Ledarskap i andra kulturer : En studie i när spanska centralstyrda företag möter den svenska lokala marknaden

by Morales, Ninni; Carlzon, Sarah

Abstract (Summary)
During the last decades the globalization has spread and is now a concern for the entire world. The technological development has exploded and has given us new possibilities and access to information that make it possible to meet new markets. The conditions have changed and the companies not only compete with their closest competitors on the local market but also with everyone in the same business over the world. Companies go abroad with different entry modes to get new market shares and this results in a more international and multicultural organization. This is not always without problems since the companies are confronted with different types of cultures that are reflected in the organization and its work. Different kinds of leadership are used in different kinds of cultures but what happens when two cultures meet?For example in Swedish culture hierarchy and power distance are distant ideas unlike the Spanish culture where it is to a great extent frequent.After finishing the investigation it turned out that the cultural differences inside an organisation between two European countries can be big although in the beginning it’s not noticed. The ignorance of knowledge about the culture in the country of destination, from the employers, often contributes to a lot of problems and misunderstandings. We found that Spanish companies who open branches in Sweden often come across problems in following situations:· When the work task is given priority to the wellbeing of the employees.· When a less experienced person is given a position ahead of a more experienced employee.· When the staff is controlled and can’t take their own initiative or haven’t the possibility to be flexible because of the strictly designed work task.· When big differences in power distance between employer and employee are expressed.We can establish that the implementation of the situational leadership has been rather absent in the beginning when opening in Sweden. The adjustment has come gradually and was strained because of the knowledge the Spanish companies acquired regarding Swedish employees and their culture. The companies were forced to adapt some of their leadership to the Swedish culture to be able to succeed on the Swedish market. The conclusion we come to is that a certain amount of situational adjustment is necessary even for the centralised governed company when opening branches in other countries.
Bibliographical Information:


School:Södertörns högskola

School Location:Sweden

Source Type:Master's Thesis

Keywords:leadership spanish and swedish culture situational


Date of Publication:01/20/2006

© 2009 All Rights Reserved.