Business

Culture refers to the beliefs, values, customs and traditions that people in a particular society have in common (Turner, 1990). Cultural practices are passed on from the parents to the children in a society. Culture determines the behavior of the people at their place of work. Differences in culture should be expected due to the differences in cultural set up of various people within the organization. The culture of a country influences the policies of a corporation concerning the human resources. There is a relationship between the culture of a nation and the culture of the organizations within that country. The culture of the organization relates to daily activities of a certain company while the culture of a nation relates to the values that people in a nation share in common (Browaeys, n.d).

There is a link between the culture of the people and the behaviors of human resources element in an organization. Employees are affected to a great extent by the cultures of the places they originate from. The policies concerning human resources in a company are influenced by the culture of the companys home office. Corporations which purchase foreign companies impose the human resources culture of the home company to their branches. The extent to which foreign companies impose their human resources culture depends on the experience the company has in owning foreign corporations. It also depends on the cultural differences between the two countries (Turner, 1990).

Organizations operating in foreign countries need to understand the culture of the people so as to employ the best human resources policies. The application of proper human resources policies in any environment is essential in achieving effective performance of the organizations work force. Organizations working in foreign countries need to focus on the culture of the people in that country so as to succeed (Hailey  Gratton, 1999).

Most organizations have the behavior of imposing the culture of their motherland to foreign acquisitions. This has brought a lot of concerns since the success of any company depends on its employees. The policies concerning management of human resources have been a major concern to most organizations. The cultural diversity of the various places where the company operates must be properly integrated to attain its success within diversified cultural settings (Cooke, 2003).

Case Study on Toivonen Paper in U.S
Toivonen is a paper products corporation based in Finnish. It purchased Treelin paper plant which had a branch in the United States-Upimin paper. The products of the company were publications, fine papers, packaging boards and wood products. It had a wide market spreading in several countries such as in Europe, North America and Asia. The major customers to Toivonen were publishers, printing houses and business people (Tayeb, 2005).

It does not make sense for Toivonen to focus on dispersing its corporate culture to local subsidiaries in the United States. The culture of the people in Finnish is different from that in the U.S. Imposing the human resources policies of the US culture will create conflicts. Employees are human beings, and since human beings live within a society, it may become difficult for the company to succeed due to the conflicts that may arise. It takes time for culture to change. Sudden change in culture may bring a lot of chaos. The management of human resources is very unique since people need to be well understood so as to work with them properly. The policies concerning human resources must be well set up to ensure no conflict arises with the cultural set up of the place where the company exists (Stepina  Voich, 1994).

There are potential problems and pitfalls which can be seen from the implementation of Toivonens corporate culture in the Treelin facility. There are several cultural conflicts between the American and Finnish cultures. The Finnish people considered the Americans to be untrustworthy and unpredictable. Conflicts in the two cultures are evident and imposing the American culture on the Human Resources policies of the company in Finnish will reduce the employee performance. This will result in low performance leading to low profits. The profitability of the country will depend on its ability to integrate the cultural differences between the two countries (Cooke, 2003).

An American manager can often be heard to start out saying, well, the way I seeit. While a Finnish manager will start with, well, as we all know. The cultural explanation from this is that the Americans are perceived to be self centered. They perceive themselves to be the best in all areas. The Finish people are perceived to involve other people in their decisions. The culture of the Americans is to perceive oneself to be superior and independent. This is contrary to the culture of the Finnish since they have an integrated culture which allows diversity (Kamoche, 2001).

The changes in the human resource policies and practices that Williams should anticipate coming from Toivonens purchase of Treelin are caused by the differences in the cultural practices of Finns and the Americans. The American employees ought to change their culture that is characterized by individualism and less concern about others in the society. The management must anticipate the change in the cultural settings of the company for it to survive in the Finnish market (Hailey  Gratton, 1999).

The culture of the United States and that of India are different (Debrah,  Budhwar, 2001). These countries differ on Hofstedes cultural dimensions of power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism and masculinity. The United States has always perceived its manpower to be superior to any other in the world. India on the other hand has used integrated human resources which is composed of people from different cultures. These practices of the United States have affected their business practices in other countries. Many countries have opposed the policies of the US concerning HR management. India has a diverse culture which has enabled many business people from this country to penetrate many countries in Africa, America and other continents. Indian business is increasing at a very high rate due to the cultural unity with their trade partners. The businesses associated with the US have encountered rejection in several markets due to the big cultural gap with other countries (Debrah,  Budhwar, 2001).

Conclusion
Corporations should strive to integrate their culture with the human resources policies in different environments. The success of any county depends on the ability to use policies which do not conflict with the culture of the different societies in which the country is operating. Human resource factor is very essential in the profitability of the company and it must be well managed.