‘Learning strategies rely heavily on employee involvement’ (Gomez 2003:3).

Discuss
critically how far employee participation at Equipos was achieved through the
application of motivational strategies specific to Mexican context. You should draw
on theories of motivation and cross-cultural management in your answer.

======================================================================

Introduction

Basically human races come from different backgrounds. The way things are done in country
is different from how it’s done in another. The difference is due to the attitudes & beliefs that
people have & have followed from yester years. The attitudes & beliefs that people have &
follow refers to their culture & when people of two different cultural backgrounds meet, greet,
understand & start to deal with each other it is called Cross Culture & when the same thing is
done by two organisations for profitability, market share, monopoly & the management of the
cultural differences of convergence & divergence is called Cross Cultural management.

"Culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a
nuisance at best and often a disaster." - Professor Geert Hofstedei ( Hofstede G Cultural
Dimensions, (1967-2009))

The case study which is the focus of discussion in this paper also talks about the cross
cultural dimensions that the American firm will have to take into consideration while
implementing policies & procedural changes in its acquired firm in Mexico. Mexico &
America although are geographically very close but are culturally quite different from each
other. Mexico has a different history and thus a different culture and has different ways of
looking at things and doing them.

Mexico is one of the United States’ most important trade partners. It is the third largest
exporter to the United States, and its international trade products include oil exports,
tourism, and the products of its many assembly plants. “The Mexican beliefs, expectations
and codes of personal and social conduct are so different & seems they are from a different
world” (Nicol J & Taylor T (2008))ii .Organisations that wish to set up new Businesses in the
form of joint ventures, subsidiaries, mergers and acquisitions in Mexico must be careful in
spending time wisely to understand the Mexican cultural values to make their venture
successful.

“To implement certain HR policies, MNCs need to understand the local cultural preferences,
management functioning styles and type of leadership style that has to be adapted in the
subsidiaries”iii (Susan C. Schneider and Jean Louis Barsoux, 2003).

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Mexican Vs American Management styles

Table 1.1 will help us better understand the Mexican and American Management styles. The
management styles are derived on various aspects like Work, Power distance, Training &
Development, Leadership style etc.

ASPECT MEXICO NORTH AMERICA

Works to live Lives to work
Work
Power distance High Low

Traditional manager is Managers delegate

Delegation
autocratic responsibility and authority

Theory vs. Practice Theoretical mind - Pragmatic mind -

Practical implementation Action-oriented problem-
often difficult solving approach.
Loyalty Mostly loyal to superior Performance motivated by
ambition
Promotion Promotions based on loyalty Promotion based on
to superior performance
Training & Training highly theoretical Training concrete, specific
Development
Planning Mostly short term because of Mostly long-term in predicted
uncertain environment environment

Table 1.1 Mexican Vs American Management styles

For those who work in international business, it is sometimes amazing how people in other
cultures behave. We tend to make decisions based on human instinct that 'deep inside' all
people are the same - but they are not. Therefore, if we go into another country and make
decisions based on how we operate in our own home country - the chances are we'll make
some very bad decisions.

Analysis

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Geert Hofstede's research gives us insights into other cultures so that we can be more
effective when interacting with people in other countries. If understood and applied properly,
this information should reduce your level of frustration, anxiety, and concern. But most
important, Geert Hofstede will give you the 'edge of understanding' which translates to more
successful results.

Even though most of the motivational theories were drawn during the 20th century and it’s
amazing that they are still relevant to the current global scenario. According to Terence
Jackson, (Jackson,1995)iv “Maslow’s need hierarchy theory proposes that each individual
has a set of needs arranged in a development hierarchy (below figure). Another pertinent
theory is Hertzberg’s two-factor theory which proposes that two dimensional describe
motivation: extrinsic job conditions (‘hygiene factors’) and intrinsic factors (‘motivators’).”

Geert Hofstede also has done study on the cultural aspect of Mexican & American firms but I
would be analysing this case study using Maslow’s need hierarchy as it proposes a
hierarchy of human needs as the first theory of behaviour motivation. Within his model, there
are at least five sets of needs or goals: physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-
actualization. These basic needs are organized in an order according to relative prepotency.
As the basic needs are met, higher needs emerge as primary motivators of behaviour. The
most salient need dominates the organism and motivates behaviour.

Chart 1.1 – Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow described human beings as “a perpetually wanting animal” because as “one desire
is satisfied, another one pops up to take its place” (Maslow A.H, 1943 b)v When needs are

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not met, negative consequences can ensue. Threats to the satisfaction of needs can also be
damaging to human beings. Maslow asserted that thwarting or threatening these basic
human goals or the defences that protect them are perceived as a psychological threat that
can harm the individual’s ability to function He differentiated between minor and serious
threats to basic needs since frustration of unimportant desires does not usually produce
psychopathology, while deprivation of basic needs may lead to psychological damage or the
creation of compensatory defence mechanisms.

Physiological needs

“The most basic set of human needs are physiological: eating, drinking, breathing, and
excretion & the basic needs are the most proponent and they completely dominate the
organism when they are not met” vi(Maslow A.H, 1943b). In the Mexican work environment,
this first basic need was met by the management by offering completive wage and better
work environment provided to the employees.

