Generally speaking, culture refers to the way of life of any group of people. Culture is sometimes seen as how values are perceived and interpreted by a society.
For example, the perceptions attached to ‘loyalty’ could be more valued by a society compared with others. Therefore if one is born into that particular society ‘loyalty’ will be a cultural value and as such, not to show loyalty can be seen as a form of disobedience or bad behaviour from members of that particular society.
Therefore how one behaves is based on the perception attached to the cultural values of the society where he/she lives or originates from. Culture is a force that shape people’s behaviour. How people talk, reason, debate or share ideas are sometimes influence by cultural values. We can argue that cultural values shape the behaviour of most individuals in a society and social environment.
To ensure effective communication and good relationship, the ability to understand one’s perception and an understanding of the culture of that society is very important. It can be argued that before any company invests in any country one of the things they will do is to do a feasibility study of where the company will be located. This feasibility study will include an understanding of the way of life of the people, which might include studying the prevailing language, the level of education, religion and the family settings.
Therefore, the performance of a company is dependent on the behaviour and belief of those who govern and manage the company, and how they understand the environment where the company is located.
When you enter most organisations, the first thing you see is their value statement. In some cases the value statement will be written boldly like ‘who we are’ or ‘what we value’. An understanding of ‘who we are’ is very important for an organisation as it will help improve communication and build lasting relationship. Some organisations have linked ‘who we are’ or ‘what we value’ to their mission and vision statement. Even, before you get employment in certain organisations you will undergo an interview process, and one of the questions you will most likely be asked is: ‘Why do you want to work in this company?’ The reason for this question is to identify if the applicant understood ‘who we are’. Therefore the behaviour of employees will reflect what the organisations strive for or value.
In some organisations, the ‘who we are’ is based on outlook or dressing. In such companies corporate dressing is required. You are expected to wear a tie, while other companies prefer Tee-Shirt and jeans. Certain companies see Monday to Thursday as corporate dressing and Friday as dress-down days. This means that you are expected to put on any colour of dress on Friday.
It is the responsibility of the management team to ensure that the values of the company is clearly written and well communicated to all members of staff. The cultural values often reflect the style of the leaders. Therefore the leadership style of a leader will reflect how the organisation is governed and managed. Leaders are responsible for the strategic planning, and understanding of what the organisation needs to be in constant touch with the external environment for survival.
By strategic planning we mean long-term plan. We expect managers to think and plan ahead, and have structures in place so that any foreseen or unforeseen changes and threats can be identified and communicated to employees. Leaders are involved in setting clearly defined objectives and directions for the organisation. These objectives form part of what the company valued and are reflected in the ‘who we are’ statement. How objectives and targets are set and communicated to stakeholders depends on the cultural values of the managers.
It is argued that good leaders make things happen by bringing and building positive change to the company. They use the right skills and make resources available to employees to get the job done. After employees have been recruited management tell employees what they are expected to do. Employees can adapt to the organisational culture easily when they are told what to do, how to do it and they see the way leaders do it.
When employees are aware of company values they can easily integrate and adapt to work ethics. Effective communication among employees and various stakeholders will help employees understand the culture of the organisation and its environment. The behaviour of managers has been linked to their values. These values shape their attitudes which are a fundamental part of culture. Therefore, cultural values shape managers’ attitudes and behaviour.
Therefore, the behaviour of staff, the strategic and organisation culture can be understood within the context of a set of cultural characteristics of different societies where the company is located. This is particularly relevant when they are in the presence of different ethnic groups.
Today however, most companies have become globalised by being able to operate in different geographical zones with branches all over the world. Globalization has made it easier for people to work and live in places different from their place of birth and their own cultural background. This has enabled them to acquire, to some degree, a certain cultural value that is shared by the ethnic groups where the company is located or in that country where they work or live rather than their own country.
A good leader must understand that no one ethnic group is more important, dominant or powerful than others and therefore not appropriate to channel most of the company’s resources to a particular ethnic group or a department that have dominant members of particular ethnic group, and expect other ethnic groups not to react negatively.
A leader should not say that his or her ethnic group is more powerful than, or superior to others, hence therefore use the cultural values of one ethnic group to write the company’s value statement of ‘who we are’. This ‘who we are’ statement taken from one particular ethnic group does not reflect the values of other ethnic groups, especially if the company is located in an environment that have different ethnic groups or the company have diverse workforce. This one-side value statement will not be acceptable, thereby creating resistance and potential conflicts of interests among various stakeholders within and outside the organisation.
Quite often, top management says ‘this is who we are’ but do not abide by what they say by doing things the other way. Employees are demotivated when managers do not abide by the ‘who we are’ statement. This ‘who we are’ statement forms part of the rules that help managers direct and control the company.
This process of directing and controlling a company is called corporate governance. Therefore, corporate governance should reflect the company’s values and that of the society as well. If culture is not well managed, it affects corporate governance which in turn negatively impact the performance of the company.
Employees will not adapt and integrate themselves to company values that are vague, unexplained, poorly communicated and one sided, and therefore do not reflect the values of other ethnic groups.

Correspondence: nobertosmek@yahoo.com
Dr Nobert Osemeke, a PhD holder in Culture and Corporate Governance, is a Senior Lecturer in Financial Accounting at Liverpool Business School, UK.