AIBS
MBAIB
2nd Sem
Cross Cultural Management
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When person from one cultural background, meet,
interact with, understand and deal with person from
other cultural background. That is cross-cultural
management.
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According to Bobst1, Cross Cultural Management (CCM) is “the
capability to manage different attitudes, culture, religion and habits to
achieve best business results.”
Mead went deep into the subject and defined CCM as “…working
with members of the other culture, tolerating differences as far as
possible, and recognizing their priorities when developing shared
priorities.” (Mead, 1994:5). CCM is inevitable, as Evans and Doz
found that “research on multinational enterprises suggests that their
future competitive advantage may not reside in their strategy or
structure, nor in their technologies or products, but in their
organizational capabilities to cope with the multidimensional and
complex demands of a global business.” (Evans and Doz, 1992:87).
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Cross-cultural management
Cross-cultural management studies the
behaviour of people in organizations
around the world and trains people to work
in organizations with employee and client
populations.
It describes organizational behaviour
within countries and cultures;
Adler: “International Dimensions of Organizational Behaviour” (1991)
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• Compares organizational behaviour across
cultures and countries: and perhaps, most
importantly, seeks to understand and
improve the interaction of co-workers,
clients, suppliers, and alliance partners from
different countries and cultures. Crosscultural management thus expands the
scope of domestic management to
encompass
the
international
and
multicultural spheres.
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Changing structures & management capabilities
From traditional hierarchical structures
emphasizing either-or choices
(centralization vs decentralization, product
vs geographcial divisions) >>
Transnational, integrated networks of
assets and resources with multidimensional
mgt perspectives and capabilities, and
flexible coordinative processes.
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Managers must be able to sense and
intepret complex and dynamic
environmental changes; able to develop &
integrate multiple strategic capabilities; able
to build & manage the new organisations
required to link these sensing and response
capabilities; and deliver coordinated action
on a world-wide basis.
Bartlett & Ghoshal, ”Building Transnational Capabilties:
The Management Challenge” (2000)
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Changing management capabilities
Global business management:
worldwide business strategist
architect of assets and resources configuration
cross-border coordinator
Worldwide functional management:
worldwide intelligence scanner
cross-polinator of ”best practices”
Bartlett & Ghoshal,
”Building
champion of transnational innovation Transnational
Capabilties: The
Management
Challenge” (2000
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Geographic subsidiary management:
bicultural interpreter
national defender & advocate
frontline Implementer of Corporate stategy
Top level corporate managemnnt
providing direction & purpose
leveraing corporate performance
ensuring continual renewal
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Culture as a:
problem/threat
opportunity/resource
culture gets “in the way”
culture as a source of
competitive advantage
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How to get that competitive advantage?
“importance of releasing cultural synergies at
the interfaces where knowledge, values and
experience are exchanged”
Søderberg & Holden “Rethinking Cross Cultural
Management in a Globalizing Business World” (2002)
Example:
Indian Global Sales Manager for a Danish
company from his office in Shanghai.
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Model of core problems & core solutions (Holden
2002)
Core problems
Ethnocentrism in the face
of
Cultural diversity
experienced as
Cultural shock which
varies with exerience and
may be lesser or greater in
impact
Core solutions
Adaptation as first
reaction to cultural shock
Adjustment as a more
permanent & positive
reaction
Development of
intercultural skills:
creating ”the cross-cultural
manager”
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Barriers of CCM:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Differences between cultures can lead to increased resistance. You might
not understand each other because you have different values. Those
differences can hamper the progress of your project, if not stop it
altogether.
Some cultures may be overly deferential
Some cultures are deeply guarded about private matters.
Thus, techniques of supportive questioning, which might produce strong
commitment and deep learning in some cultures, might not be appropriate
in other cultures at all.
There are no universal laws to ensure conformity in each culture. Because
of complexities in continually learning the cultures of your clients’
organizations, it is critical for you to continually
1)be open to differences and
2) ask for help from your client.
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Strategies for breaking Resistance
1. Be aware of your personal biases, style, preferences, lens and
focus.
2. Realize that each part of an organization probably has a unique
culture.
3. Promptly convey to your client that you want to be sensitive to their
culture.
4. Consider getting a project mentor, or representative, from the
organization.
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Become Knowledgeable About Key Cultural
Aspects
1. Assertiveness
• Are members of your client’s organization comfortable being honest and
direct with each other? If not, how can you still be as authentic as possible
and help them to be as authentic as possible, as well?
2. Body language
• Are there any specific cues that you can notice to sense how others are
experiencing you?
3. Communication styles and direction
• Is communication fairly direct and specific or more indirect and general?
Does information flow mostly “upward” to executives or is it widely
disseminated?
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4. Conflict
Is conflict considered to be bad and avoided? Or is conflict accepted as
normal and directly addressed when it appears?
5. Eye contact
Are members of the organization comfortable with sustained eye
contact during communication or not?
6. Gestures
Are there any specific gestures that can cause members of the
organization discomfort or confusion?
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7. Humor
Is use of humor in the organization rather widespread? Is there
anything about the use of humor about which you should be aware?
8. Information collection
Should you be aware of any potential problems or use any certain
precautions when conducting interviews or using assessments?
9. Physical space
For example, are members of your client’s organization quite
conscious of having a minimum amount of space around them when
they work or speak with others?
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10. Power
• Are members attuned to certain people of power when solving
problems and making
• decisions? Is power based on authority and/or respect?
11. Silence
• Are members uncomfortable with silence during communication? Or
is it a common aspect
• of communicating in their workplace?
12. Time
• Is time a precious commodity that seems to underlie many activities,
or can activities take as
• long as they need to take to be done effectively?
13. Wording
• Are there certain words or phrasings that cause discomfort when
people from different
• cultures interact?
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Infosys' 4-step Communication Approach
Step 4: Continuous Improvement
Of Customer - Facing Process
Step 3: Optimize skill in
Collaborative Project
Management.
Step 2: Preview User
Experience, For Managers &
Customers New to Offshore.
Step 1: Position Relationship &
Partner, Keep people up to Date.
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Cross - Culture Management is the key for
International Success
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