In cross cultural settings, the author suggests it is not enough to know that behavior differs across cultures, but also how differences in values drive behaviors. To truly understand the differences among cultures, one must understand their origins, how they emerged on the world stage, the various economic, political, physical, social, and religious forces that shaped them. This is a unique book in that it traces the antecedents of people's behavior and shows readers why cultures differ and includes suggestions for adjusting to these differences. Engrossing and revealing, Scarborough's book will be essential for corporate management and others involved in international commerce, but also for their counterparts in the public sector, who also understand why it is necessary to get along with people from other cultures in the pursuit of mutually beneficial goals. Scarborough says, There may be no greater, more significant void in the knowledge of educated adults than cross-cultural understanding. My book advances that understanding by explaining the reasons why behavior, attitudes, beliefs, and values differ across specific cultures. Its premise is that people who interact with others with different cultural backgrounds, whether in international or culturally diverse domestic settings, are much better prepared if they understand the reasons why people act, talk, think and feel as they do. Instead of being left with just lessons on behavior, to be learned by rote, readers will be able to rely on a substantive understanding of the cultures and societies in which they find themselves, as well as their own good common sense, and in this way work more productively and harmoniously with their counterparts abroad.

Knowledge, as intellectual capital in organizations, is one of the most valuable resources in the global economy; yet knowledge management research has been largely contained both within organizational boundaries and from the perspective of the West (in particular the United States). Here, the views of a diverse range of well-known academic researchers, industry leaders, and public policy experts have been brought together to show how knowledge and knowledge management perspectives vary across different cultures, in different contexts, using different processes for different purposes.

Given the global nature of business today and the increasing diversity within the workforce of so many industries and organisations, a cross-cultural component in management education and training has become essential. This is the case for every type of business education, whether it be for aspiring graduates at the start of their careers or senior managers wishing to increase their effectiveness or employability in the international market. The 4th edition of Understanding Cross-Cultural Management has been adapted in line with the feedback from our many readers, and boasts new case study material based on recent research, as well as a stronger focus on Asian cultures, thereby providing more non-Western examples.

Proposes fresh perspectives in IB research by addressing a number of critical issues which criss-cross the fields of International Business and International Management. This work focuses on management of cultural distance across countries. It also focuses on the genesis and development of international entrepreneurs.

Cross-cultural knowledge management, an elusive yet consequential phenomenon, is becoming an increasingly essential factor in organizational practice and policy in the era of globalization. In order to overcome culturally shaped blind spots in conducting research in different settings, this volume highlights how the structuring of roles, interests, and power among different organizational elements, such as teams, departments, and management hierarchies (each comprised of members from different intellectual and professional backgrounds), generates various paradoxes and tensions that bring into play a set of dynamics that have an impact on learning processes. In this context, such questions often arise: How is knowledge shared in the multicultural organization? What problems and issues emerge? How do different mentalities affect people’s responses to new knowledge and new ideas? How can knowledge-sharing processes be improved? Under which conditions do ideas generated by units or groups of different cultural traditions have a chance of being heard and implemented? Such questions translate into an investigation of potential managerial dilemmas that occur when different but equally valid choices create tensions in decision making. The authors draw from experiences working with a wide variety of organizations, and insights from such fields as sociology and psychology, to shed new light on the dynamics of knowledge management in the multicultural enterprise. In so doing, they help to identify both obstacles to successful communication and opportunities to inspire creativity and foster collaboration. The authors note that in order to enable organizations to transfer knowledge effectively, mechanisms for dispute settlement, mediation of cultural conflict, and enforcing agreements need to be in place.

All cultures appear to share the belief that they do things ‘correctly’, while others, until proven otherwise, are assumed to be ignorant or barbaric. When people from different cultures work together and cannot take shared meanings for granted, managers face serious challenges. An individual’s parsing of an experience and its meaning may vary according to several cultural scales – national, professional, industrial and local. Awareness of cultural differences and the willingness to view them as a positive are therefore crucial assets. This edited textbook sets itself apart from existing cross-cultural management texts by highlighting to the reader the need to avoid both ethnocentrism and the belief in the universality of his or her own values and ways of thinking: the success of international negotiations and intercultural management depends on such openness and acceptance of real differences. It encourages the development of ‘nomadic intelligence’ and the creative use of a culture’s resources, according to a symbolic anthropology perspective. Through the essays and case studies in the chapters, readers will become aware of the intercultural dimension of business activities and better understand how they affect work. Cross-Cultural Management will help interested parties – students of business management, international relations and other disciplines, and business managers and other professionals – develop their ability to interact, take action and give direction in an intercultural context.

Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: As the idea of Japan as a leader in management styles and the mythos 'collectivism' as a key to high quality performance and productivity is still in mind of German managers, this work tries to compare actual leadership styles of Japanese and German managers on the level of cultural dimensions. In the study the sample consisted of 119 persons in middle management positions (82 male and 37 female), 60 persons with work experience in Japan and 59 without experience. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding 52 leadership characteristics (e.g. the ability to assert oneself, to cooperate or to delegate) within five cultural dimensions. Participants then rated the importance of this characteristic for the specific category. Findings of the study showed significant differences in experienced and estimated management styles between the countries as well as significances regarding management traits of the german culture after working in Japan. Inhaltsverzeichnis:Table of Contents: CHAPTER ONE9 1.1INTRODUCTION9 1.2STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM11 1.3RESEARCH QUESTION14 CHAPTER TWO15 2.1INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND ITS CULTURAL CONTEXT15 2.1.1Culture15 2.1.2Cross-cultural Communication22 2.2.2Cross-cultural Management25 2.2.3Significance for Organization29 2.3SUCCESS FACTORS OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS31 2.4CULTURALLY COMPARATIVE MANAGEMENT RESEARCH35 2.4.1Management-oriented Cultural Research36 2.4.2Cultural Dimensions according to Hofstede40 2.4.2.1Dimension of power distance41 2.4.2.2Dimension of collectivism versus individualism43 2.4.2.3Dimension of masculinity versus femininity44 2.4.2.4Dimension of uncertainty avoidance46 2.4.3The Dimension of the Confucian Dynamic47 2.4.4Further Dimensions of Culture51 2.4.4.1Basic dimensions of culture according to Adler52 2.4.4.2Dimensions of culture according to Trompenaars54 2.5THE SOCIO-CULTURAL BACKGROUND OF JAPANESE MANAGERS57 2.5.1Japanese Confucianism58 2.5.2Corporate collectivism: The uchi mentality60 2.5.3Consensus and participation in management63 2.6THE PRESENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GERMANY AND JAPAN63 2.6.1General and political relationships63 2.6.2The Economic Relationships65 2.6.2.1Relationships to the European Union (EU)65 2.6.2.2Foreign Trade between Germany and Japan66 2.6.2.3Special Features67 2.6.3Cultural Contacts69 2.7LEADERSHIP STYLES70 2.7.1Definition and aspects of leadership70 2.7.2Differencies in the leadership [...]

Cross-Cultural Management: An Introduction offers students a hands-on approach to cross-cultural management that they can apply to a wide variety of organizational contexts. Rather than focusing on specific countries, authors David C. Thomas and Kerr Inkson highlight the interactions of people from different cultures in organizational settings to provide students with practical applications of concepts in international management. Real-world examples and case studies help students understand and integrate differences between attitudes, values, beliefs, and assumptions so that they can thrive as managers.