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  • 1.  Cultural viewpoint and Core readings for MBA course on cross-cultural management

    Posted 05-25-2011 20:19
    I did the numbers quickly in my head; checking,
    500 million / 7 billion , 7.1%, with 4% online per day.
    Thanks.

    Hope for the USA? "If something is unsustainable, it will stop."--Herb Stein, an economic adviser to Richard Nixon
    Romie F. Littrell, BA, MBA,PhD, FIAIR, An fánaí fiáin
    AUT Business School N.Z., romie.littrell@aut.ac.nz
    http://www.romielittrellpubs.homestead.com/
    Facilitator, Leadership & Management in Sub-Sahara Africa Conferences
    Contents copyright Romie F. Littrell

    --- On Thu, 26/5/11, Sanjay Bhowmick <sanjay.bhowmick@AUT.AC.NZ> wrote:

    From: Sanjay Bhowmick <sanjay.bhowmick@AUT.AC.NZ>
    Subject: Cultural viewpoint and Re: Core readings for MBA course on cross-cultural management
    To: IMD-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Date: Thursday, 26 May, 2011, 11:11

    Hey Romie: if your 500 mn is correct you have a couple of zeros too many! But I agree with your message, completely. And, of course, with Ghemawat's statistics. Very much like the "global downturn" blanket phrase used with impunity that really means western markets recession while some other markets boom! "Culture is engrained" (Ondeck, 2003), isn't it?

     
    Best regards
    Sanjay
     
    Dr. Sanjay Bhowmick  I  Senior Lecturer  I  Department of Management  I  Faculty of Business  I  Auckland University of Technology  I  Private Bag 92006  I  Auckland 1142  I  New Zealand
    Tel: +64 9 9219999 extn. 5064  I  Fax: +64 9 9219990
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    >>> Romie Littrell <littrellaom@YAHOO.CO.NZ> 26/05/2011 10:01 AM >>>

    The view of world economies and cultures sitting in a developed country can get a bit distorted, e.g., see:

    Globalisation? Globaloney.

    http://www.economist.com/node/18584204?story_id=18584204&CFID=162763784&CFTOKEN=50383039

    -and-
    Florida, R. (2005). The World Is Spiky. Atlantic Monthly (10727825), 296(3), 48-51.
    http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/images/issues/200510/world-is-spiky.pdf
    Making pronouncements concerning the world from this lofty height is akin to speculating as to the environment and ecology of the ocean's depths from a luxury yacht on the surface.


    Facebook:

    • More than 500 million active users, about 0.0007% of the global population;
    • 50% of active users log on to Facebook in any given day, about 0.0004% of the global population.

    I do of course realise that Facebook & social network users in developed and major developing countries are the only really important people and the drivers of the global economy and cultures.

    As for culture and circumstance, culture determines for the most part how people deal with and respond to circumstances (it's an adaptive feedback system, but culture determines responses in the near term).

    As for, "Cultural awareness does not focus on a specific region of the world, but instead requires general sensitivity to other cultures", not true; culture is specific to regions of the world. "Cultural sensitivity" is an aid to learning, but does not prepare one for living in and doing business in a foreign culture. Being there helps.



    Hope for the USA? "If something is unsustainable, it will stop."--Herb Stein, an economic adviser to Richard Nixon
    Romie F. Littrell, BA, MBA,PhD, FIAIR, An fánaí fiáin
    AUT Business School N.Z., romie.littrell@aut.ac.nz
    http://www.romielittrellpubs.homestead.com/
    Facilitator, Leadership & Management in Sub-Sahara Africa Conferences
    Contents copyright Romie F. Littrell

    --- On Tue, 24/5/11, Neerja Raman <neerja@RAMAN-NET.COM> wrote:

    From: Neerja Raman <neerja@RAMAN-NET.COM>
    Subject: Re: Core readings for MBA course on cross-cultural management
    To: IMD-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Date: Tuesday, 24 May, 2011, 3:07

    Speaking with a practioner (vs academic) hat, my observation is that studies on this subject can be behind the times.

     

    Globalization, social media and internet speed visuals have changed business environment enough that the focus is back to people and what's hardwired vs. what is social conditioning; its back to being aware of yourself and of others. Software collaboration tools exploit this principle.

