Academic Discussion The commonly accepted definition of organizational structure is the durable arrangements constructed by a particular organization, to facilitate its processes and help achieve its objectives. However, a more dynamic perspective on organizations places emphasis on such features as working ... [full story]

Academic Discussion The commonly accepted definition of organizational structure is the durable arrangements constructed by a particular organization, to facilitate its processes and help achieve its objectives. However, a more dynamic perspective on organizations places emphasis on such features as working ... [full story]

Advertising and Corporate Strategy As far as advertising by transnational companies is concerned, Jean-Marie Dru (1996) recommends that they should 'think local, act global'. Advertisements have to appeal to consumers of a local culture. To achieve this, advertisements reflect the everyday ... [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]

Communication and Intercultural Management Case Study: Nestlé Pierre Listard-Vogt, a former managing director of Nestlé, is quoted by John Daniels and Lee Radebaugh (1998) as having said, 'perhaps we are the only real multinational company existing'. As much as 98 per cent ... [full story]

Communication infrastructure A considerable amount of the communication engaged in by global managers involves the use of modern technological systems. Hence, corporations interested in transnational operations invest heavily in the physical infrastructure necessary for global communication. Modern communication systems range from ... [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 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]

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]

Conventional Organizational Structures of Global Organizations Three varieties of structure are commonly used by global organizations. These are the global product division structure, the global area division structure, and the global functional division structure. The global product division When an organization adopts the ... [full story]

Core Values and Intercultural Management Case Study: Nestlé In 2001, Nestlé was the largest and most diversified food company in the world, with nearly 500 factories in more than 100 countries. In fact, over the period 1867–2000 it surpassed other food manufacturers ... [full story]

Core Values and the Integrationist/Differentiation Perspective on Culture The differentiation perspective on culture focuses on diversity, and has been advanced most appealingly by Martin (1992). When the differentiation perspective on culture is applied to transnational corporations, these are seen as made ... [full story]

Core Values as Ties that Bind Across Cultures In their article about the Moscow McDonald's management education system, Vikhanski and Puffer (1993) have described how McDonald's success in Russia is attributable to the emphasis it placed on the dissemination of core ... [full story]

Corporate Strategy and Intercultural Management In essence, corporate strategy is the setting of organizational objectives followed by the establishment of a comprehensive course of action for realizing those objectives. De Wit and Meyer (1998) have averred that corporate strategy is best ... [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]

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]

Cultural Aspects of Japan, the United States and Europe If team incentives are to be implemented successfully in Japan, the United States, and Europe (for example, as in Royal Dutch Shell - see the case study), it is necessary to examine ... [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]

Culture-specificity versus pan-culturalism Global managers interviewed for this book are united in their opinion that the communication mode that works for them is neither culturespecific nor pan-cultural. In other words, they do not believe that a single, universal approach to communication, ... [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]

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]

Effective Corporate Communication Global managers should feel secure that there exists a common set of core values in the corporation they are working for. Thus, the core values of the company are the same regardless of whether it is a branch ... [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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Global Strategy and Local Adaptation Transnational corporations need to formulate global strategies that lend themselves to local adaptation. Schulling (2000) described how this has been done at Procter and Gamble (P & G). The following have been useful for P & ... [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]

Inferences What can be said about how communication should be facilitated within the context of intercultural management? Based on existing academic research and the actual corporate experience of Nestlé, we would like to suggest the following. Learning through the cross-fertilization of ideas: ... [full story]

Intercultural Communication Intercultural communication is quite simply the process of communication between individuals from different cultures. To understand intercultural communication requires an accurate perception of what is conveyed in the verbal mode, as well as what is non-verbal. Beliefs and attitudes ... [full story]