Briefly discuss how the environmental context might affect a culture’s management practices.

What will be an ideal response?

A culture’s perspective on nature often translates into its organizational practices. Paralleling their culture’s attitude toward nature, some organizations believe they can control market forces and create new markets where none exist. Others attempt a balancing act with the market, sometimes trying to influence it and at other times adjusting to its fluctuations. Still others believe that the market is in control and that they simply react to it. For example, some cultures see itself as controlled by external forces (e.g., nature, the marketplace). In such cultures, incentive programs designed to motivate employees may fail because they consider market changes to be natural and arbitrary. To them, it makes no sense to attribute blame or lack of incentive to those who are caught in a market downturn. Moreover, it makes even less sense to reward those who have the fortune of being in a market upturn.