Compare and Contrast Between Culture of Taiwan and Usa
Does National Culture affect Organizational Culture of Internet Companies?
Compare and Contrast between Yahoo! Taiwan and eBay Seattle From a wide array of studies, cultural differences are widely believed to have deep impacts on organizational cultures and environments. People from different countries have diverse national cultures which will in turn create completely different organizational cultures. Organizational culture is defined by the textbook to be “the shared social knowledge within an organization regarding the rules, norms, and values that shape the attitudes and behavior of its employees” (Colquitt, 2011, p 578). It is difficult to imagine the degree of differences between diverse organizational cultures from such a dry definition; words simply cannot influence individuals to understand “culture” unless one explores deep into these varying organizations to truly feel distinct environments. Thus, this paper will analyze through my personal work experience within two very similar internet companies located in two different countries - Yahoo! in Taipei and eBay in Seattle - to see if national culture influences the widely reputed “laid-back internet company” culture. Yahoo! and eBay are both famous internet start-up companies that, together with companies like Google and Amazon, symbolize the internet revolution in the United States (Internet). Both started in a garage and simply transformed an idea into a profitable machine with nothing but a computer and a connection to the internet. This backstory revolutionized the assumptions of “work” culture and deconstructed the image of suits and ties from big corporations to t-shirts and jeans (Internet). With widely publicized workplaces from these companies, internet companies are famous for having lax dress codes and an interesting work environment.
This cultural image of internet companies remains true within each of the locations. Both Yahoo! Taipei and eBay Seattle harbor decorated offices that
Compare and Contrast between Yahoo! Taiwan and eBay Seattle From a wide array of studies, cultural differences are widely believed to have deep impacts on organizational cultures and environments. People from different countries have diverse national cultures which will in turn create completely different organizational cultures. Organizational culture is defined by the textbook to be “the shared social knowledge within an organization regarding the rules, norms, and values that shape the attitudes and behavior of its employees” (Colquitt, 2011, p 578). It is difficult to imagine the degree of differences between diverse organizational cultures from such a dry definition; words simply cannot influence individuals to understand “culture” unless one explores deep into these varying organizations to truly feel distinct environments. Thus, this paper will analyze through my personal work experience within two very similar internet companies located in two different countries - Yahoo! in Taipei and eBay in Seattle - to see if national culture influences the widely reputed “laid-back internet company” culture. Yahoo! and eBay are both famous internet start-up companies that, together with companies like Google and Amazon, symbolize the internet revolution in the United States (Internet). Both started in a garage and simply transformed an idea into a profitable machine with nothing but a computer and a connection to the internet. This backstory revolutionized the assumptions of “work” culture and deconstructed the image of suits and ties from big corporations to t-shirts and jeans (Internet). With widely publicized workplaces from these companies, internet companies are famous for having lax dress codes and an interesting work environment.
This cultural image of internet companies remains true within each of the locations. Both Yahoo! Taipei and eBay Seattle harbor decorated offices that
References: The Internet Revolution history and significance . (n.d.). SICS. Retrieved February 20, 2012, from http://www.sics.se/~psm/ar97/ Chang, K., & Lu, L. (2007). Characteristics of organizational culture, stressors and wellbeing. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(6), pp. 549-56. Chow, C., Harrison, G., McKinnon, J., & Wu, A. (2001). Organizational Culture: Association With Affective Commitment, Job Satisfaction, Propensity to Remain and Information Sharing in a Chinese Cultural Context. Ciber Working Paper Series, 111, 2-16. Colquitt, J., LePine, J. A., & Wesson, M. J. (2011). Organizational behavior: improving performance and commitment in the workplace (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Schyns, B. (2008). Follower characteristics and the perception of leader-member exchange. USA: Journal of Managerial Psychology. eBay 's Meg Whitman on Building a Company 's Culture - BusinessWeek. (n.d.). Businessweek - Business News, Stock Market & Financial Advice. Retrieved February 22, 2012, from http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/mar2009/ca20090327_626373.htm