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Navigating across cultures: The experiences of South African manufacturing leaders at multinationals

Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2023

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Main Author: Vasic, Ljiljana
Other Authors: Kinnear, Lisa
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2024
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access_status_str Open Access
author Vasic, Ljiljana
author2 Kinnear, Lisa
author_browse Kinnear, Lisa
Vasic, Ljiljana
author_facet Kinnear, Lisa
Vasic, Ljiljana
author_sort Vasic, Ljiljana
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2023
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/96410
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:38:17.431Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
publishDateSort 2024
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/96410 Navigating across cultures: The experiences of South African manufacturing leaders at multinationals Vasic, Ljiljana Kinnear, Lisa Multinational corporations (MNCs) National culture Organisational culture Manufacturing Qualitative research Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2023 Studies have shown that the organisational cultures of multinational corporations are influenced by their home country national cultures. Furthermore, subsidiaries of multinationals experience their own organisational cultures, which are influenced by their national cultures. At South African subsidiary manufacturing sites, cross-cultural interplays develop between multinational and South African teams. The purpose of this study was to explore these interplays, through the experiences of South African manufacturing leaders who navigate interactions with their multinational headquartering teams as well as their local factory workforce. This study was based on constructs of organisational and national culture and was exploratory in nature, following a qualitative method of enquiry through semi-structured interviews. The study found that tensions exist between multinational and South African teams, but due to negative perceptions and biases of South Africa as a whole, and not due to differences in national culture. Furthermore, the study also found that South African manufacturing leaders experience a disconnect and divide from their factory shop floor teams, which results in a challenging environment for effective leadership. However, the tensions between multinational teams, South African leaders and their factory workforce can be overcome through the practices of communication and engagement, trust and autonomy, and local talent growth. An organisational culture framework was developed to guide multinationals and their South African teams in achieving this cross-cultural symbiosis. This study has contributed to literature by expanding what is known on the extent of influence of national culture on organisational culture at multinationals. The study has also provided business practitioners with a framework for improving cross-cultural interactions at South African factories. Limitations of this study include a lack of gender diversity of participants, and the fact that the study did not consider the voice of the workers at the manufacturing sites. pagibs2024 2024-06-12T07:16:06Z 2024-06-12T07:16:06Z 2024-09-11 2024-09-11 Mini Dissertation * A2024 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/96410 en © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Multinational corporations (MNCs)
National culture
Organisational culture
Manufacturing
Qualitative research
Vasic, Ljiljana
Navigating across cultures: The experiences of South African manufacturing leaders at multinationals
title Navigating across cultures: The experiences of South African manufacturing leaders at multinationals
title_full Navigating across cultures: The experiences of South African manufacturing leaders at multinationals
title_fullStr Navigating across cultures: The experiences of South African manufacturing leaders at multinationals
title_full_unstemmed Navigating across cultures: The experiences of South African manufacturing leaders at multinationals
title_short Navigating across cultures: The experiences of South African manufacturing leaders at multinationals
title_sort navigating across cultures the experiences of south african manufacturing leaders at multinationals
topic Multinational corporations (MNCs)
National culture
Organisational culture
Manufacturing
Qualitative research
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/96410
work_keys_str_mv AT vasicljiljana navigatingacrossculturestheexperiencesofsouthafricanmanufacturingleadersatmultinationals