VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI SCHOOL OF BUSINESS NGUYEN THI HONG LIEN CULTURE COMPARISON AND CULTURE CHANGE – CASE STUDY OF ABB VIETNAM AND ABB SINGAPORE Major: Business Administration Code: 60 34 05 MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THESIS Supervisors: Dr. Dao Thi Thanh Lam Hà Nguyên, MBA Hanoi – 2012 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDEMENTS In ABB Group, I enjoy a dynamic multicultural working environment where people follow international standards to serve customers globally. Multicultural factors spill into every single process implemented, a software applied and to the complex network of suppliers, customers and partners in all over the world. It is the place where employees are encouraged and facilitated to experience working globally.
This gave me an impression that everyone should prepare and be ready for a global working environment so that wherever he goes he can adapt and contribute. This also inspired me to come up with the idea of comparing culture between two same divisions in two different countries within ABB Group. I would like to express my sincere thanks to my colleges in ABB Singapore and ABB Vietnam for their warm support when they can spend their precious time doing the survey, sharing ideas, providing advice and giving me interesting questions. It is also my chance to appreciate valuable advice from Mr.Jan-peder Dareus – Vice President, Business Unit Manager in Transformer Factory ABB Vietnam, Mr.
Wong Yik Phui – Business Unit Manager in Power Product Medium Voltage in ABB Singapore and Ms. Maria Cheong – Business Controller in Power Product Division ABB Singapore. I have been educated and inspired by their management experience which helped me gain deeper understanding, diverse viewpoints and practical lessons, especially about cultural transformation. I want to acknowledge and thank Mr.
Ha Nguyen and Dr. Dao Thi Thanh Lam for instructing and encouraging me to move on with the intriguing but challenging subject – organizational culture. i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT CULTURE COMPARISON AND CULTURE CHANGE – CASE STUDY OF ABB VIETNAM AND ABB SINGAPORE Nguyen Thi Hong Lien MBA Candidate, 2008 – 2010 School of business Vietnam National University, Hanoi Supervisors: Dr. Dao Thi Thanh Lam Hà Nguyên, MBA September 2012, 123 pages While going global is becoming a buzz word nowadays, companies are also building awareness of being “global integration” while keeping “local adaptation”.
However, the matter is how to balance between the two conflict factors. In other word, how much can a company keep its cores, or what can be “core” to keep is indeed a point to consider. This is also the case of ABB Group. Having operations in around 100 countries, with approximately 124,000 employees and reported global revenue of US$37.99 billion for 2011, ABB positions itself among the largest conglomerates in the world.
Having stretched its arms to Vietnam since 1993 and Singapore since 1971, the giant has become one of the most prestigious names in power and automation technology in both Vietnam and Singapore. To achieve such prestige, ABB Singapore and ABB Vietnam have been paying a huge effort to follow strictly a sophisticated standardization of the ABB Group from organizational structure, business principles to operational process. Within such standardization, the question is “With two divisions which strictly ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com follow standardization, under same structure, just 1500 miles distance within Southeast Asia, they supposed to have many similarities rather than differences. Should we expect any surprise?” The research result itself is really intriguing.
Cultural similarities? Yes, certainly. However, when the two divisions pursuit Group‟s core principles and aim to the target, they choose different ways to go. And even when they prefer the same culture type, they have different reasons and motivations for that. The thesis is focusing on pointing out the similarities and differences in the organizational culture of the two companies‟ Power Product Division and the roles of culture in the business operation and performance of each division.
iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TÓM TẮT SO SÁNH VĂN HÓA DOANH NGHIỆP VÀ SỰ THAY ĐỔI VĂN HÓA DOANH NGHIỆP TẠI CÔNG TY ABB VIỆT NAM VÀ CÔNG TY ABB SINGAPORE Nguyễn Thị Hồng Liên Học viên MBA, niên khóa 2008-2010 Khoa Quản trị kinh doanh - Đại học Quốc Gia Hà Nội Hướng dẫn: Tiến sỹ Đào Thị Thanh Lam Hà Nguyên, MBA Tháng 9 - 2012,123 trang Toàn cầu hóa đang trở thành một phần tất yếu ngày nay, các công ty đều xây dựng được nhận thức về "hội nhập toàn cầu" trong khi vẫn giữ "thích ứng địa phương". Tuy nhiên, vấn đề là làm thế nào để cân bằng giữa các yếu tố xung đột đó? Nói cách khác, làm thế nào một công ty có thể giữ cho phần lõi, hoặc những gì có thể là "cốt lõi" lại là một điểm cần nghiên cứu, xem xét. Đây cũng là trường hợp của ABB Group. Công ty hoạt động ở khoảng 100 quốc gia, với khoảng 124.000 nhân viên và báo cáo doanh thu toàn cầu của 37,99 tỷ USD cho năm 2011, ABB đã định vị là trong số các tập đoàn lớn nhất thế giới trong lĩnh vực năng lượng.
