Cultural Differences and Improving Performance : How Values and Beliefs Influence Organizational Performance

Cover -- Half Title -- Dedication -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Acknowledgements -- Preface -- Introduction -- What This Book is - and is Not -- Who is This Book For? -- Diversity and Management Theory -- What Does This Book Contain? -- How to Use This Book -- In Conclusion -- Part I The Theory -- 1 How Do Cultures Differ? -- What is Culture? -- Culture, Personality and Emotion -- How Cultural Values Have Been Categorized -- Value Orientation or 'What's Important to You?' -- Individualism and Collectivism or 'What's in it for Me/Us?' -- Power Distance or 'Who's in Charge Here?' -- Uncertainty Avoidance or 'I Don't Like the Look of This' -- Work-Life Balance or 'What's Important to Me?' -- Long-term Orientation or 'How Long are We Prepared to Wait?' -- Universalism and Particularism or 'Rules are Rules, aren't They?' -- Affective and Neutralist or 'Public Displays of Emotion' -- Specific and Diffuse or 'How Many Boxes in Your Life?' -- Achievement versus Ascription or 'What You Know or Who You Know' -- Linear-active or Multi-active or 'How Many Things can I Do at Once?' -- Reactivity -- Summary -- 2 Analysing Performance -- To Analyse or Not to Analyse? -- A Framework for Analysing Performance -- Information -- Equipment -- Desire -- Troubleshooting Performance Problems -- Select the Best Solutions -- Summary -- 3 Culture and Workplace Activities -- Introduction -- Culture and Negotiation -- Culture and Decision-making -- Culture and Team-working -- Culture and Leadership -- Culture and the New Arrival -- Culture and Performance Management -- Summary -- 4 The Systems Approach -- The Importance of the Big Picture -- The Development of Systems Thinking -- What is a System? -- Causal Flow Diagrams and a Performance Problem -- Cultures and Causal Flow Diagrams.