     

    More so than ever, it does underscore the need to understand practical considerations imposed by geography and economic circumstance. This is easier said than done and gets confused with "culture". Overall I agree with the sentence quoted – just replace culture with "circumstance" (this is important because circumstance can be changed quickly, culture not so easily)

     

    "Cultural awareness does not focus on a specific region of the world, but instead requires general sensitivity to other cultures."

     

    From: International Management Discussion List [mailto:IMD-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Romie Littrell
    Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2011 1:17 PM
    To: IMD-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Re: Core readings for MBA course on cross-cultural management

     

    Avoid "cookbooks", the "mix these behaviours and you'll have a successful business relationship"; e.g., don't expose the bottom of your shoe in the Middle East, take business cards with two hands in Japan and China , etc. Kurt Lewin is correct, there's nothing so practical as a good theory.

    I recommend: Fukuyama , Francis. (1995). "Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity". London : Penguin.

    I've also attached a draft of a work in progress that is intended when completed as an introduction to the topic.

    I find all the major theories to lack E.T. Hall's understanding of the use of time, space, and contextual communication. I know of no overarching summary of Hall's theories, so:

    The Silent Language (1959)

    The Hidden Dimension (1966)

    The Fourth Dimension in Architecture: The Impact of Building on Behavior (1975, co-authored with spouse Mildred Reed Hall)

    Beyond Culture (1976)

    The Dance of Life: The Other Dimension of Time (1983)

    Handbook for Proxemic Research

    Hidden Differences: Doing Business with the Japanese

    Understanding Cultural Differences - Germans, French and Americans (1993)



    Hope for the USA ? "If something is unsustainable, it will stop."--Herb Stein, an economic adviser to Richard Nixon
    Romie F. Littrell, BA, MBA,PhD, FIAIR, An fánaí fiáin
    AUT Business School N.Z., romie.littrell@aut.ac.nz
    http://www.romielittrellpubs.homestead.com/
    Facilitator, Leadership & Management in Sub-Sahara Africa Conferences
    Contents copyright Romie F. Littrell

    --- On Sat, 21/5/11, M.P.Fenton-OCreevy <m.p.fenton-ocreevy@OPEN.AC.UK> wrote:


    From: M.P.Fenton-OCreevy <m.p.fenton-ocreevy@OPEN.AC.UK>
    Subject: Core readings for MBA course on cross-cultural management
    To: IMD-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Date: Saturday, 21 May, 2011, 20:57

    Dear IMDers,

    I am putting together an Executive MBA course on cross-cultural management and assembling a reading list. The course will take multiple perspectives on the challenges of managing across national boundaries. I am particularly looking for articles or book chapters which make academic ideas accessible to practitioners.

    Key topics include

    Impact of culture on management and business practice (going beyond simple frameworks like Hofstede)
    Institutional Theory perspectives ( varieties of capitalism and national business systems)
    The problems of knowledge transfer across national boundaries
    Traits and skills which make managers successful in international contexts (eg cultural intelligence, expatriate success factors)

    I would be very grateful for suggestions of key readings which others have found to work well for their students. Thoughts about exercises and student projects which have worked well in teaching these topics would also be very welcome.

    If you email suggestions to me directly rather than via the list, I will assemble all suggestions and feed them back to the list (fully attributed).

    Many thanks for your help.

    Mark

    Mark Fenton-O'Creevy
    Professor of Organisational Behaviour
    Open University Business School
    Walton Hall
    Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
    United Kingdom

    e-mail: m.p.fenton-ocreevy@open.ac.uk
    (DL) +44 (0)1908-655804
    Mobile +44 (0) 7977 576721
    Fax: +44 (0)1908-655898



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    The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302).

     



  • 2.  Cultural viewpoint and Core readings for MBA course on cross-cultural management

    Posted 06-01-2011 12:01

    My thanks for suggestions on readings for this course to Romie Littrell, , Jean Vanhoegaerden, Neerja Ramen, Alfredo Behrens, Carolyn Erdner, Yaakov Weber, Jacob Eisenberg, Linda Matthews, Klaus Meyer,  Ekin Pellegrini, Davina Vora, Thoma Drape, Sonja Sackmann and Regina Eckert. Also particular thanks to Jacob for sharing his syllabus with me.

     

    I have compiled suggestions for readings below. I have tried to group a little by topic. If I have made errors here the fault is mine.

