The Internationalisation of PTT Telecom: A Cultural Perspective - Free

The concept of a culture with an unchangeable core is the result of a longanthropological tradition. Anthropological studies focused on the core elementsof tribal cultures and tended to exclude modern influences from outside becausethese were negatively valued. Archer calls this the myth of cultural integration(Archer 1988, 1990). She uses distinct arguments to claim there isn’t somethingsuch as an unchangeable core of a culture. Firstly, the inconsistency of thecultural system is denied. The transfer of the cultural system is an activeinteraction instead of a passive transfer. The relation of the cultural system andthe actor is under exposed in this perspective. Secondly, there is no space leftfor alternative choices of members in a cultural system. In traditionalcommunities there are not many alternatives to choose from, resulting in littlechange in the cultural system. Thirdly, there is a failure to see differentiation inthe cultural unity. Cultural differences can result in changes because membersof a traditional society have a choice. Fourthly, traditional daily behaviour is notshared because of a shared cultural system. Archer states that the dailytraditional way of living fosters uniformity and continuity in collective patternsof behaviour (Archer 1990). Although modern life in organisations offersemployees many alternative ways to choose from, Archer’s arguments areuseful. Other scientists have also recognised this. Galjart calls this the myth ofthe unchangeable core (Galjart 1993: 23). These myths prevent social scientistsfrom having a more dynamic perspective on cultures.In the controversy over distinctive versus universal elements, researchers onorganisational cultures discuss two traditions of cultural research: (1) thefunctional tradition and (2) the phenomenological tradition. In the functionaltradition, culture is seen as a functional element or part of an integrated andconsistent system. This cultural structure secures individuals in their daily livingand determines their behaviour patterns. Social facts do have a function withinthe cultural context and can be traced to other social facts. In this approach, thecollective structures can be discovered by means of objective analyses andapplied to other cultures (Veenswijk 1995). The macro and micro level areconnected in the assumption that individuals in an organisation internalise thecultural elements. The employee in this approach is nothing more than a passivebearer of the collective norms and values (Trice and Beyer 1993).In the phenomenological tradition the concept of an objective reality iscriticised. In this tradition, members of a culture are human beings who dothings not only because of external forces but also because of inner motivations.Cultural analyses therefore, do not focus on the cultures as systems but on themeanings of the context given by the actors. The world of daily human life hasto be discovered by actors in an intensive relation with their context (Straussand Quinn 1994). Therefore, it is necessary to see the daily world through theeyes of the studied subjects, to come to a ‘verstehen’ of the constructed socialreality. In this tradition culture is a result of processes of meaning giving tosituations. In processes of interaction meanings are created and reproduced. Theactor is a dynamic human being with goals and interests, in interaction withothers and their world of dialy life. In this way, the daily world is sociallyconstructed.31