Sau khi mở rộng hoạt động của mình đến Việt Nam từ năm 1993 và Singapore từ năm 1971, người khổng lồ trong ngành công nghiệp năng lượng đã trở thành một trong những tên tuổi có uy tín nhất trong ngành năng lượng và công nghệ tự động hóa ở cả Việt Nam và Xin-ga-po. iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Để đạt được uy tín như vậy, ABB Xin-ga-po và ABB Việt Nam đã nỗ lực rất lớn để thực hiện đúng tiêu chuẩn của tập đoàn ABB từ các nguyên tắc cơ cấu tổ chức kinh doanh, quá trình hoạt động với nhiều yếu tố cấu thành phức tạp và tinh vi. Trong tiêu chuẩn hóa như vậy, câu hỏi đặt ra là: "Với hai đơn vị tuân thủ nghiêm ngặt tiêu chuẩn, theo cấu trúc tương tự, khoảng cách 1500 dặm trong khu vực Đông Nam Á, họ cho là có nhiều điểm tương đồng hơn là khác biệt liệu có những bất ngờ?" Kết quả nghiên cứu đã chỉ ra rất nhiều điểm thực sự hấp dẫn trong sự tương đồng của văn hóa doanh nghiệp. Tuy nhiên, khi nguyên tắc hoạt động cốt lõi hai công ty theo đuổi trong cùng Tập đoàn với mục tiêu có thể đạt được, họ chọn cách khác nhau để thực hiện.
Và ngay cả khi họ có cùng một loại văn hóa, họ có lý do và động cơ khác nhau để thực hiện điều đó. Luận văn tập trung vào việc chỉ ra những điểm tương đồng và khác biệt trong văn hóa tổ chức của Bộ phận sản xuất thiết bị năng lượng (điện) của hai công ty về sản phẩm và vai trò của văn hóa trong hoạt động kinh doanh cũng như hoạt động của từng bộ phận. v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENT ACKNOWLEDEMENTS. iv TABLE OF CONTENT.
vi LIST OF TABLES. ix LIST OF FIGURES. 1 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. Cultural layers & cultural diversity.
The out layer (Explicit Products/Artifacts). The middle layer (Norms and Beliefs/Espoused Beliefs and Values). The importance of organizational culture. How well can organizational culture do its functions?.
Culture analysis – OCAI method. General about culture analysis methods. 19 vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Advantages of OCAI method.
Dimensions in OCAI. Questionnaire applied in OCAI. Scoring the OCAI. What can be found from OCAI result.
Methodology applied in the thesis. Other analysis methods. 38 CHAPTER 2: CULTURE ANALYSIS IN ABB PP DIVISIONS. Introduction about ABB Singapore and ABB Vietnam.
Introduction about ABB Group. Introduction about ABB Vietnam (VNABB) and ABB Singapore (SGABB). Organizational culture comparison between SGABB’s and VNABB’s PP Division. Different dominant cultures but same major culture types.
The current dominant culture gains cultural congruence in both countries. Differences in expected dominant culture types. Less cultural congruence for the expected dominant cultures & the inevitable emergence of Clan and Adhocracy. Diversity in expectation of employee groups.
Factors influencing organizational cultures in the two Divisions. The vital role of standardization in ABB‟s operation. Market situation and market orientation in ABB Group. 62 vii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.
Asian culture – a strong factor supporting for Clan Culture. Adhocracy Culture – an answer to the dilemmas. Business nature & the major sub-groups. The importance of defining culture profile.
Culture incongruence requires leadership involvement. Leaders are to listen and respect the needs of employees. Vision the future culture to pursuit. Define the culture transformation process.
Visioning the transformation. ABB Vietnam – PP Division. ABB Singapore – PP Division. Operational change for the cultural change.
In ABB Vietnam – PP Division. In ABB Singapore – PP Division. International cooperation and global resource utilization. 93 APPENDIX 1: VARIOUS CATEGORIES USED TO DESCRIBE CULTURE.
