Prognosis for Intercultural Management The current interest in intercultural management, on the part of both managers and researchers, has arisen because of recent developments. Many corporations now view the whole world as both the market for their products and services and ... [full story]

Leadership in a Knowledge Management Global Corporation Many global corporations have cells or divisions that are knowledge management entities. Usually, knowledge management entities are R & D units that function as organizations within organizations. An example is the Change Management Team ... [full story]

Leveraging Knowledge Management in Transnational Corporations Transnational corporations often find that they encounter complex problems which, if not appropriately tackled, have serious consequences. Quinn, Anderson and Finkelstein (1998) have described a transient configuration of knowledge management specialists that they call a ... [full story]

Media The media play a role in making knowledge bases available to the average citizen. Transferring the success formula for the dissemination of information from one cultural context to another is often easier said than done. This is the case even ... [full story]

Digital Home Entertainment Products These are products designed and fabricated by global corporations who do state-of-the-art work in the area of knowledge management. Global corporations ranging from Sony to Sega provide upgrades for existing offerings on an ongoing basis. Computer games are ... [full story]

The Internet Like the intranet, the Internet has enabled global corporations to use their knowledge bases advantageously. These corporations are striving to make possible anytime, anywhere use of the Internet. The newest innovation in the Internet arena is a wireless Internet ... [full story]

The Intranet Many global companies maintain expert systems that collate, record and transfer knowledge internally. The intranet is an example of a commonly used expert system. The University-IBM Relations Database described in the case study at the beginning of this chapter ... [full story]

Problems with Ignoring Knowledge Management Denning (1999) has pointed out that clients today desire global knowledge. They want the best expertise they can get from the whole world. If a transnational organization cannot offer world-class service to its clients, it will ... [full story]

What knowledge management is Knowledge management is an emerging area of interest for management practitioners and academicians. The purpose of knowledge management for a global organization is threefold. The first is to understand the process by which knowledge is generated. The ... [full story]

Knowledge Management and Intercultural Management Case Study: IBM International Business Machines (IBM) was once known almost exclusively as a manufacturer of computer hardware. It now plays an influential role in the design of cutting-edge computer components, as well as in the design ... [full story]

Country Manager and Corporate Strategy In the BMW case profiled at the beginning of this chapter, the global company had decided as a matter of corporate strategy that it would instate a Thai CEO for its Thai subsidiary as soon as ... [full story]

India In India, advertisements are targeted at the very large class of consumers (several million people) who are upwardly mobile. This group is breaking away from the traditional culture that espouses spirituality and downplays materialism. Advertisement themes thus emphasize how desirable ... [full story]

China Chinese advertisements are constructed around themes that are quint-essentially Chinese. An example is the theme of filial devotion and responsibility. Most themes are humane and not ones that celebrate attitudes of competitiveness. [full story]

Germany German advertising used to mirror the popular view of German culture. Germans see themselves as the people who give the world immaculate machine parts. The machine parts have high quality and do not need to be publicized. At the most, ... [full story]

Internal conflict resolution From perusing the foregoing case discussion, it is clear that cross-cultural management faces enormous challenges when an organization has to operate in a turbulent environment. Quite often, the need for conflict resolution arises because managers from habitually opposed ... [full story]

Creation by International Organizations of Conflict Situations in Host Countries: A Failure Case Mary Cusick, a former MBA student (in 2001), submitted an assignment in which she described conflict situations that arose when an international development organization from the first world ... [full story]

Diagnosis and Prognosis We now examine the discussions we have had till now and see what inferences we can draw about the subject matter of intercultural management. We also consider the developments that are likely to take place. Diagnosis A few attributes about ... [full story]

Gaining Acceptance as an Expatriate Manager The majority of the intercultural managers interviewed for this book agree that expatriate managers should introduce management practices in a different culture in an incrementalist fashion. We use the following analogy to demonstrate how an ... [full story]

Women Expatriates Women expatriates have to be resilient and resourceful if they wish to be successful in foreign cultures. Men in all cultures are expected to seek gainful employment. Women in all cultures face resistance by some men when they try ... [full story]

Organizational support at the new locale Organizational assistance in adjusting to work life at the new branch is a source of succour for an expatriate. It is important that expatriates integrate themselves into the culture of the new branch and establish ... [full story]

Pre-assignment orientation Many global corporations believe that certain types of academic training predispose managers for international assignments. The world's top-rated business schools generally provide inputs in international management. Examples in Europe are the London Business School in the UK, INSEAD in ... [full story]

Elements of Expatriate Management This section details the different constituent elements of expatriate management. Companies place varying degrees of emphasis on these elements. Expatriate selection Stone (1991) enumerates the following criteria used by companies for expatriate selection: ability to adapt; technical competence; spouse ... [full story]

Expatriate Management and Intercultural Management Case Study: ICAS Independent and Counselling Services Ltd (ICAS) had over 200 client organizations in June 2001. Established in 1982, it is primarily an international provider of behavioural risk management services, operating worldwide through its own network ... [full story]

Cultural Conflict and Leadership In the case presented on pages 188–89, the Dutch were unable to accept the hapless Belgian's leadership. This led to a conflict situation. It was 'resolved' by the Belgian being sent back to Belgium. There has been little ... [full story]

Cultural Conflict and Management Style The management style that managers must use in order to be successful will vary from culture to culture. Otherwise conflict situations could arise. Intercultural managers can avoid conflict situations if they have flexibility in their styles. Colback ... [full story]

Conflict Arising Out of Different Attitudes to Corporate Culture When Japanese corporations first started operations in the United States, they faced conflict situations because of their US employees' ethical positions. For instance, in Japan, employees believe in lifetime employment. In the ... [full story]

Conflict Resolution Strategy Intercultural managers effective in resolving conflicts created by opposing ethical viewpoints are not wedded to discharging the letter of the law. They are of the opinion that a verdict that reflects the law but seems harsh to many ... [full story]

Conflict Arising Out of Different Attitudes to Ethics Culture is a factor that influences managerial ethics. When managers are required to take an ethical stand, that stand may be difficult to explain to a person who does not subscribe to the ... [full story]

Environmental Turbulence for Host Organizations Created by Globalization An important facet of conflict management is response to turbulence. An example is the turbulence generated in the environment of a national company because of competition from global companies. Gill, McCalman and Pitt ... [full story]

Spain Spain's advertising also reflects the strong but strange aspirations of that culture. Unable to shake off its hangover from once having been a colonial power, Spain seeks to retain a semblance of superiority by taking cues from the United States ... [full story]

The UK The British too have a style of their own. The best British advertisements are masterpieces of understatement. This stems from British culture, where detachment even in business is the preferred style of functioning. British advertising persuades its consumers through ... [full story]

Intercultural Relationships Intercultural communication is enhanced when individuals actually have opportunities to relate to people from other cultures not merely as work associates, but as friends as well. The global managers surveyed for this book mentioned that those individuals who succeeded ... [full story]