International Organizational Behavior2e Chapter 4 Activities Page 1
CHAPTER 4
MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES ACROSS CULTURES
AND BORDERS
CHAPTER ACTIVITIES
DEVELOPING YOUR INTERNATIONAL CAREER – How Are Your Cross-Cultural
Motivation Skills?
Purpose and Instructions
The purpose of this exercise is to learn more about the challenge of motivating people from
different cultures. Six short situations are presented about Egyptian, Chinese, Japanese, and
American subordinates, along with alternative possibilities for motivating them.
Motivation Situations
1. You would like to have a Saudi Arabian colleague’s help so that you can finish a major
assignment. You are most likely to get that help if you say:
a. “In the name of God, please help me.”
2. You are a department manager in China. Which of the following would probably work
best to motivate your production supervisor to improve performance?
a. “If our department increases output by 20%, you’ll get a 5% bonus.”
3. You are a manager about to conduct a series of performance appraisals on your
American subordinates. To motivate them, you will probably want to focus on
recognizing the Americans’ …
a. promptness
4. Last month your Japanese team hit all production targets. Which of the following would
be the best way to acknowledge their achievement?
a. Treat them to a dinner where you give special recognition to the team leader.
5) You are managing a factory in Egypt. One supervisor’s group is not meeting your
production expectations. Which of the following might be the best way for you to
draw the supervisor’s attention to this problem?
a. “Increase your group’s productivity or you’re fired.”
6) You are a manager in a large international company and are about to begin an
important project. Mr. Hiro has been assigned to work for you on this project.
Because Mr. Hiro is Japanese, which of the following is likely to motivate him?
a. Being part of a strong, leading international firm
International Organizational Behavior2e Chapter 4 Activities Page 3
MAKING THE CASE FOR INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING – Firing Up the Bear: How
Should Western Firms Motivate Russian Employees?
Since the 1990s, Russia has been transforming itself economically. And while there have
been ups and downs in the process, Russia has changed in many ways in the last 20 years.
Indeed, today the trappings of Western consumerism are ubiquitous in Russian cities, with
shopping malls, supermarkets, car dealerships, fast-food restaurants, and movie theaters
ambassador put it, “Russia seems more similar to our culture than it really is.”
There is little doubt that most Western firms operating in Russia would agree with this
assessment, especially since many of them have faced serious challenges in motivating
Russian employees. Those challenges have increased in recent years as more foreign
companies set up shop in Russia, hiring locals to staff their operations instead of relying on
planeloads of expensive expatriates.
• Program 1 was based on the reinforcement concept of providing contingent rewards. It
involved giving Russian employees extrinsic rewards (e.g., valued consumer goods,
bonuses, etc.) in exchange for improvements in performance.
• Program 3 used a job-enrichment approach that relied on employee participation.
Here employees were asked for suggestions about how their jobs might be changed and
International Organizational Behavior2e Chapter 4 Activities Page 4
improved, without Russian supervisors being present. For instance, employees were
asked to provide their ideas for improving work procedures, increasing worker
autonomy, and developing additional skills. Employees were also empowered to
implement their suggestions, with the idea that doing so would improve their
motivation and subsequent performance.
Assignment Questions
1. Which of these motivational programs is the most compatible with Russian norms?
Why do you believe this is the case?
2. Which program do you think would work best to improve the motivation and
performance of the Russian employees?