The process of making strategic, tactical, and operational decisions in an organization has become the hallmark of a successful company. Through a government agency, working in the public sector has provided an integrated learning framework on decision-making and the impact of culture on organizational decisions. Hierarchy in my organization is central to decision-making. While the superiors engage their subordinates considerably, they consult their immediate staff or people one rank below their level.
Despite the consultations, the final decision rests with those above in the ranking order. Taras et al. (2009) link such an exercise of power and decision-making to culture. Similarly, Signorini et al. (2009) opine that culture, as conceived in Hofstede’s cultural difference model, influences managerial functions, including motivation and communication. Decision-making in my agency is highly embedded in vertical collectivism.
As Booysen et al. (2021) state, vertical collectivism is one of the cultural orientations whose impact on organizational decision-making cannot be underscored. They expound that vertical collectivism emphasizes that employees should be an interdependent while, at the same time, competing with out-groups (Booysen et al., 2021). The core values that drive my organization’s cultural leaning are stressed in our working charter: collaboration, teamwork, and consultative leadership. An organization’s core values influence employees’ engagement at the workplace leading to a consensus. Bauer and Erdogan (2017) note that using consensus in decision-making fosters accuracy and makes all employees feel better and own the decision. In my agency, although the final decision is the reserve of the senior management staff, it integrates their juniors’ perspectives.
Remarkably, teams handle work-related projects in the agency, and the decision-making process entails a consultative approach to all team members regardless of the individual’s position in the organization. Reasonably, the agency recognizes that other people’s input across the organization is critical in decision-making as it allows managers to use accurate information in making informed, rational decisions (Bauer & Erdogan, 2017). On a similar note, Campbell et al. (2009) emphasize that allowing other people to contribute challenges the leaders’ thinking, thus, making them review their logic and consider alternatives before settling on the best solution. Therefore, the essence of the vertical collectivism culture in our agency has been employee engagement and consultative decisions.
References
Bauer, T., & Erdogan, B. (2017). Organizational behavior (2nd ed.). Soomo Learning.
Booysen, F., Guvuriro, S., & Campher, C. (2021). Horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism and preferences for altruism: A social discounting study. Personality and Individual Differences, 178. Web.
Campbell, A., Whitehead, J., & Finkelstein, S. (2009). Why good leaders make bad decisions. Harvard Business Review. Web.
Signorini, P., Wiesemes, R., & Murphy, R. (2009). Developing alternative frameworks for exploring intercultural learning: a critique of Hofstede’s cultural difference model. Teaching in Higher Education, 14(3), 253-264. Web.
Taras, V., Rowney, J., & Steel, P. D. G. (2009). Half a century of measuring culture: Approaches, challenges, limitations, and suggestions based on the analysis of 65 instruments for quantifying culture. Journal of International Management, 15(4), 357-373. Web.