     

    I shall also take a moment to mention an excellent book on multinational organisations which is relevant (I have a chapter in it).

     

    Dörrenbächer, C. & Geppert, M. 2011. Politics and Power in the Multinational Corporation: The Role of Institutions, Interests and Identities: Cambridge Univ Pr.

     

     

    Mark

     

    Prof. Mark Fenton-O'Creevy      

     

    Culture:

    Thomas, D.C. (2002). Comparing cultures: Systematically describing cultural differences (pp. 47-68). Essentials of International Management: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

     

    Gary Ferraro's "Cultural dimensions of international business".  A Pearson book that comes with all the latest e-learning additions.


    "Leading across differences". (http://www.amazon.com/Leading-Across-Differences-Facilitators-Guide/dp/0470918926/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1305979724&sr=8-2)

    Brannen, M. Y. (2004). When Mickey loses face: Recontextualization, semantic fit, and the semiotics of foreignness. Academy of Management Review, 29(4), 593-616.
    Javidan, M., Dorfman, P. W., Sully de Luque, M. F., & House, R. J. (2006). In the eye of the beholder: Cross-cultural lessons in leadership from project GLOBE. Academy of Management Perspectives, 20(1), 67-90.
    Javidan, M., Stahl, G. K., Brodbeck, F. C., & Wilderom, C. (2005). Cross-border transfer of knowledge: Cultural lessons from the project GLOBE. Academy of Management Executive, 19(2), 58-77.

    ·      Boyacigiller, Nakiye A., Kleinberg, M. Jill, Phillips, Margaret E. & Sackmann, Sonja A. (2009). Conceptualizing Culture. Elucidating the Streams of Research in International Cross-Cultural Management. In: Tim G. Andrews & Richard Mead (Hrsg.), Handbook of Cross-Cultural Management (reprinted from the Handbook of International Cross-Cultural Managenent, 2006), Routledge, S. 371-380.

    (shows the development of the concept of cross-cultural management (form cross-/international to bi-cultural to multiple cultures)

     

    ·         Sackmann, Sonja A. & Phillips, Margaret E. (2004). Contextual Influences on Culture Research: Shifting Assumptions for New Workplace Realities, in IJCCM International Journal for Cross-Cultural Research, 4(3), S. 371-392.

    (focuses on the multiple cultures perspective)

     

    Phillips, Margaret E. & Sackmann, Sonja A. (2002). Managing in an Era of Multiple Cultures. The Graziadio Business Report, November 2002. http://gbr.pepperdine.edu/024/multi-cultural.html

    (applies the multiple cultures perspective (reading for managers)

     

    Mole, John. Mind Your Manners:  Managing Business Cultures in the New Global Europe, 3d ed. London

    Culture Matters: How Values Shape Economic and Political Success. New York: Basic Books, 1992

    Acuff, Frank L. What Makes Global Negotiations Different? Chap 2 in How to Negotiate Anything with Anyone Anywhere in the World, 3rd ed. New York

     

    Ekin K. Pellegrini and Terri A. Scandura  (2006) Leader member exchange and delegation in the Turkish business culture: an empirical investigation. Journal of International Business Studies 37: 264-279

     

    Ekin K. Pellegrini and Terri A. Scandura  (2008) Paternalistic Leadership: A Review and Agenda for Future Research Journal of Management 34; 566 

     

     

    Ekin K. Pellegrini and Terri A. Scandura  and Vaidyanathan Jayaraman (2010) Cross-Cultural Generalizability of Paternalistic Leadership: An Expansion of Leader-Member Exchange Theory Group & Organization Management:  35: 391

     

    Expatriate Reduction and Mariachi Circles http://www.jstor.org/pss/40397407 

     

    'Cross-Cultural Management: Essential Concepts' by  David Thomas, Sage Publications, 2008

    Smith, P. B. et al. (2002). Cultural values, sources of  guidance, and their relevance to managerial behavior: A 47- nation study. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 33(2), 188-208

     

    Adams, S. M. (1999). Settling cross-cultural disagreements

    begins with 'where' not 'how'. Academy of Management

    Executive, 13, 109-110.

