by Arrow (1982, p.6) is so fundamental that many tacitly assumed the options of characterisation instead of the testable axiom which is often explicitly stated. For instance, a decision framework which describes an object of a decision or choice as variables that are random assumes that different alternative representations of similar variables which are random should receive the same treatment. The concept of invariance in decision making captures the intuition that the differences of form which do not impact the real outcome should also not affect the decision or choice (Arrow, 1982, p.8).

Independence

Independence in decision making is used when two different alternatives have a similar probability for a few specific outcomes (Saaty, 1994, p.12). The evaluation of those two alternatives thus needs to become independent of the opinions about those particular outcomes. Intuitively, it means therefore that preference needs to be controlled by the characteristics which differ where the commonalities must be ignored effectively. The ordering of preferences also needs to satisfy various versions of the axiom which is independent to make it possible for it to be represented as maximising a function which is additively separate. This function is one that the value of an option or a choice is a total of the possible outcomes. Some individuals find the axiom of continuity an unthinkable or unreasonable limitation on rational choice or preference. Therefore, independence is a vital rationality requirement (Saaty, 1994, p.11).

Irrationality

Irrationality is connected directly to decision making. Occasionally, the organisations which tend to take rational decisions usually find themselves in the irrationality trap. The concept of irrationality is regarded to increase the motivation levels as well as dedication in a firm (Brunsson, 1982, p.29). An irrational decision refers to making choices or behaving in a manner which responds to a person’s emotions or those which deviate from rationally chosen action. Irrational means the goals which are poorly adapted. While nonrational and rational decisions become thought out using common sense, the irrational ones are not. Irrational decisions are those which counter or goes against logic (Brunsson, 1982, p.29).

Effects of national culture on decision making

According to Hofstede (1991, p.4), it is likely that a state’s or national culture affects the processes of decision making. An example a national cultures dimension is the power distance. Power distance means the level that those members who are less powerful in a community accept and expect that power is unevenly distributed. Doubtlessly, the process of decision making in a firm in societies that have high power-distance usually tend to become significantly top-down as compared to the decision-making process in firms found in societies with low power-distance. According to Hofstede (1991, p.9), there are five major national culture dimensions. These include uncertainty avoidance, masculinity-femininity, individualism-collectivism and short-term versus long-term orientation. Uncertainty avoidance is where the level that members of a nation feel uncomfortable in an ambiguous or unstructured situations like the circumstance where there are no ideal behaviour rules. People under uncertainty avoidance lack a guiding principle in terms of how to behave and might find it challenging to behave in an organisation setting with strict codes of behaviour. Individualism-collectivism on the other hand is about the connection between people and their social environment. In individualistic societies, it is assumed that an individual will care for themselves as well as their immediate relatives. However, in a collectivist society, an individual is looked after by the whole group which expects unconditional loyalty from the person (Curtis et al., 2017, p.103). The Masculinity-femininity societies are linked with the dominance of tender or tough values as well as with the emotional roles between their sexes. In masculine societies, women and men endorse significantly tougher values. Additionally, in Short-term and Long-term orientation societies, they are mainly concerned with the level in which the values of a society are focused or concentrated towards the future instead of the past or the present. For instance, long-term oriented nations have perseverance as their dominant value while short-term oriented states mainly respect their traditions (Curtis et al., 2017, p.120). These types of societies and their way of life influence the behaviours of their members extensively particularly in terms of decision-making (Curtis et al., 2017, p.123).

Effects of globalisation of culture on decision making

According to Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (2011, p.16), globalisation has led into a wider commerce sphere where success is mainly influenced by how leaders in firms think as well as their actions. The global perspective of leaders thus establishes itself from the various cultural values relative to their affiliation, achievement, information, and power. In global settings, leaders use certain assumptions and inputs in their process of decision making to reach positive solutions. The extensive roots of cultural norms, rituals, traditions, and stories still imprint specific generational preferences which affect firm’s values as well as their processes of decision making both for the management, the employees and the firm’s followers (Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 2011, p.17).

Conclusion

It is apparent that national culture affects how people behave as well as how they make decisions. There are those cultural backgrounds which lack behaviour rules thus their members lack proper guidelines on how to behave or make decisions. There are those cultures which embrace being tough and taking care of other members of the society. Moreover, there are some national cultures which expect absolute loyalty from their members in exchange for protection. Such environments shape a person’s behaviour and their decision making processes tremendously. It is also clear that globalisation impacts the way firms make their policies as many firms now understand the impact of people’s cultural background on their behaviour and decision making. Firms are now coming up with policies which are accommodating to people from unique backgrounds and policies which are not in conflict with the interests of the employees. It has come out clearly that besides making decisions in a stepwise manner while assessing all the variables at play fully to take the best alternative possible, consistency is also essential particularly in an environment of trust. Additionally, while several processes of decision making include collaboration, some depend on authoritarianism (Manrai and Manrai, 2011, 167). It is also considered that a person’s worldliness and education level shape their skills of decision-making. The impact of culture on a person’s ethics is essential to the level in which individuals who are having unique cultural values remain frustrated, confused as well as aghast at other people’s decisions. It is evident that culture and ethics affect organisations and decision making. Therefore, it is necessary to understand this truth as a firm attempts to improve their decision’s quality through articulating ethics policies that are clear cut as well as shaping the firm’s culture to values which are desirable to all of their members regardless of their cultural differences (Manrai and Manrai, 2011, 178).

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