Transplanting Management

Abstract

Cross-cultural organizational development and change (OD&C) is often studied from a macro perspective, which either assumes the universal transferability of methods developed in the West or criticizes this premise. This study examines cross-cultural OD&C as an arena for negotiating a “workplace culture” that mediates between global corporate culture and national cultures. The author focuses on an OD&C process of participative management conducted in 2006-2007 in the South Korean subsidiary of an Israeli-based, kibbutz-owned global corporation. Major cultural and interpersonal themes related to the OD&C process are discussed vis-à-vis their local interpretations and factors influencing the change, including lack of standard organizational procedures, mutual trust, cultural alignment, and leadership training. The article concludes by commenting on how to better understand international OD&C by challenging presumptions, such as the objective essence of comparative cultural dimensions and the presumed “national character” of subsidiary employees.