     

    Vielba, C. A. & Edelshain, D. J. (1997). Are Business Schools

    Meeting the Challenge of International Communication? The

    Journal of Management Development, 16, (2); p. 80

     

    Weiss, S. E. (1994). Negotiating with "Romans". Sloan

    Management Review, 32(Fall), 57-68

     

    Randolph, W. A. & Sashkin, M. (2002). Can organizational

    empowerment work in multinational settings? Academy of Management Executive, 16, 102-115.

     

    Marchese, M. C. (2001). Matching management practices to

    national culture in India, Mexico, Poland, and the U.S. Academy

    of Management Executive, 15, 130-132.

     

    Earley, P. C. & Mosakowski, E. (2000). Creating hybrid team

    cultures: An empirical test of transnational team functioning.

    Academy of Management Journal, 43, 26-50

     

    Earley, P. C. (1993). East meets West meets Mideast: Further

    explorations of collectivistic and individualistic work groups.

    Academy of Management Journal, 36, 319-348.

     

     Nicholls, Chantell E.; Lane, Henry W.; Brechu, Mauricio

    Brehm. (1999). Taking self-managed teams to Mexico.

    Academy of Management Executive, 13, p15

     

    Weber et al (2011) Mergers, Acquisitions, and Strategic Alliances: Understanding the process"  Palgrave MacMillan

     

    Fukuyama, Francis. (1995). "Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity". London: Penguin

     

    E.T. Hall The Silent Language (1959)

    E.T. Hall The Hidden Dimension (1966)

    E.T. Hall The Fourth Dimension in Architecture: The Impact of Building on Behavior (1975, co-authored with spouse Mildred Reed Hall)

    E.T. Hall Beyond Culture (1976)

    E.T. Hall The Dance of Life: The Other Dimension of Time (1983)

    E.T. Hall Handbook for Proxemic Research

    E.T. Hall Hidden Differences: Doing Business with the Japanese

    E.T. Hall Understanding Cultural Differences - Germans, French and Americans (1993)

    Behrens, A. Culture and Management in the Americas, Stanford University Press, 2009

    Steers, R.M., Sanchez-Runde, C, and Nardon, L. Management Across Cultures:
    Challenges and Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

     

    Institutional/country differences:

     

    Peng M.W.  & Meyer, K.E. 2011. International Business, London: Cengage (www.cengage.co.uk/pengmeyer) - Chapters 2 & 3. (Two chapters on respectively formal and informal institutions, the formal institutions covering law, politics and economic systems (VoC), and the informal ones covering culture, language and religion.

    Moreover, you will see that the book is catering specifically for European audiences, which does matter a lot when discussing issues such as VoC or culture. )

    Ghemawat, P. (2001, September). Distance still matters. Harvard Business Review, 79(8): 137-147.

    Khanna, T., Palepu, K., & Sinha, J. (2005, June). Strategies that fit emerging markets. Harvard Business Review, 83(6): 63-76.

    Harzing, A.-W. (2001). Of bears, bumble-bees, and spiders: The role of expatriates in controlling foreign subsidiaries. Journal of World Business, 36(4), 366.
    Prahalad, C.K. & Lieberthal, K. (2003, August). The end of corporate imperialism. Harvard Business Review, 81(8): 109-117

     

    Skills of Cross National Management

     

    Earley, P. C. & Mosakowski, E. (2000). Creating hybrid team

    cultures: An empirical test of transnational team functioning.

    Academy of Management Journal, 43, 26-50

     

    Earley, P. C. & Mosakowski, E. (October, 2004). Cultural

    Intelligence. Harvard Bus. Review, 139-146.

     

    Linowes, R.G. (1993). The Japanese manager's traumatic

    entry into the United States. Academy of Management

    Executive, 7, 21-40. 

     

    Osland, J. S., & Bird, A. (2000). Beyond sophisticated

    stereotypes: Cultural sense making in context. Academy of

    Management Executive, 14(1): 65-79.

     

    Gregersen, H.B., Morrison, A.J., Black, J.S. (1998).

    Developing leaders for the global frontier. Sloan Management

    Review, 28, 21-32.

     

     

     

    Exercises

    An exercise that helps students understand directly how we construct differences amongst us - including positive and negative effects - is the Diversity Icebreaker (http://www.human-factors.no/diversity_icebreaker.aspx). you can best use it at the beginning of your class for an experiential immersion.

     

     

     


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    The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302).