97 APPENDIX 2: ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES AFFECTING MANAGEMENT FUCTIONS. 99 APPENDIX 3: DENISON ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE SURVEY. 100 APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONAIRE SAMPLE. 101 APPENDIX 5: CULTURE PROFILE COMPARISION VIETNAM VS.singapore viii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.singapore LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1-1: BONUS PERSPECTIVE IN INDIVIDUALISM AND COLLECTIVISM.
13 TABLE 1-2: AMERICA VALUES AND POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVES. 14 TABLE 1-3: COMPARISION BETWEEN OCAI METHOD AND OTHER METHODS 24 TABLE 1-4: EXAMPLE OF SCORING FOR CATEGORY DOMINANT CHARACTERISTIC. 28 TABLE 1-5: SAMPLE SIZE IN THE TWO DIVISIONS. 37 TABLE 2-1: ABB GROUP‟S KEY INFORMATION.
39 TABLE 2-2: CHARACTERISTIC OF EACH EMPLOYEE GROUP. 43 TABLE 2-3: DATA TABLE - VIETNAM PP DIVISION - PRESENT CULTURE AND PREFERED CULTURE THROUGH 6 CATEGRIES. 55 TABLE 2-4: DATA TABLE - SINGAPORE PP DIVISION - PRESENT CULTURE AND PREFERED CULTURE THROUGH 6 CATEGRIES. 57 TABLE2-5: COMPARISION BETWEEN SGABB PP DIVISION & VNABB.
67 TABLE 3-1: VIETNAM PP DIVISION - EXPECTATION FOR MAJOR CHANGE. 72 TABLE 3-2: SINGAPORE PP DIVISION - EXPECTATION FOR MAJOR CHANGE. 76 TABLE 3-3: ACTION PLAN FOR VIETNAM PP DIVISION. 81 TABLE 3-4: ACTION PLAN FOR SINGAPORE PP DIVISION .singapore ix TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.singapore LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1-1: MODEL OF CULTURE – FONS TROMPENAARS.
7 FIGURE 1-2: LEVEL OF CULTURE - SCHEIN. 7 FIGURE 1-3: ICE-BERG MODEL. 18 FIGURE 1-4: INDIVIDUALISM RANKING. 21 FIGURE 1-5: THE COMPETING VALUES FRAMEWORK.
26 FIGURE 1-6: THE COMPETING VALUES OF LEADERSHIP, EFFECTIVENESS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY. 33 FIGURE 1-7: ERICSSON'S CULTURAL PROFILE. 36 FIGURE 2-1: ABB STRUCTURE. 41 FIGURE 2-2: PROPORTION OF EACH EMPLOYEE GROUP IN THE TWO PP DIVISIONS.
44 FIGURE 2-3: NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES IN VNABB PP DIVISION AND SGABB PP DIVISION. 45 FIGURE 2-4: VIETNAM PP DIVISION‟S CULTURE PROFILE. 46 FIGURE 2-5: SINGAPORE PP DIVISION‟S CULTURE PROFILE. 47 FIGURE 2-6: PRESENT ASSESSMENT THROUGH 6 CATEGORIES IN VIETNAM PP DIVISION.
48 FIGURE 2-7: PRESENT ASSESSMENT THROUGH 6 CATEGORIES IN SINGAPORE PP DIVISION. 49 FIGURE 2-8: SAMPLE DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS VIETNAM PP DIVISION. 50 FIGURE 2-9: CURRENT ASSESSMENT OF EACH EMPOYEE GROUP. 51 FIGURE 2-10: SAMPLE DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS SINGAPORE PP DIVISION.
51 FIGURE 2-11: CURRENT ASSESSMENT OF EACH EMPOYEE GROUP .singapore x TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.singapore FIGURE 2-12: VIETNAM PP DIVISION - PRESENT CULTURE AND PREFERED CULTURE THROUGH 6 CATEGRIES. 55 FIGURE2-13: ABB SINGAPORE PP DIVISION - PRESENT CULTURE AND PREFERED CULTURE THROUGH 6 CATEGRIES. 56 FIGURE 2-14: ABB VIETNAM PP DIVISION - PRESENT ASSESSMENT AND FUTURE EXPECTATION OF EMPLOYEE GROUPS. 58 FIGURE 2-15: SINGAPORE PP DIVISION - PRESENT ASSESSMENT AND FUTURE EXPECTATION OF EMPLOYEE GROUPS .