Safety needs

When physiological needs are met, a new set of needs relating to safety emerges as the
primary motivators of behaviour. Physical safety, financial security, protection from harm,
and obtaining adequate materials to sustain survival are considered to be safety needs
within this framework. As we had learnt from Hofstede’s cultural dimension, Mexicans are
not known for taking risks at workplace, throwing challenging jobs at them was a risky task
but still the new generation of Mexican employees were able to take up the challenge and
performed well.

Love & Belonging

If the physiological and safety needs are fairly well satiated, the love, affection, and
belongingness needs emerge to motivate behaviour. Since Mexican style of management
(as showed in Table 1.1) in the aspect of work, promotion and staffing are more inclined
towards friends, colleagues and supervisors at work place, top management convinced the
line managers and supervisors to decentralise responsibilities and encouraged low level
employees to take up challenges through peers and no through any orders.

Esteem Needs

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When the physiological, safety, and love needs are somewhat satisfied, a set of needs
relating to esteem and self-respect emerge as primary determinants of human behaviour.
Employees who accomplishing the tasks were duly recognised and were role models for
underperforming employees and employees who were not willing to take up new
responsibilities.

Self-Actualization

When physiological, safety, love, and esteem needs are fairly well satisfied; self-
actualization needs emerge as primary motivators of behaviour. According to Hofstede’s
cultural dimensions, Individualism was the lowest among Mexicans. May be due to this
reasons, employees were not competing within themselves for a career growth rather
shared their experiences and motivated other employees to take up new challenges.

As per Hofstede’s (1980) study on Cultural Dimensions, Mexico has a low Individualismvii
(Hofstede G Cultural Dimensions (1967-2009). The Mexican society fosters strong
relationships where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group &
decisions are group decisions rather than an individual making business decisions.

As John Leopold (Leopold J, Harris L and Watson T, 2005) viii states, ‘The objectives of
management-initiated employee involvement includes educating employees about the
realities of the business, gaining employee commitment to corporate goals; developing
employee contributions to increased efficiency; improving productivity and customer service.’

As compared to other subsidiaries or similar manufacturing units in Mexico, employees in

Equipos were better skilled, educated and in the middle age to understand the management
initiatives. In trying to increase individualism (IDV) among employees & since Mexican
culture is made of collectivist than individualist, in implementing its strategy the American
firm gave the Mexican employees equal opportunity in role plays, manage teams & also
gave individual and group targets that needed to be achieved.

They also promoted job enrichment opportunities & offered employees increased task
responsibility & were intended to alter the form of participation and provide workers with
increased discretion over decision-making. Managers lead the team by delegating
responsibilities at each department level. They were given important tasks to manage the
team, understand dynamics of team management, duly recognised by the top management
for good performance and financially rewarded as well.

Employee motivation was achieved by the American firm as all new HR strategies were
introduced through Mexican managers & supervisors who were closely associated with the

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low level employees. By this was they ensured the cultural aspect was addressed which a
Mexican supervisor better understands than an American supervisor.

‘Success of HR strategies lies in the hands of the line managers who perform range of
different roles such as communicating information, negotiating, allocating resources,
handling disturbances, planning, implementation of plans and evaluating’ix (Terence
Jackson, 1995).

Conclusion

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The American management never forced its policies & procedures on the Mexican
subsidiary but implemented its policies through its Mexican supervisors who understand the
attitudes & beliefs of their Mexican colleagues. Also due to high power distance and high
theoretical oriented training and development method followed in a normal Mexican work
environment, motivating employees to engage in training is not going to be a simple task.

Since Organisational culture is different between American and Mexican companies, HR

policies had to be formulated with more emphasis on the Mexican culture as the locals are
attuned to working the Mexican way than the American way. The two key elements
empowerment & employee involvement are both required for a strategy to be successful & a
strategy which may have been successful in one country need not have to be successful in
another country as the attitudes, beliefs & culture differ from one country to another & the
power of local knowledge will play a vital role in the deciding how successful the strategy
would be. For an American learning strategy to be successful, understanding of the local
knowledge, the attitudes & beliefs of people has to be understood before the HR policies are
formulated.

The American & Mexican need set are different. For Americans Self actualisation & Self
esteem are top priorities compared to Love & Belonging & job safety where as with Mexican
people it is the other way round. Since the work force at Equipos were educated compared
to other work force in Mexico, the new HR policies were well received by the Equipos work
force & was handled well by the American firm when the takeover was done in 1995.

American firm was successful in reducing ‘uncertainty avoidance’ among the employees by
making the Mexican employees believe their job is not at risk & encouraging them to take up
new challenges. It was followed by the successful implementation of learning strategy
through training and development that was focused on employee involvement and
empowerment. The good understanding of the Mexican culture & importance given to local
knowledge their strategy was successful. The successful implementation of learning
strategies has made the Mexican subsidiary, the Organisation as ‘Employer of choice’ rather
than ‘Employer of necessity’ and able to protect the talent pool being taken away by rivals.

Bibliography

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