INTERCULTURAL MANAGEMENT

More and more companies around the world are crossing national borders to conduct business. Our customers, suppliers and even our staff are increasingly based in foreign countries. This globalization has meant a fundamental change in who, where and why we do business. The role of the manager is evolving in response to the complexities of globalization.

The 21st century manager has to adapt in order to offer modern solutions to modern problems. One area is intercultural management skills. So, what is intercultural management?

Today, the emphasis is on developing skills and mechanisms through which culturally diverse managers with different ways of doing things can work together in any part of the world.

Effective global managers are those who are naturally flexible, agile and able to learn (or unlearn) continuously. Through their experiences, they are urbane, mobile and exposed to a wide variety of cultural influences. Well-educated and with a good grasp of communicating and managing across cultures, they do not have a designated foreign ‘patch' but hop around many countries. Their terrain might be as large as the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and their ways of thinking are just as large.

Companies wanting to retain a competitive advantage in today's globalized economy will need to rely heavily on their global managers. They will have to understand this breed of people and grow their numbers by investing and cultivating culturally sensitive and efficient global managers.

Task I. Work in pairs or groups. Discuss the following statements about working across cultures. Explain your agreement or disagreement. Don’t forget to use the conversational formulas from File Useful Language.

1. Organizations generally have the same way of doing things.

2. Non-verbal messages carry more weight than verbal ones.

3. The concept of time is universal.

4. Individual differences can always be attributed to cultural differences.

5. Accepting and embracing ambiguity is essential when working internationally.

6. Consciously developing your cultural skills leads to better business relations.

TEXT 3

Read the recommendations from intercultural consultant Kate Berardo and compare your answers in Task I. Which piece of advice do you find most useful?

1. Do your homework

• Essential for building relationships when dealing with businesses across cultures.

• Each organization will have its own culture, personality, and way of doing things.

2. Keep your eyes open

• Your mind is processing a lot of information in new environments, so observation skills may be clouded or unfocused.

• Notice how people act, dress, and treat each other. Look for non-verbal messages. Being able to read a situation will greatly improve your ability to have a successful meeting.

3. Take your time

• Appreciate the need for more time. Communication may be slower and logistics may be different. You may be working in a culture with a different concept of time.

• Also, give yourself more time to process all the information before making decisions.

4. Take individuals into account

• Individuals may vary greatly from the stereotype of their native culture. Values and behaviour are also influenced by background, experience, and personality.

• Keep an open mind: be careful not to form an opinion too early or to attribute too much of what you see to a cultural difference.

5. Tolerate uncertainty

• This can be extremely difficult for people from some cultures where directness and precision are valued.

• Business is about managing unknowns. When working with a culture with a high tolerance for uncertainty, you may not get concrete answers. This, of course, can work both ways.

6. Build your intercultural skills

• When working with people from different cultures, you need a solid understanding of the norms of that culture.

• Greater cultural awareness will help you weigh up the pros and cons of your way of doing things and will give you a better insight into working across cultures.

TEXT 4

Professor Geert Hofstede from the Netherlands conducted a study of how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. His research, based on a large database of employees' values collected by IBM, covers 74 countries and regions.

Read the text and be ready to answer the following questions:

1. According to Hofstede, which culture(s)

a) think family life is important?

b) like to be very polite to their manager / or follow rules and regulations?

c) adapt easily to change?

2. Which of the key factors would you use to describe your own culture?

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