What is the relationship between National Identity and Corporate Culture?

Both concepts have a common essence: Human being. We have the task to attach to one culture in particular, that is often your nationality and if you are working you should identify with that corporate culture that drives how things are doing at work.

But the relationship between this two concepts is from a point of view a subordinated relationship where Corporate culture has to fit under the National Identity that exist in each country where the Company is located or at list respect it if the company wants to success.

That's why according to Willman "The fact that corporate culture may be weakening could merely be evidence that a changing environment demands a different, more ad hoc organizational model" (Millman, 2007)he sees Corporate culture as the one in charge of accomodating to different cultures where that Corporation exists. Therefore, it's hard to maintain a single corporate culture that applies without changes all around the world and it has a brilliant perfomance.

Eventhough both concepts have their grounds in human being, this one has not has the same values, beliefs, customs and in some word culture in each country, that's why if a Multinational Company wants to enter to a new market, it has to redesign a little of may be to much their corporate culture mainly if the company has to hire local personnel they won't be identified with some things as schedule, teamwork, negotiation process, etc.

In words of Gancel "Corporate culture values are more superficial than national culture ones because they entail the survival and development of a company, not of an individual or the community's." (Gancel et al, 2002)

Bibliography

Millman, Gregory J. 2007. Corporate Culture: more myth than reality?. Financial Executive.

Mead, Richard. 2004. International Management: Cross-Cultural Dimensions London: Blackwell Publishing. Chapter 1.

Gancel, Charles. Rodgers, Irene. Raynaud, Marc. 2002. Succesful Mergers, Acquisitions ans Strategic Alliances: How to bridge Corporate Cultures. McGraw-Hill Professional.