In business and outside, Romania is a society of insiders. The basis of organisational life is the personal network. Newcomers without introductions or other personal credentials may find it difficult to break in. Organisational structure in traditional companies is strictly systematic and has hierarchical lines. Private companies have developed more streamlined processes and are prepared for the greater flexibility in changing volatile markets. Decision making is still concentrated at the top. What does it take to fit into these networks and processes in Romania?

By Irina Budrina

Sabrina, the CEO of the Children-at-risk organization, who moved to Romania from the US recently, is a great picture of a leader who is very aware of culture’s influence on the way she works. Despite the motivational challenges she faced with expanding into Romania, she showed me a list of questions she was trying to get answered to think about her strategy for this country. In addition, she talked about the differences between the programs her organization used in New York compared with those in Romania. Most of her board members are corporate executives so she presents the budget and strategic plan to them in an entirely different format from what she uses with her personnel and she uses yet another strategy with volunteers and donors.

Americans are used to informality, first names, humor, persistence, bluntness, technical competence, give-and-take bargaining and general consistency to what has been agreed. They wish to conclude the deal without unnecessary time wasting or labyrinthine procedures.

Romanians are known for different values due to a lot of invasion –prone territory which was expanding or contracting periodically: obsession to survive, volatility, unpredictability, tendency to blame others, social corruption, nepotism, self-importance, tendency to blame others. Personal contacts are highly recognised and very important to start any business activity. Business relationships remain formal. Frank and open discussion occurs at a later stage in a relationship. First names are for relatives and friends. In business, people use last names or professional titles when addressing each other. Socializing and hospitality during the day, in the evening or at weekends are an essential part of cementing the necessary personal relationships on which business relationships are based. Serious business may be done on these occasions away from protocol and formality of the office environment.

Sabrina represents a leader who sees the powerful role of Culture in how people think and behave.

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Once, after a long day in the office, my friend Cristian took me to a football match in Bucharest. As we watched the game in the mixture of rain and sun, he started to explain the basic rules, the way scoring happened, and the ultimate goal of the game. Not only was the game starting to make sense but I actually felt myself getting drawn into the excitement of the competition. It would have been a sorry sight if I had actually tried to get out on the field and play. But at least I grew in my understanding of what was going on while the football professionals played their game. Cultural knowledge provides a similar kind of understanding and perspective for the cultures with which we interact.

It involves understanding the rules, albeit often unspoken ones, that are behind the behavior occurring within a particular culture — whether among an ethnic group, an organizational culture, or the subculture of a political party or religious group. The objective of the acquired understanding isn’t to become like the people in that cultural group or to be able to play their games, but to understand and appreciate the rules behind their lives and society.

In the same way, culture consists of the rules and rationale behind the way life gets played in a particular context. The most familiar way of thinking about a cultural group is as a national culture (NC) — the norms, customs, and values shared with people who live in a country. For example, Romania has a national culture even though the country includes a variety of regions with 14 linguistic minorities, each with its own dialects and ethnic traditions.

The other culture most consistently encountered by leaders is organizational culture (OC). Organizations and even professions have their own distinct values, norms, and ways of viewing people and issues.

Which one has greater influence on employees’ values, behaviour, national culture (NC) or organizational culture (OC)? The question is important because it leads us to investigate the degree of control that the headquarters of a multinational company can realistically exert on its subsidiary abroad, located in some other culture.

In practice, the influence on the individual may be determined less by management controls than by the length of time he/she stays in the organization. The”:job-hopper” , who moves rapidly between companies, is unlikely to be much influenced by their cultures. On the other hand, the person who stays with one organization for all his/her career may be significantly affected. Small family companies can indeed impose this degree of control on members born within the organization.

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Not everyone, however, is convinced about the relevance of cultural understanding. Roy, an American sales representative from a large manufacturing company, is a stocky forty-two-year-old from the central part of the United States. When I talked to him, he was just a week away from making his second business trip to Romania to visit a couple of factories that were manufacturing his product line.

With his legs constantly moving up and down and his fingers nervously tapping on the table, he said, “Okay, no offense . But doesn’t this whole cultural thing get a little overplayed? I mean, people are people and business is business. I’ll probably have to eat some weird food next week, but otherwise, I don’t see what the big differences are.

The way I see it, everyone is just trying to find a way to make a decent living and get ahead in life. I don’t care whether you’re Chinese, Mexican, or American, people are pretty much the same. They care about their kids like you and me. They know you have to be aggressive to survive in this global market. And everyone wants to make a decent living. The marketing strategy might need to adapt a little bit but I think manufacturing is manufacturing and selling is selling, wherever you go. Either you’re cut out for it or not!”

Who, to your opinion, has a higher chance to establish an organizational culture in Romania, Roy or Sabrina?

irina-budrina[at]hotmail.com