International Intercultural Management Assignment - 2

International Intercultural Management - Assignment Example In order to understand the role of culture in developing particular management practices in Saudi Arabia it would be necessary primarily to define culture, as a concept related to the organizational environment. Reference should be also made to the theories of culture – at the level that they indicate the potential elements of culture and its impact on the organizational strategies. Then, the interaction between culture and management in Saudi Arabia would be more easily understood. 2.1 Culture – definition Culture is a concept related to a wide range of activities. Within organizations, the term culture is used in order to reflect the priorities of the firm, from an ethical perspective, as promoted through its daily operations. In accordance with Ahlstrom et al. (2009, p.36) ‘culture is the acquired knowledge people use to interpret experience and actions’. From a similar approach, Schein (2010) notes that culture has three different levels: ‘a) artifacts, i.e. processes and objects that are visible and easy to understood, b) espoused beliefs and values, i.e. ideas, goals and values and c) basic underlying assumptions, meaning the unconscious beliefs and values’ (Schein 2010, p.24). In the context of the organization, culture, as a concept, can be differentiated; the aspects of culture in modern organizations are reflected in the theories presented in the next section. In the context of the organizational environment, culture is of critical importance.